I’m still behind on blogging, so in an effort to catch up, I’m going to share a post about what my big girls have been up to, before it’s time to share Polly’s nine month update next week (what in the world?!).
Back in April, Sophie’s elementary school hosted a Father + Daughter Dance and she was thrilled at the thought of taking her daddy. Obviously, Josh would dance on the moon if they asked him to, but I think he was secretly hoping she wouldn’t want to participate in this event – ha!
The funniest part is that she thought this was some sort of choreographed, dance on stage situation, and she was very concerned at the lack of practices. Once we explained what a dance actually was, she was even more excited to attend. She did mention that daddy sat at a table and chatted with all the other daddies, but that she had a great time dancing with her friends.
The dance was the day before her birthday and the perfect way to dress up and celebrate turning nine. We debated all week about what dress she should wear, but she stood her ground and insisted on this navy striped number. She found some sparkly wedges that Ella had outgrown and had very specific requests for her hair and makeup.
I ordered her a small wrist corsage a few days before the dance and was horrified that it cost $40 for a such a tiny thing. She was equally horrified that she had to wear it, so we were even! We convinced her that lots of girls would have flowers and it turned out we were right — that is probably the only reason she left it on her wrist as long as she did.
On the day of her birthday, Ella had a competition a few hours from home. Fortunately, it was in the evening, so I got to spend most of the day with Sophie. I was sad about leaving her, but we went out of our way to make her feel special and her daddy even took her on a shopping trip that afternoon, to spend all of her birthday money. Sophie is my most sensitive child, so it shouldn’t have surprised me when she texted me later that night to tell me it was her worst birthday ever (and her least favorite day of the year) because I left her at home! I just happened to be pumping in my car when I read it so, of course, I sobbed. Hello, hormones.
Fortunately for us both, I had already made reservations for a birthday celebration, a little later in the month. She told me that she wanted a day trip to the American Girl Store instead of a party this year and she wanted it to be just the two of us. I made us lunch reservations and booked a spa visit for her doll, Kit, and she had been looking forward to it for months.
It’s honestly the cutest thing ever and not even as expensive as I expected. We did the birthday package for lunch, which included drinks, appetizers and entrees for us both, plus an adorable birthday cake (it was delicious, by the way!). They bring out a high-chair and place setting for your doll and both birthday girls get a crown.
After lunch, we had Kit’s hair braided and her nails painted a bright turquoise blue. While we were waiting, we couldn’t help but notice that darling doll in the bee dress and decided she needed to come home with us! Sophie shopped while Kit’s nails were drying and only managed to spend $9 more than the birthday money she had planned to spend. I figured I could certainly spend nine bucks on her ninth birthday, right?
She picked up Blaire, a gardening outfit for both of her girls, and a tiny puppy for them to play with. The store is so cute and reminded me of all the reasons I fell in love with AG, thirty-two years ago.
This last month of school has been more than a bit overwhelming — I’ve joked to Josh that I’ve had to take a day off work almost every week since Spring Break to attend a school function. We’ve had awards days and class parties, student led conferences and gifted education meetings. It’s hard to pick and choose those activities — and spread them among two schools — without hurting someone’s feelings, but I’ve been fortunate that almost all of them have happened on my work from home days!
For Leadership Day, each grade dressed up like a different decade. The third grade was Fifties and she had been planning her outfit for weeks. Have I mentioned that she’s obsessed with Pinterest? We don’t let her search the internet without supervision, so she’s taken to finding remedies and DIY projects on Pinterest in the last month or so. She found the look she was going for and asked me to make it happen. Lucky for her, Ella’s clogging costume is fifties inspired (she dances to Greased Lightning), so she borrowed her leather jacket for the day. These might be some of my favorite photos of all time!
A few weeks ago, she started browsing haircuts on Pinterest and discovered the pixie. She told me she was thinking about cutting off all of her hair, to have a new look for fourth grade. How cute is that?! After a few days of pondering, with lots of encouragement from mom and dad, she decided she wanted it cut before the end of the school year. Our favorite stylist, Becca, managed to fit both girls in at the last minute and Sophie got an adorable asymmetrical cut for summer. It took a few days to get used to and we’ve only had one I look like a boy moment, but for the most part she is super happy with it! We told her she had to keep it for six months, because she’s notorious for abandoning ship, so after Christmas she’ll be free to grow it out if she likes. I’m secretly hoping she’ll never go back, because short hair looks so good on her.
Remember when Sophie played the piano a few years ago? She took lessons for two years, but at the beginning of last summer, her teacher decided to take a break. He was starting a new job and told us he would let us know if he ever taught again. It was a nice break and Sophie managed to squeeze in swim lessons and a season of basketball, in the interim, but she expressed an interest in piano again last month. My favorite middle school teacher has been teaching classes, so we decided to try it for the summer and see how Sophie did. Her first lesson was yesterday and she couldn’t wait to share what all she learned! Her first teacher did such a fantastic job of laying a solid foundation and teaching her so much about music theory, but her new teacher had her playing songs by the end of the lesson. It’s so neat to see how very different approaches can teach you so much, but in two completely different ways! I’m eager to see how she does this year and I’m already loving the piano music floating down the stairs. She FaceTimed me yesterday, after her lesson, to tell me all about how awesome it was.
Nine years old is proving to be pretty stinking adorable with this girl!
