Ila at 10
Ila is in 4th grade this year and doing well in school. She excels in every subject to the point where her teacher suggested having her take the accelerated placement test for next year.
Ila has been a varacous reader this year. Once she finds a book or series she likes, she will read every spare minute until she has read through every book in the series. Her teacher let her borrow a Land of Stories book over Thanksgiving break and now Ila has read all 6 books and moved onto another series (each books is about 500 pages, the whole series is almost 3,000 pages long).
Ila’s best friend, Cecily moved to another town over the summer. Ila was devistated and has struggled to develop the same deep level of connection with any other friend. Ila says the girls are boring at recess because all they want to do is walk around and talk. She has taken to playing with the boys at recess every day because she says they’re more fun. She has reported that she eats lunch and plays with the same two boys every day.
Ila was adament that she wanted to be part of the elementary school ballroom class this year. She has really loved participating and looks forward to every dance class.
Ila is my sweet sensitive child. She always tries to do the right thing and follow all the rules. She never wants anyone to be unhappy with her so she rarely gets in trouble. Occasionally she will be caught in a minor infraction and at the slightest rebuke, she will crumple and start to cry.
She continutes to nurture relationships with beloved adults. She’s quick with a hug and a smile for all her special people.
She also still really loves babies. She takes every oppertunity that she finds to play with babies. She was particularly fond of her baby cousins who came to visit over the summer and she spent every spare moment holding, feeding, and loving those babies. After they left she missed them terribly and told me she would dream at night about playing with them.
Ila is kind and genererous to all her siblings. She has been an especially good to her big sister, Nicole who has in tern become a little obsessive over Ila. Ila has spent her allowance money more than once to buy things for each of her siblings. There are times when her siblings are more easily calmed after an upset by Ila than by me.
Ila loves all things kitty. She likes to play with toy cats and kittens and is always excited to recieve or wear anything with a cat on it.
She continues to be particular in her food choices. Salmon and chicken with lots of salt are her favorite foods. She likes vanilla ice cream, pumpkin pie, Lays Wavy Original potatoe chips (she will accept some generic brands in a pinch, but not un-wavy chips or chips with any other flavorings), and apple cinnomin oatmeal.
Ila is a greatful child. We gave her an electric scooter for her birthday and every time she rides it, she thanks us profusely and tells us how much she loves it.
Ila loves to swim and play in the water. She likes to do any kind of art project or play at a park. She likes to play on the computer and experiment with computer coding. She even devised a way to communicate with her BFF via coding projects posted on scratch. She likes to bake and watch shows with the family. She is a delightful, obediant, loving child and I am super lucky to be her mom!!
Here is what I wrote about her last year.