Jessica Alba: Pregnancy Is a Maternal Time, Not a Sexy One

Jessica Alba is expecting her second child later this year, and she’s feeling “good” — albeit not sexy.

“I just don’t associate being pregnant with being sexy,” the actress, 29, told PEOPLE Wednesday at the National Education Association’s Read Across America Day kickoff in Washington, D.C., where she brought along 2½-year-old daughter Honor Marie.

“I think being pregnant is grounding and you feel like part of the earth and connected with women. It’s not a sex thing to me. It’s a grounding, maternal thing.”

Daughter Honor will be “a very attentive big sister,” says Alba of her toddler, who sat on her lap while First Lady Michelle Obama read from Green Eggs and Ham at the event, held at the Library of Congress.

“Horton Hatches the Egg is her favorite,” Alba says, listing the Pinkalicious and Goldilicious book series as other popular picks. “We read that at least four times a week because she likes the same book over and over again. Usually, it’s more than that because we read throughout the day. And at night, we read at least two or three stories.”

When asked if she knows the sex of her baby, the actress demurred. “We’re going to find out, but we probably won’t announce it,” she explained. “We did the same with Honor.”

She was less coy when revealing her daughter’s latest milestone — Honor’s just started potty training.

“She has a Potty Time book with animals that she’s obsessed with. It teaches you manners like washing your hands and closing the door … basic little kid manners,” shares Alba.

And it seems Honor is coming into her own. She’s already memorizing stories that her parents often read to her and learning to identify important words — like her name!

“I try to identify small words for her to read. We’ve got it down to ‘bed’ — the one word if she sees it, she knows it. And ‘Honor.’ She can identify the letters in her name. So we play little games while we’re reading and I’ll say, ‘Can you find the ‘H’ on the page or the ‘O?’ Her name is the easiest thing for her to identify.”

Alba, who is married to a “supportive, most loving and caring” Cash Warren, admits the second time is “less overwhelming and less daunting, for sure.”

“You accept that you’re going to make mistakes, that you’re going to try your hardest and you’ll love them with your everything,” says Alba. “That’s all you can do.”

— Arnesa A. Howell