- PHOTOS: Sasha and Malia Obama's life in the White House
- PHOTOS: Obama's McCormick Place Celebration
Overnight, they were once again front and center.
"Sasha and Malia, before our very eyes, you're growing up to be two strong smart, beautiful young women, just like your mom," President Obama said in his Election Night speech.
Sasha and Malia Obama are older, more poised and taller than four years ago.
In 2008, then 7-year-old Sasha and 10-year-old Malia Obamas' Chicago world was uprooted: A new home new friends and a new school.
"You know, I did worry what this life would be like for them," said Michelle Obama. "You know, could I keep them normal? Could we instill in them the values that we learned growing up, humility, and decency, and treating people with respect."
Much of what we've seen has been carefully controlled by their parents hoping to give them a regular childhood.
"They're very careful about what they say about the girls and really do their best to shelter and protect them," said Politico White House editor Rachel Smolkin.
So we've seen them in glimpses: Dad coaching Sasha's basketball team, watching football, reading to children, their first day of school.
"I know Malia was really embarrassed when I walked her to the classroom," President Obama said. "But I went anyway because she is daddy's girl and will remain daddy's girl until she is about 30."
That was Malia then. Now she's 14, a teenager nearly as tall as her. mother.
"I look at them in the same way," said Michelle Obama, "and think, 'Wow, you guys have grown up, and you are so poised and you're so sweet,' and so there's that motherly side of me but it's still always a balance between protecting them."
...a balance that will only grow tougher as they grow.
"They have a regular life, they've got friends and sleep-overs and, you know, to them it's home," Michelle Obama said on The Tonight Show.
By the end of this term, Sasha will be 15, Malia 18 -- those sleepovers will be traded for college applications. They will have lived more than half their lives in Washington.
"They're smart, they're funny. But most importantly, they're kind," said President Obama.
Now there will be more milestones in that big White House. Like homecomings and learning to drive.
And there will also be proms and graduations and, yes, even, first dates.
Says the President: "I have men with guns that surround 'em--often."
