【推荐1】My daughter Kelly is a cautious person. She needs to warm up to situations, and is hesitant to try new things. When with close friends, she becomes a leader who laughs loudly and chants," Girls rule, boys drool." But when that comfort zone is not around her, she is shy and nervous.

This has been challenging for me at times. "Shy"is not a word that I think has ever been used to describe me. But this has been a year of firsts for my girl that has filled her with a new sense of confidence. This year she moved to lap lane in swimming where she was preparing for a swim team. This year she learned to ride a bike without training wheels. And this year she completed her first kids' triathlon(三项全能).

On Saturday, with a thunderstorm coming soon and my son's birthday party later in the day, we all went out in the dark of the morning for Kelly to participate in her first triathlon. We practiced transitions from swim to bike to run with her, we got all the equipment she'd need, and we kept talking about the race. But as we waited the two hours for the older kids to finish before her turn, she held my leg a little harder and told me she loved me a few too many times. She was nervous but trying to keep it together.

And then it was her turn. From the second she jumped into the water, my heart soared. My daughter transformed into the most confident human being I had ever seen.She dominated(主宰)that swim, crushed that bike ride and ran to the finish with the biggest smile on her face.

I can honestly say that I never felt so proud of someone in my entire life. It wasn't because she did a sport or anything like that. It was because she was afraid of something and conquered(克服) that fear with confidence and a fire I hadn't seen before.

All day I would find myself just looking over at her and smiling. She might be wearing the finalist medal but I felt like I won that day. I won the chance to see my girl shine.

Shine on, sweet baby.

【推荐2】My name is Jake. I’m brown, and rather short, standing just a little past my master’s knees. My friend Andy once took me to a dog show. I’ve never seen so many different-looking dogs in my life! They all looked pretty and handsome, and their masters were very proud of them when they jumped and ran across so many barriers at that dog show. Andy promised that he’d let me join a dog show, too, if the organizers opened a division for my “breed”.

   While I was watching that show, I remembered my friends at the pound（走失猫狗的待领处）， where I spent two long weeks. We were kept in cages, and although we were well-fed, every day during those two weeks, I hoped to have someone touch my head and play with me.

   You could just imagine how glad I was when, one day, Andy came in with his dad and pointed in my direction. I stood up on my hind legs and did a little jig （一种快步舞）, and then I wagged my tail and tried to chase it. The father and his son kept laughing at what I was trying to do, and in a few minutes, I was riding on their car on the way to my new home. I was Mr. Archer’s gift for Andy’s eighth birthday. I heard him shout that I was the best gift ever!

   My favorite amusement is hanging my tongue out of the car window and letting the wind blow on my face. I just love long drives! It is during these times that I think of all my friends whom I left behind at the dog pound. I hope that soon, little boys or girls would also pick them and give them new homes, so they would be able to enjoy walks in the park and trips to the beach, as I do now.