Here’s what Sunday looked like at our house: A very sleepy Zoe and a very messy downstairs. Totally worth it, though!

-M

Dating back to preschool, Zoe has always had big Рeither joint or all-class Рbirthday parties, and after her sixth one she asked if she could have a smaller party for her next. And so, this year she invited a small group of kids to come over in the evening for a PJ party. The kids munched on pizza and blue, star-decorated cupcakes; stuffed and decorated shirts for their Build-a-Bear; and hit a pi̱ata. It was a fun two hours Рone of her friends said it was so much fun he wanted to cry tears of joy Рbut also wild and exhausting. (The pictures and first vid show quieter moments of the party.) Remind me when Avery is seven to have a smaller group than 13!

-M

Zoe’s birthday morning started with present opening, breakfast (IHOP, her choice) and a surprise trip to Palo Alto, where an American Girl opened just a week ago. We weren’t sure what we were going to get her – she had been eying in their catalogue several books, little pet dogs, and even a bath set for Hippo – but she settled on a doll that she subsequently named Penelope. (This was a combo birthday/Hanukkah gift we explained to her.) For a girl who isn’t traditionally girlie, she is quite attached to her new friend!

-M

Seems crazy that Zoe came into our lives seven years ago.

Seven. Wow.

I try to capture the girls’ personalities through my daily stories on the blog, so I’m hopeful faithful readers have a sense of what Zoe is like these days. But my updates (written monthly for the first two years of her life) are tradition – so here goes.

Interests: As has been the case for several years now, Zoe loves playing pretend – usually teaching school or opening and working at a restaurant or store or library. Give her an empty room and a few random household items, and she’ll create her own little kingdom – I know, because we’ve done it. (Our breakfast nook remains empty since the remodel.) And speaking of places, several months ago she converted a little toy chest in her bedroom into her desk, where she sits and does her “work.” She has been using my old little (dying!) pink Netbook for awhile now; you can often find her at the desk, typing away, researching such things as American Dolls and “unicorn poop” cookies (seriously!). New since a year ago: Reading. She loves it, and since about the end of kindergarten she has read at least a book a day. She graduated out of readers and into chapter books sometime over the last year and now routinely reads books from series like The Rainbow Fairies. We often make frequent trips to the library.

School life: I wrote here before that her adjustment to first grade was a little bumpy – at school she was great, but she would come home and melt down from exhaustion. That didn’t last long, thankfully, and now there’s nothing but positive things to say about it. She loves her class and teacher, and we got a nice report during our recent parent-teacher conference; she’s excelling in every area (reading at a second-grade level), and – perhaps most importantly – she’s happy. Her teacher reports that she periodically hears a deep, jovial laugh – and when she looks up, it’s always Zoe. While still close to some of her friends from last year, other relationships have developed – and her teachers say she plays with both girls and boys. And, not surprisingly given what we know about Zoe: Apparently she’s a real helper to her classmates. One of the boys she sits next to speaks Russian and sometimes needs extra help reading; Zoe will often lean over to help him with a word or two. When Zoe was Student of the Week, the other children all wrote down what they appreciated out of Zoe; the majority of them said they appreciated how much she helped them, or how she was like a little mom.

Temperament: I can quote myself from last year: “We sometimes call Zoe ‘Little Mommy,’ because she is fairly responsible for her age and is often nurturing and looking out for others.” She hasn’t changed in this regard one bit. Unless tired, she’s always willing to give me us a hand (she has made dinner for and “babysat” her sister on more than one occasion, and she recently asked me to teach her how to do laundry), and she is quick to comfort me if she thinks I’m tired or down.  She is  independent and also serious at times (“I have a lot of work to do when I get home today, Mommy,” she’ll tell me when I pick her up from school). With that said, she has a silly side; she loves putting on fun music and dancing around in Avery’s room, and she’s always bouncing around when with her good friends at school or on a play date.

Other stuff: She’s up to 61 pounds and 51.5 inches. She has lost four teeth; her two bottom ones have come in, but she still has a huge empty space on the top. Every night at bedtime, she asks for the song she’s heard since she was a baby – and just a few weeks she asked if I would bounce her to sleep. (I happily said yes.) Hippo remains her faithful sleeping companion. She still misses and talks about (though less than last year) her pre-K teacher, Erica. She sometimes amazes me with her grasp of people and the maturity in which she handles situations: Recently a friend of hers was picking on her at school, and after describing to me what happened she said she  wanted to resolve the situation by having a one-on-one play date with him. “If I just tell him how what he does makes me feel, I bet he’ll stop,” she said confidently. “He just doesn’t know.”

And a note to end on: I love this picture of Zoe from last summer, which I think really captures her essence. With her purse and crossed legs she seems so much older – but her laugh gives away the fact that she’s still a little girl.

-M

It was rainy here earlier in the week, but the girls didn’t care. They were perfectly happy trudging through puddles and carrying their umbrellas to school.

-M

For a recent class project, Zoe was asked to put a cut-out paper turkey in disguise, so it would be unrecognizable and wouldn’t be eaten for Thanksgiving. She decided that her turkey would be a competitive swimmer, so we made him swim trunks, goggles and a swim hat, and then put a gold medal around his neck. Later, she named him Jack.

-M

A few mornings ago, Avery closed the door to her bedroom and emerged several minutes later fully clothed. Her getting dressed on her own is nothing new, of course, but she usually doesn’t do it without being prompted. Later, I asked why she got dressed without me asking. “I wanted to make Mommy’s day,” she said with a smile.

-M

Look who’s on the cover of the new JCC brochure! I’m a proud mama.

-M

“I can’t believe my birthday is this week,” Zoe excitedly told me as she got dressed this morning. Indeed, she has only five more days of being six!

-M

The other day Zoe was describing to me the difference between a “bestie” and a “friendie.” (I gathered from our talk that the latter is someone who is more than a friend but not quite a boyfriend. Zoe didn’t use the word “boyfriend,” but I think that’s what she was getting at.) She told me that Leo is her “friendie,” and when I commented that she hadn’t seen in him a long time she just shrugged and said, “So? That doesn’t make the feelings disappear.”

I love her loyalty.

-M

Avery had off school for parent-teacher conferences today (details soon!), and we went back to the zoo to play with some of her friends…

-M

It’s happened so many times before that Avery now knows the drill: When I give her an unhappy look as I’m helping her get into a pair of pants or dress, it means we’ll soon be packing away that item of clothing. “Last time?” or “Growth spurt?” she’ll ask me with a sympathetic look before throwing her arms around me. (She knows how sentimental I am!) It happened again yesterday, when a dress that I swear fit her just a few weeks ago was suddenly too short. We measured her and confirmed that she had, indeed, had a growth spurt.

I’ve been a mom for almost seven years, and I’m still amazed at how kids literally grow overnight!

-M

Whenever Avery gets invited to a birthday party, the first thing she asks is whether her “bestie,” Sofia, is going. The answer was “yes” for last weekend’s party, and – as you can see below – the two girls were very happy to be together!

-M

It’s not every day that a kid gets to ride a pony, but it’s especially rare for a ride to happen in the middle of the city! Avery was lucky enough to experience this at a birthday party this weekend; below you’ll see her (along with the birthday girl) wait patiently for the pony to arrive, and then jump on.

-M

Over and over again, Zoe – with her ability to empathize with others and her instinct to help those around her – reminds me of a little Mommy. A few nights ago, I was tired and having a rough time, and Zoe jumped up to help with dinner and her sister’s bedtime routine without even being asked. I later thanked her for helping, and she sweetly nodded. “I know sometimes it can be overwhelming,” she replied. Similarly, I was having another tough parenting moment not long ago and mumbled, “Nights like these…” Zoe heard and said, “Yeh, I know – they’re exhausting.”

It’s like she’s six, going on thirty-six!

-M