HAPPY 11th!
Another year has gone by and I have so much to say to you!
We've had a great year filled with lots of amazing milestones. Mostly though, we were all happy to get back out into the world again - not without some problems (see: our very covid-y summer!) - but we made the very best of it.
You are turning into such a wonderful person, Sami. So bright and funny - your comic timing is just *chef's kiss*. You are empathetic and generous (when you want to be - which is cool by me), aware and intuitive, fun to be around, silly, sassy, and spicy. You march to the beat of your own drum and it thrills me to see you so much yourself, all the time. My hope for you is that middle school doesn't take that confidence away from you, but I have a hunch that - even if it disappears for a short stint - it will stay in there, at the sparkly core of who you are as a person.
Your current favorites:
Your new cell phone (!), your friends, spending time with family, makeup, gelato and candy, going to America, Ristorante Sun and all things sushi-gyoza, swimming and water, warm weather, playing outside with friends, Mario Kart, bowling, laughing, making up and telling jokes, watching Gilmore Girls with your sister and me, Star Wars, Squishmallows, your new Pandora bracelet, lip glosses, Groot, family movie nights, new shoes, drawing (you're especially good at Manga!), calcetto, watching youtube videos, singing and dancing (especially TikTok dances your friends have taught you!).
Your current dislikes:
Being told what to do, getting in trouble (especially for something you didn't do), cleaning up, being criticized, losing games of any kind, spending time with people you don't like, being bored, having to wear your grembiule (smock) to school, being forced to go to a different middle school from your friends next year, when your sister is mean to you, being forced to sit at a table listening to adults talk, most kinds of pizza, getting sick, homework during vacations, doing extra lessons for Problem Solving, reading books you don't like, having to go to bed when you're in the middle of something good on TV, having to wear your retainer, talking about your feelings.
Sometimes when you're listing your names of "BFFs" you add me onto it, and it makes me smile. I know I go a little too easy on you sometimes (which is of absolutely no service to Future You), and sometimes I have to remind myself you're my buddy but I'm still your Mommy! But sometimes I can't seem to help it...seeing you happy is just so much fun for the rest of us.
Never, ever change, baby girl. Your father and sister and I will be right here next to you, chuckling at your jokes, mesmerized by you and so extremely proud of the person you are and are becoming.
We love you, Pookie 💓
