Not The Dirty Part

Both T and Z have a photo album that contains snapshots of their first year of life. For the last couple of months, Z has been very captivated by hers. She calls it her "Butterfly Book" - for obvious reasons....Anyway, the butterfly book sits on the night stand next to her bed and nearly every night before she goes to bed, Z asks me to "read" the book to her. Reading a photo album simply consists of commenting on the pictures. Our little creature of habit loves routines and though I did not realize it the first time I commented on the pictures, the words that I used to describe the pictures the first go around may as well have been written in the book because Z makes sure that I make the same comments each time we read her book.

For example, on the first page are these two pictures. Apparently the first time we read the book, I said something like, "There you are, still inside mommy's tummy."Followed by, "And here you are - right after you came out of mommy's tummy".Then the next picture, which she recites as, "Baby Girl Levang. Look at those cute little toes!". It's a pretty good little script she has going. And though she might deviate from her commentary ever so slightly, there is one thing that Z is guaranteed to say before we start reading the book each time. Without fail, as we crack open the first page, Z emphatically states, "Don't read the dirty part, Mommy!"

Lest you wonder what kind of photos I have included in Z's photo album, here is a picture from the "dirty part".We've only looked at it one time - the first time through the book - because it seems that for as much as Z enjoyed getting dirty and eating that cupcake on her first birthday, she now chooses not to relive the "dirty part".

OK, Z - we won't read the dirty part. I promise. But I will show it here just one more time :)