greta is 7!

dear sweet pea, 

you have grown up so much this year! when i look back at pictures and videos from last November, it's hard to believe that was only twelve months ago. and yet, at your core, you are still the same observant, thoughtful, creative, sensitive, dubious person you've been since birth. 

"what the heck is going on?!"

as expected, you've had lots of mixed emotions about our return to Pittsburgh from Rome. mostly, you're happy to be back in our house, with our big backyard and the new swingset Daddy built, and your bike (you and your best friends Maeve and Shayden learned to ride two-wheelers within days of each other this summer!). you've spent a few glorious weekends at Nana and Pappy's house, and i can still hear your shrieks of joy when you discovered your beloved friend Yaya was also at the "summer camp" daycare program at ABCs. but of course you miss your friends in Rome, especially Qing Qing, Louise, and Polly. we found out recently that Qing Qing's family has also left Rome now, and you were very quiet for a moment and then asked, "but someday can we go to China to see her?" someday, kiddo, someday!! 

Maria Vittoria, Greta, and Qing Qing on Carnevale

Candlemas at the NAC

sharing their drawings of rainbows with their Italian friends
during our 14-day quarantine after returning from Rome

your biggest transition this year was starting first grade at St. Philip School. you love your teacher, Miss Rodgers, and i've been very impressed with all the measures the school has taken to allow for in-person learning. you started off the year feeling pretty discouraged about reading -- you had spent so many hours learning Italian phonetics and pronunciation over the past two years that the rules in English were understandably baffling! but things are really starting to click for you now, and you've built a lot of confidence and reading fluency by reading Mo Willems' books, with their repetition, hilarious illustrations, and heartwarming storylines.  

you love to play teacher, and i often find your stuffed animals and dolls lined up on the couch or on the bed as you essentially recreate your school day for them (including the weekly school mass). for better or for worse, you also love to make your own videos based on makeup tutorials or prank videos you've seen on YouTube. (i guess it's the 2020 version of the cassette tapes i used to create using my little Fisher Price tape recorder!) one thing is for sure: your selfie game is stronger than mine! 

this fall marked your first foray into school sports. originally, you thought you might want to join the cross-country team, so we met up with the kids for a free run one August evening. but at the end of the run, i could see your glare from all the way down the trail as you stomped back and told me, "i didn't know we were going to be running the whole time!" instead, you decided to join the soccer team. it was a great learning experience for you to do something completely new, and to stick with it even when you recognized that the other kids had all been playing soccer for at least a year. you started ballet at a new studio this year, and we were so impressed with your performance at the little in-studio show your class put on last week. you've asked about starting gymnastics too -- maybe we'll try that in the summer! 

for posterity, here are a few of your favourite things:

• TV show: Bunk'd on Netflix
• food: spaghetti and meatballs, cheese pizza, frozen green beans, black raspberry ice cream
• book: The Chronicles of Narnia series (we just started reading these aloud this year!), the Junie B. Jones books, and The Book with No Pictures
• hobbies: making up your own ballet dances, playing with your Barbies, recording videos, making rainbow loom bracelets (and shh! you're getting your own kit for your birthday this year!)

in Sainte-Chapelle, Paris

in Ocean City, MD, with Nana and Aunt Becca!

we love you so much, Margaret Kathleen! happy seventh birthday!!