And so it begins.  Again.

Part of the reason my husband prefers I be a stay-at-home mom is so that I can play a major role in the development of our girls (As if being their mother isn’t already playing a major role eh?).  Brain Architect was his term.  As we mentioned before I had taught Sam to read beginning at the ripe old age of 3 months, and now she pretty much reads simple sentences and books on her own.  She can read anything actually, it’s just a matter of helping her with the correct pronunciation of difficult words (ie she pronounces “duvet” as “doo-veht”, latte” as “layt”, or “expressed” as “express-said”).  KK our doula was quite impressed when one afternoon I whipped out my pump to express milk and Sam, who had never seen the machine before, came up to us and said, “Pump Style Mom!”  At first we didn’t understand what she was saying, until KK spotted the phrase on the machine and put two and two together.

At the very least, I am expected to make the same effort and provide Jamie with the same opportunity to learn to read.  She is approaching 3 months and as she is sleeping less and interacting more, there is more time to fill with productive activities.  (It just dawned on me that I’ve still got all the DVDs memorized in my head from watching it EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.)

When I started this blog Sam had already been reading for a year, so we only talked about the end result.  Now we catch the beginning of the process and hopefully discover something new.  I can’t guarantee we’ll end up in the same spot as we did with Sam, but we can try to make it a pleasant process for Jamie nonetheless.  After all each child is different, and Jamie may not be as interested in it as Sam was.  Or conversely, she may be a much faster learner; in which case I have my work cut out for me.  My only hope is that it will help her appreciate reading to eventually make it easier for her in the long run.

Most people who know what Sam is capable of, say that she’s a tough act to follow and that there is pressure on Jamie to learn as her big sister did.  I for one wish she wouldn’t follow in the exact footsteps since I’ve been down that road before.  I want to get something new out of this entire process too!  The nice part about it is that Sam, the doting older sister (We will devote a post to the Big Sister soon!), mommy’s little helper, wants to be part of this process too, and so she gives her own commentary while Jamie watches the video or reads the books with me.  What effect that will have on the entire process remains to be seen in a few months!

In the meantime, here we are:  Same video.  New child, new circumstances — new challenges.  Let’s do this!