Izzy Turns 9!

 

 Happy Birthday to my 9 year old - Izzy!  Hard to believe that in one year you will be turning double digits.  After returning from fencing, we celebrated with a youthful sophisticated cake fitting for who Izzy is at the current time.

When I reminisce on the past year, the word brave floats to the top.  There have been so many facets of life where Izzy proved to show bravery that left me smiling, teary-eyed and amazed.  I'm so proud of the young lady Izzy is evolving into.

This was Izzy's second year participating in the Learning Center (LC) at her school.  She loves going and actually is bummed when it is Friday (the one day she doesn't attend the LC).  At Izzy's recent IEP meeting, her 3rd grade teacher and two LC teachers describe her as "a reader".  She often learns her spelling words by writing poems using those words.  This baffles her mother's brain as it would be WAY more painful to come up with a poem than to just memorize the spelling of the word.

This was Izzy's second year in ArtBarn (community play).  She landed one of the key parts which just so happened to be the role she desired!  And what a performance!  There was absolutely no such thing as "stage fright".

Izzy has taken on physical challenges with more smiles than scares.  She braved more aggressive skiing this winter.  Next winter... onto the ski lift!  She was a role model to Micah who was scared to independently go down a water slide only to create a monster waterslide loving brother afterwards.  Izzy was the first to try the flowrider (indoor water skiing / boogie boarding).

One of my favorite attributes of Izzy is her caring of fellow friends and peers.  She is often described as ensuring her classmates are included even when there is a language barrier.  More than once I've heard her teachers comment that Izzy is more emotionally mature than peers her age.  She continues to keep a core group of BFFs which are her rock.

Recently, Izzy learned of Phase II of her orthodontic treatment....headgear.  We were informed Izzy needs to wear this for 12 hours per day.  Most children choose to do so overnight.  Izzy however chose to wear this during the day.  When asked why she had two reasons; 1) she would prefer to not wear it while sleeping as she would be subject to sleeping only on her back and 2) she can show other students at school that wearing headgear is okay.  That first day at school while wearing headgear I gave Izzy a big hug and said she was my hero.  Her answer was simple.. I know.