Happy Birthday, Leah Loo

Happy Birthday, Leah! For her birthday she wanted to rent a boat and socially distance on a lake. We went to the Irish Hills area which was only about an hour from our house to do this. It was a nice, clean lake and we all had a great day!

Leah Loo, 

HOW ARE YOU 11? Like, seriously. I remember you and your bangs and your shy demeaner and earnest expressions and mannerisms like they were yesterday. I can still hear you saying "up on Mama". 

But, now you are 11 and it's a weird and fun age where you are still in a child but also dipping your foot into the tween years. It's a fun mix to be able to trust you to stay alone while I run a quick errand and also watch you play imagination games with your sister. I love the age that you are. Can you stay this age for a long time? 

You still love to read. I think you go through hundreds of pages most days. You are still pretty into science fiction type books as well as books about Greek Gods and myths. This summer you read books that I've read and enjoyed, too. Books like The Hunger Games, Divergent, and Maze Runner. It's fun to talk with you about the books and hear your insight. I love when you tell me about the books you read! I don't always follow the plot, but I love hearing your excitement and the questions you have.

You continue to be my old soul. You are responsible and take things seriously. You do your best to remember expectations and don't cut corners. You are kind and giving (not so much so with your sister!). Quarantine has been weird and hard on all of us. You are just on the edge of wanting more friend time and therefore less family time. I feel like quarantine extended family time for us and I'm not sad about that at all. You still enjoy facetiming your friends and talking to them through messenger kids, but you also enjoy nature hikes, family projects, and spending time together as a family. I hope you always keep that! We love your company. 

You love dance team. We let you go back even though Daddy and I don't think it is necessarily the safest thing to do during this time. You love your friends there, and it's good exercise. You are challenging yourself to get both your left and right leg splits by Christmas. You are getting close! 

You lobbied hard to be in Mrs. Scott's 5th grade class and you are loving her! You've got some close friends in your class and are doing pretty well being in school virtually! You understand how to get through the maze that is Canvas. You are ready each morning! Often times you put on a little lip gloss and curl your eyelashes before school. 

Virtual school can never replace real school, so I add a little work on for you and Juliet many days. You absolutely hate this. I tell you that one day you will thank me for working you a little harder. If you read this in ten or twenty years, be sure to say thank you to me. 

As you get bigger we are working on helping out more without being asked. We are working on building your responsibilities at home. You don't always love your new responsibilities and jobs, but we will continue to work on that! It's so important to me that you are conscientious person.

You just started ordering adult meals from restaurants and that makes you really proud! You are expanding your palette a bit and that makes me proud. You ate steak salad a few weeks ago and enjoyed it. We ended your birthday day with a giant ice cream cone from some little shop in BFE. We got Olga's (per tradition) and watched a movie. We are so thankful that we got another birthday with you and got to celebrate as a family. 

We love you SO MUCH! You are an amazing, talented, smart, and beautiful girl. We are so thankful you are our daughter and we love you so much.

Happy 11th Birthday, Sweet Girl!