The 6 year old

An earlier unpublished draft...  

Autry turned 6 almost 6 MONTHS AGO.  Way to be on the ball, mom.  We had a party at the park, which was fun/freezing.  Autry at 6 is so sweet and funny and delightful and loving.  She started kindergarden this year at Maplewood.  Her teacher was Ms Watts, who we loooove.  Autry made so many new friends this year.  She really loved and was loved by everyone in her class.  She would come home every day with love notes and tokens from various friends.  Her number one is still Allie, who lives across the street.  Some of her other favorite friends from school and elsewhere are Isabel, Sparrow, Violet, Omi, Luka, Saida, Jack, Rell, Erin...  Autry is an amazing friend.  She is loving, thoughtful, fun and encouraging.  The flip side of this is that she is very emotional about her friendships and becomes heartbroken quite easily.  Autry is happiest when she has someone to play dress up or other imaginary games with.  She also loves swimming, soccer, music, being read too (she also is reading pretty good on her own), Beyonce, dancing, puzzles, drawing, shopping, climbing, playing beauty salon, snuggling...

And now Autry is 7!

And I delayed posting the above because I didn't have time to go through pictures, but I'm posting this now because - whatever.  This kid is such a joy.  First grade was a bit of an adjustment, desks and new teacher and mostly new classmates.  She is doing well though, and is mostly happy with school.  Her teacher is Mrs. Cansler.  Autry especially loves gym and recess.  This girl is the queen of the monkey bars, and this year has learned how to ride a bike (on her first try), ice skate, rollerblade, play tennis...  She is still an amazing climber.  She climbed to the top of the rope in gym and was at the top of the rock wall at the rock gym in the blink of an eye.  She is doing well in soccer, and she also loves jump roping, riding the scooter, swinging, dancing.  Her reading is still improving, and her teacher tells us she is at the top of her class in math.  She is incredibly funny, sweet, thoughtful, loving and sensitive.  She can get very dramatic with her emotions and is very sensitive to criticism.  She always wants someone to play with.  Her top picks are Allie and Rell.  She also loves playing with Luke and her cousins.  Another favorite friend is Beatrix from her class, who apparently watches scary movies and taught Autry about Bloody Mary.  Autry wants to be a doctor, dancer, singer, cheerleader and waitress when she grows up.