"P Loves Books!"

I woke up this morning to my 2 year old daughter loudly exclaming with delight "P loves books!" Now you may be wondering who "P" is... it is quite simply the way she refers to herself half of the time, which I'm assuming stems from our choice of "Miss P" as one of her nicknames. Anyway, I smile upon hearing this - her latest proclamation - and find it even more adorable the level of excitement with which she shares it. I mean there could be worse things for her to be so passionate about, right? She could be passionate about poop (and other bodily functions), candy, screaming, dressing herself, Teletubbies, and/or the word "NO" as many toddlers often are. Lucky for me, she thinks books are as great as any prize you might find at the bottom of the Cracker Jacks box. I guess she comes by it naturally. I love books and her daddy loves books (although his love of books is mostly limited to those about Dirk Pitt, James Bond or Jason Bourne). Not to mention her Nana, Pop, Grandma, Grandpa and Great-Granddaddy are all big readers as well. It's just in her genes! I only regret that quiet time with my books is hard to come by these days. Oh sure, I read... every day in fact! Just not my choice of Harry Potter, Patricia Cornwall or Oprah book club novels. No, my book selections consist mostly of Eloise, The Clumsy Crab, Fancy Nancy and Thomas The Train. It's amazing the things you can learn from a talking train. Seriously!
The other day I was reading to Paisley before bedtime. I told her it was the last book for the night and as I approached the end, she quickly picked up another book for me to read. I asked her what the magic word was and she replied "Thank you, Mama, thank you." Please... thank you... they are interchangable sometimes for a 2 year old, I suppose.
One thing I know for sure: "P loves books" ALMOST as much as "Mama loves Miss P!"