More of the same cute Maleah

So, yesterday I was working on wrapping gifts for the Allen's Camera Christmas party and Maleah chased Murphy, the cat, upstairs. Usually sweet Murph will jump on my bed to escape the sometimes torturous loving of my Maleah. Maleah is now big and brave enough to scale the mattresses and get to him, but not quite confident enough to get herself back down (she has done it before, but 9 times out of 10, will demand help from Mom or Dad). Well, a few minutes later Mr. Murph came downstairs. No Maleah, no sound from Maleah, so I decided to go check on her. When I came upstairs, she didn't see me, so I just watched quietly from the hallway. She was lying on her back, holding a Cabela's ad - seemingly scrutinizing every item. Since, she didn't see me and seemed content, I went back downstairs.
Fast forward 10 minutes: I get a call from my mom. We talk for a couple of minutes. I hear sounds that tell me someone is using another of our cordless phones, but no voice, just a few phonish sounds that let me know someone else is there. When my mom hangs up, I say, "Maleah, are you there?"
"Yep"
"Are you okay?"
"Yep"
"Are you still upstairs?"
"Yep, I want to get down"
"Okay, do you want me to come up and help you?"
"Yes"
"Okay, hit the red button on the phone and I will be right up!"
When I got upstairs, she was still holding the phone. She ran to me at the foot of the bed and said, "You were on the phone. I talked to you on the phone." She sounded almost amazed by it.
Another quick one:
I took our comforter to the laundromat. There was another mom and daughter there waiting for their laundry. The other little girl was probably around 3. Maleah asked if she could play with the little girl. I said of course. She walked up to the little girl with her little fingers tucked in the waist band of her pants, head cocked to one side and just looked at the other girl. The little girl wasn't sure what to do. I prompted Maleah to say, "Would you like to play with me?" The little girl said sure and they began chasing each other around the laudromat. It is so fun to see her make friends and play. About half-way into their playing Maleah came running over to me and said, "Mom, I am being a friend." She was thrilled that she had offered to play with someone and they accepted. I absolutely adore her.
Okay, one more:
Maleah loves to be chased (most children do, right?). Anyway, her new favorite chase is to have me carry her and we run away from Dad (Rex). It started one night when he chased us at bedtime and reached through the banister on the stairs to tickle Maleah. Squeals and giggles galore :) Well, tonight she and I were upstairs after getting ready for bed and saying prayers with Rex. She really wanted to be chased, so we snuck downstairs to tickle Rex and then he chased us around the dining table, around the first floor and finally upstairs. Her little squeal and giggle make me soooo happy. I love to hear her laugh and see her really smile. Wow! I am so blessed to get to be her mommy.

Vocabulary

Just a quick story before I forget it (I am horrible about writing things down, if I can just do when it happens, I could have a lot more stories to tell)
I went in to get Maleah this morning (she still stays in bed until we come to get her - her choice, not ours, we have told her she can get out whenever she wants) :)
and she very excitedly said, "I am wrapped like a burrito!" She was indeed wrapped up in her favorite, pink, soft blankey. She proceeded to say, "I did it by myself! There were no people here to help me, so I helped myself!"
I know parent stories are more important to the parent, than anyone else, but I hope you get a kick out of it, too.
I just love to she her gain more independence (She usually asks US to wrap her up like a burrito, and if I ask her to do it herself, she says she can't!)