Mazie is 10!

We started this blog when Mazie was but a little peanut growing in my belly... lo and behold, she has now grown into a lovely 10 year old child!

For Christmas this year Mazie got her first computer (Chromebook) and has started using the email address we created for her right after she was born.  On her birthday I forwarded her her birth announcement email, and wrote this:

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Dear Mazie,

If you scroll down through all of the email addresses below (we had lots of people to share our exciting news with), you'll find your birth announcement. 

My memory is pretty terrible, but the feeling of holding you for the first time is still etched clearly in my whole being. I can feel your wiggly and slippery little body on my chest, the ecstasy of having the pain and effort of labor instantly replaced with pure love and relaxation, the wonder of examining your perfect fingers and toes and face (oh, that miraculous little face) of a tiny human that your daddy and I somehow created. Ahya and others had tried to explain to me the love that a parent feels when they meet their child for the first time, while also understanding what I now know: there's no way to really describe it. It is something completely new and magical. You gave me that gift when you were born. 

Since that moment, the gift of Mazie James has  grown and changed in so many  ways. You give me so much just by being who you are. You have always made me laugh... whether it was with the many silly faces you would make as a newborn, your never-ending renditions of Little Bunny Foo Foo and your pronouncements about the delightfulness of our neighborhood as a toddler, or your current dry wit and cleverness. You've given so much love and kindness to your friends and sisters and grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins and classmates and pets.... It's been so rewarding to hear your teachers talk about the confident and compassionate leader you are in your school community. 

I am so excited for the adventures ahead, starting with this crazy Mazie summer! I'm excited to bring you out into the world with me, to share these spaces that are now familiar to me with you, and to watch you share your gifts with our global community. 

Bright Mazie, keep shining.  I love you.

Mama

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Mazie leaves tomorrow to spend a week in Alaska with Uncle Ty and Aunt Sara - she is flying solo to Seattle, meeting up with them there, and traveling on to AK with them.  On the return, she'll spend a night in Seattle with Nanny and Papa before coming home.  We are so excited for this adventure!  One of her birthday presents was a camera, and I'm getting her set up so she can actually post to this blog while she's gone!  Pretty amazing how far we've come... when she was a baby we would write blog posts in her voice, making up a narrative for her.  Now she's taking over her story!

Mazie also finished 4th grade this year.  For yet another year, she had wonderful teachers who absolutely adored her... here she is with Mrs. James on the last day of school.