Cleaning out the drafts: UHF - Start 'em young

Wow, I haven't written an "undercover hippie files" post in a long time. This was was started almost a year ago! Perhaps I was waiting to add another book, I have no idea. I also have no idea why the formatting is weird but in an effort to save my sanity, I'm not worrying about it. 

All the World

I just happened to pick this up at the library and both Lucy and I loved it. The poem itself is fine although some may think it is bit deep for kids. The words sound lovely and that is enough for Lucy. It's the illustrations that are great. Beautiful pictures of families having fun together in a variety of settings. It really just gets better as you read it more because the illustrations are the real story and they have so many wonderful little details that Lucy discovers each time we read - the ball that gets left behind, the baby having "milk-milk" and another being worn while the mom is gardening. Update: After multiple readings, I noticed that there seems to be a depiction of a lesbian couple in the illustrations. I didn't notice it we had returned the book to the library and thought bought a copy for ourselves so I doubt Lucy will even notice it but I thought I'd mention it. 

Baby Brother

This was a Lucy selection that turned out to be great. Lovely illustrations and cute story. Mia is writing a letter all about how her cat was acting funny and ended up having kittens while you see mom preparing for a new arrival herself and actually having a home birth (not at all graphic though, don't worry). We checked this out pre-Dewey but I think I'll make sure we check it out again several times before September.

The Biggest Bed in the World

A more comical take on co-sleeping. As his family gets more kids (and more pets), poor daddy gets tired of having no room. He keeps building a bigger bed but it doesn't seem to help. Lucy doesn't quite get the comedy of this one, but I think Craig and I can appreciate the humor. We love co-sleeping, but it does have it's moments too.


Nursies when the sun shines 

We read this as "Milk-milk when the sun shines" since Lucy got this for Christmas with the hopes that it will ease the night weaning process. It perfectly illustrates the reason for this post. My post title aside, I don't really pick up books like these because I think I need to indoctrinate Lucy or because I am horrified to see her read a book about a baby drinking from a bottle or sleeping in a crib. I search for books like these because Lucy really likes to see babies doing things the way she is used to. She got so excited when she saw the mommy, daddy and baby snuggling together in bed and was overjoyed when she saw the cat was at the foot of the bed too. She kept pointed to them and then to us. I'm pretty sure she won't be excited when I tell her no more milk at 2am, but it can't hurt to encourage her along. The words are very simply, as they should be, the point is to convey the idea that everyone, mommies, babies and nursies, sleep at night, but wake up in the morning. The illustrates are pretty but be forewarned, baby does get nursies in the morning as promised and the mom isn't using a nursing cover! But I'm guessing if you want this book, that won't be much of an issue for you.