So last night I decided to start reading to the baby. I wanted to spend some time trying to get her more used to my voice and to start spending some "quality time" with my child, even if she is still in the womb. Plus developing the habit of reading to her at night is something that I'd like to do. I have chosen to start with
The Complete Wizard of Oz Collection on my kindle. It was only $.99 for 15 books, so it was a good economical choice. Also, my older brother Michael used to have quite a few of those books and when I took over his room I discovered them and read one or two of them. For those of you who haven't read them before, the story is different from that told in the movie (as most Hollywood remakes are). In the first chapter Dorthy, her aunt, and her uncle are basically described and then the tornado comes. There are no farm hands discussed, there is no evil neighbor who carts off Toto, and her aunt is not the over-emphasized matronly figure that she is in the begging of the movie. It has been my personal goal to read these and some other classic (such as Robin Hood, Winnie the Pooh, Robinson Crusoe, Tarzan, King Arthur, etc.) and I think that reading to my child is a perfect time to do this, at least until she starts voicing to me what she would like to be read.
However, what we did not expect is how much the baby would react to the reading. So, there we are laying down in bed, my head near Jamie's mid-torso and my hand on her belly and I start noticing Jamie jerking a bit about 5 minutes into the first chapter. She informs me that the baby is kicking up a storm and moves my hand down to where she is kicking and I immediately feel something move across my hand. It was pretty amazing. We continued reading and the baby continued to be very active.
I have to say that I am completely in love with my little girl and that it means so much to me that even now she responds to my voice the way that she did. I can't wait to have her arrive and hold her in my arms, and of course read to her in person.
