Happy 12th Birthday, Matilda!

Dear Matilda,

Happy 12th birthday!!! Today you turn 12 years old. As your big sister told you, you are no longer a tween, you are now a pre-teen! Here are some things I’d like to remember about you when you turned 12 years old and some things you might like to know about your 12 year old self…..

1. You love space. You visited NASA in Houston last week which was so exciting! You hope to work for NASA someday and build rockets.
2. You are very smart. You are one of the youngest in your grade and are in all accelerated classes. You received High Honor Roll for all three trimesters. I never have to tell you to do your school work. You are extremely self motivated.
3. You still play piano. Mrs. Taylor is your piano teacher (we LOVE her) and we’ve seen tremendous growth in your piano playing in the last year.
4. You completed the majority of your first year of junior high, 6th grade, remote, but you did return in person during the last couple months of school. You rocked e-learning.
5. You love to cook and bake. You can use the stove, oven, microwave, waffle iron and much more all on your own. Grandma Jane gave you a special cookbook and a Pillsbury Bake-Off apron for your birthday this year. You’ve already put it to use in the kitchen.
6. You like to draw. You’ve gotten really good at drawing with the Apple pencil and are great at using Pro-Create. If rocket science doesn’t work out, I could see a bright future for you in graphic design.
7. Once a week you go over to Gigi and Grumpy’s house and build rockets with Grumpy. Grumpy was an engineer and you both love spending time together building rockets and launching them at the park. It’s amazing to see how high they fly.
8. This year you participated in drama club and scholastic bowl through school. It was all on zoom, but at least you got a taste of junior high activities.
9. You still love singing. Your voice is gorgeous and I love listening to you.
10. Some of your best friends are Leah, Quinn, Reese, Lena and Diviyana. Quinn moved back to New York a few weeks ago and that’s been sad for you, but thank goodness for FaceTime!
11. Speaking of friends, you are a REALLY good friend. You care about others so much and are always the first one to make sure you never say or do something that would hurt another’s feelings or make them feel left out. You are extremely loyal. Your friends are lucky to have you.
12. You still share a room with your big sister, Savannah. She is messy and you are neat and tidy. You get along for the most part, but you definitely have your fights. And you both want your own rooms. You are both very different from one another, but deep down you love each other.
13. You still love physical touch. You love being snuggled and cuddled and love your weighted blanket.
14. You want a turtle or a gecko, but I don’t want either of those in our house.
15. Your favorite foods are cheeseburgers, french fries, chicken strips, ribs, ketchup and orange chicken.
16. The Covid 19 pandemic has made you very nervous about germs this year, but we are working through some of that and hopefully this next year will be easier.
17. You are very helpful. You are the first one to jump up at a restaurant to take JoJo to the bathroom or help Cass fix something on his iPad. I really appreciate this about you.
18. You are still very quiet around adults that you don’t know and in high stress situations, but you are funny and silly around your family and friends.
19. You still love pigs. You collect pig stuffed animals and have quite a few.
20. You absolutely love our Goldendoodle Scarlett. You call her your baby and love to snuggle with her on the couch.

Matilda Jane, how did we get so lucky to raise such a kind, intelligent, creative and unique child such as yourself? We are truly blessed. You bring so much joy and light to our family and we are grateful that we can call you ours. I hope you have the best day on your 12th birthday and remember……….

I love you from here to the moon and back again!

Love,

Mama