Dear Mackenzie,
Man oh man…just one month short of 4 years old. Where is the time going?
You are such an expressive little girl and sometimes make us laugh hysterically (even though we shouldn’t because you are being serious or angry) and you lately have a rather dramatic streak that I can only hope doesn’t get amplified when you start kindergarten. If things don’t go your way, you can go from a sweetheart to being full of tears in 0.3 seconds. You also got rather miffed last week that you are turning 4 and announced that you would not celebrate your fourth birthday but instead stay 3 years old. Or skip to 6. I guess the good news is that we don’t have to have a party or buy you any gifts…
But seriously. You know I’m just kidding and SO looking forward to you having your first real birthday party with a few friends. The most recent request was for you to take some friends to the dinosaur museum and I have to admit that your daddy and I would totally love that too! And with you (hopefully) starting school in just a few weeks, it will be a whole lot easier to invite some people than it was in the past!
Speaking of school, today is a big day because we have a meeting with your preschool today for a final interview to see if we are “in” or not. And you actually told me a few times today that you’d be going by yourself, so I’m hoping and praying that this transition is WAY better than when you started at the other school. The last thing I want every morning is for you to be as upset every day as you were back then.
You are apparently very excited about winter coming and have been drawing lots of snowmen for us to decorate with. Your artistic skills are really developing well, and one can identify most of the pictures you make. We couldn’t be more proud of our little Picasso. 😉
You’re also getting better all the time at behaving around adults and not butting in when I need you to be cool. You got to accompany me to two business meetings last week (in one day which was a long day for both of us). And even though there wasn’t much for you to do, you were perfectly awesome and didn’t try to talk their ears off, which is something you sometimes try to do when we get around adults! Like the other day when we went for ice cream with a new friend and you barely let the adults get a word in around you. Perhaps it was just all the excitement about the yummy ice cream that had you chattering away, though. I have to admit that it was delicious!
Thankfully for your mommy and daddy, you have been going through a super loving phase so we’re getting lots of random hugs and kisses. You have even crawled up into bed with us a few mornings over the weekend and playing on my phone a bit (which you are finally no longer scared of, even though it’s still broken) and snuggled with us while we continued to doze a bit. It’s really a super heartwarming things for us parents, especially since little girls can sometimes be pretty stand-off-ish.
Music has been playing a big role in your life again lately. You seem to love your shuffle more and more every day…which is a good thing since you also wear it a lot when we are out on our training runs. And when we had a call on Skype with your Oma and Opa they other day, you actually broke out into song for them. It was so awesome. So far you haven’t just started singing in the middle of the street but I think that’s only a matter of time. And considering that I often hear people singing in the middle of restaurants in Berlin (that are seemingly completely sane), you’ll fit right in!
You are getting braver and more independent in certain circumstances…but thankfully not outgoing enough that we really have to worry about you with strangers. You’re still very cautious of people you don’t know, and hopefully that guarded nature will remain in place for a long while. We’ll be helping to reinforce that behavior as well since we don’t even dare to think about how crushed we’d be if something ever happened to you!
Going back to our training runs four times a week, you have been a super training coach! You actually seem to enjoy them, especially since you just get to sit and enjoy the ride in the jogging stroller, listen to your Shuffle and snacking on food like crackers or carrots, and be our official flashlight holder to light the way.
And one of our new traditions, which you really seem to love, is going to the Japanese restaurant around the corner from us which has an all you can eat buffet on sushi, tepanyaki and other Asian dishes. The food is pretty good for a buffet and really great for your mom and dad on our long running days so we don’t have to cook. And one of the coolest things of all to us is that you’ve taught yourself how to use chopsticks already!
Sure, you may not be a pro yet — but it’s definitely coming along nicely! Speaking of food, your eating habits are coming in waves. Some days, I think there won’t be anything left in the house and it seems that you’re eating nonstop…and other days, you barely seem to eat anything at all. Now I know that you’re not going to starve, but these growth spurts sure can drive a mom crazy. I officially have no clue how much of anything to buy each week (although variety is always a good thing), and sometimes end up having to eat the rest somehow myself or in our dinners. Speaking of which, since your bed time has started to get a bit later (partly because you are just still wired and partly because of our running schedule), we’re finally able to eat more often as a family during the week. In fact, last night, we got to have homemade burgers and one of your many lovely comments was how you loved that we were getting to eat together as a family. So we are definitely going to try to make an effort for that to happen more often since everyone enjoyed it!
You are so very loved by your family and our friends…and we cannot wait to continue watching you grow up into an awesome little girl. Your maturity, understanding and strength surprise us on a regular basis. And we could not be more proud of you.
I love you a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck (plus so much more!)
Mommy
