I haven’t done one of these in a while (looks like I forgot to write one when she turned 10), but there’s a lot to say about Zoe in her “tween” years.

A lot about Zoe at 11 is the same as in years past: She’s serious and quiet at times (also very much a rule follower and very much a deep thinker), but she has also a fun and silly side.

She loves school and being organized and doing self-directed projects: Much of her downtime is spent doing research projects, putting together lesson plans for school (which is typically taught to Grandma via Skype or to me and Avery), or – new this semester – managing a 3^rd & 5^th grade performance of Hamilton. (Zoe got this idea over the summer, and much of the fall has been focused on casting and rehearsing.) She works on so many projects and activities at once that it’s often hard to keep track of them all. “Is this for school or fun?” I’ll often ask her.

Fifth grade has been good to her: She joined the cross-country team and had a great first season, and she was selected to serve on a youth mentoring advisory board, which she loves. She also continues to enjoy math and reading; she recently started a book blog, and earlier this month she started a book club for her classmates. And speaking of classmates: She has strong relationships with numerous girls in her class, and she started g-chatting with many of them within the last year.

As “old” as Zoe often appears to us, she still likes doing things she did when younger: She has logged hours and hours over the last year playing with Legos, Groovy Girl dolls or American Girls. And she still does “dramatic play” by setting up and running little restaurants or shops, often with her sister.

Speaking of her sister, the two of them remain close. Despite their age (and personality!) difference, they almost always find something to do together. And Zoe is very sweet with her, comforting her when she’s upset and offering to help with her homework (though Avery often doesn’t want her to). They also have a sweet weekend morning routine, where they wake up early and cuddle together on the couch watching whatever show they’re currently into. (They discovered – and loved – “Fuller House” this year; there was a mermaid show that they spent months bingeing on, and they’re currently into a kids camp show called “Bunked.”)

Since our last update, Zoe has had phases when she acts more stereotypically “preteen”ish than others – we’ve had periods of relatively quick tempers and crying for little reason. She also is less excited about us being around her friends than in the past – just this morning she asked me to not “embarrass” her if I came into her classroom. (When I probed further she said doing something like wiping off her mouth – which I wouldn’t do – would qualify as embarrassing). Still, challenging behavior isn’t the norm, and for the most part she’s not that much different than she was when she was Avery’s age.

One thing that has changed, though: her height! Not a week goes by without someone commenting on how tall she is. She’s almost 5’1” – officially taller than some of my friends – and she’s also now wearing a size 9.5 shoe! Keeping in mind that girls of this age can start feeling self-conscious about their bodies, I recently asked her it ever bothered her to have people comment on her height – and she just shrugged. I think she’s used to it by now!

This entry was posted on Friday, December 15th, 2017 at 12:39 pm and is filed under 98. Two kids - Oct-Dec17. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.