I didn’t do one of these for Avery last year, but the milestone of turning ten means an update is in order.

As anyone who knows her can attest to (and as I’ve said here before), Avery is quite the character. She’s sweet, well-mannered and quiet at school but in her personal life she’s funny, sassy and a little wild. Her teachers are always surprised when we call her our wild child but she really is.

Avery is always making us laugh – sometimes intentionally, sometimes not. As I explained just the other day, it’s not that she tells traditional jokes; it’s usually her teasing comments, responses to questions, or commentary on things around her that make us smile. (Occasionally her witty remarks do cross the line, though, and we’ve had our fair share of discussion about talking back.) I often say I’m not sure where her personality comes from – but, really, it’s from her dad.

In terms of interests, she’s been into video games for the last couple of years (with Roblox and all the games within it among her favorite things to play), and she also likes playing Barbies or other make-believe games (which her sister will occasionally still play with her), chatting on Google Hangouts (she and a few friends from school created one called “The Cool Kids”), reading graphic novels (which are much preferred to long-form books) and, of course, playing with Maddie. And relatively new things she’s into: fooling around with make-up (which we don’t let her do that often) and making and playing with slime. (Zoe’s super into slime, too.)

The center of her social life remains her best friend, Mila, and I love how sweet and supportive they are with each other. They shower each other with compliments and praise (“You look beautiful in that dress!”), send each other messages full of heart and other love-related emojies and look out for each other at school. There was a several-week period just before school ended where the two of them decided to take a bit of a break: “We’re still best friends, but not BFFs” Avery explained to me (as if it made sense). The break didn’t last long, though, and when I recently inquired whether there was still trouble in paradise she gave me a funny look. “Mommy, that was so long ago,” she said.

Avery does well at school, but she seems to like it more for the social – versus academic – aspect. The big development there is that, starting with Avery’s class, fifth grade is part of the middle school – and Avery is thrilled about it. We had previously told her she would get a phone when she was in middle school, like her sister did, but we really meant sixth grade. Now, Avery’s constantly reminding us that since she’s technically in middle school she should get a phone in the fall – but, as I’ve told her, that issue is up for debate.

Due to the girls’ ages, I guess, we’ve seen quite a bit of fighting between Avery and Zoe over the last few months. They’re still each other’s favorite playmate, and they share many of the same interests (thankfully) but they push each other’s buttons more than ever before. Accusations of unfairness, mild insults and frustrated shrieking are now, sadly, rather common in the house. I have an older sister and know this is all normal (and, frankly, their behavior is probably pretty tame compared to other tweens’) but it can get tiresome.

Despite the occasional fights, Avery has a very sweet, caring side – and we’ve really seen a lot of it over the last year or so. She has been very good to me during the grieving process, often giving me reminders about how Grandma and Grandpa are still with us – just in a different form. (I always thought Zoe was the old soul and deep thinker of the house – but I now think we have two of those.)

Maybe six months after the accident or so, Avery started talking to my parents at night; I’ll be in our bedroom and hear her chatting away, telling them about her day and how much she misses them. Usually it makes her feel good but every once in a while she’ll call me in and say that she’s feeling “emotional.” (I tell her that Grandma and Grandpa wouldn’t want her to be sad and suggest she take a break and talk with them again another time.)

And a related, sweet story to close things out: The other day when walking Maddie, Avery stopped to admire and pick up a white dandelion. I watched her from the window, marveling that she still notices and appreciates flowers (like she did when she was little) and wondering if she knew to blow and make a wish on it. She did – and when I later asked her what she wished for her, she said there were two things. “It won’t come true but the first thing was to see Grandma and Grandpa again,” she quietly said. A classic-Avery grin soon spread across her face: “And then I asked for a phone.”

-M

I’ve referenced here many times how much Avery cracks us up: It’s not like she’s constantly telling jokes, but she’s a real ham (at home, at least) and constantly saying funny/witty things that leave me and Q shaking our head and laughing.

For example, I recently discovered a huge pile of the girls’ clothes sitting on their closet floor. Upon my discovery, even before I could ask them to hang everything up, Avery sighed and said, “I knew this day would come.”

Another time, not long after she was sick for a few days, I told her, “Now that you’re feeling better you have to clean up this room.” Avery’s reply? “Cough, cough.”

On a playground not long ago I saw her mumbling (I thought to herself). She saw me looking at her, walked over and casually said, “Yeh, I might have just been talking to that bird.”

She’s also very dramatic: “You don’t understand how hard it is to be a child with someone always telling you want to do,” she told me one night last week. “I just want freedom!” (This is in reaction to me asking her to empty the dishwasher.)

And, she has her own (modern) way of expressing herself. “That picture of Maddie is so cute!” Zoe commented about a photo on my phone one day. “Hashtag I know, right,” Avery chimed in.

-M

For her big birthday Avery had a small party. The party had a hotel theme, and at this resort the guests made slime (the girls are obsessed!), played Roblox (another one of Avery’s favorite things), enjoyed a donut “cake” and gorged on pancakes the next morning. Not a bad way to usher in the tween years, huh?

-M

As a start-of-summer-vacation treat recently, we got Icees for the girls. Avery was particularly excited; “This is the best gas station I’ve ever been to!” she said after her first sip.

-M

“You know how you always say I’m a handful?” Avery said to me during bedtime last night. “Well, after tomorrow I’ll be two handfuls!” (ha ha)

Happy Birthday to my sweet, sassy (and, yes, funny) baby. Welcome to the double digits.

-M

Avery, to her sister last night: “I just had a really long day, and I thought it would be fun to play with you. But this is very stressful.” (They were playing with slime, and I’m not sure how that could be stressful; alas…)

-M

Just like that, we have two middle schoolers. Yesterday was the last day of school, and the girls will soon be heading to fifth and seventh grades.

To celebrate the last day I took the girls and a friend to tea at Lovejoy’s Tea Room, a classic San Francisco spot. “I’m in heaven,” Avery commented when she bit into a petit four; I personally loved the scone and lemon curd!

-M

Zoe has babysat before but Avery recently got her first paying job: Our neighbors asked the girls to watch their house and check on/feed their cats and fish while they were in Tahoe. The girls had a blast doing it, and they wound up spending quite a bit of time over there last weekend playing with the cats. Below, Avery is reading – and enjoying some goldfish crackers – with the one they nicknamed “Buddy.”

-M

I’ve always been very sentimental (I get it from my dad) and, as a kid, I usually got sad when each school year closed. (I wish my mom was here to confirm it; she has stories!) Turns out Zoe is pretty similar to me in that regard: She’s said more than once how sad she is about sixth grade coming to a close. Despite a few bumps, she loved the year – her classes, her advisory group, the stuff she did with friends – and she said it will be tough to go a whole summer without being at school.

“It just went so fast – it seems like just yesterday that sixth grade was starting,” she said the other night. “Doesn’t it seem like the more you like something the faster it goes?” Indeed…

-M

Something sad recently happened in the family: Coco, Sandy’s dog, died. Coco was a big part of our family: My parents loved him, so much so that we included a mention of their “granddogs” in the obituary, and the girls spent time with him every time we visited Madison. (If you search “Coco” on this blog you’ll see lots of photos – including one of my all-time faves below.) I also have tons of happy, pre-kids memories of Coco; the first time I met him was the summer before Q and I got married, when I flew home for my wedding shower.

After losing our parents, most other sad events/losses will pale in comparison. But anyone who has had a dog (especially one that lived as long as Coco did) knows what an integral part of the family they are and can imagine how hard this loss is for Sandy. I know she’s comforted, though, by the thought of him being with our parents; I like to think of him happily bouncing around on our dad’s freshly cut grass up there.

-M

Remember those end-of-year activities that I mentioned? Also on the schedule was the school’s spring concert – and we snapped this shot as the kids all marched in.

-M

I’ve lived for San Francisco for more than 20 years but I had never visited Treasure Island (a man-made island off the Bay Bridge) until recently. Q read about a monthly festival there so we spent a cloudy but warm Saturday there – and I love this shot of Avery taking in the view.

-M

We’re approaching the end of the school year, and there have been a lot of events and celebrations. Among them: the middle school athletics banquet, which honored the students who participate in one of 17 sports. It was our first one (we couldn’t go last year) and it was a good one: Zoe was awarded MVP of the girls’ cross country team. And her good friend Zachary was named MVP of the sixth grade boys’ basketball team.

-M

Every year, Avery’s class takes a spring camping trip to Costanoa down south. The trip got cancelled this year because of a freak rain storm, but everyone instead gathered at a nearby outdoor restaurant one Friday night (before the rain started). Below, pics of Avery and some of her classmates and a bunch of pics of Zoe and some other big siblings – who took a real liking to Maddie!

-M

Glide through a pool in a big inflatable ball? Yes! said Avery. She tried it out at a recent street fair (and let’s just say she was a big fan).

-M