The challenge with having a birthday during COVID is how to incorporate family and friends. I've had a chance to see how other friends and neighbors found creative ways. Since all of our friends and family don't live within driving distance (drive by celebrations have been popular here), I took to creating this collage. This was set up to greet Izzy when she woke up on her birthday. The collage did it's trick starting out her day special despite social distancing.
Izzy has taken over my desk for her school work. Victoria had a great idea of buying a boy squishmallow since Izzy has been talking about wanting one. She wanted to create a family of squishmallow's and has the "mom" and "child" already. We stuffed it inside her desk so that when "school" started, she had a second birthday surprise waiting. By the look on her face, it was definitely a surprise.
Meet Kennethy... Izzy's dragon squishmallow.
For a cake, I create a donut cake in honor of one of Izzy's favorite breakfast treats. Victoria was my super helper in creating the frosting and sprinkles.
One of Izzy's best friends, Michael made her this special soap. It was very touching to know she has this strong friendship.
Izzy was ecstatic that the gifts she received had her written all over them. One item she has been asking for is "oversized candy". Micah and Victoria were happy to oblige with this one. I wonder how long it will take her to eat this lollipop.
The final gift of the night was from me. Months prior I had waited 6 hours in an on-line virtual room for my chance to purchase Taylor Swift tickets. Though I was one of the last people to get the chance to buy tickets, I was able to secure tickets 7 rows from the top. Regardless, this was going to be a great experience. Unfortunately the concert was postponed due to COVID-19. However, I pointed out that this was better than being cancelled. Now we are waiting to hear when the new date is set.
Things that I was to remember about my 11-year-old Izzy
1. This past year you have found your perfect pet in a guinea pig named Snickers. She joins you while reading in your bed or doing school work from home. Hanging out with her all day while social distancing has been a silver lining to our being at home.
2. Puberty has been the name of the game this past year. It is so hard to not giggle when your emotional mood swings take you from being sassy to crying. My favorite thus far has been slamming the bedroom door only to be followed by building a tower of stuffed animals as a wall to block me when I entered your room.
3. Your peer group is becoming more and more important. Your core group of friends remains solid. You sometimes struggle with sorting out feelings of your peer group finding their way this past year. I've heard stories of who is going out with who, who broke up with who, and who are not longer speaking with who. Most of the time you try to avoid this drama which makes you feel sometimes as the outsider.
4. You have matured beyond what I could imagine. You have been such a help at home and with your siblings. You are becoming more aware of dysfunctional relationships and behaviors though do not know yet how best to approach them. Baby steps my love.
5. You love to read! On weekends, I've caught you up till 11pm reading in your bed. You still use Learning Ally to read grade level books and likely will be doing so for awhile.
6. You underwent your 3-year re-evaluation through Pierce School. Though you will always have dyslexia, you have worked tremendously hard this past three years and it shows. You are at the beginning of grade level in reading. You no longer qualify for IEP services! You've founds ways to work through reading challenges and will have those skill sets with you for life. While learning at home with school closed, I see there are times that are more taxing. You have no problem advocating for yourself when needing assistance.
