Quiet Down There!

Part of our bedtime routine with Odin is reading stories. We try to stick to 3 stories a night, but he usually gets more than that (lately his method of getting more has been to say "One more, OK?" - and who can say no to that cuteness!). Anyway, there are many stories that he requests regularly and has started to memorize because he's heard them many times. He started out by remembering select phrases, so as we would read "In the Night Kitchen" he would say, well shout, "Quiet down there!" and "Cock-a-Doodle-Doo!" which was super cute in itself.

One night this weekend, we had finished his stories and he was in bed. I usually sit with him and sing a couple lullabies, but that night he was asking for one more story - Night Kitchen. Instead of fighting about being done with stories, I asked if I could just tell it to him (since there was no way I was turning the light back on, but I had also read the story enough times that I knew it by heart). He said that was ok, so I started reciting the story and was surprised when he joined in right away from the beginning. Then, the other night when we were driving home from the in-laws at bedtime, I heard him telling himself nearly the whole story, starting with "racket in the night..." and ending with "Slid down the side..."

This is clearly one of his favorite books. Some of his other current favorites include Not the Hippopotamus, Inside Outside Upside Down, and for some reason Winnie the Pooh stories. Along with many many others!