Katherine,
Happy 7th birthday, just a little late getting your birthday letter written! You have grown so much this year. Your hair was so long that you could sit on it when it was wet, but we got it trimmed up earlier this year, and it's still longer than mine has ever gotten! According to the doctor you shot up this year, and are all legs. You remain curious, persuasive, and eager to learn even if you are paralyzed by the fear of failure (I've been told you got that from me).
You love learning. You are still a math whiz, it never seems to take you long to master a concept, usually once, sometimes twice and it sticks. It's been nice to have a student that is good at AND enjoys math. Of course you hate to write down the answer before asking me if it is right. You are afraid to write it down and get it wrong. You are always asking if you get the highest score in math, and are eager to write 100 at the top. You are always asking why things are designed a certain way or how something works. Even in your tv shows, at least half of what you watch is how to create and do things, whether they are making slime, building a cardboard fort or painting. Of course you still enjoy watching the dumbest YouTube channels around, but a lot of brain power goes into learning and figuring things out.
You are persuasive, always arguing your case and striving to get everything the bigger kids get. Often you can be down right articulate in trying to convince us of your position, like when you told us that if we got you an iPad you could do school on it like Britt, Ruth, and Rebecca. It is amusing when you make an argument to stay up later or negotiate more tv time. However, it can be immensely frustrating at times as you often devolve into whining and wedeling. I remind myself that this persuasiveness and persistence will serve you well as an adult even if it makes you a difficult child to parent. I just wish you would turn some of the same energy to your reading.
Like Britt and Ruth you too are dyslexic. Though I haven't had you tested, I recognize it well enough by this point as a homeschooling mom. You had a major break through in reading three letter words just before your birthday, one day you were struggling to blend them after sounding them out, and the next it just clicked and you could read a whole page full of words. I love seeing you win those hard earned victories. I am considering calling next year a second year of first grade. Even though you will move on with your next math book, the reading and the writing needs more work before we can really dive deeper into most other subjects.
So much has happened since last year, we have listed our home for sale and are making plans to do something unconventional, but you, our little spitfire who is impossible to predict, remain eager both to live in a camper for a while, but yet still talks about things you want when we get a house again one day. You enjoy planning, dreaming, and even a little scheming.
You are a prickly sister though. Always wanting to be included with the big kids, even when what they are doing isn't even that interesting to you. But where you excel is with your younger brothers. As the oldest of our littles you often almost seem to fill the role of the oldest child. You lead them in games, and always want to include them in what you are doing, even if it's just to have an admiring audience. Sometimes they drive you batty and you fuss about them following you around, or messing up your game, but you are undoubtably the best at entertaining them. You love to build a good fort out of anything you can locate and enjoy playing barbies and with stuffed animals with Rebecca.
You are wildly independent, completely sure of yourself, and ready to make your mark on the world. We never know what you will think about anything that happens in our lives, but you so often are unexpectedly thoughtful and ask questions or make comments that tell us there is alot more going on in your head than we ever thought. You are growing into a young girl who is never quiet and always up for fun, and we are so thankful to be your parents.
Your Daddy and I love you,
Love,
Momma
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