The Lee Family: Sofia at 10 1/2 Years Old!

Sofia is half a year older now and much the same as she was when she turned 10 at the end of July. She loves playing with her sister and they spend a lot of their afternoons after school bouncing and playing on the trampoline. They also love to pretend to be dragons and "fly" around the house making dragon noises. Sofia decided to play soccer again in the spring and her team's practice started up a few weeks ago on Wednesday afternoon. Nearly all of the girls have returned, as well as a few new girls and we look forward to a fun season. She really enjoys soccer and has fun with the girls on the team. I'm excited she has wanted to play again this season since I think the girls are a great group of girls and it's a sport that she likely won't play for much longer. She and Olivia have been doing gymnastics for a year now and as much as Sofia argues that she doesn't want to go, she always has so much fun after she's done with her hour-long class. She still loves playing the piano and works hard at getting each song just right.

Sofia loves dragons, books with dragons and drawing dragons. She has become a great drawer of dragons and loves making up stories about each one. She really enjoys anything and everything related to dragons and especially loves reading books that include dragons in the storyline. She really loves school and despite getting behind in some of her projects during the week, due to the increased work load of the Aspire Academy, she absolutely loves her teacher, her classmates and the whole experience. There are several boys in her class who love dragons too and she often comes home telling stories of how her and her friends make up dragon hatcheries, homes, and various dragon things on the playground. One of her friends, Joey, makes intricate dragon origami and gives a new one to Sofia regularly. She said it takes Joey at least an hour to make each one and she takes them everywhere she goes, carrying them in a little wooden box. Of course, she has named each one and attributed personality traits to each of them. When she isn't taken up with origami dragons, Sofia loves all of her school subjects and loves how creative most of her projects are. She really puts in a lot of effort into all of her school work and does very well. She has started hanging out with Liam, who also loves dragons, loves playing freeze tag and enjoys similar books. The Aspire Academy has been such an amazing experience this year. She got off the bus on her first day of school and I asked her how her day went and she said "AWESOME!" Ever since that first day, she has loved it even more and has blossomed in the past months. We are so proud of her and excited for her now that she's in the Academy!

Sofia is now 99.8 lbs and 4' 10" tall! She's so grown up in many ways, but such a little kid in so many other ways. She doesn't really care much what she wears as long as she is comfortable and would be happy to wear the same clothes day after day, if it were up to her! She still loves hanging out at home, in her pajamas and playing all day long. That is really her dream Saturday. She enjoys so many different activities - playing at the park, riding her bike to Starbucks, soccer, gymnastics, etc - but she never ever wants to leave the house to do them. Once she's doing the activity, she's is happy, but getting her out of the house is often a struggle. CK and I often talk about how she has always resisted transitions of any kind, even when she was a baby! She still dislikes taking showers or washing her face and it's often a battle to get her to do either, although I've explained to her that she will be washing her face for the rest of her life so she better start embracing it now.

She loves playing with Brandon and they often ride their scooters around the neighborhood and talk about Star Wars, school, or whatever they talk about. Sometimes they walk around with their light sabers and talk. Since it's been so cold this winter, they have been spending time playing Minecraft at Brandon's house as long as Todd or Dana are home. Oftentimes they jump on the trampoline or they play with Olivia and Antonio. At 14 years old, Brandon is much older than Sofia and dislikes school and reading. However, they have a special bond and love hanging out, even though it isn't very often. Since Brandon goes to school in Dallas, he often doesn't go home until around 5pm, so they usually just see each other on Saturday or Sunday afternoons. Otherwise, she loves playing with Olivia, even if they disagree from time to time. She almost never has play dates and when she does, it is usually with her friend Emma. She doesn't see Emma at school now that Sofia's at the Academy, so they tend to really enjoy each other more than when they saw each other regularly.

Sofia and her Wishing Dragon that she made. The Wishing Dragon has large front feet that you can place your thumbs in and make a wish.