The video below comes via Gawker and Politico – Pres. Obama was trying to talk policy (I think) at a fundraiser in Kansas City, and he ended up saying cute stuff about his oldest daughter Malia. I’ve noticed in photos that Malia seems to be growing up fast – and I had forgotten that she’s only 12 years old. Obama confirms that she’s already 5’9” – he’s just really cute about it:
He says:
“I don’t have teenagers, Malia just turned 12. [Noise off camera, Obama laughs] He said, ‘Good luck!’ She’s my baby, she’s still little… even though she’s five nine now, she’s still my baby. And she just got braces, which is good. You know, she looks like a kid. She was starting to look too old for me… but I digress…”
Aw… that’s so cute. Of course, there is no way both girls aren’t going to end up total beanpoles. It’s in their genes – both Michelle and Barack are so friggin’ tall, it’s crazy. Personally, I think Malia is the daughter that looks more like her dad, and she also seems to have more of her father’s easy-going nature too. I don’t know though – is she starting to look like Michelle?
I’m thinkin’ Princeton Basketball Women!!!
Is that even normal? Goodness, my daughter had a growth spurt but she did’nt grow almost a foot taller.
Pretty girl, lets hope she gets Obama’s smile 😀
This is my moment of zen for the day. I love those girls!
@ Sumodo 1
Seriously ! basketball could definitely be down the line , she’ll be a very statuesque woman .
At age 12 I was almost exactly the same height I am now more than ten years later.
I hit a growth spurt at 12 and have not grown since! (barely 5’5)
Yep, at 12 I was only 2 inches shorter than I am now. But damn! 5’9″ at 12! She’s all legs. She just seemed so young a couple of years ago and now she just looks so much older; I would never guess she’s only 12.
I have growth envy. I stopped at not quite 5’8″. I have always wanted to be 5’10” (or even a little taller)…
Ooooh…I want to see her be a swimmer! She could be fantastic with that length (a la Phelps)!
It happens. A friend of mine shot up to 5’10 when she was about the same age, and at 5’10 is where she stayed.
Also, the picture of her hugging her mom is really sweet. I love when kids have fun hanging out with their parents while still showing respect for them as authority figures.
She is definitely tall for her age but it happens and most likely she won’t get much taller. She’s lucky to have tall skinny genes.
when i was 12 i was about her height. i’m now over 6 ft tall, but growing didn’t give me basketball skills. maybe she can be on the harvard rowing team?
Completely adorable!
and let’s not forget with this growth spurt comes mother nature, lol
At 5’11”, Michelle is a very tall woman, but Barack is only a few inches taller than average for men his age. Malia is a bean pole while Sasha looks a little chubby. Hopefully she’ll lose that tummy when puberty hits.
i always thought the one looked just like her dad and the other looked just like her mom. so nice to have a likable president again!
Sasha “chubby”??? She just turned 9! She looks like a child is all, as she should.
I can’t believe Malia’s only 12, wow. She is adorable, and the way the President talks about her is adorable too.
Malia is SO beautiful and has SO MUCH CLASS (contrary to her mom!!!!). I really love this kid…!!!!!!
Speak for yourself Andrea. We aren’t all thrilled with Obama.
The girls seem very sweet, but I hate the way they are off-limits to the press unless Dad wants to use them for a fundraising effort. You really can’t have it both ways.
@ Kevin …seems to me Andrea was speaking for herself, I don’t see anywhere in her comment where she spoke for anyone else
That is NOT a normal weight for a 9 year old. Has our nation become so collectively obese that a clearly overweight kid is considered normal?
@Andrea, I wish it wasn’t necessary to bash Bush when he has nothing to do with the topic under discussion. But it is your right to do so, so peace.
@Leticia i think its hysterical that you automatically connected a non like-able president to George W Bush. Andrea didn’t even mention a specific name.
When will people realize they aren’t celebs? Run the country (and not into the ground like he is!) Get with it!!
They are lovely girls. Hopefully they wont grow up to be Marxists like mom & dad.
I think Sasha is just at an awkward stage so I wouldn’t dare call her overweight right now. We know what the Obama’s like to keep fit and eat healthy so I really think Sasha’s weight should be the last of our worries right now.
Oooh, I just love how Malia exudes self-confidence. She is far easier in front of a camera today than when Obama first took office.
Wow, she’s going to be gorgeous at 21. But yeah, Denise, growth spurts (even huge ones) are totally normal. I was almost completely developed by the end of 5th grade, with the exception of my shoe size. My brother also grew 7 inches in a single summer, as well as many of my neighborhood friends experiencing sudden growth spurts.
…And seriously, to a few others who have commented about politics, I know this is a post circuitously about the president, but do we have to make it all about politics? We don’t need the infighting, it’s a gossip blog, jeez.
I was 5’6″ – 100 lbs at her age and end up at 5’8″ – 120 lbs.
My sisters were both 5’7″ at her age and end up at 5’10” and 5″11″
My younger bro was 5’11” at 12 and end up at 6’5″.
Girls can have a grow spurt around 12 – 13 and then it stabilized while boys still grow like hell.
I think she will end up around 5’11” – 6′
Well, she gets it from both sides. Her mom must be almost 6 feet tall and her dad is over 6 feet.
Like a lot of people posting on here, I got my growth in early. I was 5’5″ at age 12, grew another inch when I was 14, and topped out at 5’6″.
Girls usually grow earlier than boys. The downside is when you’re 14 or 15 and towering over all the boys your age. The upside is when the boys turn 16 or 17 and start towering over you.
I was 5’9 at 12, and reached my adult height of 5’11 at 17. Honestly, it sucked when I was a teenager because finding cute pants that weren’t two inches too short was rough, and the boys mostly hadn’t caught up to my height yet…but now that I’m in my 20s I love it. But then again I also found cute pants, so maybe that had something to do with it 🙂
I’ve been 4’11” since I was 12 🙂
I think they’re a beautiful family. I think Malia looks more like Michelle and Sasha looks more like her Daddy.
It is perfectly normal for a nine – ten year-old girl to gain a bit of a tummy. It is part of the body’s preparation for the growth spurt(s) that are experienced in subsequent years. I teach and have seen overweight and obese children, that girl is neither.
Don’t understand why anything other than the oil leak is on his mind. And clearly, it’s not even on his mind.
Fundraiser and cute stories yukking it up like a catastrophe isn’t wrecking lives? Golfing everywhere too.
Eerily Katrina like. Only longer, and even less federal leadership.
DelBocaVista: That is NOT a normal weight for a 9 year old. Has our nation become so collectively obese that a clearly overweight kid is considered normal?
Are you her doctor? Do you know her height and her weight? Are you a nutritionist? How can you say she isn’t a normal weight? The child is not fat. She is barely even chubby. She’s friggin’ 9!
I happen to have a degree in nutrition (I don’t use it anymore, but I have one) and I worked for W.I.C. at one time (when I did use the degree) and let me tell you. That child is not fat. No doctor or nutritionist would tell them to put her on a diet either. She has tall parents. One growth spurt and she could turn out to be like her older sister. Or she may turn out to be the shorter, curvy (but not fat) one. A doctor or nutritionist would just have the parents monitor her and make sure she keeps physically active. Considering the way her parents feel about health, I am sure they already do that. Back off the child.
I will answer your question w/a question: Have women become so obsessed w/their appearances that they need to be skinny, gristle and bone bean poles to feel good about themselves?
@Mia, honestly do you want him to jump in the ocean and stop the leak himself, geez
PS: I happen to think Malia looks like both parents (though her head and face shape are definitely from her dad’s maternal side) and Sasha almost exclusively resembles President Obama’s maternal side 🙂
http://bit.ly/aCHtcQ
Thank you, Lukie!! Sasha is 9 years old, can we wait about ten years before we start bashing her body?! Geez.
Great looking family, and both girls seem very sweet and are probably very smart too. I’m glad the media backed off them a little, for a while at the start of his presidency they were reporting what the girls’ new schools were having for lunch that day. Seriously.
@mel: some people expect Obama to dive into the Gulf and cap the oil leak with his teeth.
I had to laugh at Obama acting like a typical dad: “Even though she’s five nine now, she’s still my baby.” I can picture him four or five years from now waiting up for his “baby” to come back from a date and ready to call out the national guard if she’s two minutes past her curfew.
I LOVE their dog!!!!
Holy shit, are we seriously ragging on a 9 year old’s weight now? Is this really happening on this site? I think she’s cute as a button and looks totally normal to me.
The same thing happened to me. I had a growth spurt towards the end of elementary school. By age 11 I was 5’9″ and taller than everyone in my school except for the gym teacher, who was a man. Luckily for Malia, there are now lots of teen clothes in long lengths.
@Celebitchy
Thanks for posting such a nice article about the Obamas. It’s a refreshing break from all of the hoopla about relationships and families that are constantly collapsing.
Aww I was getting so excited reading the first posts on here thinking we were going to have a mature and positive conversation about how cute a dad talking about his kids and how cute the kids are. Nope.
@Mia: You’re being a little harsgh here. If it was the ONLY thing on his mind, that would be considered to be obssesive.
@Sincerity: I think you are right. A nice light hearted story is a refreshing break from negativity. We all need to see that once in awhile, especially Mia.
I do not like the Obamas, but I LOVE those two girls! They are so cute, so obviously loved, it’s refreshing.
Cheyenne, even if he dived in and capped it with his teeth, people think it was “socialist.”
And no, the Obamas aren’t celebrities, but neither were the Bushes or Clintons, but I’ve seen the odd post about their daughters on this site.
Celeb blogs are evidence that an IQ test should be needed to vote.
Soooooo cute to see her with her arms around her mama. It’s clear they are dedicated parents and that she still enjoys them…good to see healthy girls whatever their height!
I also had a growth spurt at 11 or 12, but I grew from 4’8″ to 5’1″ – and I have stayed that height since. Oh hooray for being short!
I like Michelle’s hair do. That is all.
I think it was a warm sweet and loving off the cuff moment with Mr Obama showing his under belly. I’m sure those girls are loved dearly by both mom and dad.
She’s so tall! I had a growth spurt but it happened at 14. I was the shortest kid in school up until the 9th grade and then during the summer I just grew a lot and became one of the tallest. I grew like a boy. They’re usually the ones with growth spurts as far as I could tell. One day they’re short like you and then the next day you have to be looking way up.
I grew 4 inches, while away at my grandparents, one summer. When I came home, wearing waders, my parents furniture seemed to be all in miniature. Bathroom fixtures seemed so far away and low to the floor. I was only 11 yrs old and had hit 5’7. I only added an inch after that. I think the children look beautiful.
@ Mia
These same folks who make every excuse for Obama would be seething at Bush if he were president.
Bush playing golf while the gulf is destroyed? How can he be so uncaring, so politically tone deaf? bla bla bla.
Wonderful girls and parents. They all look beautiful.
@all that would use this unassuming relatively safe post to spread your silly biases or agendas, get a life. Seriously, did someone actually complain that Obama is discussing his daughter’s height as opposed to not taking every nanosecond to discuss the gulf situation? Can you be that daff or brain dead from continued faux news viewing? And the whole Katrina/Gulf comparison is sooo much BS. katrina was a natural disaster, the gulf fiasco, BP made. Katrina’s aftermath was preventable with government intervention. BP, not so much. FEMA and the coast guard haven’t a clue how to cap a gushing oil well. The current administration’s only fault is a) believing BP when they asserted they knew what the hell they were doing and b) waiting too dayumed long to go down and show face in the region. And by the way, my moniker is Nolanative because I am.
Love the mom-daughter photo. Awww. We’ll take the Obamas in Canada when you’re done with them.
Whoever said Sasha is overweight is a bit delusional, for lack of a better term. Living in that home she is eating healthy, not a lot of junk and she has tall parents. She’ll probably get a growth spurt as well and shoot right up, although not likely as tall as her sister. She looks like a healthy, happy kid. Leave her alone.
Oh for christs sake Sasha is a little girl-of course shes got a little chub-there are plenty of seriously obese kids in this country-go comment on them!
Both girls are going to be beautiful but I think Sasha is looks like such a little character…
By the way-Bo the dog has got huge!
@mojoman: I don’t particularly like Michelle’s hairdo. And those eyebrows gotta go. But I think she is a very loving and nurturing, yet no-nonsense parent.
“Eerily Katrina like. Only longer, and even less federal leadership.”
@ mia: yeah just like katrina…except for the drownings. oh and bush waiting for the water to “go down” so he could get the national guard down there. evidently bush never heard of a BOAT, but the canadian mounties did because they were there before our own troops. also, trucks with clean water sat idle all over the country waiting to go to NOLA but couldn’t because they never got the ok from bush to do so. not to mention the head of FEMA went to bed (!) the night before katrina struck, and basically slept through the whole thing, even though the rest of the country was watching as katrina hit. look, i’m from new orleans (living in seattle the past 3 years) and while BP is awful it is nothing like katrina, trust me. obama cannot fix the oil leak, he can only send people to try and clean up, which he is doing, but bush should have gotten troops to NOLA before katrina struck. everyone knew it was going to be a perfect storm situation and he could have been prepared, but he chose not to do anything. you should read a book called “1 dead in attic” for some first-hand reporting.
as for the obama girls they are adorable. i was 5’2″ at the age of 11 and everyone thought i would be tall but i stopped while everyone grew taller! i am still 5’2″, so maybe malia will stop at 5’9″.
To the people complaining about others calling Sasha chubby-Michelle and Barack both publicly said she was, so there you go.
I don’t like Obama as a President, for multiple reasons. However, the oil spill is NOT his problem. It’s BP’s. The President isn’t responsible for everything that happens in this country, nor should he be.
I also admire Barack’s dedication to his family, although I think that’s part of what makes him an ineffective President.
better food.
Wow, really Laura, being dedicated to one’s family is what makes Obama ineffectual?
Should we only elect single, childless people as president or only those who will pledge to ignore their parenting responsibilities?
If more people have your beliefs, I guess we’ll never see a woman/mother as president, or too many more fathers with young children.
@ JustBe : i agree with 100%! obama is a good parent ,but that doesnt make him a bad president. Laura, only people with a loving and caring background can be great at what they do
I love I love I love. God bless this family. She is almost about my height and yet 12 years. Cutie sweetie lil girlie.
She’s very cute. Hopefully both of her parents hideous looks dont show up on her later on in life.
I’m thinking super model!
I wish I was that tall! You can hide weight so much better- if I put on 5 pounds I can see it everywhere!
I was 5’2 at 12 years old, didn’t grow again until I was 19. I put on another inch and I’m done.
As someone who started the first day of 6th grade the tallest person in the school(6 foot) i can sympathize. Not so cool being in grammer school and having grown men hit on you, but never being carded when you go to buy beer for you and your friends..awesome lol
@justbe and ellie-I was specifically referring to the times when he blew off meetings with foreign dignitaries to spend time with his family. It’s good to love your family, but that doesn’t fly when you’re Prez. Sadly, for those four years you’ll sometimes have to sacrifice family time for things involving your job. Sad but true.
Also, if you had read my entire comment, you would note that I said that was only part of my reasons for believing him ineffectual, not the be all end all of it.
My Grandma had a growth spurt when she was seventeen, and grew 12 inches in one year. She had always been the shortest in her group and was suddenly the tallest. The same happened with my husband actually. I’m a shorty but my kids would probably have been all over the place.
I predict both of their girls are going to be knock’em dead gorgeous. They seem like a really loving and connected family.
@ Laura
Can you name specific circumstances when Obama has blown off important meetings to be with his family? In fact, the opposite has happened, there have been several stories about how Obama family vacations seem to be cursed. How the President has repeated cut short family vacations to attend to national and international emergencies.
I’m 12 and Im 5 ft 6 and about to grow soon and my friend is 5ft 9 and 11 so its not that unusuall
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I was 5’9” at 12 and grew to be just over 6 feet. I can totally see Malia ending up there.