I’m pleased to announce that the Rebecca Reads family has grown by one! My second child, a little girl, was born February 22 at 6:25 in the morning. She was 7 lbs 7 oz and is doing well at being a newborn baby. I feel fantastic. This pregnancy was a lot more uncomfortable than my first, so I’m delighted that baby Strawberry Shortcake is here to cuddle and that I am no longer pregnant!
I have a personal policy to not post pictures of my children on this site, since it is public, so I apologize that I cannot share with you a picture of my beautiful little girl! I will tell you that she has red hair like I do, like my husband does, and like my son does. And given the fact that she’s half a pound larger than my son was, she looks positively chunky to me! Very squishy and adorable.
I had intended to name her Monkey as a nickname on this site, but it just didn’t seem to fit her. Strawberry Shortcake, on the other hand, is just perfect. So…Raisin and Strawberry it is for my kids here…he he he.
As can be expected, I haven’t felt much like reading the last two weeks since Strawberry made her appearance. But I did get a few things read and reviewed in the first half of the month! Everything I list below was finished before February 22. I even had the reviews started for the last two, I just didn’t get to posting them.
Reviewed in February/Read in January
- Shakespeare: The World as a Stage by Bill Bryson
- Sleepwalking Land by Mia Couto (African fiction from Mozambique)
Read and/or Reviewed in February
- Frozen Secrets: Antarctica Revealed by Sally Walker
- Plum Bun by Jessie Redmon Faucet (Harlem Renaissance reading)
- Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (to celebrate Valentine’s Day)
- The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers (for my Classics Book Club)
- Fleas, Flies, and Friars: Children’s Poetry from the Middle Ages by Nicholas Orme (Review copy)
- Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes by Tamim Ansary (for my “learn about Islamic history” project)
- A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond (read aloud to my son; no review coming.)
- Quicksand by Nella Larsen (Harlem Renaissance reading; review in progress)
- The Mormon People by Matthew Bowman (Review copy; review in progress)
My March will mostly be spent cuddling my newborn and cherishing these first days. I am reading her The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett during some of our many feeding times. I’m also reading a Boxcar Children book aloud to Raisin.
Yesterday, I finished Charles and Mary Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare (brief plot summaries written in 1807 for children), about which I have mixed thoughts. I may read another Harlem Renaissance novel this month (Cane by Jean Toomer). I’d also like to read a Victorian novel: I’m aiming for something short with Erewhon by Samuel Butler. If I’m up to it, I’m starting Vanity Fair next month. My classics book group is reading The Hunchback of Notre Dame this month, which I read in preparation a few months ago. I may start reading The Great Arab Conquests for my “learn about Islamic history” project, and I have a few review books that I may begin on my nook. I may read some African short stories (I have Adichie’s stories, as well as a slim volume with four stories by both Bessie Head and Ngugi Wa Thiong’o).
I’m really trying hard not to make too many “goals” here. I’m sure the urge to cuddle my baby and nap are going to override everything else. But it’s nice to have options in case I do feel like reading. That’s what I intend this post to be: a list of reading options for me if I do feel like reading when I happen to be awake in the middle of the night with my baby.
What’s new in your home this month?
What books have you read and/or posted about that I may have missed? Obviously, I’m a bit behind on reading blogs. Let me know if I missed something fantastic from your blog!
Congratulations Rebecca! I’m glad to hear everyone is happy and healthy.
Congrats, again! Feb 22 is a good day to be born; that’s my sister’s bday. 😀
Congrats Rebecca! I’m glad you’re all doing well 🙂
Congratulations! And welcome to the world Strawberry Shortcake!
Congratulations! I can’t think of a better first book to read to your daughter than “The Secret Garden.” She’s already well on her way to being well-read. Enjoy these first weeks and best of luck!
Hello! And congrats on the new little Rebeccalette! So nice tohear that you’re reading her The Secret Garden. 🙂
Just stopping by to say congratulations! Enjoy these early days, they are so precious.
Congratulations to all of you, and welcome Strawberry Shortcake!
Congratulations! 🙂 The Secret Garden is a great book!
congratulations on your new family member, and on managing to read so much with young children to take care of. February was a good reading month for me, but I have no children! see my wrap-up: http://wordsandpeace.com/2012/03/01/february-wrap-up/
I know I said it on facebook already, but congrats Rebecca! 🙂
Congrats again on the new baby, Rebecca!
Yay! Congratulations, Rebecca 🙂
Congrats Rebecca! I love that you are starting her on the right path with a classic. 😉 I’m looking forward to seeing your posts again!
Oh, Rebecca, congratulations! That’s so wonderful! Strawberry is an adorable nickname and I’m sure the baby is as cute as her name. Many many many congratulations to you, your husband, and Raisin.
Congratulations to the whole family, and welcome little Strawberry to the world!
Congratulations! Have a wonderful time with your new little girl!
Congratulations on your new little one! I have two girls, so I naturally think having girls is wonderful! We will all be impressed by any reading/blogging time you have with a newborn, so don’t feel too much pressure. Just enjoy her!
Congrats on the new addition to your family!
Congrats on the new addition!
Congratulations! So glad to hear that your little girl is here safe and sound and that the two of you are doing well. The fact that you’re getting any reading done with a newborn around is truly remarkable!
Wonderful news, Rebecca! Take care of both wee Strawberry and big brother Raisin- and, of course, yourself!
Congratulations! I love that you’re not wasting any time waiting to read to your newest little one.
I know I already said this on Twitter BUT
Congrats!!! And I love her nickname. 😀
Oh, I’m so glad to hear about your new little girl and that you are doing well! Strawberry sure is a lucky baby to have a mama who loves books and reads to her.
Congratulations and it’s lovely that she has red hair too. The first thing the midwife said about me was – ‘It’s a strawberry blonde.’ I had two blond boys though.
Congrats! Welcome to the world, little Strawberry! 🙂 She sounds adorable from your description!
Congrats Rebecca! I hope Strawberry will grow up to be a reader like the rest of the family! And that you manage to keep reading while juggling two kids!
Congratulations Rebecka! I hope will will have a wonderful time with your newborn.
So exciting! It’s incredible isn’t having a little one in the house. I had mine on the 23rd of February! A week early and he was born 7lbs 11oz. I love him but its hard – I don’t how you do it with another one already! I suppose ill find out soon enough. Congratulations.
Congratulations, Rebecca, on your new baby girl! She’s born on my younger sister’s birthday, and our cousin, so tell her it’s a good day. My sister is sweet and lots of fun, so I hope – expect! – your daughter will be too. And a love of books, if you are reading to her already! lol I admire you for setting reading goals, my reading dropped badly after the birth of my third child, until I counted up what I read the year after his birth and it was 37 books. I think you’ve already passed that total this year! I wish you many cuddles and smiles from your new one, and hugs from your Raisin.