Staley has officially entered the teen years. At 13, Staley is 5'1" tall and weighs 95 lbs. She wears mostly women's XS or S clothing with pants size 00-1. Staley wears size 5.5-6 shoes in women's sizes. Staley typically goes to bed around 10 or 10:30 and gets up around 6:45 on school days, although she will often sleep until 9 or after on week-ends.
Staley is in the 7th grade at EMS this year with Mrs. Bellini as her homeroom teacher. She is very involved in a number of activities that keep her (and our) schedule full, full, full! At school, Staley ran cross country, is doing dance team, and is planning to run track. She is also on student council and is in drama club, band, and chorus. Outside of school, Staley still participates in NTA activities (Rising Stars, Singapella, Stage Kids, Kickline, Tech Kids), takes singing lessons, is part of our church's Bible quizzing team, and attends youth group. She also has maintained her running streak, running at least a mile every single day since April 1 of this year (over 300 days and counting).
Likes: Oh, Staley has so many things she likes, which is part of the reason her schedule is so full. Staley still loves singing, dancing, acting, and performing in any way. Chorus is her new favorite class this year. She enjoys running and loved being part of the cross country team. Staley still reads a lot and is always reading several books at the same time. Fantasy remains a favorite genre.
Staley does not have a lot of free time in her schedule, but her free time at home is typically spent reading, listening to music (Taylor Swift and musical soundtracks are her favorites), hanging out in her room, and doing calligraphy. Choreographing dances is a fun activity she and Adelie do together. She enjoys playing family games with MarioKart on the Wii being a new hit with all the kids. She also likes movies and has started watching some of the Marvel series movies with Zach. Bluey is a favorite television show for the whole family.
Staley is not really picky about foods anymore. She is a pretty adventurous eater and will generally eat anything I make and likes to share meals with me at restaurants. Staley now packs her lunch for school everyday with chicken salad being a favorite lunch meal. For dinner, she eats anything but really enjoys cheeseburgers, tacos, enchiladas, and chicken casseroles. Staley is also not too picky about clothing textures anymore. She likes wearing leggings and sweatshirts, but also wears jeans, sweaters, and vests...things that she would never wear when she was younger.
Staley likes to have her downtime/alone time at home, but also really enjoys spending time with friends. She has a lot of friends from all her different activities. She has friends from school that she eats lunch with, friends from her various school teams and activities, friends in her classes, friends from church, and friends from NTA. She also enjoys hanging out with her cousins and her family.
Dislikes: Staley does not like having too many days or too much time that isn't scheduled. She doesn't always like when her siblings want to hang out with her or do the same things she does. Staley sometimes complains about not having a phone. She sometimes struggles to fall asleep at night or to stay asleep. When it comes to meals, pasta is not always a favorite. She enjoys salad, but generally does not like cooked vegetables, especially peas. Almond flavored peaches are new on her dislike list. Although getting better about it, Staley still does not like new situations where she doesn't know where to go or what to expect.
Skills: I've always called this section skills, which worked better as my kids were learning new quantifiable skills with each phase of childhood, like walking or talking or reading. As they get older, they do continue to learn new things and grow in their independence, but quantifying these "skills" gets harder and harder.
Staley continues to improve with all her activities. Since I am not skilled at many of these things, quantifying changes is hard for me. Dance team has helped her hone her dance technique. Singing lessons and chorus and her singing activities help her improve with hitting the right notes and singing harmonies and finding the right songs for her vocal range. For running, Staley has more quantifiable measures as her best 2 mile time from cross country was 14:09 and her best 5K that she has run is 23:25. Acting continues to come naturally to Staley. I love to watch her create her magic on the stage.
School comes easily to Staley. She continues to have high scores for standardized testing and gets straight A's. She memorizes easily, so memorizing lines for the shows she is in and memorizing scripture for her Bible quizzing also comes easily. Staley received a certificate for being the 2nd overall ranked junior high quizzer from the fall quiz-off. She was also the top quizzer on her team and her team won the whole quiz off with an undefeated day.
Staley manages her schedule and the responsibilities that come with it well. She does not stress about setting priorities when having overlapping activities. She keeps up with her schoolwork without prompting, fits in her running daily without being reminded, gets up early to study her quizzing if she hasn't had time to fit it in, and generally keeps up with all her activities and what she needs to do to be prepared for them. Her schedule sometimes stresses me out, but she handles it like a pro.
Staley rarely asks for help doing her hair or her make-up anymore. She has to do make-up for dance and for her shows and always does it herself. She does a better job than I do. Her hair has gotten long, and she enjoys experimenting with different looks and styles. Staley will use the straightener to straighten her hair, and she likes to experiment with braids and buns.
Personality: There are so many facets to Staley's personality. Her social studies teacher recently sent her a card in the mail, and I loved how her teacher pinpointed so many of these traits that Staley possesses.
She points out how Staley is a deep thinker, an active participant in class, and a question asker. She mentions Staley's competitive spirit and how goal driven she is. My favorite part might be when the teacher notes, "I know I can't always call on you, but please keep participating." (I just can't help picturing Staley as Hermione with her hand waving in the air. I have no doubt that Staley always knows the answer.)
Staley is definitely driven more by logic and rational thought than by emotion. She always has solid arguments and holds strong convictions when she believes that she is right. Staley is not overly emotional. On the one hand, there is very little teenage drama. On the other hand, this can sometimes lead to decreased empathy and sensitivity towards others.
Driven and competitive both also describe Staley. She does so many things and does them well, but she also puts in the work to improve. Whether it's competing for top grades or parts in a show or a spot on the dance team or a varsity position on the cross country team, Staley puts her all into everything she does. Quizzing is a great example where so many of Staley's traits come together. She is smart and memorizes things easily, but also makes it a priority to study her quizzing scriptures on a daily basis. Her competitiveness makes her determined to know the answers and jump quickly to beat the other teams. She is also very comfortable in the spotlight, so answering questions in front of a room full of people does not phase her in the least. Her drive and competitiveness are usually good things until she views too many things as a competition, which can sometimes again lead to lack of empathy or compassion for those she sees herself competing against, including her sister.
Along with these traits pointed out by her teacher, however, Staley is so much more. She is quick-witted and funny. She remains creative and imaginative. She does not write or draw as much as she used to, but her creativity is now seen in her calligraphy and the shows she puts together and the dances she choreographs. She is confident in herself and her abilities. Although she is showing her teenage tendency to want to fit in, she also is self-assured enough to take a different stance or do her own thing. Staley is smart, showing great aptitude for both math and reading. She understands math concepts way better than I do! Staley is good with kids and loves to help with the little ones at NTA.
Staley is dedicated and responsible. I'm not sure how she fits in all her daily activities along with keeping up her running streak, studying her quizzing, memorizing lines for shows, doing her daily devotions, finishing chores I've asked her to do, and still having time to choreograph dances to Taylor Swift songs, but she does. Her faith continues to grow as she makes spending time reading her Bible, staying involved in church, and doing daily devotions a priority in her life.
I am so proud of Staley and the person she is. She continues to grow and change, but there are many things about her that stay the same. I'm often reminded of that little pre-school girl...confident in herself, too smart for her own good, strong in her convictions, imaginative and creative, fun to be around, and ready to take on the world. Not so much different than now.
