Zoe is 9!

Nine years old just feels so old. Ava even keeps saying she can’t believe Zoe is nine already. Each year goes by so much faster and it is so hard to believe that she is about to finish 3rd grade and she is only 1 year away from double digits! Zoe asked me recently if one thing that annoys me is that she is growing up so fast and I had to laugh and say yeah.

I think Zoe recently had a growth spurt because her pants are looking a little short. She is still one of the smaller kids in her grade but she is definitely growing. She is wearing mostly size ⅞ clothes and size 2 shoes. She hasn’t been to her well check so I do not have her growth stats but I know she’s grown a good bit since last year.

I asked Zoe her yearly birthday questions so we could keep track of what Zoe is like at 9 in her own words.

How old are you?

You know, 9

What is your favorite color?

Coral and orange 

This is a few years in a row of these colors not changing.

What is your favorite food?

I like pasta and Mexican rice

This also hasn’t changed much. Pasta and rice continue to be staples for her. She especially loves rice at any Mexican restaurant. I’ve been making a lot more soups recently and Zoe loves to mix the soup broth with rice. She is also a fan of ramen. She still likes to eat her pasta plain but does like to add a garlic parmesan sauce (kind of like alfredo) that I make to her pasta. She still enjoys edamame beans and roasted broccoli. She likes to make homemade pizza on gluten free cauliflower crust. She prefers to use the alfredo sauce that I make and top it with parmesan and dairy free mozzarella. The girl is still obsessed with fruit and would be happy if she could live on fruit. Her favorite snacks include graham crackers, peanut butter pretzels, gluten free ritz type crackers with peanut butter and honey on them, bbq chips, and granola bars. Her applesauce pouches and protein drinks are also still her constant staples.

What is your favorite restaurant?

Molina’s and second one is Tupelo Honey

Molina’s is our local Mexican restaurant and it is everyone’s favorite. Zoe loves to get rice and refried beans there. She also loves the pancakes at Tupelo Honey. She really loves any restaurant that serves breakfast food. She also still loves Tropical Grille, Chick-fil-a, Swamp Rabbit Cafe, Panera, and Eggs Up Grille.

What is your favorite outfit?

Blue Romper

Zoe still loves her rompers. She definitely prefers rompers over dresses these days. She still prefers comfort over style and lives in t-shirts, sweatshirts, leggings or long biker shorts. She will pair patterns and colors together that I would not say match but she doesn’t care. She has her own unique sense of style and we just go with it.

What is your favorite TV Show?

Tru 

This was a favorite years ago and is now back in the mix. She rotates what she is watching frequently so it just depends on the week as to what her favorite is. Some of the top shows in her lists are Odd Squad, Bluey, Ada Twist, The Investigators, Miraculous Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir and Gabby’s Dollhouse.

What is your favorite song?

Sweet Ever After and Blue

Zoe discovered Ellie Holcombe music while listening to Need to Breathe with me. She sings with Need to Breathe in the song Sweet Ever After and Zoe fell in love with it. She would ask for it over and over. She really likes Ellie’s more folk sounding music. The Blue song is that older song “I’m Blue Dab a dee dab a di” that is really nonsensical and she thinks it is funny. She is also a huge fan of K-Pop Demon Hunters music. She also loves the music from the Disney movies Descendants and Zombies. She really likes anything with a good beat. She also still loves Bye Bye Bye from N’Sync. Toby Mac, Switchfoot, Colony House and Third Day are also still in the mix of requested music from her.

What is your favorite book?

Bun Bun and Bon Bon and Fairylight Friends

Both of these are early graphic novel books. She loves that they are easier for her to read and she can feel proud of accomplishing a longer book. Narwhal and Jelly are some other simple graphic novels that she really loves. She also still loves the Elephant and Piggie books and the Pigeon books by Mo Willems. Amelia Bedelia, Click, Clack, Moo books and Pete the Cat books are also still regular series we check out from the library. She’s also still always happy with any princess book, Winnie the Pooh, Curious George, Fancy Nancy or Princess Truly books.

What is your favorite toy?

Lulu

Lulu is definitely her favorite toy and this answer did not surprise me in the least. Lulu is her very first baby doll. Zoe always says she likes her the best because she is plush and doesn’t look real. She says the baby dolls that look real are just weird. She loves Lulu so much and creates this whole imaginative world of Lulu and all the shenanigans that Lulu gets into. Sometimes we wonder if she wishes she could do some of the crazy things she says Lulu does. Zoe is still very attached to Bun Bun, her stuffed bunny that she sleeps with. She loves him and her blankie so much. She’s really big into sensory toys these days like different types of squishies, putty and Ne-doh.

What is your favorite thing to do?

Play with Lulu

Again, this answer did not surprise me. She has so many toys but she just loves Lulu the most and Lulu goes everywhere with us. She is definitely Zoe’s favorite thing. Zoe still loves to craft and is so creative with the things she comes up with. We still think she has an engineering mind because she can envision things in her mind and then create them. Zoe also still loves to be outside and is happiest at a playground where she can play and meet new friends. She can make friends anywhere she goes and loves to get her extrovert fill at a playground.

Where is your favorite place to go?

Disney World

We had such a great time at Disney World in the fall. It was fun to take Zoe again while she still wants to meet the characters and believes in all the magic. We know those years are fading quickly so we are so thankful we were able to get one last trip in before she doesn’t want to do those things anymore.

Who are your best friends?

Becca, Cheyenne, Catherine and Jordyn

Becca and Jordyn are sweet friends from school. Jordyn has been Zoe’s bestie since kindergarten even though they haven’t been in the same class since then. Becca has been in her class a couple of times but this year they really connected. We are thankful for Becca because Zoe was having some issues with some girl drama from a couple of other girls this year. I kept encouraging Zoe to pursue Becca instead of those other girls. Well, she finally did and now they are inseparable and there is way less drama. Cheyenne and Catherine are friends from church. Cheyenne is also adopted and we love that one of her besties shares that bond with her. Catherine lived beside us last summer while they had some renovation and mold remediation done at their house. Zoe and Catherine became the best of friends really quickly and they miss seeing each other every day now. We are thankful that she’s just a couple minutes away still and we can even walk to her house. We are so thankful for all the sweet friends in Zoe’s life.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Engineer and a babysitter/daycare owner 

Zoe still says she wants to be an engineer. She even says she wants to go to Clemson to study to be an engineer, which of course we are all for that dream. The daycare owner idea came about recently because she started talking about wanting to be a babysitter when she grows up and we talked about how she could do that as a daycare worker. She loves babies and toddlers so much and we actually think that could be the perfect job for her. She cannot wait until she is old enough to be a mother’s helper and then a babysitter one day. Her favorite Sunday is the Sunday that I am serving in the church nursery and she gets to help. She asks almost every week if it is a nursery Sunday. We love watching her be so caring to the little ones.

What do you hope to accomplish as a 9 year old?

To be able to do a backbend and walkover

Zoe is working so hard to meet her goals in Acro. She just found out that next year she gets to move up to Acro 4 and she was so excited. She is so close to getting her backbend, she just needs to get past the fear. I think she has the strength for it, she’s just not comfortable falling backwards yet. But, I think with a lot of practice she will get it well before she turns 10. Her acro skills have improved so much this year. Her teddy bear headstand is getting so strong. Her cartwheels, 1 handed cartwheels and roundoffs look amazing. Her split is so close to being 100% on the ground. And her handstands are getting much closer to being perfected. We love watching her strength and flexibility shine!

Zoe wanted to add a few more questions…what’s your favorite flower?

Dahlias

What’s your favorite sport?

Gymnastics 

She loves her acro class but still has her eyes on gymnastics. She isn’t quite ready to make the shift yet but maybe one day soon she will.

Who’s your favorite person from that sport?

Simone Biles (she’s so cool)

Zoe loves Simone and the fact that she looks like her. We are so thankful for more representation in her sport!

Where is somewhere you’d like to go?

Hawaii

I’m not really sure where this one came from but sure, we’d all love to go to Hawaii some day.

Zoe still has such a big personality! She is still goofy and loves to make people laugh. She is also still a cuddle bug and still wants to be carried everywhere. I said last year I wasn’t sure how much longer I’d be able to carry her but here we are at 9 years old and I am still carrying her. I’m just thankful she is petite and it gives me natural strength training. She’s our baby so I’ll carry her as long as she needs for that comfort. She also loves kisses and asks for millions of kisses at night. Her love language is definitely physical touch!

As I always say, we are so honored that we were chosen to be this beautiful girl’s parents. We know that choice was not made lightly and we do not take it lightly. As we watch her grow, we know there is someone so special that is missing out on these moments and I cannot celebrate Zoe’s birthday without acknowledging her. Zoe’s birth mama holds such a special place in our family and we can never express how much she means to us. We are so grateful for her and Zoe in our lives!

I still do not know how in the world Zoe is 9 years old. We cannot wait to see what all God has in store for her this next year! Happy 9th Birthday, Zoe girl! Mama, Daddy and Ava love you to the sun and back and the whole entire earth!!!