Snarky Pants

Malia spent this afternoon with her longtime friend, Raylee. As they talked, Raylee noted that the top of the doorframe to her grandma’s backyard playhouse now hits her mid-chest which proves that she has grown. Malia related this comment to us at dinner this evening. Kev being snarky replied, “I’ve hit my head on a lot of doorframes…maybe that’s what happened.”

Without a pause, Malia added, “To all your hair?”

Loud laughter from all, including Kev. I’m so proud that her wit is up to our family’s standards.

Still Friends

Remember way back in preschool when Malia’s best friend moved away? The perk to that whole situation is that Raylee’s grandma still lives down the street from us so Malia would get a chance to see Raylee on occasion. Raylee and her family have been keeping their distance over the past year and a half due to COVID and some of her grandma’s health issues, but with vaccines readily available and things feeling a bit calmer, they finally drove up for a visit. They were here for a few days which meant that Malia was able to spend this afternoon with Raylee. I love that even after all the years of separation, when they see each other, they get along just as well as they ever did.

 

Malia’s Top 5 Signs of a Good Block Party

5. The street was closed so she could walk and even ride her bike right in the middle of the street.

4. A bike parade for which she got to decorate her bike.

3. An excuse to wear her best patriotic garb.

2. Face painting.

1. Raylee, her best friend that moved away a year ago, has a grandmother who lives down the street and Raylee came to the party!

Four for Five

Malia had a birthday this week and it was a big one. Five years old! When did that happen?! Although we didn’t plan it to be this way, Malia ended up having four parties to celebrate her big 5. She has been so excited that she can hardly stand it and having her birthday celebrations span an entire week has stoked the enthusiasm.

Last Saturday Kevin’s parents joined us for lunch and since I ended up with way more birthday cake than we needed, we lit some candles and had some cake. Kevin’s mom gave Malia a cute stuffed bunny. It kind of looks like a cross between a bunny and a sheep, so I’ve taken to calling it a beep.

On Sunday we celebrated at my parents’ house. Malia had a mermaid cake, of which I’m pretty proud, and she got to blow out some more candles.

Monday was her actual birthday. She shared a treat with her class at school and Nathan and I picked out some great big balloons. After school, we went to the library so she could get her very own library card. This is a tradition in our family and Malia was super excited to be able to check out her books on her very own card.

We gave Malia her presents after dinner on Monday. She got Hot Wheels, pretend tools and a princess game from her brothers. She liked them all equally which is one of the things I love about Malia. She is definitely girly and loves princesses, sparkles, and such, but she also loves cars and tools. She is very well rounded in her interests (a side effect of having three older brothers) and I think it will serve her well as she grows up. Kev and I gave her two ponies from My Little Pony (one of her favorite shows right now). The ponies were from Build-a-Bear so we piled into the car to take her over to get them stuffed.

She was so worn out by the end of the day that she went right to sleep. When Kev checked on her before we went to bed, this is what he found:

I guess she really loves those ponies!

Yesterday was Malia’s friend party. This is her first friend party and again, she was so excited she could hardly stand it. She wanted a water princess party, but as we planned, it became apparent that what she really wanted was to play in the water with her friends. So we had sprinklers, water balloons, water squirters and water balloon piñatas, which were a huge hit.

She chose mermaid cupcakes and helped me decorate them. I think they turned out lovely.

Most of the gifts she received were mermaid related and I made towel mermaid tails for the kids (and forgot to take a picture, of course). We had to do some date juggling, but both Kate (Malia's favorite cousin) and Raylee (her best friend who moved away in June) were able to be here for the party. Malia has missed Raylee and was absolutely thrilled to have her here.

After a week of partying, I’m worn out. But Malia had a very memorable birthday! And she’s already talking about her 6 party…

BFF

For almost the past year, Malia’s best friend has been Raylee. They have been in preschool together and although they weren’t in the same primary class last year, they were this year. When Malia discovered that fact, there was a fist pump and a “Yes!” involved. These two girls have gotten along amazingly well. Their personalities are very similar, they like the same things and they just love being together. I’ve only had to intervene in a moment of disagreement once in the past year and that one was just to suggest maybe they could take turns. Other than that, they have worked everything out on their own and have had surprisingly few moments of conflict. As far as a couple of 4-5 year olds go, that is pretty much a mini miracle. Raylee has even taught Malia some of the finer points of being a princess. Malia can be pretty rough and tumble (having three older brothers will do that) and Raylee has helped balance that out. I couldn’t have asked for a better first girlfriend for Malia.

Raylee and her family have been living down the street, with one of her sets of grandparents. Her dad was finishing up his last year of medical school and they didn’t know where he would be assigned for his residency so they didn’t want to buy a home or anything like that only to be there less than a year. Because of that, we’ve known all along that they would be moving, we just didn’t know where. When they were given their assignment a few months ago, I started prepping Malia for the fact that Raylee would be moving. I figured if she knew what was coming and had an idea of what it really meant, it might be easier on her. By the time Raylee left last week, Malia had a pretty good idea what moving meant.

Raylee moved last Saturday. They were able to spend a good chunk of the last couple of days together and due to our in-advance discussions, Malia has handled it really well. She’s only asked when Raylee would be living down the street from us again once. I was just about Malia’s age when my parents moved to their current home and I met a group of girls, some of whom became besties and one of whom I still keep in touch with. (This is a shout out to Lisa-my life long bestie!) Luckily for us, Raylee has only moved to Provo and her grandparents still live just down the street so while I’m old enough to know things definitely won’t be the same, at least Malia will be able to see her from time to time.

Raylee drew a picture for Malia by way of a parting gift. Raylee is on the right dressed as Rapunzel who is currently her favorite princess. Malia is on the left as Snow White which is what Malia wants to be for Halloween this year. I thought it was a sweet way of letting Malia know that the friendship goes both ways.

In moments of loneliness or boredom, Malia will sigh and say, “I wish Raylee was here.” You know what? I wish Raylee was here too.