First a confession: during my first year with the NWT Literacy Council I worked in Family Literacy, talking about the need to start early with child language and literacy development. As a 21-year-old with no kids, I felt like a bit of a fraud talking about this, even with research and experienced people to back me up.
In November, when I found out that I was pregnant I thought, “Great, now I can put all of that knowledge to work!” I intended to talk to and read to my belly every day. I was going to sing silly songs to my belly and make my partner bond with it. What I hadn’t thought about was how ridiculous this would feel when my body was still very much my own. I just felt too silly and stopped.
A few times I thought, “Oh no, I am not talking or reading to the baby and helping its brain grow. It’s going to be born with fewer brain connections!” I finally decided I could cut myself some slack on this commitment since I was doing so many other positive things for the baby.
A few weeks ago I caught myself talking to my now much-larger belly. Suddenly it doesn’t seem so awkward. The conversation is usually as simple as talking about my day, or I read the newspaper out loud instead of silently to myself. I think I needed the size of my belly, and the kicks in response to my voice to feel normal about talking to it.
I also found some comfort in reading an article about baby brain development (http://newsmomsneed.marchofdimes.org/?tag=brain-development) and learning how much happens at the end of a pregnancy.
Today, at 35 weeks, my baby’s brain is only two-thirds the size it will be at 40 weeks. There are lots of brain connections still to be made before and after baby arrives. I will read and sing in the coming weeks, and then in the years to come.
Baby’s first library
During the past eight months we amassed the baby’s first library. Some of the books came from the book-themed baby shower organized recently by my family in New Brunswick. Here are some personal favourites I look forward to sharing with my new baby.
- Love You Forever, by Robert Munsch. My grandmother read this to me as a child, and gave me her old copy to read to my baby.
- The Berenstain Bears’ New Baby, by Stan and Jan Berenstain. My mother made me part with my childhood copy at some point and gave it to my cousins. My aunt gave it back to me for the baby.
- Little You, by Richard Van Camp. I always get great joy reading each of Richard’s baby books.
- The Home Team, by Holly Preston. My partner is a life-long Winnipeg Jets fan, so I had to get this Winnipeg Jets book as soon as I heard about it.
- Trouble with Trolls, by Jan Brett. My friend, Kristina, sent this book all the way from Malawi.
- Two is for Twins, by Wendy Cheyette Lewison: My sister’s sister-in-law and I are both due the same day: this was a gift from her baby to his birth day twin!
You can find more book suggestions in our Snuggle Up Together, Books for Newborns to Pre-schoolers.
-- Katie Randall
