Our First Teenager!

On one hand, I’m not sure how we have a teenager. And on the other hand, you have grown so much (both physically and emotionally!) over the last year, that it’s obvious you’re no longer a kid 🥰 I am so thankful that even as you grow, you still like spending time with our family. We had so much fun making a silly video with you on your birthday, you still enjoy family game nights, you and I still bake together – although you really don’t NEED me anymore – and you’re a wonderful and patient sister to your brother, who adores you 95% of the time.

You continue to enjoy writing, art, dance, and pretty much anything creative. You are fan of anything cookie dough flavored, really enjoy smoked meats, but you’re also aware of the health and environmental benefits of eating vegetarian, so you try to balance occasional indulgence with meat-free choices when you can. You’re a list maker (where do you get that from?!) but we continue to work on being flexible and handling change when it happens. You and I are in the sweet spot where we can share shoes and I’m hopeful that your feet don’t grow any more so that we can both have a great selection of shoes. It’s so cliche, but I’m so thankful I get to be your mom and watch you become your own person!!

You were in full party-planning mode this year and it was so fun to work with you to make your vision come to life! I’m pretty sure you didn’t miss a detail – from the decorations in the bathroom, to a full beverage menu, and even homemade games. I’m hoping you’ll plan a stellar party for me some day!

·  What is your favorite color? Purple or teal.

· What is your favorite toy?  Art supplies.

·  What is your favorite fruit?  Raspberries. Or banana in the form of a roll-up.

·  What is your favorite TV show?  GreenHouse Academy

·  What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?  Boxed Mac & Cheese or Totinos, “Cause I’m real fancy.”

·  What is your favorite outfit?  Jean shorts with a graphic tee.

·  What is your favorite game?  Cards Against Humanity Family Edition or Code Names

·  What is your favorite snack?  Peanut butter, chocolate chip, banana roll-up

·  What is your favorite animal?  A dog or quokka

·  What is your favorite song? Hamilton soundtrack or any songs by Olivia Rodrigo

·  What is your favorite book?  Harry Potter or 39 Clues

·  Who is your best friend? Nya or Carolyn

·  What is your favorite movie?  The Greatest Showman or Raya and the Last Dragon

·  What is your favorite thing to do outside?  Play in the mud or swing.

·  What is your favorite drink? Cardinal Cream soda or Dragonfruit Vitamin Water

·  What is your favorite holiday?  “Christmas. Or Halloween.”

·  What do you like to take to bed with you at night?  “Campbell the Bampell Pie, my Tangled blanket, my Kindle, and Georges as well, but you don’t let me have two dogs.”

·  What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?  Crepes or pancakes.

·  What do you want for dinner on your birthday?  Wings. And other Snackies.

·  What do you want to be when you grow up? A writer, an artist, or an actor.

The big 1-1 for Chloe!

What a year your first year in double digits has been, Chloe Mae!

You conquered your fear of the high dive at the pool, in your own time, when you were ready. I was super proud of you, excited for you, and oh-so nervous at the same time! You started taking a hip-hop class every week this fall and are loving it. You love to spend your free time writing stories, as well as still spending plenty of time playing pretend with your brother – dolls, LEGO, or even just imaginary people.

We got to go on a couple of fun trips this year – visiting family in the Black Hills area and tagging along when Dad had a business trip to Scottsdale. You did a little more fear-conquering when we stayed at Great Wolf Lodge and completed the ropes course at least a dozen times in less than 24 hours. I’m so glad we got some adventures in earlier this year, because we’re now in the middle of an unprecedented pandemic.

You have made the best of our time at home and have spent a lot of time baking, building an enormous LEGO world, and going on daily family walks. Your birthday plans had to change, since we couldn’t get together with friends or family, but even then, you had a great attitude. I asked you to brainstorm things you wanted to do on our birthday, and within a few hours you had a completed list of activities and menu items!

We made Harry Potter inspired “Sorting Hat Cupcakes” that had M&Ms inside to sort you into one of the Hogwarts houses. We drank Caribou hot chocolate and had a Nailed-It style decorating challenge. After a birthday parade with friends and family, we had a pizza-movie night and finished the day with a family dance party. You had a couple of current songs, but also included Macarena and YMCA. I love that you still love what you love and don’t care what’s “cool.”

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I can’t wait to see who you become in the next year – although I can’t say I’m looking forward to you continuing to creep up on me in height (you measured yourself at 5’2″ on your birthday!) and I’m not sure how I feel about you approaching being a teenager. That feels a little bit too close to being an adult, and I’m not sure I’m ready for that 🙂

You still love answering the 20 questions and think it’s fun to compare to last year’s answers. I’m hoping you’ll continue to humor me for years to come!

• What is your favorite color? Purple and teal
• What is your favorite toy?  LEGO
• What is your favorite fruit?  “Rasp-berry!”
• What is your favorite TV show?  The Masked Singer
• What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?  Mac & Cheese (made by herself) and fish sticks
• What is your favorite outfit?  Blue denim jumper
• What is your favorite game?  Villainous
• What is your favorite snack?  Peanut butter, chocolate chip, banana wrap up
• What is your favorite animal?  A fox
• What is your favorite song? Seniorita
• What is your favorite book? School for Good and Evil or Harry Pitter
• Who is your best friend? Nya
• What is your favorite movie? The Greatest Showman
• What is your favorite thing to do outside?  Swing on the blue swing.
• What is your favorite drink? Dragonfruit Vitamin Water
• What is your favorite holiday?  Christmas
• What do you like to take to bed with you at night?  “My blanket, my kindle, and a dog.”
• What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?  German pancake or breakfast pizza
• What do you want for dinner on your birthday?  Homemade sourdough pizza.
• What do you want to be when you grow up? A baker or a writer