Dear Oliver – By the Book

Here we are at another milestone. You are halfway to your second birthday at eighteen months of age, and our paths are still parallel in many ways. We both smile a lot, laugh out loud when we’re amused, and chatter nonsense constantly.

We also like books. Yesterday, when grandma and I were having you stay at our house, I saw you sitting on the floor, thumbing through a book by yourself. Grandma keeps a healthy pile of your books on a shelf under our living room coffee table. They are at your eye level when you are sitting on the floor. You have evolved over the past few months from having little interest in books to sitting quietly as we read them to you to, now, taking a break from playing with your cars and trucks and carefully thumbing through the heavy, cardboard pages pointing to the choo choos, trucks, and cars on the pages.

I also like books. I read every day and I even like to write books. My latest book will be released by my publisher next week. It is a fiction book—a made-up story—and it takes place nearly a hundred years ago in our hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. When I showed it to you, you seemed fascinated. It has no pictures, but I think you will enjoy it when you’re old enough to read. It has animals in it like horses, mules, and elephants. But best of all, you will be able to read about wagons, trucks, and even a choo choo or two.