I am so smart! S-M-R-T!

In Abbie’s first couple of months, when she was awake she wanted to be held. Setting her down for any selfish reason (such as preparing a bottle, running to the bathroom, or putting out a grease fire) ran the risk of a full-blown meltdown. Now that Abbie is a little older, she tolerates, even (dare I say it?) enjoys a little time on the floor. While on the floor, her favorite activity, besides hunting for dog food, may be looking at books. Even though she has a stockpile of battery-powered toys with irritating sounds and epileptic seizure-inducing lights, she spends the most time with those brain-building books. We’re raising a genius. Here’s a photo for visual reference.



She can spend minutes at a time quietly sitting on the floor, skimming through the pages, pulling the flaps down, discovering creative ways to bend cardboard. Even though she reads only durable board books, she’s been very good at figuring out how to destroy them. Several pages have been bent. (If a page won’t turn, just push harder!) Some books are falling apart at the binding. She has a pop-up book that she treats like a lift-the-flap book, and that one I removed from her clutches before she could fully detach its pivotal pop-up plot points. She actually managed to destroy the book she’s reading in the picture by tearing off the back cover/last page. Not by any malicious yanking action mind you, just by attempting to turn that final page a little too far.