![My daughter Maddie on her first day out of the womb](https://ploafmaster.micro.blog/uploads/2024/d75402564c.jpg)
![Maddie eats a red velvet cupcake in a high chair for her first birthday](https://ploafmaster.micro.blog/uploads/2024/47d1867b76.jpg)
![Maddie eats a cupcake decorated to look like Elmo's face for her second birthday](https://ploafmaster.micro.blog/uploads/2024/5a26a09a51.jpg)
![Maddie dresses as Rey from the latter Star Wars trilogy for her 3rd birthday](https://ploafmaster.micro.blog/uploads/2024/6277b71548.jpg)
![Maddie eats an apple in an orchard near her fourth birthday](https://ploafmaster.micro.blog/uploads/2024/d14791faa5.jpg)
![Maddie holds up a number 5 for her fifth birthday which fell on the first day of kindergarten](https://ploafmaster.micro.blog/uploads/2024/e72a256be6.jpg)
![Maddie sits in an inflatable throne at Pump it Up bouncy house gym for her 6th birthday](https://ploafmaster.micro.blog/uploads/2024/fedf67c807.jpg)
![Maddie hangs upside down from some monkey bars around her 7th birthday](https://ploafmaster.micro.blog/uploads/2024/6d5d4807b5.jpg)
![Maddie blows out a candle on a cupcake for her 8th birthday](https://ploafmaster.micro.blog/uploads/2024/ae030419d1.jpg)
![Maddie blows out a candle in a cupcake at her pool party for her 9th birthday while her friends use their fingers to give her bunny ears](https://ploafmaster.micro.blog/uploads/2024/6e6896a192.jpg)
![Maddie poses in our front yard on the first day of school near her 10th birthday](https://ploafmaster.micro.blog/uploads/2024/fd375f5521.jpg)
I mean, dang.
Ten years ago this kid was born. The day before, my wife mixed castor oil with peanut butter, spread it on toast and ate it, in order to induce her own labor. We settled down to watch Shaun of the Dead, and contractions started within a few hours. We headed to the hospital near midnight, and after a couple hours more, Maddie was born around quarter-to-three in the morning on September 3rd.
She’s entering her Very Tween phase where Valerie and I are constantly wondering how much more surly she'll be as a teen. But she’s also seriously creative, loves to draw, and continues to amaze me with her ability to pick up nearly any new physical activity. She’s developing her own taste in music, groans at a few more of my dumb jokes, and is navigating the challenges of social complexity with her friendships at school. I love this kid, and I'm so lucky to be her dad.
Happy birthday, Maddie!
(photos used with Maddie's permission)