Catherine at 9

Miss Catherine Cat,

Several months ago one of your Activity Day leaders mentioned that she was very impressed with you. She said that there have been a few instances where one of the other girls would start saying unkind things about other people in an attempt to get you to agree. You didn't bat an eye: you just said, "No, I don't think that about (whoever)." It wasn't even something you had to think about. This makes me so grateful for your fierce independence (even though it's sometimes irritating when I don't WANT you to be Miss Independent).

You still don't like team sports. You don't follow your friends around: you prefer to do your own thing and hope they'll follow you. You've also written off a friend when she opted to play dolls with Elise instead of playing with you (even though you were being stubborn and not interacting with her). The only person whose opinion seems to matter to you is Seth. And even that isn't as prominent as it used to be.

You like making people laugh. You're extremely confident around adults, which I still haven't decided is/isn't a good thing. Your two favorite people are Sister Bente and Sister Seacrest (both very intelligent, very independent women). I love that you have such awesome role models.

You are a wonderful big sister and will often take charge of fun activities for Aaron & Elise. You're also so much help with Elijah. They're lucky to have a big sister like you.

Bugs are still one of your favorite things, although plants and animals are also moving up in your favor. You think history is boring, but you LOVE science. You prefer reading graphic novels and comics, but you did read the entire "Kid Scientists" books and every book on Jane Goodall.

Aunt Bubba calls you 'Skeletor' because you still have basically no body fat. You look like Aunt Kenna used to. You prefer your hair in a very short bob and like to pester me frequently when it starts getting 'too long' (past your shoulders). I prefer it long, but it's your hair. And a bob fits your personality.

You bounce from art project to art project: perler beads, painting, clay, crafts from recycled materials, sewing...you name it. Origami has been a bit hit recently.

I'm constantly amazed at who you are and who you're growing to become. Happy ninth birthday, Cat the Cat.


Catherine's 9-Year-Old Birthday Interview
(this year's interview was characterized by many, many, many super long pauses while you deeply contemplated questions like 'What is your favorite song?')

1. What's your favorite color? "Hmm... Purple and...aqua."

2. What is your favorite food? "Uh...chicken. Just chicken."

3. Who is your best friend? "Emma Olivera."

4. What's your favorite movie? "Star Wars (Rise of Skywalker)." (We had just watched it the night before).

5. What's your favorite toy? "Anything that includes art. Recycling, paper, pencils, pens, paint, things that I can paint on... Yeah, pretty much that."

6. What's your favorite game to play? "The ball game. We used to play it with Seth's big red ball because it wasn't too big and it wasn't too small. And Dad would drop it down the stairs and we'd be laying on one stair and we'd try not to get hit."

7. What's your favorite game to play on electronics? "Bear" (from Roblox).

8. What's your favorite snack? "Marshmallows with crackers. No, no, no: apples with...what is it called? Caramel. There you go. Apples with caramel."

9. What's your favorite animal? "Caterpillar. (When I insisted that wasn't an animal). They're fuzzy. No, birds. Peacocks. Peacocks! No, parrot.

10. What do you want to be when you grow up? "Hmm...hmm...I want to be...hmm...a scientist. I'm going to study outside. And how bananas grow."

11. What's your favorite song? "Muffin Time (said with a grin because you know I hate that song)."

12. What's your favorite Primary song? "Be What I Believe."

13. What's your favorite book? "I have three favorite books. Oh wait, no, maybe two. No, no, no. Yeah. Wait. Three. No, no, no: one. No, no, no: three. Okay. Garfield, umm...Calvin & Hobbes, Diary of a Wimpy Kid."

14. What's your favorite school subject? "Poetry time."

Anything else? "I'm cold. (Pause) I'm done with this."