Books On Infant Development Novels & Stories

Inside, I found hundreds of notes in Axel’s handwriting. He noted the things he liked and put my name and a question mark on a few others. Many of the notes were about what to get depending on the gender of the baby. There were also notes about whether something would be safe for an infant. Tears filled my eyes as I flipped through a few more magazines. At the bottom of the box was a book for mothers who were expecting, as well as a book for fathers. In only a week, it seemed Axel had put in a lot of effort and was excited about having a child.

And app​a⁠rently, he had decided that know‍ing everything mea‍n​t stu‍dying. T​he next mo‌rning, I di‌s​covered just how ser⁠ious h​e was. I walked into the livin​g ro‌om a‍nd‌ stopped cau⁠s⁠e the‌re we​re books everywh‍ere.​ Pregnan⁠cy books, parent‌ing books, books​ about⁠ newborn‍s and⁠ books about twi​ns. T‌here was even one‍ titl‍ed Understanding Your⁠ B‌aby’s First Year.

"I'm gonna guess that's not the way his mom remembers it." She smiles and reshelves the book. "That's actually a really sweet book. And if Chance was older, I would buy it right now. But he's turning one." "So?" I follow her as she walks around to another shelf. "So right now he's going to do two things with books… eat them and tear the pages. We'd better get some board books." We spend the next several minutes looking at books that are very obviously written for babies. Most of them have only one picture on the page and are a quarter of the size of a regular book.

“And I don’t care. As long as they’re healthy.” “Right. Healthy. Of course.” He was already reaching for the stack of books on his bedside table. “Did you know that at six months, the baby can hear our voices? We should be talking to them more. Let me read you this chapter about fetal development…” “Kael.” I placed my hand over the book. “It’s five in the morning. Can the educational reading wait until after breakfast?” He looked torn. “But it’s important…” “Breakfast first. Baby facts later.” I swung my legs out of bed. “Now help me up before I get stuck here.”

Emma had always loved this place, and today, it felt like the perfect spot to keep the fun vibe going. “Alright, let’s see if we can’t find something for your little one,” Ava said as they entered, heading straight for the children’s book section. “I know you’ve already gotten a bunch of baby stuff, but books—books are essential. They don’t need to be fancy, just ones that’ll make your baby smile someday.” Emma smiled, her hand resting lightly on her belly as she scanned the shelves. “I love that idea. You’re right, we can never have enough books.”

she said brightly, thrusting the books into my arms without so much as a warning. I staggered slightly under the weight, blinking at her. “What are these?” Jessica beamed, looking far too pleased with herself. “Books on pregnancy, of course! I want you to finish reading them all. There’s so much to learn about what’s best for the baby!” I stared at the stack, the titles screaming words like ‘prenatal nutrition’, ‘what to expect when you're expecting’, and ‘perfect parenting from day one’. Inwardly, I cried.

“He’s trying to figure out why grown adults find shaking toys so fascinating.” Carmen wiggled the rattle again. “Because we’re fascinating.” Jayden let out a small gurgling sound, his arms flailing slightly as he kicked his legs. Evelyn leaned forward instinctively, steadying him. “Easy, little man.” She reached for one of the cloth books lying beside them and opened it, turning the pages slowly so Jayden could see the contrasting colors, animals, shapes and big, exaggerated faces designed to stimulate developing eyes. “Once upon a time,” she read softly, not because Jayden understood the words, but because he recognized her voice. “There was a very brave baby lion…”

she trails off. Her eyes get watery and I reach for her cheek. She lets me caress it and I feel like a total dick. One of the books catches my eye and I look down to see a copy of “Pup April’s First Tooth.” Then there is, “The Magic of The Moon.” I read these to Scarlett when she was an infant. “Let me see those,” I say, pointing. She hands them to me and I flip through the books to see they’re all literally for babies. Cassandra left her fucking infant books to read. That bitch!

That did not take much convincing. I spent the rest of the morning reading reviews for parenting books, and wound up ordering a small library’s worth of titles. Alexander had left me with his credit card, telling me to get whatever I needed. So I ordered a bookshelf as well, somewhere to keep all the other stuff I was buying. It wasn’t like I was going to read everything before the baby arrived. But I could get through a fair few books in a couple weeks. And I’d start at the beginning, learning first about newborn care, and then move on to the early childhood education titles later.

He took the early morning stretches. He had read three books on infant development during the pregnancy and he applied this knowledge with a quiet seriousness that would have been funny if it were not also exactly right. I found him at three in the morning once, sitting in the chair in the nursery with Eleanor against his shoulder, reading something on his phone with one hand and patting her back rhythmically with the other. He was reading what appeared to be a geological survey. He looked up when I appeared in the doorway. “She is not asleep yet," he said, as if this required explanation.