Tuesday, September 9

Books and Movies

Lots of stuff going on round our way at the moment. We've repainted the living room and had wood flooring put down in that room and also in the hallway, since our carpet (which was only three years old) had been beaten into submission by baby food splats and smears. Bizarrely, banana stains were the worst culprits -- even super carpet cleaner wouldn't get them out! We've also got a new sofa suite coming and I am starting to make lists ready for our cottage holiday in a couple of weeks' time. Hurrah!

Little Frog is still not walking (boo), but learning a new word pretty much every few days (yay). New additions to his repertoire include CAR, BEAR, POO-EEE (during nappy change), and GO! GO! GO! He resumed his Water Babies swimming lessons yesterday following the summer break and did really well, considering we only got round to taking him to the pool twice during the hiatus... At the end of the month he has an underwater photoshoot and I am nervous about it but very excited to see the results.

He's also got more interested in books now that he is a bit older. I'd heard it was never too early to start reading to your baby so I began when he was just a few weeks old, but he didn't really care and when he got to the grabby stage he just closed the book and threw it on the floor. Now, however, he will actually sit with me and look at the book, and sometimes we manage to read a short one through to the end. His current favourite is Little Monkey Says Goodnight, which involves me making lots of funny noises and movements. Here is a picture of him unpacking an Amazon delivery and preparing to read Run Among Thorns by Anna Louise Lucia and Honey Trap by Julie Cohen.



So, on to the movies part of my post. I've decided it's been WAY too long since I've done a contest of some sort, and I have a neat little prize to give away: a two-month guest pass to LoveFilm. This entitles you to sixty days free membership, whereupon you can have the movies, games and TV series of your choice delivered to your door absolutely free to enjoy at your leisure! (I use this service myself and we have saved sooo much money in late fees because with LoveFilm there are NONE!)

All you have to do is tell me your favourite childhood book (inspired by Little Frog) in the comment section. I'll draw a winner just before we leave for our holiday. Due to LoveFilm mailing restrictions, this prize is only available to residents of the UK and Channel Islands, but if you live outside these areas please do comment: I may bring a little something back from Cornwall for an international winner :)


Just finished reading: My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Green Eggs and Ham - no need to enter me for either :-) I loved it so much that my kids do too and I can still recite it almost by heart!!!

Anonymous said...

LOL! I hope Little Frog enjoys Honey Trap!

Fecklet loves Green Eggs and Ham too (this was my favourite book as a kid too; he calls it "Ham") but also Hop on Pop. He is a Dr Seuss baby; the first book I read to him was Dr Seuss's ABC.

Lately, he makes me read Dinosaur's Binket, by Sandra Boynton, five or six times in a row. When he was Little Frog's age he loved Dear Zoo because he could open the flaps and point at the animals. I will need to look for the Little Monkey book.

Caroline said...

My boys love 'Where the Wild Things Are' and I do too, it's so good to read aloud and one of my all time favourite books. I love that Max is naughty. My daughter is frightened by it though and cries if I try to read it to her
:(

We love 'Dear Zoo' and bought the set with the free cuddly dog, which we hide under the cover until the end of the story. We also love 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar', 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt' and 'The Gruffalo' all for being so fab to read out loud.

You wanted one, didn't you? Oooops!

steviewren said...

Hi, I've just popped in from the black box thingy. My older son loved Where the Wild Things Are also. My youngest son's favorite was Pickles the Firecat which was about a spotted cat that lived with firemen and when on adventures with them.

Jen - Queen of Poo said...

What a cutie your little boy is! Thanks for visiting my blog. :-)

Jessica Raymond said...

Liz -- I haven't read Green Eggs and Ham! Will definitely have to, especially since it has two votes here already :) BTW, what ARE green eggs?

Julie -- Is Dr Seuss's ABC good for them learning to say words? I've ordered an Usborne ABC-type book because Frog's picking up words like a sponge at the mo and I want a simple learning book where we can point and repeat.

Caroline -- Thanks for visiting! (And major congrats on the success of Black Boxes...) Hmm, another vote for Dear Zoo. I bought a batch of books for Frog for his first birthday in June and I did see this one but didn't pick it up. Must rectify! And I do have to say that The Hungry Caterpillar was my own personal favourite :)

Stevie -- Ooh, Pickles the Firecat sounds good! Another one to add to my list. And thanks for visiting :)

DFTF -- Double thanks to you, firstly for the compliment (naturally, I agree) and secondly for your visit :)

Unknown said...

Hey there. Visiting from Black Box and seem to have found a girl after my own heart! Movies, books and babies, it's like my perfect night in.
Both my children love books by Julia Donaldson (Gruffalo, Stick Man, Room on the Broom, Squash and a Squeeze) but my childhood fav has to be The Hobbit which my mum used to read to me with the tantalising promise that when I was old enough she would read the three Lord of the Rings books. It was kind of the Harry Potter of its day for me!

Dana said...

My all time fave children's book (even now!) "Each, Peach, Pear Plum" YOU MUST read it to him, he'll love it, I promise! (no need to enter me though....)

Also, here's my favorite website to order books from (children's, adult's, films, music): http://www.daedalusbooks.com/

You asked for my Marshmallow buttercream recipe, can you give me your email addy and I will email it to you?

Jessica Raymond said...

Hi Tara, thanks for visiting. I've definitely heard of Room on the Broom but will look up the others. Your choice of The Hobbit strikes a note with me, too! My dad LOVED it and was continually pressing it on me and trying to make me read it. I tried SO many times but could never get past the party scene (it all seemed a bit dull after that). I did finally read it all the way through after a few years, and enjoyed it, but I've yet to attempt LOTR!

Dana -- thanks for returning the visit and offering the frosting recipe :) I mentioned earlier that I bought a number of books for Little Frog's first birthday and Each Peach Pear Plum was one of them!

The W.O.W. factor! said...

Hello! The Black Box brought me here and what a great Blog you have!
This "dates" me, certainly, but one of my favorites, that I've read to my Grandbabies numerous times is one of Hans Christian Andersen short stories: "The Princes and the Pea".
They enjoy it...or maybe they just like Grammy reading to them :)
Have a wonderful vacation!

Jessica Raymond said...

W.O.W. factor -- thanks so much! Luckily I have my own big book of Hans Christian Andersen stories from childhood, so I'll be able to start reading this to him when he's older :)