Zoe, more than ever before, is like a little girlfriend. Yes, she is still very much like a kid who can misbehave or get irrationally upset at things (especially when tired!) but most of the time she’s easy and fun to be around – and very easy to talk to. She’s my best shopping partner, play teacher, and all-around little buddy. So, what else?

Interests: Her interests are similar to what they were at age 7 – only amplified. She still loves playing make-believe: family, doctor office, restaurant and school, with the latter being her favorite. She’s constantly holding classes for her family members, which includes coming up with a curriculum; turning her bedroom into a classroom (complete with chairs, whiteboard and various signs); and creating, assigning and grading worksheets and homework).  She also loves playing “Mommy” – she often slips into my heels, throws a purse over her shoulder and announces that she is heading to work… She loves writing (lists, little stories, notes to herself, you name it), and has tons of little notebooks that serve as journals around the house. (Sample page from one of her diaries: Dear Diary. I’m excited for tomorrow. At Zachary’s birthday we’re going mini golfing. Yea! Love, Zoe. PS. I love you Diary!) Reading is also a passion: She grabs for a book first thing when she wakes up (Beverly Cleary’s Ramona series are a recent fave), and her nose is constantly in one of the rotating books in her reading collection. She’s been known to devour full chapter books in one setting.

School life: I was curious how Zoe’s transition to second grade would be, given how much she loved her first-grade teacher – but so far, so good! She is close to both her general-studies teacher (who very much reminds me of Zoe’s beloved pre-K teacher, Erica) and her Jewish studies teacher. During the recent parent-teacher conferences we heard that she’s a good student – strong academically and also incredibly helpful to both the teachers and other students. As mentioned previously, she now has homework every night (versus once/week in first grade), but she usually loves doing it. She was even excited when her teacher starting giving her extra challenge math homework each night (since she was getting through the regular lessons very quickly).

Social stuff: Though still friendly with boys, she seems to have closer friendships with girls these days – in fact, she invited mostly girls to her birthday party (a craft party at Michael’s) today. The exception to this, of course, is Zachary, to whom she remains close. She recently bought a pair of matching bracelets (one pink, one purple). When I asked who she wanted to give the other one too, I half-expected her to say Avery, but she instead said Zachary (and gave it to him the next day). Speaking of Avery, Zoe remains close with her. The girls definitely bicker more than they used to (we’re seeing some sibling rivalry) but for the most part they get along really well. When I picked them from school just the other afternoon, they were finishing up a clay project, and their PM-care teacher commented on what good collaborators and friends they are. “You don’t see that with all siblings,” she said. “Some of them do their own thing.” We also like the way Zoe looks out for her sister – comforting her when she’s sad and making sure Avery has a good start to her day on those mornings that she insists on walking Avery to class without us. (I’ve been told by teacher- and parent-spies that once there, Zoe helps her get her bag in the cubby and gives her a kiss or hug before taking off). She also loves to teach Avery things and her relatively new thing is to lay in bed with her sister and read her chapter books.

Other stuff: She has taken a recent interest in (playing) volleyball, and her PE teacher reports that her running is very strong. (Perhaps track and field is in her future?) She still loves amusement parks and is fearless with most rides; she’s now finally old enough to ride on the big ones with her dad (while Avery and I wait below). On weekends she’s just as happy doing active things (or shopping/running errands) as she is staying home and playing with her sister; one of her favorite local things to do is to go the West Portal Library. In terms of turning eight, one of the things she’s most excited is that she doesn’t need a booster seat in the car anymore! Within the last year she started getting an allowance; related to that, she made a job board and gives herself checks for doing things around the house like emptying the dishwasher and putting away laundry. She loves it! Lastly, she remains a caring, level-headed little girl who often gives me advice or makes me think twice when I get stressed or upset over something small. I know it sounds silly, but there are many days when I feel like I learn as much from her as she learns from me!

-M

Happy Birthday, Zoe!

-M

Whenever the girls look particularly cute in an outfit, I’ve been known to throw my hands up to my mouth and and cry out, “Oh!” Late last month, Avery mimicked me (and explained why I do this) in a silly video.

-M

The girls have been asking for a bunk bed for ages. Deciding that they were finally ready, we surprised them by buying one and getting it set up when they were on school on Tuesday. Q recorded their reaction as they walked into Zoe’s (er, their) new room for the first time.

-M

Avery wasn’t the only one who had a good time at the book fair: Zoe wound up winning a prize for her poster! Though she had told me earlier in the week that she didn’t care about winning (“I’m just excited to have it posted in the gym”), she was pretty excited about the prize, a $15 gift card to our neighborhood bookstore.

-M

As mentioned earlier, the girls’ school had a book fair/festival over the weekend – and attendees there got a double dose of Avery! First, she and the rest of her hip-hop dance class performed, then she participated in the first-ever Brandeis fashion show. I was one proud mama.

-M

Readers likely remember that Zoe, as a baby and preschooler, hung out with good friends Zander and Miles all the time. She had four joint birthday parties with them, too, including one (their third) at Pump It Up. We were back at Pump It Up last night, this time to celebrate Miles’ eighth birthday – and I couldn’t help but smile when he and Zoe sat together in the same chair they posed in five years ago. Look how much they’ve grown!

(Oh, and as for Zander: His family moved to Boston last year. We still miss them!)

-M

The girls’ school put on a big book fair/festival each fall, and as part if that they sponsor a poster competition. Here’s Zoe’s submission, which features the scene of a girl reading in bed to her sister. (Hm, wonder where she got that idea?)

-M

Another cute bedtime Q&A from Avery:

A: “Does God sleep?”
Q: “I think so.”
A: “How can He look over us all night if He’s sleeping?”
Q: “Hm, you’re right – maybe He stays awake at night.”
A: “Then how does He have enough energy for the next day?”

Q went on to say that God probably doesn’t need any sleep. “Look it up online and let me know,” she responded.

-M

Some more photos of our weekend in Santa Cruz, which included a stop at Natural Bridges State Park to see the monarch butterflies that migrate there every fall. (Perhaps not surprisingly, that was less of a hit with the girls than the pool and beach were.)

-M

With nothing on the calendar for the weekend (a rarity for us), Q and I packed up the car on Saturday morning with beach toys, swim goggles, towels and snacks and headed to Santa Cruz. Once there, the four of us enjoyed what are likely the last days of our Indian summer…

-M

About ten minutes after I put Avery to bed the other night she called me back in her room. “Mommy,” she asked in serious voice, “how do you become a princess or queen?” Somewhat stumped at how to answer, I said that  one way is to be born into a royal family. “But how does that happen?” she responded. It’s sort of hard to explain, I told her, before we had the following exchange:

M: “Take Elsa and Anna. They were princesses because their mom and dad were the queen and king. They’re not real, but -”
A, interrupting me: “Yes, they are. They’re at Disneyland, and Disneyland is real.”
M: “Oh, yes… You’re right. I had forgotten that.”
A: “And Elsa and Kristof came to my birthday party. So they’re definitely real.”

-M

A quick, recent video of the girls bopping around the house. (And good stuff to embarrass them with someday!)

-M

The soccer season is officially over; Avery had her last practice yesterday afternoon. Here she is with her little Lion teammates.

-M

The second-graders at Zoe’s school visited a science museum, UC-Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science, yesterday. Q was one of the chaperones and reported that Zoe had a fabulous time. And Zoe confirmed this when, during our nightly tradition, she told me the bad and good parts of her day: “My thorn was nothing and my rose was everything.”

-M