Maddie

We took an evening trip to the park and I realized how much my daughter has grown. We haven't been to the park much this summer; I think it has something to do with the blazing heat. So my memory of park trips are from the beginning of the year, when Maddie was just a little thing. She has lost any hesitation for fully enjoying the playground equipment. She thinks she can crawl up any climbing apparatus, without Mom's assistance of course. She loves to hang from monkey bars, and is always yelling "a big one!" when I'm pushing her on the swings.

She is very much into books; which I love! She will sit in her bedroom and "read" through them one by one. She has become more independent in her playing and can entertain herself without Mom. Too many times she says, "No Mom. No following!"

She's the cutest little singer, especially when she doesn't realize I'm listening. I'm amazed at how much she recalls from my singing to her at night. She has picked up on a few of my key phrases as well, "Just a minute!" (which I say way too often to her). And the other day we were at Fiesta Mall, she was in the ice cream truck, I was ordering my hot dog from her when she asked, "Do you want a Diet Dr. Pepper?" Um, too many drive through McDonald's trips for Mom. I'm surprised she didn't ask me if I wanted light ice.

She is so funny about naming herself and her parents after movie characters. Among her alter egos are Nemo, McQueen, Hogarth, Birthday Bear, Gus, Pablo, Boots...I can't keep track of them all. But the amazing thing is, she can! Plus all of our corresponding names. By us I mean me, Casey and Raheem. She sometimes includes other family members as well.

When did my daughter outgrow her toddler-ness!?

The Art of Racing in the Rain

This is a story told through the perspective of Enzo, a dog. When choosing this book, I thought, "Oh it's from a dog's perspective, there won't be any language or bad scenes, dogs won't think that way." Nope, still had the language. But despite that aspect, I still ended up enjoying it. I cried on several occasions, fretted on many others and had a few giggles here and there (but very few.)
Enzo's owner, Denny, is a race car driver, and Enzo shares his love for the "sport." It's the story of Denny's struggles with his wife and daughter, and Enzo's readiness to become a human. If you're looking for a happy, uplifting, cheerful book; this isn't what you're looking for.

Naptime

There are two bad words in our house: "dinnertime" and "naptime." Lately Maddie has been beyond stubborn when it comes to her naps, and she has learned she can climb out of her crib, so my attempts are pretty fruitless. I usually resort to lying with her on the couch until she falls asleep, but today she wouldn't even do that. I put on a movie for myself and continued to ask her to come lay down by me. She would smile, then retreat to play under her table. She sang made up songs. I heard words here and there about things she had done recently. She played with her fork like it was a doll. She tried to eat popcorn kernels she found on the floor. She asked for her McQueen pillow and eventually...fell asleep. I love this stubborn girl.

August Reading

I've been waiting so long for this book to come out. If you haven't read the Hunger Games series, do it! And it's fabulous that all three are out now (that's the entire series), because you can just read them one right after another. I didn't reread Catching Fire before Mockinjay, and I found myself confused on a few happenings and characters. It's a series I will definitely reread and definitely own as soon as possible. It's the story of Katniss, a seventeen year old girl, who participates in the Hunger Games. The Capitol is the head of Panem. Panem is made up of 13 districts. The Capitol is evil and controls the districts. The Hunger Games is an annual fight to the death, among children from each district. There's your general summary.
I will say this; I did like Mockingjay a lot. When I first closed the book; I didn't love it, but after contemplation, I feel quite satisfied with how it all ended. I hope to discuss more with others who've read it. Thank you Suzanne Collins. Bring on the movie!