The Lee Family: August 2021

Olivia is now officially in the double digits and growing up so fast! She is 4'8" tall already (94th percentile) and weighs 88 lbs (84th percentile). Because she is so tall, she wears a 12/14 size for dresses, shorts and skirts and already wears a woman's size 7 shoe! It seems like yesterday that she was a tiny baby or just toddling around after her big sister. Now they are very much equals and very good friends (who do disagree or argue at times). Olivia really follows her big sister's lead in many areas - books that Sofia likes to read, computer games she enjoys and just about anything Sofia likes to do Olivia wants to join in with her sister. Her very best friend is still Hannah Jones and they spend a lot of their free time together and get along so well and have so much fun together.

Unfortunately, we are not with Olivia on her actual birthday this year. I had USTA playoffs in Houston and drove down the day before her birthday and returned mid-afternoon on Sunday while CK had a board meeting and left after he dropped Olivia off at school and returned just before I did on Sunday afternoon. She and Sofia spent the weekend with Olivia's best friend Hannah and her family, going to Grapevine High School's first football game of the season and generally having fun together. CK dropped off a cake, cupcakes and balloons to surprise Olivia when she got to Hannah's house. Hannah's mom said they enjoyed the balloons for 10 minutes before they sucked out all the helium! We celebrated as a family on Sunday afternoon. Olivia asked for burgers, broccoli, a vanilla cake and vanilla ice cream. Of course, as soon as we were done with dinner, Olivia wanted to open her presents before we celebrated with cake and ice cream.

On her actual birthday, CK gave her two gifts. The first was a Timex watch that she picked out after her's stopped working over the summer. She loves wearing a watch every day and so it wasn't really a surprise but we wanted to be sure she picked out the one she wanted. The other gift was from her sister and included two containers of candy and a fun puzzle. Hannah and family also gave Olivia probably the coolest gift of her birthday - a huge Harry Potter Lego set! It looks so cool (and complicated) but Sofia can always help out. She got ready to open presents and chose the gift from her Aunt Cynthia, Uncle Jay and cousins. They sent her a set of books that Jillian really enjoyed and Olivia was excited to get started on them. They also gave her her very own Uno Flip card set. She opened the gift from Uncle Steve and Aunt Shirl which included a super cute "New Mexico" full skirt and two super cute tops! Next were the gifts from us. We got her a new comforter set, which she said she wanted to keep her old one (even though it has permanent marker on it) and I told her we could rotate them. We also got her a gumball machine and gumballs! Over the summer she had a play date at her friend Hana's house and Hana had a really great gumball machine that she got for her birthday. As we drove away, Olivia said "That's what I want for my birthday!" Of course the girls had a great time putting coins in it and getting gumballs out....until it jammed. CK fixed it and now it just dispenses gum whenever the dial is turned! Much easier but I was certain Olivia was planning on collecting all those coins and asking CK to add them to her bank account! That girl sure loves to save her money! Sofia also picked out a Lego friends set for her sister, but we ended up taking it back because she wasn't that into it. Finally, Sofia picked out a box of domino train that we can all play together. The girls learned it while visiting with their cousins over the summer and really enjoyed it.

Olivia started 5th grade eight days before her birthday and has enjoyed school so far. It's her last year of elementary school which is also hard for me to believe. Olivia is generally a quiet kid, except when she is with her sister or friends she knows well. She is thoughtful and always willing to lend a hand. She's responsible with her things and cleans her room up better than I would do when I ask her to clean it up. She loves to read and spend time with her sister and friends and also loves watching tennis with me. She was taking lessons until the start of the summer and wants to get back into it. She loves hanging out on the trampoline with her sister and swimming with Hannah and/or Sofia. We hope she has a great year and enjoys being in her double digits!

As far as her favorite things, they include:

Olivia's favorite breakfast: pancakes, cheese omelette

Lunch: Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich and pizza

Dinner: spaghetti casserole

Snack: Peanut butter and banana on graham crackers or Lebanon bologna and cheese

Vegetables: cucumbers, bell peppers, oranges and watermelon

Olivia's favorite color: blue

She wants to be: NASA rocket designer or a veterinarian

Her favorite book: Magic Tree House or Eerie Elementary Series

Her favorite Movie: How to Train Your Dragon 2