My youngest is 16 today!

My baby, is 16 years old today. Like seriously, how did that happen? She will not appreciate me calling her a baby but she will always be my baby. hehehe

For the past few years there hasn't been much to write about Ellie but this past year has been different! She has been through so many changes and challenging times but here we are she's found herself, worked hard and I am so proud of her!

I can't even decide what the biggest thing is to happen over the last year in Ellie's life as the things I can think of have been big things and have made her who she is today.

This time last year Ellie was a little confused about her gender. She was going by they/them but feeling more towards he/him but told me not to say anything on here until she had decided for sure. Over the past year she has decided being he/him or they/them isn't for her. She is definitely a she/her! I think what made her mind up about her gender was what she was going to wear for prom. She really surprised me and said she wanted to buy a dress and since then she has turned into such a girly girl. She's all about shopping trips, dresses, false nails, pretty hair and make up. I know those things don't make you a girl but it's hard to explain. Ellie has taken more pride in her appearance instead of just wearing tracksuits, t-shirts and hoodies she loves to plan her outfits now. It has been so strange for me, my girls have never been into girly things since they were little and I said to Ellie when we were out shopping, you're a real girl now, all in jest. hehehe The majority of her birthday presents are clothes and make up. Ellie even got her ears pierced a few months ago but she decided they were not for her after going a couple of months with earrings.

Ellie has a boyfriend now, he is a year younger than her but they've been together about 11 months and he is such a lovely lad. He's coming for a day out with us today so that should be fun.

Ellie has grown in confidence and I am putting that down to her hearing more! Just before Christmas she finally got some hearing aids and they have changed her life. I still have to prompt her to wear them every day but when she has got them in she is definitely hearing more.

This past year has been a huge year for Ellie at school. It was her GCSE year! She has worked so, so hard and I couldn't have asked for more. I am writing this last week before we picked up her GCSE results as we are so busy this week so I am guessing I have mentioned her results in my Word of the Week blog post a few days ago. Ellie was given extra time in her exams due to her hearing loss which still doesn't make sense to me as it didn't effect her reading, writing or understanding the exam but she took the extra time and used it well.

After her GCSE's there was the prom and time for her to show off her new girly look at everyone at school. We went all out with her hair and make up and everyone was so shocked that Ellie was wearing a dress. hehehe She had the best evening!

Ellie applied for college while she was at school which I was a little annoyed about although she has always had her heart set on doing engineering I would have liked to have had a chat about what engineering course she would actually be doing. It didn't really matter as when we went for her college interview the course she had chosen was the right one for her. There were a lot of I told you so's from her. hehehe

Since Ellie left school in the middle of June (it has been a long summer) I have spent so much time with her and it has been lovely and needed. It feels like we've got to know each other better with all of this one on one time. We haven't really done anything special apart from the odd meal out, shopping trips and watched a lot of TV. Heartstopper and Doctor Who have been our favourites.

Ellie still loves anything Japanese and all of the anime's which she watches. She is obsessed with Taylor Swift, no she doesn't have tickets to see her in concert which has been a huge disappointment. She still spends too much time on her phone watching TikTok and playing on Duolingo which I can't really complain about. Ellie has always been a bit of a fussy eater but she is eating more vegetables and out of the ordinary things for her.

So here we are, my baby is 16 years old and we have a busy day of celebrating. We're off out as a family with Ellie's boyfriend in tow to do something fun and then for a meal and when we come home there will be cake! This time next week she will have started college and that for sure is going to be strange. Why do they have to grow up so quickly?