Double Digits

Oh what a beautiful day for a birthday! Today Maya had a skating party at the rink near our apartment in Central Park. There were 12 kids who joined us on the rink. Everyone was happy to shed coats and hats and bask in the 60 degree sunshine. Here she is with her good friend also named Maya!

Simon helped to blow out the candles once we got back home--he is starting to figure out this whole birthday thing.
Jonah was a happy camper--he is great friends with a lot of Maya's girlfriends, and even though this party was all about the girls, he had fun too.
Favorite new birthday top from Grandma and Grandpa!
We bought a helium tank and blew up a bunch of balloons and got take out from one of our very favorite restaurants for lunch--the kids skated and ate and ate...Baskin Robbins screwed up our ice cream cake. They felt bad, so guess what? They gave us TWO ice cream cakes. We'll be having a lot of dessert this week. Maya couldn't decide if she wanted a pogo stick or another American Girl Doll...we ended up getting her the doll (Josefina), deciding that the longer little girls play with dolls, the better. The dolls end up being models for clothing that she likes to sew or hairstyles she likes to practice. When she opened the doll last of all her presents a little cheer went up from the group of kids--they all love dolls too, and it was so sweet. It is so fun to see the creative, girlie-but-growing-up gifts her friends chose for her. Her and Jonah practiced magic tricks all evening from the magic set that was Jonah's gift, and she took her new lap desk into bed tonight so she could work on making cards from the card kit another friend got her.
As it turned out the day was crazy busy--our new session of swimming started today and we went right from the party to swimming lessons. I saw Maya learning the kick for the Butterfly stroke for the first time, and Jonah's new class is back in view of where I sit to watch, so I'm looking forward to seeing his class again too. After swimming, we were back over to the west side for a make up ballet class for Maya. Whew! They were some tired little kiddos by the time they collapsed into bed tonight.
I can't believe it has been ten whole years since this sweet, tiny little girl joined our lives. She has turned into a funny, creative, kind, adventuresome person that is a joy to have around. I admire her emotional intelligence, her ability to create beautiful things and her self-possession. She is a peace maker. She is strong, even though she may not look it. She is a good friend--loyal, honest and generous. She was glowing today--excited for her birthday and fun with her friends.

Happy Birthday Maya!