Beautiful

Cora,

At 2 years old, you have two main loves: Daddy and shoes. When Dad gets home from work, you run and holler and put on a scene fit for the Oscars. And when it comes to shoes, you've tried on every pair in the house, without regard for gender, size, or which foot it goes on. Long before you turned two, you knew how to put on flip flops by yourself and how to keep them on your feet when you walk. This has been particularly problematic at the public pool, where you take possession of any that are temporarily unoccupied.

You're strangely proficient with the iPhone; unlocking, scrolling, selecting apps, playing music and taking photos are among your self-taught skills.

You also enjoy music. One of your favorite toys plays Disney princess songs - we call it your iPod. Here is your first version of the alphabet song.

Every time your Dad and I watch you talk, sing, play, walk or sleep, we look at each other and shake our heads, gripped by your beautiful sweetness and our inability to preserve each precious expression in our memories.

Since parenting a daughter is new to us, we've begun to think a lot about beauty. In a world that values the outward kind, we pray that you would have the abiding beauty of a servant's heart;

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. - Philippians 2:5

and of an evangelist:

How beautiful upon the mountains

are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
who publishes salvation,
who says to Zion, 'Your God reigns.' -Isaiah 52:7.

Love you always,

Mom and Dad