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| Happy 11th Birthday!
As of 5:29 PM today, Andrea is celebrating day 4,017 of life. Conveniently, we had a doctor’s appointment yesterday, so we have an “official” height of 57 inches. She’s more than five times her birth length! In keeping with my new policy from last year, I won’t post her weight. However, according to the doctor, her BMI is “perfect”, so she’s all caught up with her growth.
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The big news from last spring is that Andrea has mastered a two-wheeled bicycle. (Redundant, I know, but I mean without the training wheels). She struggled for a long time, trying to learn to balance without the extra wheels. Ken is a saint, and spent hours outside with her, in the nasty weather of March and early spring. Almost every day after school, they were up and down the block. She was determined to learn, and she finally mastered the bike!
I’m not sure if I’m grateful or not, but Andrea’s 4th grade teacher got her hooked on the Harry Potter series. One day, Mrs. Carabello sorted the students into the Hogwarts houses, and Andrea fund up as a proud Hufflepuff. For my readers who are not up on their Harry Potter knowledge, Hufflepuffs are “just and loyal” and “patient….true and unafraid of toil.” It’s a pretty accurate assessment of Andrea - I’m wavering on the “patient” part, but she is loyal and hard working, and a kind person. She’s worked her way through all the books (we’re on the second reading of The Order of the Phoenix now) and has seen all the movies. Her upcoming birthday party is 100% Harry Potter, and we’re taking her to The Wizarding World at Universal Studios in the spring. The 11th birthday is a big deal in the wizarding world.
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| Sorted into Hufflepuff |
It’s a weird thing to say, but at the age of 11, we’re still trying to help Andrea find her passions. It seems that many of her friends have found their niches. On the other hand, I’m 50, and I’m not sure I’ve found MY niche! She’s tried a lot of different things, but there hasn’t yet been something that sparks her. She’s musical, playing clarinet in the band and singing in the chorus at school. She does love art, and can draw well. She seems interested in interior design, helping pick curtains and furniture for our house, and negotiating paint colors with Ken. She has tried a lot of sports, from soccer, to softball, to gymnastics, but there hasn’t been anything she’s loved. We pushed swim lessons for safety, and she does swim well, but prefers to play in the water, instead of swimming laps. (Do any kids LIKE swimming laps???)
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| Andrea's drawing of Jeremy, our new kitten |
She did another summer at Camp Discover at Fairleigh Dickinson University last summer. She had fun on mismatch day, and enjoyed the trips to Medieval Times and Frozen on Broadway. We also took a Carnival cruise for my birthday. It was Andrea’s second cruise, and this one featured “Seuss at Sea.” We had Green Eggs and Ham and took our pictures with Sam I Am, Thing One and Thing Two and The Cat in the Hat (of course). Andrea also did Build a Bear and BINGO, even winning $100 during one game. She did a great job at giant Jenga too!
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| Mismatch day at Camp |
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| Build a Bear on Carnival |
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| Nose Spoons for everyone on Carnival |
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| Carnival Jenga |
5th grade has been a good experience so far. It’s her last year in her current school - she’ll transition to a “middle school” next year. To prepare the students for switching classes all day next year, the kids do a little bit of it this year. Andrea gets to see different teachers for Social Studies and Science, and has Math and English with her homeroom teacher.
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| First day of 5th Grade! |
In the fall, we went back to Maine to visit Kenny G at college. The highlight for Andrea was the pool (outdoors, in Maine, in late September - too cold for me!) and having BUTTERBEER we got from an ice cream vendor. I wasn’t kidding about the Harry Potter obsession. She actually dressed up as a Hufflepuff student for Halloween. Three friends filled the roles of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Slytherin for trick-or-treating.
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| The pool was TOO COLD for Mom! |
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| Butterbeer in Orono |
Another favorite activity is baking. For Pa’s 80th birthday celebration, she made and decorated cupcakes. She’s progressed to the point where all I do is put things into the oven and take them out when their done. She does all the measuring, mixing, pouring and decorating herself. She is always happy to help me, too. Most recently, she made cinnamon rolls from “The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook.” We’ll be making chocolate frogs and chocolate wands for he Harry Potter party. These are Pa's birthday cupcakes. Although his birthday is in August, we celebrated in November, so she went with a Christmas theme.
It’s hard to believe that another year has passed. We’ll never know how Andrea might have been different if she’d been born closer to her due date. But anyone meeting her now for the first time can’t tell she had such a dramatic entry into the world. I get such pleasure from telling her story because we know there is a happy outcome. She continues to be an inspiration to others we meet who are embarking on their own preemie journeys. When she was born eleven years ago, we were looking for reasons to be hopeful. Today, Andrea has become the reason for others to hope.
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| Andrea's birthday poster. This will hang on her bedroom door until she's 12! |
"You don't always need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go, and see what happens."
~ Mandy Hale
