Nine Years Old!

 My nine year old...

1. is incredibly helpful. Many times a day she helps me out in many different little ways. I appreciate her help so much! She doesn't mind helping me clean the bathrooms, but she's understandably less enthusiastic about what will become her new chore starting next week - cleaning the guinea pig cage. That is the exception though. She almost never complains when I ask her to help me. She usually has a great attitude.

2. loves Adventures in Odyssey - listening to it on the radio from 6:00-6:30, listening to cds of the program in her bedroom, reading Adventures in Odyssey books, and watching some of their shows on Amazon Prime or Right Now Media. Over the past six months her favorite shows to watch have been Odd Squad, 321 Penguins, and Adventures in Odyssey. We gave her another AIO chapter book and more AIO cds for her birthday this week. Grandpa and Claire also gave her AIO cds.

3. is not so crazy about math (to Paul's chagrin), but she loves to

read. She enjoys a wide variety of chapter books (some over 200 pages long) ranging from American Girl books to missionary biographies (particularly those who have worked with orphans).

4. wants to do just about every extracurricular activity out there whether it is a Spanish class, theater production (she'll be in Madagascar, Jr in August), ice skating lessons, gymnastics, horseback riding lessons, ballet, soccer, basketball, flag football (she'll be starting that in August), an art class, tennis lessons, swimming lessons, diving lessons, etc. Of course our budget and schedule don't permit her to do everything that interests her, but she does do quite a bit over the course of a year! Speaking of our schedule, this girl is very focused on the calendar and our daily schedule. The boys don't seem to feel the need to know what we're doing to do throughout the day, but Miss Nadia does. She often likes to discuss our plan for the day or other upcoming plans. She might look like her father, but in this instance she takes after her Mom.

5. is very brave. She has zero fear when it comes to singing a solo, having a speaking part in a musical, going down any water slide, or riding any ride that an amusement park deems her tall enough to ride. She grew four inches over the past year (52 inches tall). She was bummed last week that she didn't weigh enough (had to weigh 75 pounds) to ride the zip line at Montage Mountain. She climbed to the very top of the large rock climbing wall at the state park last Saturday.

6. is very friendly. Whenever we go somewhere, she immediately makes a new friend, such as at a swimming pool. When I watch her interact with the girl for a couple of hours it seems like they've known each other for a long time, and then she tells me that she just met her. No one is a stranger to Nadia. She can strike up a conversation easily with children and adults alike.

7. loves dolls. Over the past six months she's mostly played with paper dolls, but she loves her new Samantha (American Girl) doll that she got two days ago from Paul's parents. She

Daddy holding Nadia while I was still in the OR

generally plays in her room by herself with her dolls, but sometimes she allows Ian to join her. Ian and Nadia play together quite a bit most days. Samantha has been traveling in the van with us, and she already said the next thing she is going to save her money for is a new outfit for Samantha. We gave her two more sets of American Girl paper dolls for her birthday, and she was eager to cut them out!

8. loves her immediate family, extended family, and the Lord very much. She has started doing a Bible study on the names of God of her own initiative and lately has

Ready to leave the NICU!

said she wants to be a missionary who works with orphans when she grows up. She is very affectionate, and she eagerly anticipates when she can spend time with grandparents, cousins, etc. She has been regularly emailing  her 13 year old cousin, Susie, for several months. One of her birthday presents from us this year was her very own email address. Her bedtime has also been extended to 9:00. She's really looking forward to what awaits her when she turns 10 - pierced ears!

9. has a growing appetite. I think she must be in a growth spurt because she has been eating a lot

more lately than usual. Some of her favorite foods include blueberries, strawberries, string cheese, Cool Ranch Doritos, hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, fried mozzarella, pizza, cookies, brownies, chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, fish sticks, donuts, Pop Tarts, Fritos, Rolos, ham and cheese hot pockets, cranberry sauce, grilled cheese sandwiches, Egg McMuffins, garlic bread, biscuits, apple butter, goldfish crackers, French fries, and apple pie.

I hope Nadia has a wonderful year in her last year of single digits! Over the past year she learned her multiplication and division tables (0-11) and how to write in cursive. I look forward to seeing what she learns in the next year!