What Maia has taught me.

Today is wonderful Maia's fourth birthday. So much of my 2011 retrospective post has to do with Maia's milestones this year that it's not entirely useful to revisit her year in review. Instead, I thought I'd spend a moment reflecting on what I've learned and how I've grown thanks to her presence in my life.

• Maia has taught me the boundaries of my own patience; because of her, I know that I'm capable of more patience than I ever imagined, BUT I need to push these boundaries even more as she grows older.
• Maia has taught me the joy in reaching out and making connections with strangers. Offering a kind word, a smile, holding a door open--these things all make my day better.
• Maia has taught me that pickles are delicious!
• Maia has taught me to feel wonder again at what human bodies are capable of. She loves bodies and what they do--and, thanks to her (and her brother), I love bodies and the amazing things that my body can do to birth and nourish children.
• Maia has taught me how cool bellybuttons are; her drawings feature them prominently, and deservedly so.
• Maia has taught me that stinky morning breath can be adorable, when it originates in a four year old. :)
• Maia has taught me that there's something beautiful in the persistently childlike pronunciations in some of her favorite words: "elephlit" (elephant), "weo-d" (world), and "gao-l" (girl) are some of my favorites.
• Maia has taught me that one can't hear "I love you" too often during a day.
• Maia has taught me that it's OK to talk about fear; it's not a sign of weakness, but rather a sign of wisdom and strength.
  
• Maia has taught me how incredible, challenging, intelligent, perceptive and thoughtful one person can be; she has helped me look at the people around me with a lot more generosity and awe.
  

Maia's Nana has asked the same question of her each and every time she sees her: "Maia, how did you get to be so wonderful?" Really, I don't know that there's a question that better captures the essence of how I feel about my daughter than that.