I didn’t do one of these for Avery last year, but the milestone of turning ten means an update is in order.

As anyone who knows her can attest to (and as I’ve said here before), Avery is quite the character. She’s sweet, well-mannered and quiet at school but in her personal life she’s funny, sassy and a little wild. Her teachers are always surprised when we call her our wild child but she really is.

Avery is always making us laugh – sometimes intentionally, sometimes not. As I explained just the other day, it’s not that she tells traditional jokes; it’s usually her teasing comments, responses to questions, or commentary on things around her that make us smile. (Occasionally her witty remarks do cross the line, though, and we’ve had our fair share of discussion about talking back.) I often say I’m not sure where her personality comes from – but, really, it’s from her dad.

In terms of interests, she’s been into video games for the last couple of years (with Roblox and all the games within it among her favorite things to play), and she also likes playing Barbies or other make-believe games (which her sister will occasionally still play with her), chatting on Google Hangouts (she and a few friends from school created one called “The Cool Kids”), reading graphic novels (which are much preferred to long-form books) and, of course, playing with Maddie. And relatively new things she’s into: fooling around with make-up (which we don’t let her do that often) and making and playing with slime. (Zoe’s super into slime, too.)

The center of her social life remains her best friend, Mila, and I love how sweet and supportive they are with each other. They shower each other with compliments and praise (“You look beautiful in that dress!”), send each other messages full of heart and other love-related emojies and look out for each other at school. There was a several-week period just before school ended where the two of them decided to take a bit of a break: “We’re still best friends, but not BFFs” Avery explained to me (as if it made sense). The break didn’t last long, though, and when I recently inquired whether there was still trouble in paradise she gave me a funny look. “Mommy, that was so long ago,” she said.

Avery does well at school, but she seems to like it more for the social – versus academic – aspect. The big development there is that, starting with Avery’s class, fifth grade is part of the middle school – and Avery is thrilled about it. We had previously told her she would get a phone when she was in middle school, like her sister did, but we really meant sixth grade. Now, Avery’s constantly reminding us that since she’s technically in middle school she should get a phone in the fall – but, as I’ve told her, that issue is up for debate.

Due to the girls’ ages, I guess, we’ve seen quite a bit of fighting between Avery and Zoe over the last few months. They’re still each other’s favorite playmate, and they share many of the same interests (thankfully) but they push each other’s buttons more than ever before. Accusations of unfairness, mild insults and frustrated shrieking are now, sadly, rather common in the house. I have an older sister and know this is all normal (and, frankly, their behavior is probably pretty tame compared to other tweens’) but it can get tiresome.

Despite the occasional fights, Avery has a very sweet, caring side – and we’ve really seen a lot of it over the last year or so. She has been very good to me during the grieving process, often giving me reminders about how Grandma and Grandpa are still with us – just in a different form. (I always thought Zoe was the old soul and deep thinker of the house – but I now think we have two of those.)

Maybe six months after the accident or so, Avery started talking to my parents at night; I’ll be in our bedroom and hear her chatting away, telling them about her day and how much she misses them. Usually it makes her feel good but every once in a while she’ll call me in and say that she’s feeling “emotional.” (I tell her that Grandma and Grandpa wouldn’t want her to be sad and suggest she take a break and talk with them again another time.)

And a related, sweet story to close things out: The other day when walking Maddie, Avery stopped to admire and pick up a white dandelion. I watched her from the window, marveling that she still notices and appreciates flowers (like she did when she was little) and wondering if she knew to blow and make a wish on it. She did – and when I later asked her what she wished for her, she said there were two things. “It won’t come true but the first thing was to see Grandma and Grandpa again,” she quietly said. A classic-Avery grin soon spread across her face: “And then I asked for a phone.”

-M

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 2nd, 2019 at 6:56 pm and is filed under 100. Two kids - Jan-Dec 19. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.