Merry Christmas

Maia's working on going to sleep for her second nap today, the day after her first Christmas here with us. She was quite the looming presence last year, too, but she's even more so now. :) We've had a busy day so far today, but in a good way. (Made even better by Brian's presence--yay vacation!)

On Christmas, we had a quiet morning to ourselves, which is just what we hoped for when we decided to stay here in Ann Arbor for the holiday. We woke up late (at about 9:00), opened Maia's presents from us, and then helped her off to sleep for her 10 AM nap. After that, family started to arrive in waves at about noon or so. We talked and Maia played and ripped up paper and boxes and anything else she could get her hands on, and then we all sat down together for our Christmas meal of prime rib, salads, and the "kitchen island of a thousand desserts."

And after that, our little Dauphine (Joanna's very apt nickname for Maia) opened her multitude of first Christmas gifts. Thanks so much to everyone out there for their generosity! Maia, of course, had no idea why any of this stuff was going on around her, but I'm sure that she'll appreciate it someday!

Today, perhaps in part because of the generosity of all of Maia's relatives yesterday, we made a trip to the Salvation Army bearing several bags of old clothes and toys. We were one in a line of cars doing the same thing--and a couple of the other people there were bringing boxes of unopened Christmas gifts (the items were identifiable by the printing on the boxes, but the boxes were still sealed). We've kept some of Maia's favorites from her first few months of life, of course--they'll probably go into some kind of memory box someday. But we said goodbye to a bunch of stuffed animals, her first play mat, and some other things that have been left behind in the wake of her developmental progress. Brian and I decided today that we're probably going to adhere to some sort of rule along the lines of "get a new toy, give up an old one."

We are so fortunate to live the life that we do, with the people we have who are close to us. I hope that Christmases in the future will exist primarily to remind Maia of how lucky she is, and that this amount of good luck brings with it great responsibility. I have very clear and powerful memories of childhood Christmases that included community service of one kind or another--mainly, I recall, delivering meals to people who did not have families with whom they could celebrate. Ultimately, as Maia's parents, it's going to be our job to find a way to help Maia understand that her life situation is not the norm for the rest of the world--and as the division between the rich and the poor continues to deepen, it's becoming even less so.

So there it is, a philosophical end to this Christmas post. For so many reasons, Maia's one lucky little person. Thanks to everyone out there who helped make that fact so strikingly clear.