Girls' Day!

Instead of having a friends' birthday party, Lyla wanted to have a girls' day at the Mall of America. I was surprised since she had been talking about bringing a friend for weeks, but I was excited too. We don't get a lot of one on one time  like we used to and being just the two of us was awesome.

First stop was at Grandma and Grandpa's to drop off Amir and then we were on our way. We were first in line to buy tickets for Kung Fu Panda 3 and Lyla couldn't wait to go in even though it was barely 10:30 and the movie didn't start until 11. Good thing we brought snacks! She's easily annoyed by my picture taking these days, but obliged when I asked her to make a funny face. 

She brought Amy her panda bear to get her fixed at Build-a-Bear, but she came in handy to snuggle with during the movie too. It was a little scarier than Lyla expected and very loud. I didn't mind holding her on my lap for the better part of the show. We both loved the movie. 

We saw Sharky when we came down the escalator and Dora and Diego as we walked through Nickelodeon universe. She wasn't into either thing, but I thought it was fun. At least she didn't tell me I was completely embarrassing her. Off to BAB!

In our excite,EMT. We looked up the animal choices on their web site the night before. Lyla loved the rainbow jaguar right away a nd we were excited to find it when we got there in person. She chose her right away and we got in line to make her Lyla's!

This is a very happy girl with her bear!  We also got Amy fixed so she doesn't sing anymore (after 7 years, the battery was dying and the song garbled) and we got her re-stuffed so she's a little refreshed. Lyla shopped for a karate uniform for her bear and picked out a purple jaguar print outfit with rainbow shoes, but ultimatey decided not to buy them because she wanted to save her money for shopping elsewhere. Smart kid! 

We finished up with her bear and then walked down the way to see what else struck her fancy. Wouldn't you know it, Claire's is only two stores away. Knowing they have lots of Shopkins stuff, I steered her into the store. Before long, she was asking to get her ears pierced! We have talked about it a lot recently, but she was on the fence. Today, something must have changed because she could hardly wait the ten minutes it took Masud to call us back to chat about it. Daddy said ok and we were back in the store and signing up. 

She squeezed her eyes shut for the first ear, but barely flinched for the second. I think seeing a young baby get hers done right before helped Lyla see it wouldn't hurt. She was beaming when she finished and couldn't stop smiling the rest of the day. 

She couldn't wait to surprise Grandma and Grandpa, so we called them on the way to lunch. We had Taco Bell and then went to Walmart to shop for toys. They didn't have much, so Lyla decided to buy baking supplies instead. She got a fancy cake mix, frosting and some blue and pink candy pearls. She took pride in making them all by herself and they turned out great. Very yummy, actually! She and Grandpa are planning a trip to Lynn's in the near future so she can shop in a real bakery supply store. 

Today was so, so awesome, and definitely a day I will remember for the rest of my life. My baby is growing up SO fast! She has always been smart and verbal and mature, but now she's getting into big girl stuff. Pink and purple and Jaguars and pierced ears! Glitter and makeup! She's the total opposite of me and it's totally fun!

Miss Lyla, I am so grateful to have you in my life. You are an amazing kid and make my life so very full. Thank you for choosing to spend the day with your MOM. Soon I'm sure you will be wishing to do anything else, but for now, I'm loving hanging out, laughing together, and just having GIRL TIME! You are the best daughter I could ask for and I wouldn't trade you for anything in the world. I love you, kid!