The next three posts are going to be dedicated to my little munchkins, and why I love them so. First up, of course, is the first born.

Cora Nycole is my little passionate, independent, free thinker. She was born independent and passionate, and along with those traits comes a quick temper. She is typical of the eldest child, I think, in that she is obsessed with justice for all (but firstly for her) and in leading the way in all things. She doesn't mind bending her will to accommodate an older friend perhaps, but in the pecking order of her siblings, she does the pecking. She is passionate about a lot of things: her sis, her daddy, animals, knowledge, and nature, to name a few that spring to mind. She's a deep, deep sleeper, and a good eater. Her metabolism is crazy. Her energy is boundless. She's a video game diva. She's a very advanced reader, but prefers the funny books. She knows her role as The Big Sister and although she sometimes get annoyed at all the responsibility that role brings, mostly she fulfills the duty all day long (possibly because she figures no one else would fulfill it correctly).

Her favorite movies are usually those involving animals as the heroes, and don't even suggest something starring a princess. Her sister's movies make her cringe.

She loves Rascal Flatts and Bryan Adams. Mike says his favorite part of going to church is listening to Cora sing off key and 3 octaves too high about Jesus.

She hasn't worn a dress since she was a flower girl in my cousin's wedding two years ago.

She has the boniest knees on the face of the planet as evidenced by the holes in every single pair of jeans I buy her.

Her favorite food is sushi, artichokes, and fish. One time she used her own money, all in coins, to buy an artichoke at a vegetable stand (the same one that has 2 pictures of her up on their Veggie Wall of Fame). The guy running it said, "This is so . . . weird."

Careers she is thinking of include: an Olympic swimmer, a bull rider (trying to discourage this one), a cowgirl, a food critic.

She gets woozy at the sight of blood.

She has the ability to laugh at herself. She doesn't mind being teased. I can tell her to take a weed wacker to her hair and she'll laugh with me. If I made that comment to her little sister, we would now be in therapy.

She always roots for the underdog. Sometimes she doesn't even know it's the underdog, but somehow she's attracted to the lonely, the young, the old, the pudgy, the weird, the poor. She thinks everyone is beautiful.

She has a problem with sarcasm. Gets it from her dad.

She is the least "girly" girl I know, but when she does get all emotional and girly and moody - watch out! Ok, that one she gets from me.

She uses old fashioned grammar sometimes. Like, using the words perhaps and the phrase as well. As in, "perhaps I'll have the ice cream as well as the cake." It makes me giggle and then she demands to know why I'm laughing.

She has the greatest imagination! She is nine years old but still plays. I love that about her. At any point throughout the day she is a dog, a panther, a horse, all with various story lines. She still likes toys and building forts.

She's my responsible child. She never lets me down in this area. If I tell her she can play in the neighborhood but she has to look out for her sister and be home at 6, I never worry that that won't happen. She helps in the grocery store, checks out her own books at the library, orders at restaurants, etc.

She's more apt to go out for football then take a ballet class. Although her energy and inability to sit still for 3 hours gets in the way of watching a football game at times.

That energy and inability to sit still! Sometimes I wonder if she were in public school if they'd sweetly suggest some meds. Or an IV drip. She doesn't talk through movies, but she makes noises and can't sit still. She does her math lying upside down in a chair. With pencils sticking out of her nose. "Focus, Cora," is a phrase we hear a lot around here.

She's a perfectionist. That one she gets from both her dad and I. She was potty trained in 3 days and never regressed, we're talking no accidents, zero, zip, nadda. But the only opinion she is trying to sway is her own. You can think her work isn't perfect and it won't bother her - she simply wants to impress herself.

She has an adventuresome spirit and has no problem trying new things. She doesn't mind failing at it either. I'd like to say she gets this from me, but I'd be lying. When she played soccer this summer, she jumped out of the car at the first practice - where she knew absolutely no one mind you - ran off to the field without me, and raised her hand and asked, "I've never played this before. Ok with you if I ask questions?"

She is super competitive with her sister, but not with anyone else. She's won every race she's ever swam in her meets, but if you asked her, she'd have to think about it. Mike and I had to actually tell her, "You do know that the point of this is to win, right? I mean, it's ok to pass the person next to you...you know that, right?" She didn't want to be rude or make the person feel bad about their progress.

She isn't a sheep. She would rather have one good friend then pretend to be someone she's not with a whole group. She'd rather play with the boys, and they'd rather play with her (this is going to get suspicious soon though, at least on the boy's part). Mike comes home from work and growls, "why are there two 11 year old boys in my yard?" She's going to be one of those naturally pretty girls who doesn't know it which only makes her prettier, but if the boys get all weird and romantic on her she'll probably knock their blocks off.

Just a few reasons why, around here, we love The Cora!