Dear Mackenzie: 14 months old and counting
Dear Mackenzie,
Another month has passed and you’ve somehow managed to make us love you even more. I didn’t think it was possible but apparently it was. You are so much more interactive now and do some of the cutest things lately. You started blowing kisses in the air; not using your hand but just making a puckered mouth kiss and the noise. It’s awesome. You also just started saying “uh-oh” whenever something falls out of your reach or gets knocked over. Absolutely adorable.
You got your sleeping schedule all out of whack on New Year’s Eve and we all suffered for a week or so afterward. You managed to sleep through the first 21 minutes of all out war in the streets but when the loud explosions continued, you finally woke up. I swear fireworks get louder every year. Especially with all the 25+ shot batteries of fireworks that everyone buys over here. The nights following that you woke up at various times each evening and then just stopped wanting to go to bed at all. It was clear that you were tired because you could barely keep your eyes open, but your mind was telling you there was too much to be done. Sleep was just not allowed. It turned out that the only way to get you back on track was to let you fuss until you admitted to yourself that you were indeed tired. When we traveled to see family last weekend, things were nearly as bad since you decided to skip daily naps and didn’t want to go to bed either. We finally just let you play yourself to sleep in your crib when 1am rolled around and we couldn’t keep our eyes open anymore ourselves. Thankfully as soon as we got home, your schedule started to regulate again. You, like the puppy, find it pretty hard to entertain people and will go to any length necessary to make sure they are happy. You are really shy now around people you don’t know that well (which is pretty much everyone besides your dad and myself.)
You nod yes and no all the time now. Sometimes an excited yes will include hand clapping. But either way it’s a full body movement that makes you look like you’re dancing around. I can somehow see why so many people believe we evolved from monkeys when I look at gestures like this. But you’re way cuter than any monkey could ever be. And you haven’t thrown any poop either which is a big plus.
You love to accessorize yourself with ribbons. When you find a ribbon you will grab it and wrap it around your neck. It’s just about the cutest thing I have ever seen. And you’ve got them on ALL the time now. You try to put other stuff around your neck, too, like paper bags and your hats, but that usually doesn’t turn out so successfully since they never stay put. You did have a really successful venture on laundry day when a bunch of my underwear was laying on the coffee table. You must have had about 20 different pieces around your neck. Yes, there are photos…but we’ll save those for some embarrassing moment down the road. I think you’re mostly just trying to dress yourself with anything you can find so it’s about time to put a dress up box in your room with clothes we never wear.
You love holding the “phone” to your ear. The phone may be a real phone or just a toothbrush, a block, a pen or just about anything else that you can hold up to your ear. It’s great. But when we put a real phone up to your ear and someone starts talking to you, you get all quiet and shy. You actually made your first phone call already, too. You were playing with your daddy’s phone and managed to unlock it and dial your grandparents. Now we just have to work on talking on the phone, even if it’s just babbling.
You’ve had your first couple nose bleeds from the insanely cold, dry weather. Thankfully those didn’t last long and were only a few drops of blood. You also caught your first real cold from me. You don’t seem to have gotten it as bad as I did, though, and only had a few sniffles with a bit of coughing…not the chest-heaving coughs that I’ve had lately. But sometimes I wonder if you’re just coughing to continue our little game and not really sick at all.
You are trying your best to figure out how to climb on the couch. Your knee will clear the edge now but hoisting it up on the couch is going to take more work and maybe another growth spurt.
You are very slowly getting another new tooth on top but it’s taking forever. I sure hope the bottom row of teeth decides to catch up soon, too, since there’s still only two down there. How are you ever going to eat all the food you want to chow down on with only six teeth? Speaking of food, you eat portions that just amaze me. I swear that sometimes you eat up to half of an adult-sized portion and it’s just incredible. Where do you put it?? Since the floor is totally clean afterwards without Ayla’s help I know you’re actually eating everything but you’re just nonstop hungry. If there’s not some sort of food going in to your mouth every 2 hours, you get super cranky. But considering how active you are I guess it’s no wonder that you’re so hungry all the time. And you’re learning to use your spoon now too! I’ve been giving you one for months now and you usually just play with it. But you are slowly getting to the point that you can pick stuff up from inside a bowl and move it over to your mouth. Things like oatmeal that don’t fall off the spoon quickly are easiest but sometimes you even manage it with pasta. I think that with a bit more practice you’ll be keeping those hands much cleaner during mealtime and showing everyone what a big girl you are already.
You took your first couple steps on January 12th. I’m not even sure you realized you were doing it yourself. We’d been playing together in the living room and you just moved away from the couch and took a couple steps towards your daddy. There were a couple more steps again after that. So exciting!! There’s been a few brief steps here and there since then but nothing quite like those first real steps. Although I know it means I’ll be chasing you even more around the house, I truly am looking forward to it. We’re already planning out a step-stool for you in the kitchen so you can watch everything that is going on without getting yourself into trouble.
You killed your first box of packing peanuts. You laid yourself down in it and started kicking away which was more than that poor box could take. But it did live a nice long life as far as cardboard boxes go.
Naturally, we just found you a bigger and better box to move the peanuts into and this one has room to spare. It’s way better and cheaper than any other toy you have. Maybe we can find an even bigger box that I can fit in too…it sure looks like a lot of fun in there!
You love to race. Yesterday I raced with you for the first time as you pushed your little walker. You were screaming and giggling so much that the Newfie got really concerned. She thought you were in trouble or upset because of all the commotion and I thought she was going to bowl you over when we finally let her in the room to check things out. Ayla has totally become your dog and she watches over you like her own pup. She still hasn’t realized that she is just a tiny bit bigger than you and she knocks you over from time to time…but thankfully she’s mostly been very careful around you.
You had your first sledding experience which you weren’t too sure about. You didn’t seem to crack a smile even once during the whole excursion. Ayla found it completely inappropriate and chased you and daddy down the hill in attempt to protect you.
Your expression after going down the sledding hill twice: priceless.
I’m still dreaming about teaching you how to read…if I can just sit down and make the cards now. You are absolutely addicted to books and get totally absorbed in looking at them so I have a feeling that you’re really going to love learning to read. I just hope to get you interested before you attention span gets even shorter!
You are so patient and quite independent already. When we went to get your last booster shot at the doctor you didn’t cry at all. And I knew it was almost nap time so I was sure you would tear up at least a little, but you took it like a little trooper. You play really well by yourself and can usually entertain yourself pretty well. Car rides over 2 hours get a bit tedious because the toys are only interesting for so long and you don’t seem to like sleeping in the car anymore. But since we really don’t take that many trips lately, it’s no wonder you don’t like to be locked up in your seat for such long stretches. I have to say it takes a toll on mom and dad too.
I’m looking forward to all that the next month will bring!
My love,
Mommy
Tiffany is an American who has been living in Germany with her husband since 2001. The two are self-proclaimed "Self-Reliant Yuppies" who are in their early-30's and bought an 1830's farmhouse several years ago, which they have been turning into a more sustainable and green dream house. Two cats, a Newfie and their 2 year old daughter enjoy the adventure with them. Tiffany enjoys cooking, rock climbing, lux-camping trying to turn her black thumbs green and taking road trips. Visit the 
What a sweetie! Like the snow pics the best!
.-= baroquebabies´s last blog ..Flower Power =-.
Your daughter is absolutely gorgeous and I love the idea of writing to her on your blog. Great idea, and I’m sure she will LOVE it when she’s old enough to read it!
Thanks Shannon. She’s a little heart stealer and she knows it!
A friend of mine mentioned lately that she really wished she’d done something like this, too. Her 2 year old is constantly asking about herself when she was little and she can hardly remember anymore all that happened. I’m actually going to start teaching Mack to read soon and will use some of these photos and stories to help myself make books for her. Yeah, I’m ambitious…no idea yet where I’ll get all the time for that! Just gotta make time for the important stuff!
I think it’s a fantastic idea, and makes me wish I did something like this with my kids. They’re now 3 (girl), 6 & 8 (boys) and I have nothing like this for them when they grow up. I didn’t know anything about blogging when my oldest was a baby, and honestly am not much of a blogger. I just think it’s a great thing you’ve done for your daughter and I’m sure she’ll appreciate your efforts when she sees it! You’re a great mom!
I found your blog by watching your candle making video on youtube!
I started blogging when we got our Newfie and found it was just such a great outlet for my thoughts and emotions. Then when we bought our farmhouse there was just much more to share and talk about. I also used it as a way to keep up with everything we were doing in our house and garden. Now I just can’t stop myself
Yeah YouTube! Hopefully we’ll be better about making videos this year. I think I’m going to need a new video camera for that eventually.
We’re always doing stuff around there that should have become a video.
I ran up on your blog and saw that your cutie is the same age as mine..well he hit 15 months today. Tears came to my eyes because he is doing the same stuff as your kiddo…well he is counting to ten as well thanks to Nick JR. She is truly a doll. We are blessed. I did not know that becoming a mommy was such a great feeling.
I also had no idea it could be so wonderful. I mean everyone tells you that but you never really understand it until you live it.
It’s always so reassuring and comforting to know that other little ones in the same age range are doing the same things…sometimes you just wonder even though you know they all develop differently. Thanks for the kind words…she’s already a master of wrapping people around her little finger