Happy Birthday, Alma!

Alma has become a favorite adventurer.  When I look back at photos from the last year, it is chocked full of examples of how brave, smart, kind and funny she is.  From spinning madly in a poofy dress in Katie's wedding, to rock climbing, sailing, swimming, hiking, biking on the trail, to doing artwork at the dining room table, reading endless in her loft bed, helping around the house, climbing all over the lifting cage in the gym, petting the animals, making up games of pretend, loving burritos, caring for little ones, singing loudly and with wonderful potty humor, and putting together Lego sets, she brings such joy and playfulness to our lives.  She seems to do all of this list simultaneously every day.

She is both mature and very much her age.  We can rely on her to complete all of her weekly homework before dinner on Monday, get forgotten items from the other side of the grocery store while we wait in the check-out line, remember details from years ago very accurately, and that she will always ask for dessert (even on nights when she knows it will not be approved).  She spends her school day skipping between works and delighting her friends in creative game-play on the playground.  She loves those she considers family fiercely and thinks of everyone often.  She even cried when the dog got loose temporarily, as she was worried that he might not ever realize how much he is loved.

Alma is the perfect daughter for me -- challenging me and supporting me, even though she is still so young.  I am so grateful for these years in which we can watch her grow and mature into the caring, thoughtful, determined young lady she is becoming.  While Alma means "soul" in Spanish, I often think about how her name means "nourishing" in Latin.  She is the dose of goodness that has helped me grow into a parent and a better person.