To Evie on Your 11th Birthday

Dear Evie,

You wanted to make eclairs for your
birthday.These ones turned out good at
least!

As you can see, I'm a bit late in writing this post. We've had a lot going on the past few months and I've had to do some juggling. For one, you and Eleanora started school in person at Deer Park Elementary, something we finally felt was the right step. After trying to start school in person at Plato in the fall and leaving for various reasons, you did virtual school through December while Papa and I still worked from home, and while we all made the best of it, I think we all felt ready for the change back being in person. The conditions of the pandemic have changed a lot over the past year, and while it's certainly not "over," whatever that means, we're all vaccinated now and some of us even had it over Christmas break, so those protections, plus lower transmission rates have made things a little more like normal recently. 

First day of 5th Grade

Oops - first day take 2! (We actually forgot to take a picture of the first of your actual school you'll be finishing 5th grade in).

Casual park with with Sissy.

You are in 5th grade and in Mrs. Bryant's class, who we realized lives in our neighborhood! You seem to really like her and tell us about how she sometimes gets off track with telling stories that may only tangentially relate to the lesson, but how those are the nuggets you remember the most. You've continued writing, though not as intensively as with virtual school, which proved to be pretty stressful with a full writing assignment each week. Those assignments have shown me a little more about how your brain works, in that narrowing down ideas and making decisions about what to say can be hard for you, as, in classic introvert fashion, you tend to think of the full realm of possibilities and therefore have uncertainty about what to pull out or how to sharpen an idea. But at the end of the day you always write strong pieces, and as I've told you before, your writing is probably better than many college students' once it's all said and done. In fact, even though you didn't totally finish the writing portion of your standardized test last year, you still got full points. But me seeing these things is different from you seeing them, and I hope that now that you have some more guidance and a more realistic timeframe, you'll learn to be more confident about writing. And speaking of confidence, you recently did a presentation on the mountain biome, and you were the only one that used a script and didn't read from your slides, and your teacher pointed it out and complimented you on it. I was impressed with how well you knew what you wanted to say and how much of a natural speaker you are. 

You continue to love reading and are at some mid-point in the Harry Potter series. I've only started the first book, as I'm trying to read with Eleanora, who isn't yet as into them as you, but we thought we'd try to have the first book read before watching the first movie, something you're being extremely patient about so far (and something that may be unrealistic, as we may need to just go ahead and watch the movies without each of us reading the books). You love science fiction, but you've also read some books about children with learning disabilities, deafness, or neurodiversity, and you are equally fascinated by their worlds and ask a lot of questions about what their lives must be like. You've considered a career path as an ASL interpreter and have learned some signing on your own. Whether or not you pursue something like this, it is very easy to see you in some kind of support role, as it taps in to your natural compassion and caring nature. 

Unrelated, but cute Halloween picture when you were the Scarlet Witch.

You have continued dancing and have 3 days of classes this year, which include ballet, pre-point, lyrical, and acro. You and Eleanora performed in the Nutcracker this year, and it was one of the highlights of our winter season. Grandma, Brian, Pattie, Mark, and Tita Lee all came to see you, which was a special treat. Though it was a little hard to spot you in the mix of mice and Chinese dancers that all had to dress the same and have the exact same make up and hair, it was fun to see you in new roles and with a relatively tight group of girls, who you seem to be a little closer with than in past years. I have still held back from having you do competition team because of the additional strain on our schedule, but you've politely let us know you're still interested, especially after we got to see Lyla's gymnastics meet in Panama City and see what it was like for her to compete. I've had concerns about overloading your schedule, but I also think you may be in a place where you can embrace a lot of activity. 

Your Chinese dancer role in the Nutcracker.

Here you are as a mouse in the Nutcracker.

A momentous occasion.

You have recently gotten pointe shoes, which happened a bit sooner than I thought, although Ms. Gigi was building it up for a while in your pre-pointe class. When she finally announced that it was time, you were so excited! We went to the dance store and had you fitted, and also learned that one foot is half a size smaller than the other, and you may need some supports for that. After sewing on your elastics and ribbons (and poking myself and bleeding in the process), your shoes were more or less ready, although your class has mostly spent time learning how to put them on and stand in them. I'm hoping it will be a very slow process, because, as beautiful as you are in them, I worry that it's too soon and could lead to foot problems later (I've started reading about bone ossification and how this process may not be complete yet at your age). You'll soon see an orthopedic doctor about what we think is a minor back issue, and will ask about it there. We may have to make a difficult decision of waiting a little longer to really get started on pointe. 

You've also continued with piano lessons with Ms. Kelsey and have been doing them in person for a while now. You seem to just move gracefully along and learn what you're supposed to and apply it. While piano may not be as much of a passion as dance, I think you still enjoy it and sometimes even gravitate to it (although most of the time you need reminders to practice). You have a recital coming up where you'll play O Sole Mio, where you'll play solo, which I'm excited about. In the winter, you and Eleanora and Ms. Kelsey played Driver's License, which was a fun experience. 

Charlotte enjoying the blanket you made her.

Aside from these more formal activities, you've found your way back to knitting, and it has consumed much of your time lately. You picked up a piece you started a while ago and decided to make it into a blanket for Charlotte. It was a thick, soft, looped yarn, and you made it with your hands. But you also learned how to make a scrunchy, and during our trip to North Carolina, you, Eleanora, and your cousins spent some time learning together while you spent the night at the Walters'. Tita Catie took you all to pick out yarn and I can't wait to see what everyone creates!

The Abella t-shirt ritual.

Speaking of cousins, you've had more opportunities to have extended family time this year.  We had an Abella family reunion in Tennessee during Thanksgiving and got to have everyone together in the same house for a whole week! Even though it had been almost two years, you picked right back up with your cousins and were all stuck to each other the whole week, playing games around the house, climbing on the rocks, and roasting marshmallows for s'mores. Then Lola came shortly after for a visit in December and stayed for a few weeks. This was long overdue. She was able to see your winter recitals for music and dance, and also just spend a lot of "hanging out" time with you, something you've always loved.  We are actually on our way back now from our North Carolina trip to visit the Walters, and Grandpa got to stay with us as well. You, sissy, Tori, and Elisabeth took turns spending the night at our place and then the Walters, and fell into step right away talking, laughing, and creating. Your latest performance was singing this time - "We Don't Talk About Bruno" from Encanto. On these trips, it's been really heartwarming to see how sweet you are with your littlest cousins, Emily Joy, Giuseppe, and Charlotte. Sometimes they need a little extra oversight, and you step in to hold their hands or play with them or try to help them feel better. The little caregiver in you comes out naturally around them. While we've seen Grandma a little more easily since she's closer, we'll get to see her again for Easter, along with Grandpa and the Walters, so we're all looking forward to that trip soon.

Helping Lola tighten up the egg rolls.

You made a parole with Lola for Christmas.

Cousin time in North Carolina!

Holding hands with Charlotte around the zoo.

Reading to Emily Joy.

Next up is summer, and you have a few camps you really wanted to do this year. We're finally doing the zoo camp, and there were a couple you were especially interested in, including Animal Behaviorists. You've been interested in learning more about animals and animal caretakers, and it sounds like these camps will help stimulate that interest. Also, because you're starting middle school next year, you're planning to attend an orientation camp for the middle school we think you'll go to. You have a friend you signed up with for the week-long camp, and I'm excited for you to start this new phase of your life. Of course, you'll have your dance camps and maybe circus camp, and one or two others, so it will be an active summer again, but we've made sure to build in a couple weeks of down time. 

Our little lemming (look close to see a real one).

My hope for you this coming year is that you can continue to enjoy some of the more normal aspects of life we've gotten back to, and that you build on some of the friendships you've begun in school and dance. As I received a text from one of your friends asking if you can do a play date, I realized how different communication is these days, and how some of your friends already have their own phones. We're not quite there yet, but I know it's eventually something we'll have to face. I also wish for you that your transition to middle school and all that comes with is as smooth as can be expected and that you continue to have a love of learning, easy friendships, and of course, lots of grounding family time to keep you engaged and growing in the world around you.

I love you my kind-hearted, thoughtful, creative girl.

Love,

Mama