Joyeux anniversaire pour tes 13 ans, belle Andrée! (Happy 13th Birthday, Beautiful Andrea!)

    

13 Today!

    As of 5:29 PM today, Andrea is celebrating day 4, 748 of life! She is in 7th grade; truly a "middle-schooler", and studying French, among other things. (Thank you Michelle Terzini-Hollar for the translation!) She enjoys French, Chorus, and "Project Art", a class that meets every other day during an enrichment period. She's less enthusiastic about Math (pre-algebra), history, and English, but she works hard and gets good grades.  I think she's torn about being back in school full time. She enjoyed not having to get up so early and be dressed and functioning, whereas now she needs to be in the car before 8 every day.  On the other hand, she gets to see actual real live people, (*cue Frozen - "For the First Time in Forever") and some classes are definitely better in-person. Not throwing shade at anyone for last year - we know that all teachers are doing their best. It's just been hard for everyone.

First Day of 7th Grade

    Just like last year, it's been a strange 365 days, (Thanks again, COVID!) so activities were limited.  For her 12th birthday, we were able to rent a movie theater, so she and her friends were together, just distanced.  Everyone got popcorn and drinks, but we sent the kids home with cupcakes instead of having cake in the theater.  She is continuing to take ceramics classes at a local studio, improving her use of a pottery wheel and doing a lot of hand building. She was also able to go back to summer camp and made some great new friends while getting out of the house for a while each day.  Because of the isolation of quarantine, remote schooling, and social distancing, Andrea got her first phone. It seems like a big rite of passage, especially since we were planning to hold off until 8th grade. It made a difference, being able to text her friends, even when they couldn't safely see each other.

    The big news was the acquisition of PIERCED EARS this fall! I think she would have liked to get them done sooner, but that was something else derailed by Covid.  Many places were closed, or we just didn't feel safe going.  We had an awesome experience at Pleasurable Piercings in Hawthorne - no fainting or other drama. Andrea is anxiously awaiting the time when she'll be able to change out the starter earrings for something different, which should be any day now.

    This summer, our family vacation was to Tennessee. In an effort to be as Covid-safe as possible, we drove down, opting to avoid crowded airports and planes. The guys were able to take turns at the wheel, but poor Andrea had a 12+ hour car ride with few distractions. She bore up like a trooper!  No trip to the Volunteer State is complete without a stop at Dollywood, of course.  Andrea is now tall enough to ride EVERYTHING, and she seems pretty fearless. Luckily, Daddy and Kenny George are also pretty fearless, so Mommy was spared the roller coasters and other crazy rides.  We also visited Great Smokey Mountain National Park and stood in Tennessee and North Carolina at the same time.  We did an escape room in Gatlinburg that was a ton of fun, and Andrea was really able to help solve the clues.  We went to the Aquarium of the Smokies, which is interesting because it's the only aquarium we've been to that's not on a coast. Andrea the Brave also rode the mountain coaster along with the big guys, while Mom stayed firmly on the ground.

    Andrea is still participating in the town's Leader's Club, but it's been modified again for safety. They're meeting only in the fall and spring when they can be outside. Many of their activities have been curtailed also - no bingo at the senior center, for example, but they had a food drive in the fall and I'm sure they will have other events when they pick up again in April.  I love her involvement in this group because she gets to associate with people she doesn't necessarily see in school. It's a chance for her to work with different people and learn to interact with a variety of personalities.

    Andrea is still a Harry Potter fan, although she's moved on to some other things now. However, we recently visited Harry Potter: The Exhibition at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.  Mom and Dad came along with us, and we made a mini-vacation out of the trip.  We got to sort ourselves into houses, with Andrea being a proud Hufflepuff as usual. I, of course, was my normal Slytherin self. We got to play Quiddich, replant Mandrakes, cast spells, and mix potions, all while earning house points. Here is Andrea sitting in Hagrid's chair.

 We also went to the Museum of the American Revolution, which was an amazing stop. It opened in 2017 and is worth a visit if you happen to be in Philly. They have George Washington's original war tent on display, along with some really interesting artifacts from the revolutionary period.  Much to our surprise, this museum was Andrea's first choice of where to go. Unfortunately, it was a quick trip, and we didn't have a chance to visit any of the art museums. They are high on her bucket list for the next time.

    We took an Amazon Explore trip to Paris today. For years, Andrea has been interested in France, and anxiously awaited the time that she'd be able to learn to speak French.  We spent an hour being guided around some of the major sites in Paris, then had a French-themed meal to wrap up the day. Cheese fondue, followed by beef and chicken, and ending with chocolate! Of course, no birthday in our house is complete without a Last Licks cake. Thank you, Danielle, for another amazing creation!

If you need an ice cream cake, you can't go wrong with Last Licks!

    Every birthday is a milestone, but somehow, 13 seems momentous. When she was born, a lot of people didn't expect Andrea to come home from the hospital.No one came right out and said that, of course, but it was understandable. When I started this blog, I also didn't expect to still be writing it (albeit less often) 13 years later. We're grateful that Andrea has continued to thrive and equally grateful that people care enough to still follow her story. I hope she continues to provide inspiration to others.

Photo HIghlights:

"As the years pass, I am coming more and more to understand that it is the common, everyday blessings of our common everyday lives for which we should be particularly grateful."

~ Laura Ingalls Wilder

The last "Pre-Teen" Birthday. Happy # 12 Andrea

As of 5:29 PM today, Andrea is celebrating day 4,383 of life. She's 4 feet 11 inches tall, and occasionally borrows MY snow boots if hers are too wet.  Granted, they're too big for her, but not by much! (She's wearing her own in this picture)

As for everyone, this has been a strange year thanks to COVID.  As a result, we don't have as much to share as previous years.  I'll recount the highlights, such as they were, but it's been a challenging time for many.

The original plan for Andrea's 11th birthday was a trip to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  That did NOT happen (thanks Covid!) but Grammy (Beautiful Andrea the First) and Pa stepped in and she had a painting party with her friends at Color Me Mine, before everything shut down.  Of course, the entire theme was Harry Potter.  At the time of the party, COVID wasn't even a thing in the US yet, so we assumed we'd still be able to take our trip.  Given how the year turned out, we're so grateful that she had the chance to celebrate.

Andrea participated in an enrichment class called TREP$ last spring. It is an entrepreneurship program where students learn about product design, manufacturing and marketing.  She worked with a friend to create stress balls and slime (big seller among the elementary population), which were then sold at the school's TREP$ marketplace.  They made a profit, so everyone went home happy, except the parents that now had slime in the house, thanks to my kid.

Last year was Andrea's final year in elementary school. Usually, there are all kinds of fun things for the students, which of course didn't happen.  The staff and PTO did the best they could, but it was so sad and bittersweet to say good bye without being able to say good bye.  The PTO purchased some memorabilia for the students and her teachers made home deliveries.  It gave us a chance to say a socially distanced THANK YOU, and for Andrea to pass along notes that she'd written.  We've been connected to that school since 2007, so it was hard!

For the first time ever, we took no summer vacation, and Andrea didn't go to camp.  We didn't even join the town pool.  We had a low-key few months at home, making use of the back yard for visits with the family.

In September, Andrea started MIDDLE SCHOOL.  Like many places, her school is not full time in person. She currently goes in for two half day sessions per week, and the rest of her classes are remote.  Luckily, Ken is able to work from home, so she's not alone in the house. She's been able to have some new experiences though, even with the challenges of remote learning.  In the fall, she had a Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) class, where she learned some basic cooking and sewing skills.  Her culminating project was to cook a full meal for the family.  Of course, we had to go over the top, making a full-blown Italian meal: Lasagna, meatballs, sausage, sauce, broccoli, and garlic bread.  Dessert was apple crisp. Not Italian I know, but we all like it.

She's also been able to take a computer business applications class, and general music.  Shortly, she'll get to have technology (which is STEM based, as opposed to computers) and Art.  These are cycle classes that change after about 35 days.  She's also learning French, which she's been excited to do for a long time.  If I had to guess, FCS was probably her favorite class, but French is a close second!  She abandoned clarinet after last year, but continues to sing in the chorus. They're able to meet weekly on Zoom, and managed to perform one song live for the parents in January, also on Zoom.

She belongs to a town club called Livingston Peer Leaders. They normally meet monthly, but they've transitioned to twice a month, but only when the kids can be outside.  The focus in the group is on community service projects and charitable giving. They've gone to senior homes to play BINGO with the residents (pre-Covid) and made cards for service members.  It's been one of her few social outlets.

She recently started a pottery class and is learning to use a pottery wheel.  She continues to be very interested in art and frequently spends her time drawing or painting.  She also loves to write, and is working on a novel. Yes, a novel. At last check, she had written over a hundred pages, typed.  I am not allowed to read it, but Ken gets to see every chapter.

In no way was this year what anyone wanted for their families. Ken and I are proud of how well Andrea has dealt with the stressors of being home so much. She misses her friends, who she really can't see. She does like not having to get up and dressed so early every day, and LOVES getting to be home with Charlie, the dog, and Jeremy, the cat.  I think having them for company has made things a little less awful.

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things."

~ Robert Brault

In the Wizarding World, 11 is a Big Deal!

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.

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.

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???)

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!

Mismatch day at Camp

Build a Bear on Carnival

Nose Spoons for everyone on Carnival

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.

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.

The pool was TOO COLD for Mom!

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.

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

Double Digits! Happy #10 to Beautiful Andrea the Second!

As of 5:29 PM today, Andrea is celebrating day 3,652 of life. She measures 54 inches or 137 centimeters tall. Out of consideration for her entering the "tween" years, we decided to stop posting her weight. Even though she's fine and a completely normal weight for her age and height, we figured most young ladies would prefer to not have their size posted on the internet.  She is channeling some of her relatives (not her mom) and has become very interested in what she wears.  We've graduated from princess dresses and stretch pants to ripped jeans and Uggs.  This is Dr. Seuss week at school, so we were limited to red and blue today (One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish) so this is probably not completely her outfit of choice.

Andrea is now in fourth grade, which is a big deal, at least to the kids themselves. It's the year they can start a musical instrument, and Andrea opted for clarinet, following in a long(-ish) family tradition, going back to her great-uncle Alan (as far back as I can go) and both Uncle Stephen and Aunt Margaret. I pulled for a brass instrument of any kind, but I lost that battle.  She had her first concert in January, playing with the beginner band and also singing with the chorus. I do wonder if she likes to sing because she subconsciously remembers all the songs I sang in the NICU.  She did a great job in the concert and looked so grown up in her (Bergenfield) black and white. And we've got a token red headband to complete the ensemble.

Andrea continues to love writing and drawing. She's always got some kind of art project going, or she's writing a book or keeping a journal. She has a wonderful imagination that she uses to design all manner of blanket forts. Sometimes, I think she'll wind up as the host of an HG TV home show.  She likes to discuss the merits of subway tile for a backsplash or point out which colors should be used on Fixer Upper.  Currently, she wants to be an artist when she grows up. I'm not sure if that's a more or less risky career move than being an author.  But we want her to follow her passions, so we'll see where they lead.


Last March, Charlie joined our family as Ken's birthday present. Andrea LOVES having a dog more than I would have thought possible.  For his part, Charlie is a good sport, tolerating being dressed in a robe at Christmas, having Andrea join him in his bed, and generally being mauled by her on a daily basis.  I think it's helped her to have Charlie since both her brothers are away at college for so much of the time.

She had her first broken bone this year. I wish there was a cool story to go along with it - Ideally, it would have been a skiing injury or something, but in reality, she tripped on the playground and landed badly.  She was a trooper throughout the whole thing, especially when she got to choose the color of her cast (again, Bergenfield red and black!) and all her friends got to sign it.  Fortunately, the cast was off before summer kicked off, so she didn't miss out on any of the fun!

This year was also Andrea's first time on an actual horse (instead of a pony).  At an incredibly awesome birthday party, she got to ride the horses, took a trip in a horse-drawn wagon, and play with a very tolerant donkey. She had a good time, but luckily this didn't lead to a request for riding lessons or a horse of her own!

 In August, we moved Kenny George into college in Maine and took a side trip to Boothbay Harbor on the way home. Even in August, Maine is not usually very hot, but Andrea found the guts to swim in the ice water that filled the hotel pool. Daddy actually went in too - I bravely stayed out to take pictures.  Andrea has never met a pool she doesn't love - the water temperature is irrelevant. On the same trip, we went whale watching. Despite seeing NO whales (they must have missed the memo about the tour coming) Andrea stayed on deck with a pair of binoculars, scanning the ocean for any sign of wildlife.  We saw LOTS of seagulls, but not much else.  No Zimmerman trip to Maine is complete without a stop at Pemaquid Point. My whole life, I loved climbing on the rocks and looking in tide pools, and I made sure to take Kenny when he was young. This was Andrea's first trip to the Atlantic Ocean that didn't involve a sandy beach.  I wasn't sure what she'd think, but after a few minutes, she was running along the rocks and looking in the tidepools.  In the beginning, she wouldn't touch anything, but she even overcame her resistance when she found some tiny snails.  They were mostly periwinkles and mussels, but she approached very tidepool with excitement. She also climbed the lighthouse with Daddy.  Again, I bravely remained on the ground for photo ops.

When I look at this miracle, I can't believe this has been my life. In some ways, the past 10 years seem to have taken a lifetime to elapse. In others, I feel like it was yesterday that I had to tell Kenny that his new sister was the size of a pound of butter. And I remember him thinking that was pretty big.  I also remember our amazing nurse, Kerri, telling me that I wouldn't think about the NICU every day, and I thought she was crazy.  How could we ever NOT think about the NICU? But she was right. On certain days, I play "remember when", and I still love telling her story, but it's not the first thing that comes to my mind when I see her.  People meeting Andrea for the first time have no idea what the beginning was like.

First picture on the original blog - March 8, 2009

The Andrea we have now. How did we get so lucky?

I wanted to say thanks...and share my gratitude for everything I've been blessed with. Family, friends, and continued support from everyone.

~ Travis Barker

She's # 9 and Feeling Fine!

Birthday Outfit for School Today

As of 5:29 PM today, Andrea is celebrating day 3,287 of life! She tipped the scales this morning at 63.1 pounds, or 28,622 grams, 65 times her birth weight. She measured 52 1/2 inches tall, exactly 5 times her length at birth.  When she was born, I took to Blogger to keep the interested people up-to-date on her story. In the intervening nine years, technology has changed so much that most of her day-to-day happenings wind up on FaceBook!  However, since there are some people who don't "do" FB, or who may not be connected to me that way, I've decided to continue posting here, at least for a few more years.  It is kind of nice to have the year in review all in one place.  Let's see how long before she demands I stop writing about her!








I usually like to start with a picture from her birthday party, or something similar. Among the girls in her circle, this is the year of the ROLLER SKATING PARTY.  Many of her friends have had their parties at the rink, so she'll be doing the same in a few weeks. Santa even brought her her very own rollerblades for Christmas.  I admit to loving the skating parties. I flash back to the 80's, and I have vowed to put on a pair of "quads" for the party.  I figured it was time to start embarrassing her...let her get used to it now before she's a teen-ager.

Andrea spent another summer last year playing softball with Daddy as a coach. She likes it well enough but doesn't love it. Most likely, this was her last summer, since we'd rather not push her if she's really not crazy about the sport. She's still taking swim lessons at the Y, and just starting learning to ski. We have NOT had a good winter for the skiers - Andrea got one lesson in, then the second was canceled due to lack of snow. We're hoping for enough cold weather to get in a few more classes before spring, but I'm not optimistic!  She's also expressed an interest in learning tennis, so getting her started there is Daddy's next assignment.

After a few weeks at Camp Discovery again, we went on our first family cruise. Andrea loves traveling (just like Grammy!) so is usually happy to go anywhere at any time, but she LOVED being on the ship!  We went to Bermuda, but I think Andrea would have been fine never getting off the boat. She loved the pool, of course, but also the never-ending ice cream at the buffet. Her favorite thing was the Pullman bed that came down from the ceiling of our cabin. If we could install one in her room at home, I think she'd be in heaven.  While on the cruise, we went snorkeling. As much as Andrea likes the pool and even the ocean, she didn't love snorkeling. I think the mask was hard to get used to. She and I just wound up swimming around while the guys looked at fish.

Getting ready to snorkel on the cruise

Halloween Jack-o-Lantern Stuffed Peppers

She's still Mommy's girl in the kitchen - and getting more and more independent. If I play this right, I might soon be able to stop cooking entirely.  She doesn't like the oven - if she's baking she leaves that part to me, but she's getting proficient at decorating desserts and she likes to experiment.  For Halloween, she made jack-o-lantern stuffed peppers. She did all the carving herself, and helped stuff them. Sadly, she won't eat most of the healthy stuff she cooks with me - she eats almost no meat, no matter how it's prepared. However, she has yet to meet a cookie or cupcake she won't try!

She's also decided that she's big enough to scoop out her own Halloween pumpkin.  You can see from her face that she was not a big fan of the insides. She wasn't interested in trying the roasted seeds, either. We wound up putting everything outside for the squirrels and deer.

Removing the "guts" from her pumpkin

Andrea is still a fashionista and is lucky to have several women in her life who love to dress her. She has strong ideas about what she wants to wear, and we've learned to let her run with them, as long as she's dressed for the weather! She does enjoy getting dressed up and will change at the drop of a hat. She plans her outfits well in advance for special occasions.

In September, she began THIRD GRADE, which is a huge big deal, at least in New Jersey. It's the year of cursive handwriting, multiplication tables, and the dreaded RECORDER. (All my music teacher friends are laughing at that, and all my friends with elementary school children are commiserating). She likes her teachers and school in general, but she prefers writing to just about everything else. She doesn't love to read, although she's happy if we read to her.  

She continues to be very artistic and enjoys making arts and crafts. She is always drawing, writing or designing something.  She LOVES to watch all the home shows on HGTV - and she critiques the designers all along the way.

We have been continually blessed by this child. Most people who meet her now have no idea what her start in life was like. She is mostly a happy person, but boy, she does have a temper at times. I have to own that one...she got her short fuse from me.  She has a great sense of humor and the most infectious laugh. What an interesting nine years it has been!

Thank you, as always, for taking the time to keep up with Andrea. We continue to be grateful for everyone who shares her journey - regardless of where they got on the train!

"Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it."~ Dennis P. Kimbro