Goodnight Moon

Dear Aidan,

One of your favourite books so far is called Goodnight Moon. It's funny because when I first got that book as a gift at my baby shower I wasn't all that impressed with it. The illustrations were just ok and there were no bells and whistles such as a pop-up or flaps that you open. However, now I see why it's a cult classic. I think it's all the things that you can point to that's perfect for a toddler at your stage. I've been reading that book to you ever since you were born and I used to point to every single item that is in the poem in every page. Now I make you point to the item when I read it out to you. For example, the page where it reads, "Goodnight room. Goodnight moon. Goodnight cow jumping over the moon. Goodnight light, and the red balloon...", I say to you, "Aidan, where's the red balloon?" Then you point to the red balloon. You have the red balloon mastered and I'm in the process of getting you to master the kittens, the bears, the mouse, the house, the old lady, and the cow. You mostly get the bears, the cows, the kittens, and the mouse, but sometimes when you are tired you get frustrated and slam your fingers on the page.

Your cheeks are so red today. You were eating Alphagetti today and you had it all over your face. Notice the double bibs too. You are teething so your drools are more than usual.

There's one thing you love doing and that is getting read to. Once I finished reading this book to you, you grabbed it from my hand, started flipping through the pages and started blabbering like you were pretending to read.

I'm hoping that you will expand your vocabulary more. I got a package in the mail yesterday from the speech therapist's office that your doctor referred me to. I have to fill out this long questionnaire and return it to them before they can see you. The package also had tips on how to help you to talk. One thing was to get some of the things out of your reach so that you can learn to ask for things. So what I started doing was when I'm feeding you cheese I only give you a little bit on your plate and once you are finished eating it I ask you if you want more. I keep repeating the word cheese and even show it to you refilled on the plate, but out of your reach. When you reach out for it I keep repeating, "Cheese? Aidan, do you want cheese? Cheese, cheese, cheeeeeeese." I did it for 2 days in a row and you started saying cheese. Or at least it sounds like it.