My 2 and a half Malia:)

 My Malia at 2 1/2 is my honest to goodness best friend.  I'm the luckiest person in the world to get to play with her! Aside from Kirk, she is my favorite person to spend time with. I love her more every day and am LOVING this age so much!  Gone are the days of tantrums and meltdowns (every now and then we get a reminder of those days) and now we have an eloquent little girl who can communicate and express what she wants and needs and makes me laugh all day long.  She has graduated past the 'needs to be in a princess dress every moment' to the 'let me dress myself and be Miss Independent:)  I don't mind it too much.  Friends know that if Malia shows up wearing something, er, creative that she probably dressed herself.

 My Malia at 2 and a half loves the beach and running!  She has these long legs that go so fast!  I'm sure she will be a runner one day.

 My Malia at 2 and a half DOES still like playing dress up and lets us know that she is a beautiful princess.  Her confidence and personality assures me that she is growing up to be such a well adjusted and good kid.

 And she's a good big sister.  At the end of the day when Kirk and I are getting ready for bed, I love telling him stories about how Malia took care of Keely or was looking out for her.  Usually it's, "Keely! be careful!" or when other kids are close to potentially harming her, "Mom, come get Keely!  (to the kids)- leave my sister alone"  She is so protective and while she gets irritated at times with her little sister who is into EVERYTHING, Malia is patient, kind and really loves her to pieces.

 My Malia at 2 and a half loves games, adventures, activities and just about anything you are game to do!  She is an active little girl.  Her energy astounds me and I wish I could channel is somehow and save some for me!

 Malia is an artist and loves to color and paint.  She is meticulous about doing tasks that require her undivided attention.  She is often times the last one to finish coloring in Nursery because she has that inner desire to complete whatever she is working on.  She borderlines OCD in some areas I think;)

 She loves switching things up.  Color water, new songs, new places, new friends, new foods.. she is up for new things.  Except for certain routines like her morning milk which has to be delivered while she lays on her purple unicorn with 1 blankie and a show.  Switching up things like that can be a disaster!

 And she loves to read and "do homework."  She is constantly asking for me to read to her or for me to help her in her workbooks that I buy.  She loves to learn and be challenged.  For that reason, I am so glad she is going to preschool 2 times a week.  She loves it there.  They are teaching her so many things that I worry I wouldn't think to do! She now knows all her colors, shapes, counting to 20 (mixes up a couple of the teen numbers) and can say and even recognize almost all letters of the alphabet! I am a proud mama:)

 My Malia at 2 and a half is BIG!  She is heads taller than a lot of kids her same age and often times prefers playing with kids a few years older than her.  She went to a 5 year old birthday party the other week and fit in perfectly!  No one would have ever known the difference;)

 She loves her friends and being outside.  Usually by 8 in the morning she'll ask what we are doing today and who she is going to get to play with.  Keeping up with her social calender can sometimes be quite exhausting! 

 All day long she wants to help.  She wants to help me cook and a chair lives in our kitchen so she can see what I am doing.  She is pretty good at helping too.  

 Malia at 2 and a half is weaning from her naps.  Sometimes this makes for a looooong day and other times she gets almost manic from being so tired.  Either way, she's hilarious!  And when she does nap, we can bet she'll be up until 10 or 11 with us.  Eek.

 Malia's sweet Nana got her a "big girl bike" and she is really good at riding it (with training wheels).  I look at her sometimes and try and remember her little... It's so hard to do since she seems so grown up to me now.  It's over said, but I'd really like to freeze time for a little while when they are still sweet and innocent and curious and love you so much.  Malia never holds back her emotions and I love hearing her say, "Mom, did you know I love you so much?"  

 Mermaids, Friends and Disneyland.  Those are some of her favorites right now:)

 And she loves "going on dates" with just mommy or some friends.  When it's just her and me in the car she'll say, "mom, I'm so happy to be on a date with you!"

 So grown up I tell you!  Where does the time go?!

 An outfit by Malia:)  And she is throwing us the "Shaka" in case you were wondering;)

 She LOVES girly stuff.  Loves when I do her hair and requests makeup now.  We usually stick to just lip gloss, but every now and then she gets a little eye shadow and blush.  She is my girl;)

 She loves church and learning the songs in Nursery.  She can tell you all about Jesus now and some of the things he did like blessing the Leper, healing the blind man, getting baptized, even getting nails in his hands by the bad guys who weren't nice to him. 

 Wrapped around her finger 

Speaking of 2 and a half Malia, this post is taking too long she said and we have a tea party to do right now:)  I love her more every second.  Real quick a couple of Malia stories and then I've gotta go:
"Mom, I can't wait to get married.  I really want to marry Rhys (one of her cute little boyfriends) and live in a pink castle with our 3 children."  That was verbatim.  Where does she come up with this?!

Over breakfast, "Mom, is Spam a protein?"  me- "sure, Spam's a protein." Malia- "Good, because I want long hair and strong mus-culls (while flexing)"

Looking at the little hairs on her arms- "look Nana, I am a grown up now." nana- "you are?" Malia- "yes, see all the hair on my arms?  That means I am a grown up."

And every day it's something else that surprises me.  "Mom, I'm so disappointed that I can't go to the beach."

"Giants might eat us because they are naughty"

"Drawing and painting are my favorite because I'm a good artist"

"Mom, I love my new (ghetto $9 walmart plastic) pool.  It's the best!"

She is excited about life.  She is just perfect I tell you:)