bu'

When Leona was little (more little than now), I tried reading 'full and real' stories to her a few times, and a few of those few times she seemed interested in sitting through an entire short storybook. Most times though, once she got the hang of it, she was interested in turning the pages herself, and fast, so the story would often go like this:

There was an egg under a leaf, and pop out came a catapillar that was so hungery. [in rapid fire:] He ate an apple, three plums, four strawberres, three plums, two pears, five oranges, and tons of stuff and got a tummy ache, and ate tons of stuff, and he became a beautiful butterfly!, and ate a juicy green leaf, and became big and fat and built a cocoon, the end. A beautiful butterfly!

and so on until she was done. ... or until I just stopped narrating and let her enjoy her page-flipping (though she does seem to quite enjoy "A beautiful butterfly!").

In her toy 'corner' in the livingroom her thick-cardboard-page books have been a part of the pile since we got here, and she has flipped through them sometimes on her own, or we do the short stories like above, but we haven't particularly focused on them - just following her lead.

Around two or three weeks ago I did the sign for book a few times when I approached her when she was reading "You're reading your book [+sign]". Last week she said bu' and put her hands together, and since that instant, she's been ALL about her books. Still no long stories in this house, of course. I mean, it is Leona we are talking about. She can sit still for all of 15 seconds (but then she can also be absorbed in reading pamphlets, working on something with some toys, or standing by the window looking at the world outside, all for minutes and minutes on end). Not that she can't play on her own a lot, but it is more like a waltz around the room.

She will also now bring her book over to us, lay down using us as a pillow or beside us (on the floor), and if we're not laying down already she will first pat the cushens ("lay down here") and then lay down, and open the book, and then 3 or 7 seconds later get up again, and then lay down again, etc., etc.