Mischievous Mia!

Yup, that is her name! This girl is only 2, but don't let her age and size fool you. She is smart, quick and thinks she is the funniest little thing. She definantly gives me a run for my money sometimes....and much more. Here are a few things she has done recently that almost made my heart stop:

*3 weeks ago, I went to the PX (which is like a department store on base her in Okinawa) and Mia is always so wiggly, and loves to run away from me. Anyway, I was at the checkout counter and I quickly put her down just to swipe my card and pay for my stuff. When I turned around, she was gone. You would think most kids wouldn't go far.....but not Mia. The kids had been asking for candy at the counter not only 2 seconds before and I said no and luckily I was with a friend, so I left the other two kids and went frantically searching the store for Mia. After several minutes, I realized I might have to make some kind of announcment that she was missing, but just then, way over in the very back of the department store, a gentleman saw me running around and called out to me from the Men's section if I was looking for a little girl. I said yes, and ran over to find her hiding between the clothes, eating some candy she stole from the counter. Yup, that's right, she is a shop-lifter, and she knew that what she was doing was wrong and hide from me so she could eat it. The little stinker. I explained to her we had to pay for it, and after we did, I dramatically threw the remainder of the candy in the garbage in front of her to make a point.

*This past week, I took the kids to a fun place called Round One, and it is a 7-story building filled with activities for kids and adults-alike. Towards the end of my day, I took the kids to the top 7th floor, and just as the elevator was closing, Mia ran back in and the doors shut right behind her. I vaguely remember she pushed the 4th floor button while in the elevator before, and so I made a mad-dash down 4 flights of stairs to see if I could catch her on level 4. I got there just in time to see the doors open and NO Mia to be found. Well, as you can imagine, I'm super panicking now, cause she could be anywhere in this large building, and as John likes to point out that we live in a country where little blonde-haired, white kids are kidnapped all the time and sold. So I start running up the stairs again almost in tears and was lucky enough that some friends on level 6 saw her get off the elevator and snagged her for me. She was laughing the whole time...I certainly was not.

*She has recently learned how to scale my washer and dryer to reach my keys and get down without an problems and so now I have to watch my keys because she loves to take them.

*Just now, I went up to her room to check to see if she was asleep yet for her nap, and as I opened the door, I heard her stop moving in her bed, and she began to SNORE outloud....I guess to throw me off that she was secretly playing with her toys.

I love this little girl with everything in me, but she is a little too smart for her own good sometimes.