Saturday, July 8, 2017

"Ice Skating Birthday" video

Some of the fun on video...

Ice Skating Party

Maya decided to be cool for her birthday this year.

Why are these two dressed like this on a 90 degree day?

Ice Skating Party!  Maya decided to celebrate at the Santa Rosa Snoopy Ice Skating Rink.

Maya with old friends and new.

Getting chilly with friends.

Life is good with tacos and soda.

Maya Z. and Sophia R.

Party animals!

In lieu of cake, there were donuts, lots of donuts!

Back to the heat!  A wonderful birthday celebration.

Maya at 10 Years

Here are the current stats:
Weight: 64 lbs (approx 25th percentile).
Height: 53 inches (approx 30th percentile).

Maya is now officially moving into the world of tweens.  She seems much more grown up this year.  This year she changed schools to a K-8 independent school (that’s code for private). It was a big transition, but she managed it well and has found a new group of friends while still retaining her good friends from her old school.  At her new school, 4th grade is the first year in the upper division of the school which ushers in a new level of independence.  Kids are supposed to manage their own homework and schedules. They are also allowed to get involved in all sorts of school activities. Maya decided to try out for the school play and the school musical and enjoyed performing in both. She is also trying out some of the lunchtime activities and finding her new groove. Often she’s very busy embracing her more grown up self, but there are moments when she becomes an young emotional mess.  It’s been amazing to see how much she can handle on her own and reassuring that she still likes us (at least for now).

Maya has continued her karate and is now a purple belt.  She’s also still taking piano lessons and has greatly improved.  She also completed what will be her last year of girl scouts. At school, they have a much more rigorous physical education program and she learning to play some of the sports she didn’t play as a younger kid and she’s running a mile every day.  She also got braces.  Never a dull moment.  We are constantly trying to balance her activities with enough time at home to make sure she gets some downtime.

She continues to be spunky, funny, and easygoing. Her teachers comment at how she brings a good energy to the classroom.  We see her patience and kindness with her brother who is always trying to keep up with her.  Maya is great at playing with him and bringing him along with whatever game she wants to play. In terms of games, Maya is a four square expert and very interested in learning all sorts of card games.

Maya’s reading this year included the entire Series of Unfortunate Events, along with more Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Wonder, The Secret Keepers, Blubber, and some repeat reading of the Harry Potter books. This is also the year that we are starting to introduce her to a bit more grown up movies like Back to the Future and Raiders of the Lost Ark.  She’s also become quite a Star Trek: The Next Generation fan thanks to her parents. It’s a real pleasure to see her understand much more complex plots and themes in movies and books.

Maya continues to evolve in a more independent, creative, and thoughtful person. Welcome to the double digits!