Wearing Her Out

I try to keep Rebekah as physically busy as possible in the hopes that she will sleep through the night better. Swimming is great and she does seem to move a lot, especially now that she is actually swimming most of the hour and not simply playing. Recently her teacher let her try a pair of flippers. She soared through the water and loved it! We decided to race. Obviously I am not a swimmer and don't really know what I am doing but I get by. Rebekah gave me a head start. I turn around to swim on my back and watch her come and oh my! It was crazy seeing her gain on me. She looked like a little shark! She is so graceful how she swims with her face in, arms by her sides, and legs pointed in those flippers. It is simply beautiful!

After the swim she still seemed to have some energy so we went to the park on her bike. She is starting to really go fast thanks to her friend Grayson. We got half way there and realized we had forgotten her sand toys and turned around. We finally made it there (me basically jogging most of the way to keep up) and I complemented Rebekah on how fast she is going and how she is doing so much by herself. She turns to me and says, "It's all about the competition!" I choose to believe she means Grayson and not me.

Then we played for a good long time. 

On the way home we stopped by the "bumpidy bumps" aka the bike circle. She went around and around as fast as she could. At one point I tried to get a picture of her and she said, "no time to stop mom, going too fast! Got to keep moving!" One time around she yells at me, "It's all about speed mama!"

After several times of going around I talked her into going home. We made it almost there (a few houses away) when she slowed down and said, "Whew. I'm a little tired."

I talk her into making it home and she gets right in the door and does this:

If memory is correct she did sleep really well that night. 

Gotta Love

Way-to-big-for-this-swing and lovin' every minute! 

Easter Traditions With Grammy

Last year Rebekah and I made and painted Easter eggs together. Then we hid them around grammy's room for grammy to find. Although she was the one who hid them, Rebekah had a blast finding them. I figured we would make it a tradition. 

Last year we finger painted. This year we used brushes. They turned out great.

Let the hiding / finding begin!

Frank was on his way over so we hid 6 of them again for him.

All that hiding and finding sure made Rebe tired! Good thing grammy has a Rebekah sized rocking chair!

Spare Time

Some afternoons, when I am low on energy and don't have anything planned, Rebekah and I turn to my photo booth (got to love Apple).

By this time I noticed a common theme so I decided to join Rebekah and her tongue.

I was soon informed that her tongue demands only solo performances.

Such fun. Apple photo booth, I thank you again.

Jumping In

I think it was the end of April we started swim with Rebekah. Somewhere towards June / July I was going to take her out. She hated going to lessons and would often cry though out. Her teacher suggested I do open swim with Rebekah (something I didn't even know was an option at the time) and we did. Every day they offered it we would be there. Mainly I would let her play and try to increase her comfort level in the water. Sometimes I would encourage her to show me what she was doing in class. She refused to go under or even put her face in.

Then one day she did it. She simply decided she was ready and took off passing 3 swim levels in the matter of months.

Still she would not go under. One of the goals for the class she is in now is to dive under and pick up rings on the bottom. So, baby steps, right? I put the rings on a little floaty turtle and pushed it under as far as she would let me. She started doing that but still it was hard for her to think of going any further.

Opposite her class is a teacher named Mr. Shawn. He does this cannonball thing with his students: he has quite the upper body strength so when he throws the students in the air they fly. It scared the heck out of Rebekah. But she was fascinated with the teacher.

At Rebekah's last lesson he was student-less. So he decided to help Ms. Pricilla with her students and latched on to Rebekah. He showed her all the things he could do under water. Rebekah wanted none of it but watched intently.

Then during open swim she was playing with a baby. She threw the baby in and then... well, you need to watch. (I think it's at the end of the video.)

So amazingly proud of my brave little girl who went from getting slashed on and crying while in search of a towel, who couldn't even sit in the water, to jumping in all by herself! Wow!

February Books

This first book was total and complete fluff. How did i get mixed up with this one?

I think I read a review on Goodreads and got sucked in because it had a good rating and the description promised historical fiction. (Rebekah keeps me busy enough that I sometimes crave lighter, easier reading so I turn to historical fiction with the rational that still it has merit because of the historical value.) This was much more fiction than history. It was set in the 1890's - 1947's and it may have mentioned World War I happened. That's the historical part. But it was a quick read and although it was a romance (yes, I actually read a romance, however they say that a romance novel is only as bad as its cover....) it was mildly interesting. But I repeat: total fluff. Could have been worse. A lot worse. But if you are looking for quick and easy fluff, this will do.

The Way of Kings. SIGH....

This was recommended to me by my sister in law and it also had great reviews on Goodreads. Another of my friends recommended a book by the same author, which I started reading but gave up rather quickly, so I figured I would give this one a better effort. I put it on hold at the library and it came in while Rebekah was sick. My mother in law picked up the book for me. It was over 1,000 pages. Seriously?! I some how missed that little piece of information. But the reviews were so good so I started in.

Around 100 pages in I texted my friend Courtney to see if she thought I should continue on because simply put, I was not impressed. Everyone I spoke to and all the reviews relate this work of literature to Lord of the Rings and Tolkien. I couldn't see the connection. But after talking with my friend I  chose to continue on. 

I made it through the book, however I must admit I skimmed the last part. My trouble with the book? So glad you asked: he says in 3 pages what could have been said in 1 paragraph; the author attempts to write in an ancient style and yet throws in humor that can only be modern in nature which seems very out of place; and last but not least, he has at least 10 books in the series planned. Seriously?! Are they all over 1,000 pages?! And I pause here to point out that his books that haven't even been written yet have multiple reviews of over 4 star ratings on Goodreads. I'll pause here while you reread that sentence. Go ahead. I'll wait. That's right. The books Sanderson has not written yet have amazing reviews. How is that even possible?! Kind of makes the whole thing loose credibility.

The plot was interesting. Great actually. If the venture wouldn't add up to over 10,000 pages I would most likely see the plot through. As it is I can only hope that someone will read the books and fill me in on the highlights.   

Rebekah's choices:

I attempted to keep track of Rebekah's books to see if there were any common themes or patterns. After one month of doing this and over 150 books logged I decided it would take more time than it was worth. I'm starting to keep track of the books that leave her with an opinion (good or bad - some she doesn't say anything) on Goodreads under Don's name (DonRebe). But these are the favorites of the month: 

I think she mainly liked this because there were pictures of many different cities. She loved the page of Chicago. Kept thumbing back through it and pointed to different buildings, the lake, and so forth. She is a lot like me, that girl.

She loved this one. It's simple and yet she had so much fun with it. I did too. The part where Piggie makes the reader say a word was her favorite. The first time we read it she asked to read it again right then and when we were finished she wanted to read it again and this time she was the reader that had to say a word. Good stuff.

Lastly,

A bulldozer. Other construction vehicles. A birthday. Surprise, they are building a big cake. Rebekah loved it! Although they had her at bulldozer.

Photo Session at Grammy's

I've always wondered what Rebekah does at grammy's. Now I know at least one of the things: Photo Shoot with her babies!

I came back just as Rebekah was handed the camera...

When we were at Vincennes Rebekah wanted to call grammy and I gave her the phone. Not only did grammy talk to Rebekah but Rebekah also had her talk to her doll. Bless her heart, grammy had a full on conversation with that doll! After the phone call ended Rebekah looked at me and said, "My grammy is awesome!" Yes, she truly is.