Booktastic

Pondering
Originally uploaded by billyjoebob.

Punkin, your uncle Nicholas, it should be said here, is one of the members of the "books are awesome" crowd. It is therefore obvious that when he heard that your arrival was imminent, he went to his local purveyour of books and made the effort to purchase what I think are four of the staples, the concrete base, of a life that will be endlessly enriched by an association with the printed word. In no particular order, then, I tell you the following.

Your uncle (and aunt Amy of the USA) sent you some of the books that will no doubt become your favourites, and I therefore sat with you this morning before I left for work and read one of them to you. These books were some of may favourites, and I hope they'll be some of yours.

Where the Wild Things Are

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Green Eggs and Ham

The Cat in The Hat

I'm not yet taking bets on which one or ones will be your favourite - I know that when we visited your mate Sam on the weekend he was firmly in the camp of 'books that I can chew on', but I'm fairly sure that that will change in the not too distant future.

Certainly your Rowdy Grammy will be on the case, I spoke to her on the weekend, and she's decided that when she gets back to Australia she's going to be the grandmother in charge of library visits. Being that she's a librarian, and has been for much longer than you've been alive, you should be in good hands.

The thing that most struck me this morning, as we opened up this lovely package sent from afar, was that it had been posted on the 28th of April, a full week before you were born. Being that your uncle lives so far away, it took that long to get here. You've made such a huge impact on our lives, and changed so much, that it's hard to keep hold of the idea that you've been here for such a short time. My life, it seems, will be forever divided into two parts. Before you and after you. Certainly, now that I'm getting to know you, I feel secure in saying that I never want to go back to being without you.

Love you.