peas in a pod

These two.

Peas and carrots.

They love like sisters.

And fight like sisters.

They are...sisters.

They have matching stuffed animals and headbands.

And like the same books.

And are fiercely protective of one another.

 They spend a ton of time together.

And when they don't, Ellie misses her.

We hadn't seen Nat in a few days 

and were driving home from somewhere 

and out of the blue

Ellie says,

"I miss my sis."

Natalie is also an only child so it's a good situation.

And I really like her parents.

Like, a lot.

 Thank the sweet Lord.

Yvonne and I also spend a ton of time together.

With and without the girls.

We share a love of thrift stores and wine and complaining of how they never get recess at school.

Usually in the same evening.

I'm glad they have each other.

And I'm glad I made a new friend in the process.

nearly 7

She's nearly 7.

 How on earth is that even possible?

She's all long legged and smelly footed.

And her hair has lost that softness of the very young.

6 has been great.

But has seen it's fair share of yuck:

Mollescum.

A teacher that yells all the time.

A surgery.

The loss of a kitty.

But 6 has also brought:

A spot on sense of humor.  She is so freaking funny.

A love of headbands.  It's serious.

Taking responsibility for things.  Like homework and feeding the cat.

The reading of chapter books.  Magic Tree House is the favorite.

It was the year she learned to ride a bike.

And turn a cartwheel.

And snap.

And do a backwards somersault.

It was the year she became a cousin.

Her first and second teeth were lost.

With two more very very loose.

Friends became important at 6.  What they thought became even more important. 

She hates to hurt their feelings, and can sometimes get stepped on in the process.

This is hard to watch.  And we are working on it.

6 brought a new and fantastic sense of fashion.

Think comfort meets patterns meets layers.

I often ask her if she likes my outfit, and value her answer.

She will throw stuff at me that I would never have worn together, and it totally works.

Love her for that.

But most importantly, this was the year I saw her as a friend as well as a daughter.

The year I truly started enjoying her company.

But I won't tell her that until she is older.

I am her mother first.

She needs to know that above anything else.

But I can see it.

I can see our future together as she grows up.

And it looks fantastic.

We have one more week of 6.

I am going to soak in every single second.