The Lee Family: Sofia at 10 Years Old

Sofia is TEN years old! It seems like just yesterday she was this tiny little bundle and CK and I were absolutely clueless parents! She is currently 47 1/2 inches heigh and weighs 91 pounds! Because of her height, we have a hard time finding clothes that fit her well. Most of her clothes are size 12-14, since anything smaller is just too short on her. She almost entirely wears a graphic shirt with skorts (skirt with built in shorts). She doesn't often wear dresses because they are usually too short on her unless they are long dresses. She loves space-related graphic tops or anything with an animal on it and often doesn't really notice if her top and skirt actually match. Unlike Olivia, Sofia truly does not care what she wears. She loves wearing Crocs and is now in a women's size 7! So she is officially out of her sparkly purple Crocs and picked out a bright blue pair in a women's size 7! It seems like she was just wearing a kids' size 5 and just jumped in the past month! I can't believe she is nearly wearing my shoe size!

I decided to ask her a bunch of questions on her favorites and this is what I got from her:

Sofia's favorite breakfast: toast with butter, cereal, pancakes, bacon
Lunch: Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich
Dinner: spaghetti or salmon
Vegetable: carrots and radishes

Sofia's favorite colors: Green and Blue
She wants to be: an astronaut (and go to the moon, but not necessarily Mars or be on the Space Shuttle)
Her favorite book: Too many to decide
Her favorite Movie: Star Wars - all of them

Sofia has absolutely beautiful hair but always wants to wear it down. Occasionally I can talk her into braiding it or pulling it into a pony tail, and I love messing with it because it is so thick and easy to work with and always looks great when it's done well. Like the clothes she wears, she just doesn't really care what her hair looks like and we have to constantly remind her to brush her hair before we head out.

She still loves anything about space and has read many of the astronaut's autobiographies and biographies, including "Carrying the Fire,"Moon Shot," "Apollo 13," "The Martian," and "Forever Young." She loves them all and really understands it which is completely beyond me. I think she's read "Apollo 13" at least ten times since we visited NASA at Spring Break this year! She has cleared off her dresser and has turned it into a "space shrine" that includes all of the books she's read, the various manuals on space craft, her photo book from the awards ceremony, her Saturn V Lego rocket and all of her various space-related things. It's awesome! As much as she wants to be an astronaut, she would prefer traveling to the moon and doesn't really have as much interest in going to Mars! I think she should have been born twenty years ago instead of now, since the mission will be going to Mars!

Sofia basically has a book in front of her as much as she has time to read! She carries it down the stairs in the morning, would read while eating breakfast if we let her and then reads as we drive anywhere in the car. She used to read between 60-80 pages in a school day, but now that she'll be starting at the Aspire Academy, we wonder how that will change. She really absorbs what she reads, but also re-reads most of her favorite books which is frustrating since she could be getting so much more out of what she reads if she diversified a little bit.

She loves to play with Brandon and they wander the streets of our neighborhood with their light sabers or swords and talk about life (or Star Wars). She is happy to play with just about anyone but also refuses to play dress up or anything girly. It's all about Star Wars, swords and dragons. Occasionally she will play Legos or My Little Pony with Olivia. Olivia absolutely adores Sofia and always loves playing with her, and Sofia is pretty good at playing with her little sister, although its usually Sofia's choice of what they play. Unlike Olivia, she never asks for someone to come over for a playdate. She relishes her time to herself and her reading time. She also still loves to play make-believe and not a lot of the girls in her grade are interested in that anymore. She prefers pretending like she's a water dragon or some other kind of crazy animal and has a hard time finding someone who plays along with that.

She's not naturally athletic, but plays soccer and enjoys it. It's a great group of girls and Coach Jeff is awesome but we also can see that her soccer future is very limited by her ability and real desire to work hard. She and Olivia have taken gymnastics since December and they both love it. It's a great work out and I'm not sure how much Sofia has really improved over the past year but every now and again she has a major break through and loves it all that much more! I keep wanting her to play tennis but she has less than no interest. Hoping someday she changes her mind. She loves to ride her scooter and if she's awake in the morning she'll walk the dog with me which is always interest since she is definitely a morning person and loves to chat away. But really she'd rather just read a book.

Since she's gotten into the Academy, she's super excited to start school next month and we can't wait to see how she does! It should be a great year, and she'll probably really be challenged. Sofia is such a smart and intuitive person and we often wonder what she'll end up doing in her lifetime. She has so much to offer and so much opportunity and literally the world is her's to decide what she wants to do!

Sofia and her sister at Grandma and Grandpa's house