Sofia is now 15 years old and is growing up into a wonderful young woman! She is now 5' 71/2" and trying to get taller than I am. She already wears all my clothes sizes and wears a size 10 shoe, a full size bigger than me. Everyday she wears what we call her "uniform" which includes a t-shirt and a skort or longer tennis skirt. She wears that every single day! She has terrific hair, which she now wears down most of the time. She likes when I flat-iron it, but she doesn't want me to straighten it very often. She looks great wavy or straight!
She spent the weeks before her birthday doing on-line driving classes through Green Light Driving School, and took her permit test through them after a few classes. She passed easily and now we just wait until her DMV appointment to turn in her completed test and she will be legal to drive with one of her parents in the car. I can't believe it! Thankfully, while spending a week at her Grandparent's farm earlier this summer, her Grandpa put her behind the wheel of his truck and told her to drive all over the farm. He also set up cones for her to practice driving around and getting comfortable behind the wheel. Before then, she wasn't terribly excited to get her permit, but now she can't wait to get started!
We were planning on leaving for a week in the Bahamas on the 29th, so we had a low-key birthday planned for Sofia that included her favorite dinner - spaghetti casserole followed by her favorite cake - vanilla with vanilla ice cream. Earlier that day, she and I went for a pedicure to relax and get ready for our trip to the Bahamas. The one thing that Sofia really wanted for her birthday was a dragon cake. So, I used her red 3D printed dragon that she got in middle school as a cake topper and asked the bakers at Market Street to use their imagination to decorate the cake. It turned out SUPER cute!
After dinner, we sang Happy Birthday to Sofia, enjoyed her cake and then she opened up her presents. The best part was Sofia's reaction to her birthday candles - they are like a mini-sparkler and were a lot! My friend Sian, who has literally never been late with even one gift for the girls or me, sent a bunch of fun puzzles for the girls! They will be fun to put together. As a sort of joke, I bought Sofia a light-up ladybug that she used to have when she was little, but somehow lost or something. She was recently talking about how much she loved and missed that light-up ladybug, so I thought it would be a very cute gift. Olivia got Sofia a pool inflatable shaped like a popsicle, that they could play with together. CK probably got the best gift for Sofia in a pair of wireless earbuds, which made her super happy!
Sofia is by far the most naturally happy girl I think I've ever met. I can pick her up after high school tennis practice where she's had particularly difficult time with coach and after being upset for a minute, she will then say "I actually had a great day today...." and will start with her first period and tell me all about each class and how much she enjoyed it. She might get angry and upset at things, but she cools quickly and honestly has the best outlook on life. She definitely follows the beat of her own drum and has strong convictions about what is right and what is wrong. She has also developed a strong group of friends that include Liam, Carson, Colin, Finley and a few others who she has lunch every day with. She's a great kid, even if she doesn't love doing her chores. We can't wait to see what she choses to do in the coming years.
A few of her favorite things include:
Favorite breakfast: Egg and cheese breakfast sandwich on a Hawaiian bun. So delicious!
Favorite Lunch: Last year, she ate a ham and cheese sandwich on baguette every single day of school and loved it. It's still a favorite lunch, but she also loves sushi, ramen and just about anything Japanese
Favorite Dinner: Spaghetti Casserole
She wants to be: A microbiologist. She has loved learning about viruses for the past few years.
Favorite thing to do: She loves to spend hours on her phone either texting or talking to her friends. She also loves playing her video game on her phone called Genshin Impact. She'll spend hours playing and sharing ideas on a server of other friends.
