July Book Review

Hey fellow book friends, it's been awhile! I was stuck on reading Jane Eyre forever, but I finally finished! I can't wait to share my thoughts with all of you as well as Babywise II! I took a slight break from Jane Eyre at the end of June/beginning of July to read through Babywise and Babywise II since Kai was reaching the next stage in his development! I originally only read the newborn to 12 weeks old parts of Babywise so that I wouldn't get overwhelmed with info, so I went back through to read the new parts and refresh on the general idea. Babywise II also highlights 5 months and on up to the time your baby becomes a toddler, so I tagged that on the my mom reading for the month. So here we go with a couple of book club chats!

Babywise II -Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam

So as most of you know, we're a Babywise family. We read the first book, On Becoming Babywise, at the end of last year. You can read that review here. The PDF method has gone extremely well for us. Kai sleeps so well, eats so well, and is so happy all the time and we can attribute so much of that to working hard at implementing the Babywise method from the beginning. We knew we wanted to continue on with this guidance even after we got Kai sleeping through the night because it's more than just that. It's all about his development and behavior all the time. Babywise II covers solid foods, the difference between punishment vs consequences, starting sign language, and good methods of play for the 5+ month old. It is a much shorter and quicker read compared to the first book, so it was a breeze to get through.

I liked Babywise II, but not as much as the first book. The book goes over solid foods, but I was hoping for more guidance on it since the first book is very centered around eating and sleeping. This book seemed a lot more concentrated on parenting and behavior, which I personally already have a good idea of how we want to go about "raising" Kai. The book gave some good pointers about staying consistent and starting out the way you always want to do things but those are things I already knew. It did touch upon a good way of starting solid foods though and did give some advice on foods to avoid, which I found really helpful. I also enjoyed the section about punishment vs consequences. Babies do not have a conscious, so punishment this early on is pointless.. When they misbehave, it is not intentional...they just don't know! So instead of implementing punishments when they do something you don't want them to do, instead you should go for consequences. One way we've started doing this is with Kai dropping toys on the ground. We pick them up for him twice, but if he drops it a third time, we take it away. Kind of like a three strikes your out thing. This way he will start to learn that if he drops his toys off his highchair or while he's on our lap in a chair, we will only grab it a couple of times if he accidentally drops it, but not if he keeps doing it because it's "fun." We also like the idea of starting sign language with Kai. We've started doing the sign for "more" when he's eating and I think he's slowly catching on! So essentially I liked bits and pieces of it, but overall I give it just an average rating. If you are looking for some help with solids and schedules though, give it a try, but I wouldn't bother reading the rest unless you are really lost on parenting styles. However, I have a couple of better recommendations for those kinds of books here and here.

You can buy Babywise II on Amazon.

Jane Eyre -Charlotte Bronte

I decided to take on this classic this past spring and it while it took me awhile to finish, it wasn't because I didn't like it, it was just because it was really really long and I'm a working mom. Jane Eyre is the story of a girl who is orphaned and grows up with a mean aunt and cousins, a little Cinderella if you ask me. She is eventually sent off to school where she excels and takes on a life around education. She falls in love, has her heart broken, but in the end gets what she deserves. There are lot of ups and downs and exciting moments all through the book and the ending is so heartwarming.

I really loved this book. Jane is an amazing and inspirational character. She's someone I would love to have lunch with and discuss books with. She is just such a likable character and I love her interactions with everyone she comes across. Her love story is fascinating and takes a lot of unexpected twists and turns but I just love the way all of it ends. It's one of those books where you question if it will end happy and while it's not all sunshine and rainbows, I believe it ends perfectly. So while it was really long and took a long time to read from start to end, it was so worth it to read. I highly recommend it if you love the classics and have some time to invest in a longer book!

You can buy Jane Eyre on Amazon.

Be sure to add me on Goodreads so we can be book buddies! I'm currently reading David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. I tried once before and failed, so wish me luck this time! What are you currently reading?!