\u00a0<\/em>It’s about a little boy who has several imaginary adventures, always hunting the “world’s greatest treasure.” In one adventure he’s a superhero; in another he’s a cowboy; in another he is a pirate, and so on.<\/p>\n He always has his mom’s encouragement: “Mom says I’m so tough!”\/”Mom says I’m so brave!”\/”Mom says I’m so cool!”<\/p>\n At the end of the book, after all of his adventures, he puts on his pajamas and sits in a chair with his mom. When she asks him why he’s not dressed for another treasure-hunting adventure, this is what happens.<\/p>\n He tells her he doesn’t need to hunt for the world’s greatest treasure because\u00a0she<\/em>\u00a0is the world’s greatest treasure.<\/p>\n Sidenote: my hormones, which had me ugly-crying at diaper commercials when I was pregnant with Emrick, have never quite returned to normal. So the first time I read this to Emrick, when he was about four months old, I got choked up. I got\u00a0really\u00a0<\/em>choked up. Of course at the time, Emrick understood books to be little more than a teething toy. Still, for the next year at least, I could not read this book to him without a quiver in my voice at the end. And that’s not because I think Emrick thinks that I am his greatest treasure, but because\u00a0he\u00a0<\/em>is mine.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n I can read this book just fine now. No quivers, no tickle in the throat, no mist in the eye. But recently I have been telling Emrick daily that he is my greatest treasure. Sometimes I tell him at night, when he is worn out from passionately and tearfully resisting bedtime, lying defeated in my arms with his head on my shoulder. And sometimes I tell him during the day, and in response he grins and repeats, “greatest treasure.” He doesn’t know what that means, but he will soon enough.<\/p>\n Emrick is 33.25 inches tall and weighs 26 pounds, 10.5 ounces. Marcus and I think he’s the greatest thing since… ever.<\/p>\n \u00a0 We love you, Pookie Pie!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Emrick is exactly two and a half years old today. This is his 913th day of life. It feels like the 913th day of mine, too. When I was pregnant with Emrick, I was still teaching here in Utah. Another teacher gave me a children’s book that I didn’t read in its entirety until a … <\/p>\n![\"IMG_5795\"](\"https:\/\/marcusandshona.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/IMG_5795.jpg\")
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