We continue our conversation about Pooh Bear

After dinner tonight, Maia appeared at my desk, where I was working.

She was holding Pooh Bear.

"Pooh Bear not shy now," she said.

"That's great, Pooh Bear," I said, giving him a pat. "And it's okay if you're shy every once in a while. Even Daddy is shy every once in a while."

"And Maia, too," she said.

"Even Mommy," I said. "And you know what, Maia. Even Jessica."

I said this in a whisper because Maia's cousin Jessica holds a special place in Maia's pantheon of Big Girls.

"Even Cara," she said.

"Yes," I said, "even Cara."

I have been trying to absorb the revelation that social situations scare Maia. Maia mentioned the school that she didn't get into to Kristina in that vein. "That time I was scared," Maia said of her interview at that school.

I'm glad she's trying to overcome it. But I don't want her to feel she has to.

She likes people and performing. She likes making us laugh. I'd like her to ride that wave, if she can.

(For some reason, Blogger isn't letting me post pics anymore. Will have to find out why.)

John, Tuesday, August 15, 2006.