Happy 8th birthday to you! I'm over a month late; sorry about that! It has been a big birthday with your baptism, and I am proud of the girl you have become.
You are growing just fine despite your limited diet. Your favorite foods include cheese pizza and chicken nuggets, strawberries, and shells and cheese. I will say you are slowly trying new things, even if most of it doesn't take. Some of your favorite things to do with food are to mix all of the sauces together (mayo, ketchup, honey mustard, Chick-fil-A sauce), as well as taste all the sodas in the same cup. You lost a few teeth since your last birthday, and although the dentist predicted your gap tooth would disappear with the adult teeth, you are still proudly sporting a gap!
Your interests are still very much the same. You have been a dragon-loving girl for over four years, and I don't see that stopping any time soon. You have all the Dragon Master books; in fact, for your 8th birthday you requested a Dragon Master theme since all Dragon Masters are 8 in the series. You like to read the Wings of Fire graphic novels. You do like to read Dog Man and Diary of a Wimpy Kid, too. You are still quite the budding artist and draw stories all the time. You are quite imaginative. I have you enrolled in an after-school art class as your extracurricular activity for the year.
This year you tested into Gifted and Talented (GT), and you are so proud of yourself. You really love the class and the teacher. I tried to prepare you just in case you didn't place, but I'm glad you get to have this experience. You like to read and do well on your spelling tests, so the biggest struggle we have is just getting you to do your homework. You are in class with your friend Dustin again, but you tell me you play with other friends at recess as well. One of the friends I hear a lot about is a girl named Mia, who also loves dragons.
I've been blessed with such a sweet, silly girl. Some of the things that you say are absolutely hilarious. For example, you came into my room one morning to show me a star bead you had in your set that had an extra-long bead attached to it. It kind of looked like it was holding a gun, and you said it was a shooting star. Very clever. You like potty language as well much to Joseph's chagrin. To compliment your silly side, you can be super sweet. Yesterday you cleaned your room, hallway, desk, and piano area without me asking. It doesn't happen often, but boy did it make me so happy!
You have had a fun summer. You learned how to swim! Although you aren't confident in the deep end, you went from not really swimming to swimming across the pool in one summer. You also did some kung fu and earned a "pink" belt. Lastly, you got baptized! You chose to do it in Albuquerque with family. It's hard to believe that my baby girl is old enough for baptism and is in third grade. You have a strong bond with your brothers. You are interested in a lot of the things they are, like dinosaurs and lizards. However, there is still a lot of fighting that we are working on, and hopefully it will stop one day, even if it's when you guys are all grown up.
I love my daughter so much! I'm so happy you are in my life and teaching me so much. I hope you continue learning this year and being the sweet and silly girl that you are.
Love,
Mom
