Johanna turns 8

Nov 2, 2020

Our girl is eight!  Johanna had a fantastic birthday. It started with breakfast in bed surrounded by her family singing to her. This is a tradition that had fallen victim to diverging schedules and early mornings and Johanna had mentioned that she didn't remember ever getting breakfast in bed. I know that we had done this but she was so young that she doesn't remember it. The pandemic allowed for all of us, including Rachael who moves out tomorrow to make pancakes and bring her a tray. She was so joyful! She was still in a good mood after school and had definitely felt special at school. 

 When Johanna got home from school her attention was on baking and icing her cake at her request. We made a good team and she had a good time picking a tiered cake and sparkly blue icing. she asked to decorate it herself and she did a beautiful job. She picked meatballs and spaghetti again for dinner so I picked those up from Scitinos and Jim prepared them for dinner.

After dinner we shared cake and then Johanna got to open gifts. This year we got her a weighted blanket and Jim found a Dragonology book, that has maps and diagrams and secret codes. The two of them have been reading a series called Dragon Masters and Johanna loves main character Drake and all of the different dragons that they meet on their adventures. Rachael has been packing and going through her stuff and she decided to give Johanna her nook. Johanna's face lit up at having her own device. She wants to be able to play games and have a screen like everyone else in the house does. She was thrilled. That night Rachael read her another chapter in Harry Potter Chamber of Secrets

Johanna is full of big emotions and ideas and energy. She loves books and is reading independently. She has been reading through the A to Z mysteries series. Her favorite show recently has been Dragon Riders, which is a spin off of How to train your Dragon and Super Monsters. this pandemic has shifted our focus in the neighborhood and mostly plays with Elliot from across the street. He is generally just as happy to swing sticks and run around as she is. Johanna plays in her room with Barbies or Legos and she likes to set up shops where we can come and purchase a thing or service. Johanna uses lots of sticky notes and makes us all id cards and love notes. Johanna talks through scenarios, when rules are given, and is a stickler for accuracy in what is said. She will hold you to your word. Johanna is going to be great at running things someday. She has plans.

Happy Birthday Johanna!