15 Month Update: “Baby” Bookworm Becomes “Toddler” Bookworm

I think it’s safe to say, I no longer have a baby. Baby Bookworm is now 15 months and toddling away at the speed of light! He walks when it’s convenient, or crawls if it’s faster. It’s time to graduate his blog title to Toddler Bookworm. Bittersweet. (We sold some of his baby items last week. I cried. Ugly cry.)

The most exciting milestone we’ve reached is that he can now be trusted with paper page books & “books with weaknesses” (lift the flap and the like)! He has learned how to turn pages gently, and we haven’t had any patients in our Book Hospital for WEEKS. This has greatly opened up our options for book browsing throughout the house. Previously I had only board books and cloth books accessible and picture books out of reach– not so bad for Toddler Bookworm, but a shame for Preschool Bookworm. So glad to be through that milestone! (If you’re interested in my recent reorganization of our book collection, last week I shared How I Magically Tidied Up My Kids’ Book Collection.)

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He’s also become an aggressive lap sitter. When he spots a book and a lap, he basically hurls himself with all the strength his 20-pound body can muster, forcing the issue of storytime. It’s quite adorable, and only slightly painful.

Toddler Bookworm’s favorite books are whatever Preschool Bookworm is reading… (I’m working on a post on sharing! HA!) as well as Matthew Van Fleet’s animal photography books, Dog, Cat, and Moo; Charise Mericle Harper’s Go! Go! Go! Stop!; and Jez Alborough’s Tall. Guaranteed to provoke aggressive lap sitting by Toddler Bookworm.

Since my last update his language skills have grown by leaps and bounds. His receptive language is really astounding at times. I think we’ve hit the age where Daddy Bookworm and I have to start spelling high interest items. “Should we offer him more s-t-e-a-k? Are we giving him a b-a-t-h?” Although his oral vocabulary hasn’t had an equal jump, his sign language certainly has! I’m kicking off a seven part series on baby sign language later this week and can’t wait to share more details then! It’s been a blast jumping back in with bookworm #2, and so heartwarming seeing the two brothers communicate via sign. Toddler Bookworm picks up new signs quickly when he’s motivated. While we were dog sitting he learned the sign for dog within the first day and a half. He has lots to say and increasingly the ability to do so!

Watch out, world! This guy is only gaining speed! I cannot fathom the fact that I’ll be back in a few short months to share his 1.5 year update!