12!

Pictures from Aerin's 12th Bday party! My ears are still ringing.

AerinBday12

Braces Off

Aerin got her braces off today:

BracesOff

She said, "I am no longer The Aerin, I am The Aerin With The Great Smile!"

School

Aerin has been having a good year at school so far:

• Straight As/Principal's List
• Student Council
• 6th Grade Band
• Gifted and Talented (GATE) student

She loves to express false modesty, but isn't fooling anyone. She is competitive and internally motivated, but reacts negatively to parental "encouragement".

Here we go again.

More Drawings

AerinDrawing

Science Camp

Aerin was at science camp all last week. She says she had a pretty good time. Her unofficial job was cabin sleep enforcer.

First Manicure

Aerin got her first manicure today:

FirstManicure

Click to the album to see her wearing the earrings she made, too.

Monopoly Mayhem

Aerin and I had a friendly little game of Monopoly this afternoon. Not.

With all my property mortgaged, all my houses and hotels sold off, and just a few dollars left, I would have survived a few more turns (and who knows, it could have turned around) so long as I didn't roll snake-eyes and land on her next house-laden property. You know what happened. It wouldn't have been so bad except for Aerin's shrieking laughter.

Shoes

Aerin had last Friday off from school, so she and Mom went shopping. I called Tracy's cell after a few hours, to find out when (if?) they were coming home. Aerin answered, and, breathless with excitement, said, "Oh, my gosh, it was like the first pair of shoes I tried on! You'll never guess. They fit! And then every pair I tried on fit!"

Next, she wants a manicure.

Pictures

Some pictures from Aerin's Birthday and from her State Project have been posted at:

https://picasaweb.google.com/JeffTheTwoThirds

Aerin's Birthday

To honor Aerin's 11th b-day, our digital picture frame is featuring Aerin for the whole week. Over 300 pictures of and by our girl. She wasn't properly thrilled.

More Birthday Highlights:

For her party on Friday, Aerin took 6 friends to see Rango, then to California Pizza Kitchen, and then to Sweet Factory. On Saturday, her actual b-day, Aerin opened her family gifts, then went shopping with Mom to spend some of her $. Tonight, I helped her spend some of her Amazon gift card money (mostly for manga, but also, oddly, some scratch-n-sniff pizza stickers).

Aerin said yesterday, "Dad, I'm almost 12!"

Almost 11

Aerin is almost 11. She reads voraciously, loves anime (which Dad screens very carefully), and thinks she's a teenager. She hates any sign of affection from her parents, but it doesn't stop us.

Let the 'tweens begin!

Post-Performance Letdown

After the school play last week, Aerin experienced her first post-performance emotional letdown extravaganza. Mom and Dad tried to be patient. By last night she was back to her normal self. Pictures from the play? Here you go:

SchoolPlay

More Art

Aerin was going to throw this away, but Tracy and I really liked it. So here you go.

Pandas

Some new art from the artist:

From Pandas

Jewelry

Showing off the earrings Gpa Marr made her. She says she prefers jewelry to toys now. Oh, boy. Click below for more Jewelry pictures:

Jewelry

Polka Dots

Aerin's room has been officially polka dotted (click below to see more pictures):

PolkaDots

She's My Daughter

Aerin was just measured for a pioneer dress for her school trip to Malakoff Diggins' State Historic Park. Her stats are: 32", 32", 32".

10th Birthday!

Gathered around the birthday pie, the girls enjoy Aerin's 10th birthday. Click below for more bday photos:

Bday10

Two more teeth out

Aerin lost two more baby teeth today. The first, a lower pre-molar, had a fully erupted permanent tooth under it, and I couldn't tell she had lost a tooth. The second, an upper canine, had been loose for a loooong time, but was wedged tightly between the other teeth and couldn't wiggle much. Aerin accidentally knocked it out with her toothbrush tonight. How? I didn't ask.

Painting Duo

Aerin and Mom are painting her room. Click to see the drama unfold:

Painters