On Mali

I really want to begin to include positive updates from our life on this blog, especially since my health is going well so far. So, what a better place to start than with Mali. I haven't been as good about updating everyone on what Mali is doing and saying. I think it is because she is just doing so much and is just a big girl now! As she would say "I'm about to be three" and hold up three fingers just like a baseball coach would! The biggest things to share right now with Mali is that she is just still so full of life. She is constantly on the go. She is beginning to play by herself a lot and really like to play with dolls, as a play therapist it is so fun to watch this. Mali stopped napping consistently about a month ago, but will play for a few hours in her room and then sometimes fall asleep. Usually that means sleeping on the floor right next to the baby gate. Mali is rarely sleeping in her bed. Another huge step that goes along with sleeping, is that about a week ago, Mali said she didn't want to wear a pull up to bed. So ever since then, she has been wearing big girl panties while she sleeps. I was afraid that if we didn't go with what she wanted to do, then she would wear pull ups until she was a senior in high school!:) Just kidding. She has done really well with it, with only a few accidents at night. I don't expect it to be really easy, and I have lost sleep several nights over it, but she does seem to be getting better. It makes me so proud of her and how she is becoming responsible. God has just shown me so much about patience in parenting (that is really a daily lesson that I don't always get). But to be patient with Mali and watch for the cues that she gives and respond to those. Some of it is easier said than done, and it is also easy to say since I have driven child. I'm sure it would be amazingly difficult to be patient with a child that didn't want to stop wearing pull ups...ever. Mali is also very interested in dressing herself and will wake up in very different clothes than what I put on her, or with multiple layers of clothing. In fact, at Eric's game last week, we got all the way to the middle school field and Mali needed to potty. It was at a different school and I wasn't comfortable going inside with her. So, I took her behind our car to go to the bathroom. First, I pulled her pants all the way down, and a school bus drove by, so I yanked them back up. Then I realized that, although she was dressed on the outside in what I had picked out for her, that she had on her jeans, "Happy Birthday Shorts" (that is what she calls these colorful shorts), a bathing suit bottom from her 18 month old bathing suit, and then panties. It was pretty funny, but that wasn't the climax. The climax of the outing came when I looked over, at the game, in front of all the players parents, when Mali pulled her pants down. I ran over and pulled them back up and explained to her that we don't do that. She informed me that she was just showing the little boy her bathing suit. She was obviously proud of her fashion sense. About a week ago, we drove past McDonald's (which she used to refer to as "ice cream") and said "Mommy...a 'M' for Mali!" So now every McDonald's we pass she has to point out the 'M' for Mali. She can also identify the letter 'B' and says, 'B' for Brie and Beth. Which actually leads to her calling me Brie a lot more than Mommy. I think the McDonald's 'M' should be for Mommy!:) We also took Mali to her first varsity volleyball game. I hope to expose her early so that she develops this passion for volleyball and becomes the best player ever (I intentionally bred her to be an outside hitter or middle blocker, that's a joke too, sort of). The whole game, Mali never took her eyes off of....the cheerleaders!!!! So, maybe we won't attend any more varsity games. I'm sure that a cheerleader is what she will want to be and God will just have to work on that part of my heart. Each day can be so amazing with Mali, if I just stop and watch her. Some days are hard, and we definitely face the whining and crying over silly little things, but in the big picture it is just great! There are also a few more pictures on our website, so enjoy!
www.flickr.com/photos/briegomez