The Lee Family: Sofia at 9 1/2 Years Old!

Sofia is halfway to being in her double digits as a big 10 year old! Sofia is 83.6 lbs and is 56 1/4 inches tall and has grown 1 1/4 inches since she turned 9. She's just growing and growing up so fast! Sofia remains very much in love with reading, especially if there are dragons, magic or include any kind of fantasy storyline. She absolutely loves reading anything by Rick Riordan, especially his Percy Jackson series. She has literally read that series of five thick books at least 15 times in an endless loop. She still enjoys picking up one of the Harry Potter books too and reading it, usually starting at a part that interests her most, like the Hippogriff or some other magical creature. As much as she loves to read and always has a book in front of her, she sticks to many of the same books and would prefer to reread something she knows she loves instead of something she hasn't yet read. As many parents struggle with their child wanting to look at an iPad or iPhone all the time, we have the same struggle with books. Sofia literally reads every chance she gets and tries to sneak her book onto her lap during meals so she can eat and continue reading. She has said she plans to be a writer, although she also wants to be a scientist. If she becomes a writer, she wants to write books that include mythical creatures. For Christmas her Grandpa and Grandma gave her a book that includes the first two-and-a-half sentences and several blank pages to create and write the story based off the few sentences provided. She absolutely loves it and has come up with several great stories that have unusual and unexpected endings. She also has an "imagination journal" that she writes her stories in and is currently working on a story about Buddy who becomes a superhero named Fluffy McFee and rescues cats from trees. Once she gets an idea for a story, she will spend all her time writing and wants to read it to us as soon as she's completed a page or another thought. We often talk about what Sofia will become and do with her life and the possibilities are endless.

Sofia continues to enjoy school and really loves her teacher, Ms. Murray who is very sweet and a great teacher. She really loves her math teacher, Mrs. Grant, who is one of the best teachers I think Sofia has ever had. Science, writing and spelling come so easily to her and she has a little difficulty with math but it seems like she really understands the concepts and just starts to question herself. She gets very good grades in every subject and class time is boring at times to her. She doesn't love getting up in the morning, but is very good at waking up with her alarm at 6:20am, getting dressed and ready and is usually down reading on the couch before I even make it out of our bedroom. She's always in a good mood and ready for the day. She does ask me occasionally why I don't home school her since she feels like she'd be better at learning from reading and taking her own time. She would absolutely love to be able to sit at home in her pjs with a pile of books in front of her!

She and Olivia started gymnastics at the beginning of November and she is really loving it. I wish I'd signed Sofia up when she was younger, but she's already made huge strides. Olivia was begging to start gymnastics and I didn't think Sofia would be interested in it, but took them both with me to sign up at Sunbelt. When we got there, Sofia asked if she could also take gymnastics. The first few classes were a little hard to watch since they really didn't know what they were doing and were both timid and awkward, but now that they have been going for nearly 2 months they are really learning and improving! For Christmas Santa brought them a trampoline (which resembles a medium-sized UFO in our backyard) and they spend hours every day on it. It's really helped them get strong and to feel more comfortable with tumbling, flipping and somersaults. More than their gymnastic abilities, I really love how much they enjoy it and how much stronger they both have become. Both girls continue to take piano with Mr. James here at our house and Sofia enjoys it, although now that it's gotten more complex she doesn't practice on her own like she used to do. I just signed Sofia up for the spring soccer season playing with the Pink Pirates, which will start in mid-February. She is super excited to get back out on the soccer field and is determined to score a goal. I love her enthusiasm and dedication! Both girls also participate in Run Club which happens on Tuesday and Friday mornings from 7:10 - 7:30am. Sofia said that her New Year's Resolution is to run faster, so we are looking into a local 5K in the spring that we can start training for together once it gets warmer.

Sofia is very particular about how she does things in certain order. After choir practice started, we went to Menchie's for frozen yogurt and since then it's just what we "have to do" every Wednesday. She also gets ideas in her mind about how she approaches everything from what she wears, how she does certain things, etc. She's really interesting like that. She likes to have her toys arranged a certain way or place her glasses in a certain place on her table. That being said, she remains pretty forgetful about things, especially her math homework that is due each Thursday. She is very focused on some things and not on other things.

Sofia still loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and prefers them for lunch every day! She loves radishes, carrots, bell peppers, cauliflower and especially loves raw onions. She will often sneak raw onions off the cutting board when I'm cutting them up and loves them. She still loves pizza and spaghetti and salmon are her three favorite meals. She isn't as big of a fan of cheese or grilled cheese sandwiches as she once was but likes goat cheese on crackers a lot. Of course, Sofia loves her sweets and enjoys pretty much any dessert in front of her. She enjoys miso soup, edamame and California rolls and I'm excited for a time when she is willing to try another kind of sushi. As far as playing, she enjoys playing upstairs with her plastic horses and making up stories while she plays. She loves being creative, jumping on the trampoline, reenacting Star Wars fights with Brandon and Antonio on the front lawn, watching Star Wars' Clone Wars episodes and writing and reading stories. She's very creative and has a very vivid imagination! She absolutely adores her sister and loves playing with her and making up stories and games together. As sisters, they also bicker at times but they generally just enjoy each other and look forward to playing with each other.

One of Sofia's great attributes is that she really knows her own mind and doesn't get sucked into trying to please friends or anyone. She will wear any clothes that she likes without any interest in whether her top and skirt match or go together at all. When we have pointed out that her clothes don't really go together, she just shrugs her shoulders and says "Oh well, I like it." While I drove her home from a birthday party where she'd gotten a bracelet in her gift bag, she said the bracelet was really popular at school and most of the girls at school have several of them. I asked her if she liked them or wanted some of the bracelets and she said "No. I don't really see the point of wearing bracelets. They seem so unnecessary." I love it. I love that she doesn't just go along with what others do and instead really thinks about her interests and priorities. When all the other girls are talking and laughing at lunch, Sofia is completely focused on reading her book while she eats her peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She just does her own thing.

Our big girl!! Such a beautiful smile and personality!