For the past four days we have had uninterrupted time together as a family over the July 4th holiday. Aside from Instagram and Twitter, I strayed from the Internet and lived my life slightly unplugged.

I often found myself staring at my daughter. I tangled my fingers in her curls and listened to her imagination unravel in tales of princesses, and Little People farm animals. I heard her stories of microscopic, half-imaginary boo-boos that had appeared on her legs and arms. She was quick to regale us with opinions of what foods are yummy and which are yucky. She pushed us away in the water and tested her bravery as she explored jumping in the pool.

I noticed that more and more, my daughter is no longer a baby and I can’t stop her from continuing to grow up. We are along for the ride. Her ride. A ride through fairy tales and daredevil feats. I’ll be here to admire every curl and kiss every boo-boo.

The two-year-old mind is a fascinating thing. Its reasoning and stream of conciousness is amazing.

Here in NC we’ve had more than our share of thunderstorms and rain this summer. The loud thunder and power outages have left our little one wide-eyed. Meanwhile, her summer flick has been Cars. You know, the well-marketed Disney movie with Owen Wilson and sadly, Larry The Cable Guy.

I can’t hate on that mediocre comedian since Charlotte has thickened up her budding southern accent to say “Shooot!” whenever “Mater” is on the screen. It’s pretty adorable.

The other day we were driving home and I saw a big streak of lightning shoot through the clouds.

Me: “Whoa! Charlotte, did you see the lightning in the sky?!”

Her: “Lightnin’ in da sky!?”

Me: “Yeah! Up in those clouds. We’re getting another storm.”

Her: “Lightnin in da sky? No! I can’t reach him in da sky!

We both paused for a moment to ponder what the other had just said.

Her: “Mama, cars are on da ground! Dey not in da sky!”

That was when I realized that to her, “lightning” was Disney and Pixar’s own Lightning McQueen, not the natural phenomenon for which he was named. When we got home and she saw her “Lightning” she showed me he was in fact, safely on the ground and not in the sky. Silly Mama!