Half a Cora-Dozen

As I mentioned in the last post, Cora turned 6 this week.

I know every birthday gives you pause as a parent, but man, my tiny little third baby turning 6 was a bit of a jolt. Maybe it's that her arrival still seems so recent. She was born here, in Fort Worth, this city I still think of as "new" to us, while I was doing this job, that I'm often surprised to remember I've now been doing for 7.5 years. Our last baby- the one that came 3.5 years after Claire, after we thought we were done, after we gave away all the baby things and bought a 3-bedroom house. We had our big kids- our fun, active, easy, and helpful big kids, and we had our baby. Our smiley happy little ball-of-joy baby and somehow she is SIX.

Even the big kids were kind of taken aback. I mean, this was their baby!

At six Cora is 48" tall and 51 lbs. strong. She is super smart, spunky, sporty, and places a distinct emphasis on style.

Despite spending much of her life following after her siblings, she is fiercely independent and ENTIRELY herself.

She is my only child who can, and very often does, spend hours by herself in other rooms, happily coloring, writing, or creating complex worlds to imaginatively play in. You're not really invited and she'd rather you not interrupt.

She adores her family and her big siblings are still her favorite playmates (when she wants playmates anyway). Or just someone to do her work for her.

She loves Kindergarten and LOVES her new gaggle of girls in her class. We've had a few notes home for "talking during class" which she seems to find both mildly distressing and somehow regrettably inevitable. When I get home on those days I'm immediately presented with her folder and its unhappy face, told the whole story of what happened, and given a dramatic reenactment.

There's really all sorts of drama in her Kindergarten posse- love triangles, crushes, fashion dictates... it's a whole new world. One day when I got home from work Claire immediately ran over to me and said, "Mom! Cora has something to tell you." Cora rolled her eyes and sashayed over. With a heavy sigh she deigned to explain that "well I have a crush on Henry and I was going to tell him tomorrow."

"What?!" I began to exclaim, when Claire yelled over me, "TELL HER THE REST CORA."

UGH, Cora said with her entire being, "well, I said I might kiss him tomorrow." Meanwhile Claire is gesticulating behind her back like "CAN YOU DEAL WITH THIS INSANITY MOTHER?!"

Never a dull moment.

volleyball spectating outfit

She's whip smart, loves to read and writes short novels on the back of every piece of paper she gets her hands on.

She got an even bigger big girl bike for her birthday and she LOVES it. Now she can ride just as fast as the big kids and James and I need to get bikes to keep up.

She has a flair for fashion and eye for style. She feels strongly about her outfits, hair, bows, and any of life's accessories. When I asked her to make her bed before her birthday party, she proudly presented this masterpiece a long while later. All her animals, her new blanket from a friend who had to miss the party, and her favorite printed pictures from our Disneyworld trip two years prior, displayed to their best advantage. I feel like it works.

When I asked her to try on a new birthday outfit the other day, she disappeared for 30 minutes, came back and cleared off the kitchen table, rearranged the chairs, sit and declared, "okay, I'm ready now Mom!" I guess it's nice that someone else in the family cares about the background of photos?

She's fierce and funny and the family mascot we didn't know we needed. None of us can imagine our family without her and none of us can believe she's 6!

Except her of course, she's 100% got this.

On the night she turned 6 we did a little interview:

Favorite color: Pink, turquoise, yellow, and purple

Favorite food: Mac and cheese, gnocchi

Favorite drink: Water, with ice

Favorite dessert: Brownies and chocolate cake

Favorite candy: Chocolate lollipops and "n&m's" (she has always called them that) and [runs to the kitchen to get her favorites because she doesn't know the name] tootsie rolls and Snickers

Favorite TV show: Spirit

Favorite book: Shimmer and Shine, Ariel, the one with all the stories (Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls)

Favorite movie: Ariel (The Little Mermaid), Pocahontas, Rapunzel (Tangled), Enchanted, Parent Trap, and Princess Diaries 2 and 1

Favorite song: "Shake It Off" and "You and Me" and "Welcome to New York"

Favorite animal: Unicorns and a baby elephant and a baby giraffe. And of course Maggie.

Favorite sport: Gymmastics

Favorite activity: Painting and coloring and playing hide-and-go-seek and tag. And chicken-bawk-bawk (a game they made up with their nanny that I still don't understand)

Favorite game: Uno, Candy Land, and Memory.

Favorite subject in school: Reading and doing book reports.

Best friends: Gigi, Emory, Scarlett, Presley, Nora, Skyler, and Jordyn.

What do you want to be when you grow up? Doctor and a ballerina. Or a dancer.

What is your favorite memory? When we went to Sweet Frogs [frozen yogurt place] and when we went to a movie theater.

What was your favorite vacation? Costa Rica, my beach in California, and Disney World.

If you could go anywhere where would you go? to a beach. and to a sleepover with my friend Gigi.

Cora: "Is that all you're going to ask me?"
Me: "Yep!"
Cora: "Not like, favorite hairs that you like to do?"
Me: "Um sure, I can ask that."
Cora: "Okay, write that I like pony tails. And when my hair gets longer I'll like to do braids and pony tails on the side."

Happy 6th baby girl, we love you so!