She's Always a Wonder

On Monday I packed up the girls and drove down to Dana Point to visit my friend Stacy and her son Carter. I've mentioned Carter before. He and Sonya have been friends since they were babies, and last year they moved out of Burbank about an hour and a half away. This was the first chance this summer we've had to go visit them. It works out well, because they live right near the beach. That is always a plus when it's summer. Too bad it hasn't been summer here in Southern California until just this week. I'm serious. It's been cloudy and in the 70s for months. At first I didn't mind, but at some point I wanted to waste electricity and turn on the AC. That time has come. It's 95 and sunny here today. Wish granted!

So like I was saying, we went to visit Stacy and Carter. We had a great time going to lunch and the beach. When we were packing up to leave, Stacy brought a few books out to me that Carter had read. They are the kind of books that the kids can read on their own. She said he had read them all a bunch of times and was done with them. Stacy is always sending us home with some toy or game that her kids don't want anymore. It's a good way for her to get rid of crap in her house and a great way for us to get free stuff! And more crap in OUR house! Yay. Thanks Stacy. I showed Sonya the books and she immediately started flipping through some of them. I told her she could start reading them on the way home.

There was one that caught her attention right way. It was a superhero book, with Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman on the cover. That was the one she decided to read first. Now keep in mind these books all say "Level 2" on them, which means second to third grade. A few weeks ago, my sister asked if she was reading out loud all the time or in her head. I hadn't really noticed, but started paying attention. I would see her pick up books and look through them, but I was never sure she was actually reading them, or just looking at them. After our drive home on Monday, I found the answer.

She spent the first part of the drive reading the Superhero book. When we arrived home a while later she disappeared for few minutes into her room. When she came out, this is what she was dressed like:

Then she said,

"I'm Wonder Woman!"

I laughed and thought of my friend Trista, who is a huge Wonder Woman fan. Anytime I see anything to do with Wonder Woman, I think of her. One Halloween, when we were in our early twenties, she dressed up as Wonder Woman. I was dressed as Super Girl and we actually went Trick or Treating. I think people thought we were in high school because we looked so young. Now, here was my daughter making her own Wonder Woman costume. I was beginning to suspect Wonder Woman had another fan in the making.

Sonya disappeared into her room and came out with the plastic container I keep their dress up clothes in. She sat on it and tried to move it around the kitchen with her feet.

"What are you doing?" I asked her.

"This is my invisible jet," she quickly replied.

At that moment it became very clear that she had indeed read that book, not out loud, but in her head, and understood everything. My sister informs me that the is at least a second if not a third grade skill.

If you combine her smarts with her strengths, since climbing the rope last week, I think she may indeed be Wonder Woman. Or at least Wonder Girl. She's already decided this is what she is going to be for Halloween. So if Trista wants to dust off her old costume and hop on plane to L.A. in October, we could have ourselves a very Wonder Woman Halloween.