I'm truly ashamed that I haven't written about Aubrey in a whole year. I guess I feel like she doesn't change as much the older she gets. But in some ways she does. (More on that later in this post).
Anyway, Aubrey's birthday was on a weekday, so she spent most of it at school. We had our traditional Swedish pancake breakfast. I did an A and a 7 for her, and she made the rest of her shape pancakes herself. She can do that now!
We decided to have Aubrey decorate her own cake again this year so she could have something special to do, especially since we still didn't feel like we could have a party because of Covid. Her birthday is just so unpredictable weather-wise, so we couldn't plan on an outdoor thing, and I wasn't comfortable with an indoor thing yet. (And, in fact, it did snow that afternoon).
Aubrey was sweet and let Carter help her decorate.
And here's the finished product!
For dinner Aubrey chose her favorite pasta dish, carrots, and white rice, haha. Her presents included an analog watch to teach her how to tell time, a couple of dresses, a subscription to Ranger Rick Magazine, a daily journal for kids, a summer gymnastics class, and a set of perler beads, with which she immediately made this:
She also got an interactive pony pet, which Clara was quite enamored with.
And unfortunately, those are all the photos I got. :( Stupid me. I would have gotten photos and videos of Aubrey opening presents, but I was holding the iPad so Grandma and Grandpa could watch via FaceTime. I think that's a good excuse.
Anyway, it was a good--albeit lowkey--birthday. And now I have to write all about this wonderful oldest girl of mine.
Aubrey's Favorites:
- Reading. She got a Kids Kindle for Christmas, and she has read SO many books since then. Her favorite series is probably The Boxcar Children, and she is really into non-fiction books about animals (hence the Ranger Rick subscription). She's reading well above her grade level, and she never ceases to amaze us with how effortlessly she reads new words.
- Wonderland. After watching the movie Wonder Park (which is about a girl who brings an amusement park to life with her imagination), Aubrey decided to make her room into a theme park (for lack of a better word) with different "lands." She did a sign on the door:
She also made a carousel:
And at some point her dolls took a ride on it.
And at some point I got a video. BUT THEN I LOST IT, AND I'M REALLY MAD. So I'll instead include the videos Aubrey took herself. They've been edited for time and focus, but they're still long, haha.
- Star Wars. We showed her episodes 4, 5, 6, 1, and 2. Now we're watching The Mandalorian, and she loves Baby Yoda. She also loves Leia, because duh.
- Writing. She's always writing something, and she gets really excited when her teacher "publishes" something she wrote for class (by typing it up and binding it). She even won a local writing contest, which earned her an Amazon giftcard. (She used it to buy a light-up unicorn stuffed animal and a rainbow narwhal stuffed animal.) She also went through a poetry phase. Here are some examples:
She also wrote this story and then typed it herself on my computer. She was so proud!
- Playing outside at the "river" in our neighborhood. She and Carter go with a 9-year-old girl who lives next door. They water plants there and make dams and do who-knows-what. They say they're taking care of the river. It's seriously not even a stream; half the time there is no water, I think. But they love it, and it gets them outside. Win!
- Art. She still loves all things arts and crafts, and we are incapable of keeping up with her production rate. Our kitchen counter is always filled with her creations.
- Unicorns. She jumped on the elementary school girl bandwagon and has become a big fan of all things unicorn. It was inevitable, I suppose. She loves narwhals too.
- Tickles. She would have me tickle her arms, back, neck, etc. forever if I would.
- Games. In addition to an insane amount of luck sometimes, she is a great game player. She loves Rummy, Five Crowns, Cribbage, Settlers of Catan, Carcassonne, and Splendor. Card games are her favorite.
- Girl power music. I made her a mix with Hilary Duff, The Bangles, Heart, Hannah Montana, Kelly Clarkson, Taylor Swift, Sheryl Crow, and more, and she always asks to listen to it.
- Hamilton. She loves the music, can sing a lot of the songs, and has seen the movie version a few times. I'm so proud!
- Scootering. She loves going fast and is very confident on it. She refuses to ride her bike ever, but at least she has the scooter to get hersel around on!
Also, tell me this isn't an awesome get-up... Girl's got style with that robe and those sunglasses!
Aubrey's Milestones and Accomplishments:
- She learned how to tie her shoes over the last year.
- She has lost only two baby teeth (the second happened after her birthday). In both cases, the permanent tooth grew in behind the baby tooth, a phenomenon known as "shark teeth." She thought that was pretty cool.
- She is doing 2nd grade math at school. They just gave her the 2nd grade book, and she does it independently while her classmates do the 1st grade math. She has received many "Mustangs" from school indicating that she has followed the school trait of "responsibility" for doing her work independently and focusing well.
- She has made a great group of friends at school, and they all make things for each other and give them as gifts. One sweet friend made her several little puff ball friends and a carboard box house for her birthday. She has also gotten bracelets and drawings and other things, and she has given many things as well. She made a number of Perler bead creations and even came home with "orders" from her classmates. She made all of them!
- She made this hilarious video, which is truly an accomplishment. It was a long video, and this is just a clip of it. In this part, she sings the theme song for the movie she is making about her dolls. All I can say is... poor Snow White.
- She is taking a dance class (tap and hip-hop), and she was SO nervous at first. She would just stand there with her hands clasped in front of her mouth, looking scared and refusing to participate. She didn't want anyone to see her dance, not even her teacher. But she got past it and now loves it. She even did the winter recital for it (Covid-style, in a small room with no audience but with a video camera to film it) and is excited for the spring recital coming up in June. I'm SO proud of how she conquered her fear of dancing in front of people. Here is a recording of a video (so not great quality) showing her winter dance recital performance.
- She is preparing to get baptized next year (What?! How is she that old?!) by reading The Book of Mormon with Daniel and even on her own sometimes.
- She takes showers now instead of baths and even washes her own hair.
- She has been super adaptable and awesome during this year of weirdness. I thought she wouldn't be able to tolerate a mask all day at school, but she did! She never complained. She even made a mask for her Anna doll!
- She came to me one day and said, "Mommy, we haven't been doing nice things for people." She then went up and down our street writing messages on the sidewalk in front of people's houses. Afterwards she kept saying how good it made her feel.
- She's a great big sister to Clara, who absolute adores her. She is always sweet and attentive, and we often hear Clara laughing at something Aubrey's doing after we put them to bed. I love their relationship. Clara is always asking about "Aubee" when she's at school and starts saying her name when we pull into the school parking lot to pick her up.
A Year of Funny Aubrey-isms:
- Aubrey: "I'm running away and never coming back!"
Me: "Okay, well be careful of the coronavirus out there."
Aubrey: "I don't care!"
Carter, starting to cry: "No! Then I'll never see Aubrey again!"
Me: "Oh, buddy, it's okay. Aubrey isn't going to run away."
Aubrey: "Yes, I am!"
*Aubrey goes out the front door and closes it behind her. Five seconds later she comes back in.*
Aubrey: "Hey, Mom, we got a package!" - "Hey, Mom, this is kind of funny--my bum is shaped like an eight." (She even traced it with her finger to illustrate.)
- After I asked her to "come here": "Hold on; I have to fight crime before I talk to you."
- Aubrey: "Mom, what do you want for Christmas?"
Me: "I want everyone to get along."
Aubrey: "No, like a present."
Me: "I'm serious; that's what I want."
Aubrey, with annoyance: "Well that's not gonna happen!" - Aubrey, while looking at an extensive Halloween yard setup, complete with grave markers: "All these signs make me feel like the world is just death and destruction."
- One time she wrote on a bunch of post-it notes and put them all over the house. Here are a few favorites:
- While playing with her toys:
Doll 1: "Wait, you're not my mom."
Doll 2: "I know; I'm your backup mom."
Aubrey's Challenges:
- We still have some behavior struggles, including getting Aubrey to school sometimes. She'll refuse to get out of the car when we get there, and I have to drag her out. Then, because I can't go into the school building because of Covid, teachers from the school have to escort her in. Sometimes it takes a few teachers, as she tries to run away. It's super embarrassing and often makes me cry. And I love crying in front of people... not at all.
- When she and Carter are arguing, she often says, "5, 4, 3, 2, 1. I win!" Not my favorite.
- She's still doing physical therapy, and she's slowly improving. She just needs to remember not to walk on her toes! We remind her a lot.
- She is still a very picky eater and won't try anything new. She has finally gotten to the point where she'll eat peanut butter sandwiches though. It makes me so happy!
- When she gets in trouble and is being talked to by me or Daniel, she'll just respond with a snotty, "Eh." Though I must say that sometimes she writes apology notes after she has done something wrong. My favorite was the time she wrote this list of ways she would be "good" when she got out of timeout in her room.
D'awww. It definitely made it impossible to stay angry.
Anyway, that's my girl! I'm sure I've left some things out, but at some point you just have to accept that you'll never remember everything. 🤷
