I started tutoring the kids this summer at the gym. Isaac has done really well at reading so I tried to focus more on his writing. I asked him write a sentence everyday and while he wrote, I worked with Charlotte. I had him to compose the sentence, then I’d write it out so that he could copy it.
Click Read more to read his Journal entries
Isaac was excited when the dentist told him he’d start losing his teeth when he was six. On Tuesday evening while our home teacher was over, 
he discovered a wiggling tooth. A look of shock quickly turned into a look of excitement when he announced that his tooth wiggled. He was very excited and even called a few select individuals to announce the news. He showed every family member, asked if he could tell the childcare staff at the gym, and offered to let his sisters try wiggling it. He had several questions, but the only one I can remember is the question about if it would hurt when it came out.
Today it just fell out of his mouth as he was eating pretzels. He excitedly announced that his tooth fell out and that it didn’t hurt at all. He let everyone see it and encouraged everyone to touch his tooth and the hole in his mouth. We talked about the new tooth that was already peaking up through his gums and he suggested that maybe when it was all the way through he should mostly eat with that one since it would be the biggest and strongest one. Tonight he sleeps with the tooth in a Ziploc bag under his pillow.
Isaac requested a chocolate cake with a picture of the inside of a machine on top. My mom and I created this the night before:
After failing to make little broken wires to go in the broken cable we just put the cable back together. It was suppose to be a water pipe, but the store I went to had black food coloring, but not silver, so it ended up looking more like cables then pipes.
Isaac wanted a birthday party. He wanted to invite his entire kindergarten class with the exception of the two “naughtiest boys.†He thought maybe they could come, but they’d have to pay him $100. We debated numbers and decided he could invite his 6 best friends. I called one of his best friends to make sure that she could come on that date and time so he’d have at least one of his really good friends there.
Unfortunately, none of his school friends came. The one who said she could make it, canceled the day before because they had some family come into town. We called another boy who said he could come, but then woke up with a cough and stayed home. Isaac was a little disappointed, but he did have his friend Adam from Church and my cousin’s 3-year old son, Jackson came as well.
As I started writing up a schedule, I couldn’t decide where to put each activity. I knew I wanted the Airblox first as people were arriving and an open ended activity at the end in case the other activities went quickly. So I listed all the activities, laminated the paper, cut them up, and had the kids draw the next activity.
It was a hot day. We started out with Airblox. Isaac was quite sweaty when they came in afterwards.
The kids wrote their names with Twislers Pull ‘n Peels, and then they ate them.
They drew cake next, which was just as well because some of the kids were impatient for cake. The first cake I made was not cooked completely in the middle (I know, I should have used the toothpick test—I did for the second cake). We cut the outside ring of the undercooked cake into pieces which we decorated for each kid. The mini-cakes had the first letter in each kid’s name and a gear.
For the next activity, they had toothpicks, marshmallows, and gumdrops that they could use to build structures with.
After opening a present from his friend, we started the Kikko building races. The kids were shown a demonstration and then given a model Kikko structure to build. The first kid to complete the model got a small candy bar. The models got increasingly harder. After some races, the kids built their own designs for a little while.
After playing, we built lunch. The kids each got to build their own pizza on a pita bread with sauce, cheese, and pepperoni. Each kid left the party with a helium balloon and a gift bag.
Isaac is giving a talk on repentance tomorrow in church. Here is a video of him practicing his talk. He’s getting to be a great reader. The other day he said “my reading skills almost go the whole way” meaning he can almost read as good as an adult.
On Tuesday was Isaac’s Field day. I was a little nervous about taking my three girls by myself, but since I knew I was likely to see some other mothers whom I had met that might be able to help in a pinch, I decided to give it a shot. I love that Nicole’s sign is upside-down in this pic and she looks bored.
I knew Isaac wanted us to be there. He even suggested that we make signs that said “go Isaac with two exclamation points.†As you can see, we followed his suggestion. Charlotte was a great sign holder and held up her sign every time Isaac ran or she thought he might run.
Isaac is always very concerned about doing what’s right and not getting into trouble. He was afraid to even hug his mom without his teacher’s permission, at lest at first he was. I’m glad that he’s consciences, but I worry that he doesn’t stand up for himself and get what he needs. Here he is lined up for his first race.
I wasn’t able to get a picture of it, but while most kids were focused on the finish line and running as fast as they could, Isaac was searching the sidelines as he ran and ended up being the slowest kid in every race. Here he is getting ready for the sack race
The ‘Pony Express’ race was a relay race with 4 other teams competing. Isaac’s team came in last place, but they had ribbons for all 4 teams so Isaac ran to me after the race with his white ribbon and announced that he his team won!
Apparently an employee of Tennessee State Bank has a kid at Mount Olive, so these guys pulled up and started cooking hotdogs. They gave everyone who came up the hill to the truck free hotdogs, chips, and water. The guy who grilled the meat also helped me to my car when he saw me hobbling up the hill with my overloaded stroller in one hand, Nicole in the other, and Charlotte trailing behind me.
The girls didn’t really eat the hotdogs, but they thought the water was great!
It got really hot out and the Kindergarten tarp was right in the sun, so towards the end of the morning, we broke out the umbrella we had brought to provide a little shade. Charlotte joined the kids under our umbrella.
And finally, here’s a picture of Isaac’s class with their teacher, Mr. Burton. I didn’t notice the arm in my pic till I got home, oh well.
At the end of the day, I was glad I got to go and observe and cheer Isaac on, but next year I might call a babysitter!
Isaac really wanted to make something with this heart sticker, so we decided that he could write a letter to his grandma. This is his first handwritten letter to grandma:
He insists on making periods and dotting the letter i with an enormous circle.
Isaac loves to ride his bicycle, but he will only ride a turn or two (if that) before he starts trying to experiment or attach things. He has tried to attach various yard tools in a variety of different ways. One day he was riding along with a rake. As the rake dragged along the driveway, it made a scraping noise. Isaac excitedly announced that the rake was “amplifying†the sound of his bicycle as he rode! He attaches the wagon just about everyday and usually spends some time giving rides to all his little sisters.
He keeps trying to add a stepladder between the bicycle and the wagon but his mother won’t let him. The other day he piled the wagon up with whatever he could find and was beaming delightedly as he pulled his cargo around the driveway. A few days ago he asked if Ila could be his cargo!
His favorite thing to do is build or create. He has three sizes of Legos and many other kinds of building sets. Recently he has been interested in ‘building’ is art projects. He doesn’t care much for coloring or other traditional art project staples, he is much more interested in creating something out of the paper or other materials.
When he goes outside to play, it doesn’t take long before I find him trying to “build†with outdoor toys and yard tools. Below you can see him beginning one of his creative sessions. He used the rake to attach and then pull his bike/step ladder creation.
He will build with anything and has at times annoyed his parents with things like furniture creations. His favorite books at the library are “mechanical books†and he enjoys studying maps and pictures that show the inside of electronics. His building toys include:
He has also enjoyed using Bristle Blocks which we borrowed from PERC when we lived in Utah and we’ve already purchased a Georello Tollbox for his next birthday.
6.20.07 Today Isaac brought his toy jeep over to me and said “mom, want some noise†then he turned it on.
6.21.07 Today I took Isaac to the post office with me to buy stamps. 
I let him put the money in, make the selection and then collect the change at the end. As we drove away he told me “mommy buy money at the Post Office.†I guess he thought that when the change came out it was what I had purchased.
I brought a chair into the bathroom for our nightly teeth brushing ritual. Isaac and Charlotte each climbed up and as Isaac looked in the mirror he excitedly proclaimed “big and little†in reference to the height difference between him and Charlotte.
Isaac got a birthday card from Great-Grandma Cochran a few days ago. After he opened it we read it and he looked at it. Then he opened some junk mail and said “yay, another birthday card from Isaac.†For the rest of the day any piece of mail or paper was another birthday card for Isaac!
While doing chores this evening, Isaac asked “Mom, am I saving the planet by doing my chores?” Later he asked “Is the planet saved yet?” meaning ‘have I completed this chore to your satisfaction.’
A little later he asked “Mommy, what time will you be big enough to have two babies in you?” I wasn’t quite sure what he meant by that, but I thought it was funny anyway.
I wrote about the girls, so I suppose I should write
something about my boy. He is such a clever and curious boy. He sometimes drives us nutty with his questions and regularly expresses what maybe inner desires by saying "what if the naughty guys. . ." We actually convinced him to replace the words "naughty guys" with "democrats" for a day. I found it much more amusing to hear him worry that the democrats would do bad things. He had concerns like "what if the democrats came in and ate my dinner and they wouldn’t let me eat it." or "what if the democrats wouldn’t let me ride my bicycle." Part of me worries about offending people, but then the other part of m e says "I don’t care if I’m politically correct or sensitive or whatever" and the second part wins because mostly I don’t really care.
Does he look like a wealthy (and therefore evil) oil tycoon in this picture? Maybe Obama could use it to further his class warfare argument!
Isaac and I took a little hike together today up above Alta, to Cecret Lake. He was a great hiker, going up the whole way and about a third of the way back before he was worn out. The trip up and back is under two miles, but the kid is only three, so he can get worn out if he wants too. He used one of my trekking poles at its shortest length while we walked over snow and mud, and climbed over rocks. He kept talking about everything he saw, trees, mountains, but mostly the dirt and rocks and ice on the trail. It’s hard to look around much when you’re thinking about where your feet are going. By the time we got back to the car, we’d worn him out pretty good, and he was nearly asleep on my shoulders.
One funny thing I wanted to mention: Isaac calls all my friends Rawlyn. I guess he knows Rawlyn best. Today we were hiking with my friend Zac Cook, and Isaac kept having to be reminded of the right name. He does the same thing with my friend Mike.
One more picture of a tired boy after the jump.
I was adding to my log today and I went back and read some old entries. It was fun to read about some of the ways Isaac and Charlotte related to each other. Here’s a few entries that I thought were of interest.
(this is from when Charlotte was only 6 days old) 1.20.06 I laid Charlotte on a blanket in the living room and went into the kitchen to get something. Charlotte let out a cry, and as I went from the kitchen to the living room, Isaac came running towards me crying. I found Charlotte soaking wet with my cup and some ice next to her. I assume Isaac tried to give her a drink of my ice water which resulted in him spilling ice water all over her face and shirt.
2.8.06 Today during scripture reading time I was holding Charlotte and Isaac kept leaning over and saying ‘kiss, kiss’ then he’d give Charlotte a kiss. The funny thing was after the kiss he’d act like he was picking the kiss back up and then putting
it back on his lips.
3.10.06 I was in the kitchen when I heard Isaac saying ‘door, do or.’ I went into the living room to find Isaac had placed his toy truck on Charlotte’s lap and was trying to teach her how to open the door. He’d say ‘door, door’ and put her little hand on the door of the truck.
3.12.06 I found Isaac showing Charlotte a book. He placed it on her lap and was turning pages and babbling.
3.21.06 I opened the freezer to get some meat out for dinner and he grabbed a burrito. Rather than fight with him, I decided to let him carry it around a little. Next thing I know he tossed it on Charlotte’s lap and said his rendition of her name!
Before bed I was cleaning out Charlotte’s nose with one of those bulb syringes and she was crying. Isaac could see that she was unhappy so he ran over and hit me on the head to get me to stop.
5.5.06 Charlotte was sitting in the high chair and Isaac was playing with her and trying to entertain her. I heard both of them laugh and looked over to see that Isaac was dancing on the table and laughing and Charlotte was watching her brother and laughing. I think that’s the first time that she’s ever laughed when no one was physically touching her!
Thomas is in his last year of elementary school (6th grade). He is enjoying his 4th year in ALL (accelerated class). Most of his classmates have been in the same class all 4 years which means they know each other well and have a lot of inside jokes. Thomas has become good friends with many of his classmates. His current best friends list includes Nate, Ian, Matthew, William, Davey, and Christian.
He’s looking forward to Jr. High, maybe mostly because he will be at the same school as his sister Ila. He is also ready for a change of pace and a new experience. He is not looking forward to getting up earlier (Jr high starts over an hour earlier than elementary school.)
Thomas gets up and gets ready for school completely on his own. He packs his own lunch and makes his own breakfast and heads out to the bus stop. Usually he is up and ready early enough to play on his computer before school. He communicates with his friends and plays with them online as well.
Thomas’s favorite computer games are Terraria, Stardew Valley, Starbound, and Raft. His favorite books are Keeper of the Lost Cities, The Unwanteds, Mihael Vey, and Artemis Fowl. Thomas likes to play card games like Poker, Egyptian Rat Screw, Uncultured Swine, and Golf. He likes to play Jackbox Games and Chess. He enjoys jumping on the trampoline and swinging on our backyard swing.
In January Thomas left primary behind and joined the Young Men’s organization. He is excited for all the new opportunities. He was glad to go to the Temple for the first time almost as soon as he could. He thinks passing the sacrament is really great. He is serving as the 2nd counselor in the Decon’s quorum presidency.
Thomas likes to be silly and joke around. He has made up a variety of little songs and taught them to his friends at school. Some of them are modifications of well known songs, but he has his own original creations as well. His longest and most creative jingle is about him working in a variety of jobs, but losing each job by doing crazy things.
He has a good relationship with all his siblings. He enjoys a special bond with Isaac since they’re the only boys and they share a room. He has always been tight with Ila who is closest to him in age. When either of them has a friend over, they always include each other. He likes to play a made up choose your own adventure game with Nicole which he calls “the Bakerling Trials.” He enjoyed discussing plot ideas with Charlotte as she was writing a short story for her creative writing class and he was so impressed with her story that he retold her story for his school storytelling competition. He also shares Charlotte’s fascination with weapons and desire to own a variety of them. One of his favorite things is walking with his siblings to the local grocery store to buy treats.
Much like his siblings, Thomas is an avid cat lover. He enjoys petting cats, watching them do ridiculous things, and wearing cat themed clothing.
Thomas enjoys being with family. He loves that he can visit his grandparents across the street whenever he wants and has been known to stop over for frozen treats regularly.
Some new experiences from this year included getting to fly a small airplane, working the concession stand at a BYU football game (and the Stadium of Fire/Journey concert), flying to Texas for a weekend with his mom in which he learned that he loves moving sidewalks, and learning to tie his own tie.
I am glad that Thomas is part of my family and I love him tremendously. Here is what I wrote about him last year.
Ila is now 14 and in the 8th grade. English is her favorite class this year and she loves to read. She’s an incredibly fast reader. She will sometimes check out two 400-500 page books from the school library before school, finish them during the day somehow (I’m not sure how she can find the time while in class), and then return them after school and check out the next two 400-500 page books. Some of her favorite book series are: The Unwanteds, Keeper of the Lost Cities, Land of Stories, and Fablehaven.
She is in her 2nd year as a percussionist in the Jr High band. She tried a photography class this year, but didn’t like it very much. She is excited to try out peer tutoring and ceramics this semester.
Ila’s obsession with cats continues. She says that she knows that God loves her because he made the perfect orange cat for her. He knew she would need him to comfort her when she feels sad. In addition to real cats, of which she is not allowed to collect unlimited amounts, she collects plush cats. She particularly likes to collect what she calls “sprinkle cats.” She calls them that because they are plush cats that are fat and they “look like giant sprinkles.” She also has lots of cat shirts, cat jewelry, and other cat accessories.
Ila enjoys spending time with her siblings. She has a good relationship with each of her siblings and enjoys spending time with them. She shares a room with Charlotte and they enjoy late night talks and excursions to the grocery store during the daytime. Thomas is the sibling that she plays computer games with the most. She also enjoys being around extended family and looks forward to seeing grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles.
Ila likes to spend time with her friends. Some of her favorite things to do with friends are walking to Dairy Queen together, walking around the mall, watching musicals or plays together, playing computer games, going to a trampoline park, playing card games/board games, or just hanging out. Because Ila tends to be shy and quiet, she usually prefers to hang with her friends one on one more than being together in a big group. Ila’s best friends are Tim, Addy, Elena, Cecily, Evie, and Isaac.
Ila enjoys playing chess. She plays chess online, but prefers to play on a real board. She recently started going to an after school chess group. She enjoys card games, board games, and computer games. Her favorite computer games are Cat Quest, Cat Quest 2, People Playground, Stardew Valley, and Terraria. She likes to draw, paint, and bake.
Ila loves the outdoors. She likes to explore, go on walks, go swimming, have water fights, and jump on the trampoline in the backyard. She typically chooses to walk home from school and stops to pet every cat she encounters along her walk.
For years, Ila has been an extremely picky eater. She is diagnosable as a “selective eater.” She has eaten a limited variety of foods since her fist bites of solid foods and her diet expands very slowly. In anticipation of our trip to Europe this summer, she has been forcing herself to take a bite of every dinner in hopes that she will be able to eat the new foods on our trip.
Oh, and she got braces this year:
Ila is a kind and compassionate girl. She likes to help others. She loves children and enjoys taking care of children and babies. She never forgets to hug me goodnight and I am grateful to be her mother.
Here is what I wrote about her last year.
Thomas is in 5th grade and halfway through his 3rd year in the ALL (accelerated) class. He has always just learned things with very little effort. I think maybe it makes him a little impatient because he races through his work and doesn’t want to take the time for neatness, particularly with things like art.
Thomas is enjoying learning about US History this year. He has been working on the great American 5th grader challenge. He has to memorize the Gettysburg address, all the states and capitals, the preamble to the constitution, all the presidents of the US in order, the pledge of allegiance, and be able to write and spell all the words in the pledge of allegiance. When his brother moved out, Thomas cleaned off the desk in their room and declared that he felt like he made the Louisiana purchase because he gained more than 50% more desk space. He also pointed out how Thomas Jefferson made the purchase and he purchased the land from the French likewise Thomas Cochran gained more desk space from his brother who will be speaking French as a missionary.
Thomas has had a special relationship with his big brother, Isaac. He was particularly sad as the day of Isaac’s leaving approached. After two weeks of home MTC, Thomas assumed that Isaac would sleep at home during his Provo MTC time and became sad when he discovered that he was actually saying goodbye sooner than expected. Thomas enjoyed getting a chance to be Isaac’s mission companion during some of Isaac’s home MTC days. Despite the time he expected to have being cut short, Thomas has been enjoying the freedom of having his own room. Thomas and Nicole spent some time together planning out the perfect hangout space to create on the top bunk. By the time they were done, Nicole had an Amazon cart with $80 of items including neon signs, curtains, and new blankets.
Thomas continues to claim that hotwheels cars appeal to him even though he rarely plays with them. He does still enjoy Legos. Mostly he likes to make stop motion videos with the things that he builds. He likes playing chess and playing some card games. He is particularly good at Egyptian Rat Screw which is a card slapping game.
Thomas recently installed DouLingo and started learning Russian. He chose Russian because he wanted to learn something different and he likes that they use a different kind of alphabet with Cyrillic letters.
Thomas anticipates things with excitement, he is almost always anticipating something. He is often telling me how many days and sometimes how many hours until some exciting event happens.. Lately he has been tracking his birthday, but he also keeps track of when the next family birthday will occur or how many days till an appointment, field trip, or celebration. He eagerly anticipated his first chance to shoot a BB gun and became extra excited when a time was finally set.
Thomas has started participating in D&D every Thursday with his friends. I think there are 10 boys in the group. After school they walk over to one of the boy’s houses. Thomas likes to bring a bag of cheddar jalapeno cheetos to share with his friends each week. It has become a fun social event and a good bonding opportunity for all the boys.
Thomas enjoys socializing with his friends and siblings. Thomas’s best friends right now are Christian, Matthew, Nate, William, Kaden, Davey and Ian. Thomas is good at finding unique ways to connect with his friends online while he is at home. They started with having group conversations on Google Docs, but have moved on to zoom calls, google meets, and communicating through steam games.
One of Thomas’s favorite things to do is to run across the street and collect treats from his grandparents. Sometimes he fills his pockets with otter pops and then puts them in the freezer at home so that he can enjoy his stash for an extended period. He also likes to bring his friends across the street for treats. I think he enjoys having this extra special privilege that he can share with all his friends.
Thomas’s favorite foods are mostly sandwiches. He likes when I make a giant sandwich with a loaf of french bread. His other favorites include egg and bacon sandwiches and grilled cheese.
His current favorite computer games are Terraria, Stardew Valley and Slime Rancher. His friends pitched in to get him a game called Stray that he has been enjoying the last few days.
He still hates to dress up in costumes of any kind. This year for Halloween he dressed as “future Thomas” which meant he wore a hat and glasses that lit up.
Thomas is interested in guns, crossbows, and weapons of all types. Since his sister received a battle ax for her birthday, Thomas has asked for a variety of different weapons. Unfortunately for him, guns and weapons are a topic that can get him into trouble at school and other places so his parents have avoided supporting these interests to any great measure.
Thomas and Ila are still great friends. They still enjoy playing together and insist on inviting each other to their birthday parties. Recently Thomas has started enjoying spending time with Nicole on occasion and has matured enough to be more forgiving of her occasional lapses in social skills.
Thomas loves cats and considers it a personal insult when people say unkind things about them. He was jealous of his sister’s collection of cat shirts and asked for some of his own. Now his wardrobe contains enough cat shirts that he can wear one every day. His daily wardrobe includes jeans, a cat shirt, and a hoodie.
Inevitably my early risers always start to want to sleep in just before they are required to start getting up earlier for school and Thomas is no exception. The boy who was always the first to wake up naturally and put his backpack out at the bus stop 2 hours early, is now barely waking up in time to say goodbye before I leave and sometimes choosing to sleep in as long as he can before school. He still packs his own lunch and makes his own breakfast every day and I appreciate his independence in those tasks.
Thomas is a great son who enjoys being part of our family. He likes to have fun with his siblings and friends. He tries to always be kind and I am glad that I get to be his mom! Here is what I wrote about him last year.
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.
One of the best adjectives for Ila is sweet. Sweet is defined by the internet as pleasant, kind, and gentle toward other people and she is all of those things.
Ila gets along really well with all her siblings. She can’t stand to see any of them upset and will make extra effort to cheer them up. She encourages them all to do well and points out their good qualities.
Ila loves cats. All of her favorite things to wear have cats on them. At recess she plays cat games with her friends. She loves to read books about warrior cats and all her online identities are cat related.
When Zach decided to surprise the children with a kitten, he brought Ila with him. She fell in love with a fluffy orange kitten and since Zach had a different favorite, they brought them both home! Ila’s kitten is named Rillian and she absolutely adores him.
One of her other loves is reading. When she finds a good book, she has a hard time putting it down. She started the Warriors series towards the end of the summer and loved it. Most of the books are 300-400 pages and there’s about 90 of them and she has now read them all.
After all the trips I made to the library for her this year, we were happy to get her an ereader for her birthday that can download books from the free online library service.
She still has a soft spot for babies, but not much access to them. When her twin cousins came to visit for a week, Ila spent the whole week entertaining them and never seemed to tire of them.
Ila’s favorite foods are salmon, chicken strips, and goldfish crackers. She also enjoys sweet things, especially chocolate. She still doesn’t eat a wide variety of foods, I don’t think she’s added anything new to her approved list this year.
Cecily is still Ila’s best friend. They don’t see each other very often, but they’ve had to find creative ways to communicate with each other over the internet. They started off communicating through scratch coding projects, then through the school district gmail hangouts, and now they have to settle for emails. Ila will send Cecily a message and then not want to leave her computer for fear she’ll miss Cecily’s response. Without Cecily to play with at recess, Ila has continued to play with the boys and has developed a stronger friendship with two boys in particular (Isaac and Tim).
The distance required to keep loved ones safe during the current pandemic has been hard on her. She’s always been quick to hug loved ones and it hasn’t been easy to keep them at arm’s length.
She still has a strong drive to do what’s right. She never wants anyone to be unhappy with her and becomes distraught even when others get in trouble.
Other things she loves to do are go on walks, play at the park, swim, explore, play board games, and play on the computer. Here is what I wrote about her last year.
