Over the past week or so, Laura has developed a new habit during her nap and at bedtime. We tuck her in as usual, and all is quiet. Then, after a bit, we start to hear thumping noises. And when we go in to get her up, her bed generally looks like the above photo, often with books also on the floor (hence the thumping sounds).
I find this interesting because we have always marveled at the fact that neither Clare nor Danny ever budged from their beds once they switched out of the crib. Not once, until we finally told them at around age 6 or so that they did not have to wait for us to get them up in the mornings. Laura has also followed this trend, with the new exception of helping herself to a whole lot of books.
Naturally I love that my kids all love books. In fact, as I write on this Monday morning, Laura is voluntarily in her room, "reading." And it warmed my heart yesterday morning when I went in to get her and found her reading aloud to one of her stuffed animals. I will say, though, that the quality and duration of her sleep has deteriorated a bit since the book hoarding began. Last night first I, then later Tim, had to go in and bring down the hammer as the thumping continued a good hour past the moment we tucked her in. This led to a whole lot of sobbing. But as Danny remarked on one of her sob fests, "Dude, that's just Laura."
She is loud, moody, and emotional, but she has stolen our hearts as deftly as she nabs those books.
