When Calvin is Suspiciously Quiet...

I bet you know the feeling, fellow parents. You're busy doing something, cooking, folding laundry, changing your other kid's diaper, checking Facebook... and suddenly you realize the house is quiet.

Too quiet.

Next thought is something like: Wait! Where's the toddler? (Or maybe, Oh sh**! Where's the toddler?)

Unrolling an entire brand new roll of toilet paper in the bathroom?

Stuffing his face with Cheerios from the pantry which he managed to open himself?

Distributing the laundry all over the living room floor?

Not Calvin.

Nope.

When Calvin is suspiciously quiet... he's usually sitting down somewhere reading a book.

Not that he never makes messes or does naughty things like dump out all of his stuffies/train tracks/duplos/you-name-it all over the floor or push his baby brother down and sit on him... It's just that when he's doing something naughty it's usually something LOUD.

But when he gets really quiet, I can almost always find him curled up somewhere with a book. The kid loves books. And he's perfectly content to look through books by himself. Maybe he's "reading the pictures." Maybe he's remembering the story from when a grown-up has read it. Maybe he's making up a story.

I watch him and I see him look at each page thoughtfully, turning pages periodically as though he were really reading.  Sometimes he gets to the end and starts over at the beginning, but usually once he finishes one he's on to another. Some mornings he'll go through stacks of books leaving behind a wake of them strewn on the floor.

He doesn't seem to have a specific favorite, but he has always loved Mo Willems' Elephant and Piggie books. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak is another favorite at the moment, and also this Little People Valentine's book (which gets on James' nerves because it's more of a toy than a storybook... Sorry honey! The kid loves it!).

Unfortunately, his love for books does not extend to taking good care of his books. Some of his favorites have been loved literally to pieces... though to be fair, a few classes of first graders loved them a little too hard before Calvin ever got his hands on them. 

Calvin loves books so much, he has taken to snuggling a book with him in bed instead of a stuffie. Last night it was Tomie dePaola's Mother Goose book of nursery rhymes.

Goodnight from Calvin and Mother Goose!

What are your kid's favorite books? Any other Mo Willems fans? My favorite Elephant and Piggie book is My Friend is Sad. So funny and sweet! What about you?

Or how about most annoying books that your kids make you read? Like that Valentine's book!