My Maddie . . .

Time to talk about my six-year-old. My one and only daughter. My Maddie.

She just turned six on January 2. I still can't quite believe that she's six. She's six! Wow.

She is a whirlwind of six-year-oldness. So happy most of the time, with a bit of cranky attitude and mopiness thrown in . . . enough, I think, to give us a good hint of what sort of teenager she'll be (just like ME).

She is so smart, seriously smart. And she loves to learn. You can see that in her already -- her desire to learn more about everything and anything (perhaps she gets that from her engineer father). And even better, she's also amazingly coordinated and athletic.

But if I had to pick one quality that I'm in awe of . . .it's her compassion. She hates for other people to feel bad or sad or to be picked on or made fun of or teased.

And it's like she knows, she just knows, exactly how to make that person feel better. Whether it's a note, a hug, a touch on the shoulder, a kind word, Maddie just knows.

And man, I love her so much. And as I tell her all the time, she's my favorite daughter. ;)