Our sweet, petite, middle firecracker is now five. Maia has brought so much life and love into our already brimming lives and we had a wonderful day celebrating her. Of course she has challenged us in ways that Keana and Aliya haven’t, but just as unique as her challenges are, so are her amazing attributes. For instance, though each of the girls have a great sense of humor, our Little Maíj continues to be especially gifted in cracking us up. The edge that she has makes her fierce but it also makes her extremely funny and able to understand and express humor like no other little munchkin I know.
Since Maia turned four she’s just grown on every level—physically, emotionally, and able to show off her mental brilliance—becoming more and more like a young girl and less and less like a little kid. And now that she’s five, we can’t wait to be along for all the great changes and growth in store for her (and us) this next year. So how did this little girl spend her special day?
Well, it started off with a trip to the grocery store, just her and me, to get the crucial ingredients for her favorite breakfast: belgian waffles and bacon. She was also able to pick out her cake and tell the baker exactly what she wanted written on top. We happened to have some whip cream left over from Thanksgiving, so that wasn’t a bad addition to the waffles. We had a nice little dance party to some of her favorite songs while making breakfast, and after breakfast set up a video chat with Grandma Linda and Grandpa Sam who had sent presents in the mail a few days ago. It’s become a sort of tradition to have them along virtually to enjoy the mayhem of the girls opening their presents. Maia even had a little time to chat with them on her own, somewhat uninterrupted. Then we headed to the zoo to meet Grandma Jennie, Tia Iana, Cousin Olivia, and Uncle Michael (on his last day here before heading back to Santa Cruz). It was such a privilege to see Maia run from animal to animal exhibit, radiating happiness, a smile plastered ear-to-ear, surrounded by some of her favorite people. There’s a great hill at the zoo too that the kids like to run up and down, so we took a break there to open presents. Throughout our visit Maia would exclaim, “This is turning out to be the best birthday ever!”
When we got home from the zoo, she and Keana enjoyed some of her new gifts while Aliya napped, then I headed out to pick up some Chinese food, her favorite dinner meal. I think the thought of that delicious chocolate cake that was waiting nearby may have hindered her appetite a little. We won’t know for sure unless she wakes up at 4 a.m. and says, “Papa, feed me, I’m hungry!” Aliya had a particularly hard time watching Maia get all the presents and eventually had to be taken off to her room, crying. I think she was easily distracted by a game of hide-and-seek under the covers with Sarah though.
And that’s pretty much how this day-long celebration went for Maia. She was exhausted by the end of it and now our big five-year-old is sleeping soundly with her new dolls tucked in under the covers on one side of her, and the best birthday assistant, Keana, tucked in on the other.
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