troublemaker

it's 10:15pm as i type, and just an hour ago, i thought "oh, no! i forgot to take my project life 365 photo of the day! {i guess i didn't really forget... we just had one of those non-stop busy days where you are constantly on the go and were with several friends and family from beginning to end.} so i went to see what the photo challenge was for today and sort of let out a sigh of disappointment when i saw it was "troublemaker"... mostly because i rarely take good night-time photos due to the low light. but "troublemaker" for a photo prompt had isaac written all over it! so i felt conflicted letting that one slide by.

i decided it couldn't hurt to try. sometimes i get lucky and find he's actually sitting still enough to shoot even without natural light.

yes... he was still up at 9:15. we had a long, full day... had just gotten back from dinner out to thank a couple people who helped us move. i knew isaac was somewhere in the house winding down, and i realized it seemed suspiciously quiet. that was actually what made me think this would be a perfect opportunity... it's usually when he's the quietest that he's getting into the most trouble. par for the toddler course, right?

so i went looking for trouble and found him next to our bed with a large pile of books strewn around him. quietly reading. not really making trouble, i guess. instead, making messy a once-neat stack of books.

but, oh, how i love to see that he loves to read. not being a big reader myself, i've really wanted to make a concerted effort to encourage a strong enjoyment of books and reading in him. it was the reason i amassed a rather large collection of children's books from the time i found out i was pregnant until now. several were given to us, but the majority were collected by me over time from new stores, second-hand stores, antique stores and garage sales. i recently cataloged all of his books. {yes... i'm a nerd. but that's already been established in my last post. *wink*... and let the record state, i cataloged them before i got my new glasses, lest you think wearing them cast some sort of catalog-happy spell over me. i just like to catalog things we have large volumes of, like music and movies... and books!}

anyway, he's got just over 400 books! crazy, i know. but he'll never want for books. and we won't be needing to take so many trips to the library, which comes in handy when we've no car to get there.

i know what you're thinking. if i had not bought all the books, we'd have enough money to buy a second car, right? =)

but hold up!... most were bought used and cost between a mere twenty-five to seventy-five cents. so, i guess you're right {if you were one of those thinking it}, but it would be one jalopy of a car!

oh, how i digress! the point i was getting to is that i may have gone a little overboard in the book-buying department, but the way i see it, i'd much rather he have too many books than too many toys or too many electronic gadgets and games. i want him to lose himself in a world of imagination that books can ignite. good old-fashioned page-turning books.

so, messy or not, i'm thrilled to see him reading. in fact, i'm always tickled when he brings me a book to read to him or when he picks one out at our prompting before bed for story-time. but to see him go in and look at his books all on his own is such a sweet joy that makes me a proud and glad mama. after cars {a collection of which is nowhere near 400... phew!!}, he loves books most.

and i love that about him.

there you have it. troublemaker.

and if this photo doesn't say troublemaker enough for you, you can take my word for it that he was a really big pain in our necks after his far-too-short nap today... and during his worst-ever {what seemed endless} tantrum fest that followed.

yes!... trou.ble.ma.ker.with.a.cap.i.tal.TRuh!