The Next Reading Level

A recent post by our fellow bloggers over at the Jones Abode got me thinking about Ella and her book experiences. Up to now, she has displayed more of a "deconstructive" personality with objects including books (rather than a more studious one like her friend Aiden). Whatever she gets her hands on, she tries to figure out how it comes apart by shaking, pulling, etc. For example, she has figured out that lids often come off of things when she hits them hard against the floor. Maybe it's still too early yet, but it is difficult to read a book to Ella in the traditional sense. She wants to grab and pull the book before you can get to the end of the first page most of the time.

Ella loves animals (remember the seagulls?), so Melody picked up a really nice Animal Encyclopedia book for her the other day. It features big pictures of all the major animals. To our surprise, Ella really loves to sit (semi-still) and look at it while we turn the pages... although, I'm not sure if she is really curious with the pictures or just dumbfounded with our attempts to imitate the animal sounds. Her favorite is the cat page.
Perhaps this is because she got to know my parents' cat Ashes on a previous trip to the East Coast, and who recently died. This was Ella's first experience of losing a loved one :) RIP Ashes.