To My Daughter-

Dear Malia-

You brighten my day every single morning with that fro of yours and a squeaky "It's a beautiful sunny day today" while you grin from ear to ear.  And your laugh.  I love your laugh, especially the one with your eyes closed and your mouth wide open.  Your laugh is contagious.  It is impossible to not join in when you are laughing.

I want you to know how much I love you and how I adore watching you learn.  You love books and I hope the passion you have for reading stays with you forever.  You know all your colors, shapes, most of your letters and even some spanish and chinese.  You have soaked so much into that little brain of yours and just impress me with the things that you understand at your age.  When you see a letter you always identify it with something like an S for Sharon or Shalye.  And you love to sing, but hate when anyone joins in.  But you dont just sing, you let it all out at the top of your lungs and I crack up every time.

I love when we play hide and seek and you will say something like this, "Mom I am over here, under your bed, behind the blanket.  You will never find me." 

I love that you  care so deeply for your brothers and sisters.  You always feed Shalye and you are Tevita's number one cheerleader.  You watch Tevita intently and you learn from him. You get so excited when we look at pictures of Kalisi, Late, Elia, Tame and Sheila.  When I told you Elia was going to Alaska on his mission you asked me if that is where the polar bears live.  When I said yes your eyes lit up as you exclaimed "I LOVE polar bears, Elia do you love polar bears?"

I love watching you practice your ballet moves, with so much pride and thought.  And I think my favorite part is that you will not practice your ballet moves unless you are wearing the blue ballerina dress that Grandma brought back from Greece.

I love the way that you line up your stuffed animals so meticulously, the same way I used to do.  You tuck them into bed, kiss them, prop them up so they can see the computer, and change their diapers.

You are so stubborn and sometimes I call Grandma and vent.  She laughs and tells me that I used to do the exact same things that you are doing now.  You are stubborn and determined and will not back down.  You insist I tickle your back when you fall asleep, yet I have to do it in the exact right way with your foot in the palm of my hand and me rubbing the top of your foot.  Lately you have wanted me to go from rubbing to tickling back to rubbing, then from your foot to your chin to your back to your stomach until you fall asleep.  And I swear once you fall asleep you will wake back up if I even slightly stop moving my hand.  You will thrust your body into the air and grunt/mumble "tickle".  Nothing gets under my skin more than this and that scream of yours.

I am sure in years to come that we will butt heads many more times to come, but I hope that you know that I love you very much and only want the best for you.  I hope that you will forever be laughing and smiling, which will make all those around you do the same.  And I hope that you will never, ever forget that I think you are special and beautiful and unique just the way that you are and pray that we may forever be best friends.

I love you,

Mom