Shaylah turned 9 last week, so it is a great time to do an update on my pre-adolescent. She is quickly becoming a young lady and I am cherishing this time before she becomes more independent.
Shaylah is my most enthusiastic child. If there is an activity offered at school, she wants to be involved. She is a member of student counsel, she played Mrs. Claus in the school Christmas play and she is part of an enrichment program. She can't wait until she is older and can join the school sports teams and be a leader in the Student Credit Union. This girl loves school and all it has to offer. School comes very easy to her, especially language arts. She tells me her favorite subject is gym, but she also loves math and music. Shaylah is the type of person who is friends with everyone. She has a couple of close friends, but not a "best" friend. She is friendly, out-going and tries to make sure everyone is included (except her brother!).
Outside of school, Shaylah's favorite activity is basketball. She is involved with 2 teams, one of them is with girls that are 2-3 years older than her. She is learning so much from this older team and we have noticed a huge change in her skill level over the year. I wish I had training like that when I was her age! One of the highlights for her last Fall was getting to play with the Toronto Raptors who were in town for an Exibition game. She was one of 40 kids chosen for this experience ...unfortunately parents weren't allowed to watch or take pictures! She definitely has a height advantage compared to kids her age and her ball handling skills are getting better. Her Dad thinks this amazing, since he loves playing this sport. 😄
Day 1 - practicing with the coaching staff, Raptor mascot and meeting Alvin Williams.
Day 2 - Practicing with current players, including Kyle Lowry. Notice Shaylah sitting in the front row, 4th from the right.
Shaylah continues to take piano lessons. She will be taking her grade 2 exam in June and has signed up to compete in the BCCM festival in May. She has no fear of playing in front of people, something I could never get over as a child. She also sings in out church's children's choir, with the hope of getting a solo one day! She finished soccer in March, where she has been training to be a goalie and has just started baseball for the spring season. There are no dull moments in her life! She is continually asking me if she can join more activities, but I have to stop her somewhere. She would have every moment scheduled if she could.
Shaylah's career goals change frequently, but she is pretty sure she wants to be a teacher when she grows up. She has had the most amazing teacher this past year at school and he has inspired her to be just like him. We feel very fortunate for a teacher that encourages her and seems to know exactly what she is all about. Thank you Mr. Coffin!
Well. it's either a teacher or a rock star. :)
Shaylah is very particular about her clothing. There are only 2 pairs of pants she would wear all year and one pair officially has too many holes to fix. She has a drawer full of other pants, but refuses to wear them. She will also only wear knee-high socks....and those are preferably with colorful stripes. These are hard to find at certain times of the year! She has officially moved into adult size clothes (xs) and wears youth 5/6 shoes. It won't be long before we are sharing clothes!
We are so grateful for this girl in our lives. She keeps us busy and we can't wait to see what her future holds!
