Jan 26, 2011 Posted by Tiffany on Jan 26, 2011 in Family Life, Letters to Mackenzie, The Third Year | 2 comments

Already 26 months old

Dear Mackenzie,

What a real little person you are now, with so much to say and always on the move. I don’t think you can sit still for more than 2 seconds at a time…unless you’re transfixed on Sesame Street which is an entirely different story. Then we can’t even talk to you because you’re totally absorbed into the show. But we all get like that with our favorites from time to time.

You are chattering away all the time and love to tell your animals stories. You talk to people all over the place (not that they really understand you, especially since you’re speaking English and they’re expecting German) and just keep repeating yourself until someone says it back to you. I think it might be some sort of confirmation that you’re saying it right…or maybe you’re just testing us to see if we’re listening. But trust me, you’re pretty hard to ignore. If we misunderstand you and don’t say when you expect to hear, you just keep right on repeating yourself a few more times. It’s like our own little guessing game. You really like making your own music, too, but are totally not amused when we try to sing along with you.

You’re turning into a little mimic, repeating things you see and hear all the time. Kids jumping on tv shows, laughs, words we say, Bert’s oatmeal box song (with drum of course), and Feist’s 1234…and sometimes you’ll even know what is coming up in certain shows so you talk about that too. “”Whazzup” is coming along well and you use (what’s) “going on?” on the time. But apparently what I say to you the most is, “what’d you do??” because if you spill or drop something, or you find something out of place, that’s the first thing you say. Of course it’s also often followed by “oh Mack.”

You like to put your boots on Ayla’s ratty old moose and wrap up all your dolls and animals in dishtowels. Sometimes that turns into a more dramatic even than it should when you can’t get the swaddle just right. You’ve also been known to wear dishtowels on your head (like a head wrap) or wrap them around you and proclaim that it’s a dress. And sometimes, when you’re hiding from me or the dog, you where your towel like this:

You have a little Duplo guy in a tie and pants that you have named “Papa” because you always see your daddy coming home in the evenings wearing a suit and tie. And every day you still pick out at least one toy of the day that gets to come downstairs and eat breakfast with us at your little table.

You loving interacting with the dog and she’s totally a good sport about it. You put her snow boots on her (even though they don’t really fit), (gently) sit on her back as if she’s a horse, take all her toys and carry them around the neighborhood (making our neighbors look at as REAL strangely when you’re carrying a grimy rubber chicken) and just love your Ayla in general. Most days you seem to enjoy playing with Ayla’s toys more than your own…and I’m sure Ayla would gladly trade you a few of her own for your newer, better smelling toys. Ayla does get a tad bit jealous that she isn’t allowed to play with yours, or to even give them a few kisses now and then. But you’ve definitely got down yelling “Leave it” at her…

And yes, you still sneak treats to her whenever you get the chance. The other day, you stood next to her while she was eating and pretended you were eating with her. And Ayla has been known to wander over to the table when you’re done and polish off your food. Maybe you guys made some sort of trade: Ayla gets to finish your food and you can play with her toys? On really special days when I trust you enough to have an open cup, you even share your water with Ayla.

Speaking of sharing water, you have been switched back to a sippy cup lately because you just cannot seem to keep yourself from pouring the rest of your water all over the table, floor, yourself, etc. It’s a bit like you’re pouring out one for your homies, which actually would be manageable…it’s when you’re pouring out 32 oz of iced tea at once all over the coffee table with 2 laptops on it that this procedure really becomes a problem. You also have this sorta strange little habit where you like to feel yourself swallowing, so you will try to hold your cup with one hand while you hold the other to your throat.

You are a very picky eater these days and I’m never quite sure what will strike your fancy. For a while you would only eat white rice and plain noodles, bell peppers, tomatoes and cheese. Veggies could not be cooked. Now you’re slowly getting back to your regular appetite and eating just about everything, but I was already envisioning making you protein drinks to keep you growing. But as it turns out, because you still get bottles at night, you’re actually getting most of your protein there.

You’ve already got pretty good manners, and say “bless you” when we or the dog sneezes. You also put your hand to your mouth like you’re surprised after you burp and say “excuse me”. You’ve also gotten really good about saying “please” (although we sometimes have to remind you) and “thank you”. And if you let out some gas, you’ll often say “nice fart” or “nice burp” (I know you’re going to resent me for writing that little tidbit one day…)

And you’re giving a whole lot more kisses these days, especially if you think it will prevent you from getting tickled. Not that you don’t love a good tickling…especially from your daddy.

You want to be a big girl so you try to help with everything. And I’m trying to make that a possibility as often as possible without needing to clean up to much mess after. I learned you are a pro at setting muffin pan liners into the trays (and taking them back out), you can help me feed and brush the dog, you love to help me wipe off the coffee table, dust furniture, clean windows, squeejee the shower…so just work on your efficiency skills in actually getting the stuff clean, you’re hired!

Playing in water is IN again, especially splashing around like crazy in the bathtub.

Anything that makes a lot of noise and that you consider loud (like the hairdryer) is definitely OUT.

You are a fun loving, happy go lucky, outgoing and adventurous child, and I am grateful for every day I get to spend home with you. Before I know it November 1st will be here and you’ll be starting kindergarten…and while I’m sure I’ll get a lot more work done, it won’t be nearly as much fun without you constantly interrupting. Thankfully we’ve still got a whole lot more time before we have to think about that, though!

You’re my little doll who I love oh so much,

Mama

2 Responses to “Already 26 months old”

1. TJ says:

   January 26, 2011 at 12:04 pm

   Happy birthday to this sweet little girl! Tiffany, is her dad German?

   I’ve made two boy “Germerican” portraits, I’d love to do a girl:

   http://studiomailbox.typepad.com/tales_from_studio_mailbox/2010/07/germerica.html

   The hiding towel trick had me howling! A true classic…! Best wishes aus ochsy, tj

   Reply
2. Doris says:

   January 26, 2011 at 2:23 pm

   Thank you again for the beautiful pictures ! And I love your birthday-letters ! Just keep doing it, it is so nice for us grandparents – here and in the US – to be close to our little girl !

   Reply