Updates and Kids books

I could really get used to this "stay at home mom" thing. I've been able to take Cadence to camp, went with Amelia to Baby Bookworms at the library today, have had time to take care of little things, and of course, hang out with Maddie. Tomorrow I have my six week checkup, and it's reminding me that I don't have much more "stay at home" time left. That sucks. It's necessary, but it still sucks. Makes me really wish we were very very wealthy and I didn't have to worry about it! ;)

Cadence started Girl Scout camp yesterday, and seems to be having a blast. She's coming home really tired (even though she'd never admit it), and I'm worried that she won't be able to get out of bed by the end of the week! She's brought home photos of her artwork the last two days, and I can't wait to see the art show at the end of the week.

Amelia has FINALLY warmed up at Baby Bookworms, and actually interacted some today (and, of course, it was the last day of the summer session. It continues through the year, though.) She also "read" more than enough books for the summer reading program. She needed 20, and I think we ended with closer to 50. Her entire sheet was filled, and I've discovered some really great kid books in the process. Some of my favorites:

The Baby Lit series A beautiful series of board books based on classic literature. So far we've read Alice in Wonderland (colors), Jane Eyre (numbers) and Pride and Prejudice (numbers.) There's also Romeo and Juliet and Dracula (both numbers) and A Christmas Carol (colors.) I love the Alice in Wonderland one so much that I'm tempted to buy it, tear it apart, and use the board book pages as the artwork in Amelia's room. They are that beautiful. Amelia adores Pride and Prejudice (she's carried it around all day while hugging it and saying "MINE!!") and Alice in Wonderland (she's insisted on checking it out of the library twice because she's seen it on the display and had to have it), and I'm pretty sure I know what she'll be getting for Christmas. 


The Boy Who Cried Ninja This book is absolutely hilarious, and seriously, how can you go wrong with a book that contains ninjas, pirates and a time traveling monkey?? It is a funny story about how a boy's parents don't believe him when he says ninjas (and other various exceptional creatures) do different naughty things around the house, but he can't lie because that gets him in trouble as well. The end is great, and Cadence laughed all the way through this one.


Robot Zombie Frankenstein The title alone was enough to make me want to check this one out, and I wasn't disappointed at all. It's two robots trying to outdo each other by making themselves into bigger and crazier things, and it includes pie. Cadence thought it was funny, but with all the zombie craze at the moment, I think I found it funnier than she did. The illustrations are bright and colorful (and kept Amelia's attention), and the words are simple and very effective. Awesome book!


Dinosaur vs. The Library  Dinosaur is on his way to the library, and challenges all his friends along the way. His huge ROAR allows him to win against everyone - except the librarian. This is a great book to introduce animal sounds, and to talk about inside/outside voices. Again, very bright pictures, and it's mostly animal sounds so very easy for toddlers to follow along. And seeing Amelia "ROARRRRRR!" with him was well worth it! And I just realized that they also have Dinosaur vs. Bedtime, Dinosaur vs. The Potty and in September, Dinosaur vs. Santa. I'm very excited.

I also LOVE the Bink and Gollie books that Cadence has been reading. There are only two out at the moment, but she devoured both of them and is (not so) patiently waiting for more to appear. I'm on the lookout for more books like that for her, so if anyone knows of any, please share! And thanks to Bink and Gollie, Cadence met her reading goal for the library as well. The end of year carnival is Thursday, and I'm glad we were able to stick with it and both girls finished the program.