Happy Birthday from Dr. Seuss

Tonight at story time, Finley requested Dr. Seuss's Happy Birthday to You. I was glad that he did, because in all the chaos of his golden birthday celebrations yesterday (4 on the 4th!), I forgot to read it to him! 

If you read aloud very much, you might agree that opening a Dr. Seuss book is heavenly.  The words roll off your tongue, the rhymes are all perfect, and they always combine just the right amount of story and silliness.  Justin and I have noticed that although we were both read to a lot growing up and many of our favorite and most familiar books overlap, our family-specific lexicon of Dr. Seuss books is completely different!  Many of the Dr. Seuss books that he grew up with, I've never even heard of, and vice versa.  As you can see from the inscription, this is a book I heard every year on my birthday, and loved growing up!

Tonight, Finley had a running commentary and all sorts of questions throughout the book (which, if you know him, doesn't surprise you!).  My favorites were his frequent gasps of amazement, and his comment about this page:

"Wow!  Mom, I think those animals must be extra-strong, extra-fast, and extra-careful, because they don't even fall in the water!"

I can't believe I have a four-year-old.  He challenges me more than I ever anticipated was possible, and some days I want to send him to boarding school for a couple of years... but in moments like tonight, I am blessed beyond measure to get to be his mommy.

Pictures of Finley's outrageous pirate birthday coming soon...