Ila at 12
Ila is a girl who loves cats. I’d say it’s impossible to know Ila and not know that she’s obsessed with cats. She is almost always wearing something with a cat on it. She often responds with a quick Meow. All of her online identities are cat themed. She plays cat related games and obsesses over her own furry friend, Rillian who she refers to as her baby. She takes all negative comments towards cats personally as if they were said about her or intended to hurt her feelings.
Ila cares deeply about how everyone feels. She can’t handle seeing anyone sad. She has always been sensitive in this way. She would cry anytime anyone got yelled at. She seeks out the sad and endeavors to make them feel better. She even can’t stand seeing people on movies or TV shows who are either sad or embarrassed. She hates when everyone knows something except for the main character and that character is made to seem a fool for not knowing.
Ila continues to be one of my most avid readers. She loves a good book series and is an amazingly quick reader, she can tear through a 300 page book in an afternoon and still have time to play a game or two. Her teacher has challenged each student in the class to read 40 books this school year, Ila completed the 40 book challenge in the first month and a half of school.
Ila is in her last year of Elementary school (6th grade) and is not looking forward to Jr. High. Her teacher this year, Mrs. Berger is really good at finding fun ways to study world history and Ila has loved learning from her. They preformed a play to learn about Ancient Mesopotamia and put together a museum for Ancient Egypt. Ila has regaled us with daily facts about the cultures she has been learning about.
Ila is just finishing up her first year in our church’s Young Women’s (YW) organization. She is currently serving as the secretary of the 12-13 year old class. Considering the advancement to YW the year they turn 12 and her December birthday, she has spent the year being the youngest girl in the organization and the only one in her group who hasn’t started Jr High/Middle School. She has made several good friends in the group and enjoyed attending the weekly activities. I was impressed to see her leadership skills on display this summer at Girl’s camp when she created the “Camo Cats Club.”
Ila was thrilled to go inside the temple for the first time this year. She is eager to go as often as we can get an appointment!
Ila’s best friend at school this year is a boy named Tim. They play together every recess and hang out after school on Thursdays. They have a lot of fun playing and laughing together. She still keeps in touch with her friend Cecily who lives in Lehi. Cecily and Ila mostly play and chat online and have infrequent chances to get together to play in person.
Ila’s favorite food is Salmon. The other main foods in her diet include chicken strips, baby goldfish crackers, Lays Original wavy potato chips, grapes, bananas, hardboiled eggs, French fries, frozen pepperoni pizza, peanut butter, chocolate, and salt. She still doesn’t eat a big variety of food. She would much rather eat Kroger brand frozen pepperoni pizza than any take out pizza. She doesn’t ever eat noodles, rice, or any type of sandwiches. She doesn’t eat quesadillas or any Mexican food, in fact the only way she eats cheese is on pepperoni pizza.
Ila set a goal to learn how to bake independently this year and quickly mastered making chocolate chip cookies without any help. She has since made a variety of baked goods with minimal help from her mother.
Ila still gets along well with her siblings. She plays regularly with Nicole and Thomas and they enjoy occasional sleep overs in each other’s rooms. She likes to have long talks with Charlotte and appreciates how helpful and kind Isaac has been to her. She rarely fights with any of her siblings, although she has been known to occasionally snap at someone, but she feels guilty about it soon after. Next year will be the first year for both her and Thomas to be at schools with none of their siblings.
Ila enjoys playing with her friends, time with family, playing at the park, walks around the block, swimming, jumping on the trampoline, petting cats, visiting her grandparents, and playing on the computer. Apart from these, she likes to play chess and Rook and other games. She enjoys watching Studio C , Bob’s Burgers, old episodes of the Simpsons, Phineas and Pherb, and a variety of movies with the family.
Here is what I wrote about Ila last year.