Dancing Queen

Dear Mackenzie,

I love the toddler stage so much! As JieJie said, you are no longer "a boring baby who doesn't do anything" and you haven't reached your temper-prone Terrible Twos stage yet, so you're in the fun sweet spot in between! You grow more bubbly, playful and sociable every day and you do so many cute things that make our entire family smile. Some examples:

- You mimic me a lot. When I was making a cake the other day and you were sitting in the kitchen with me, you mixed your baby spoon around in your bowl just like I did with my wooden spoon and mixing bowl. When I was putting on lotion at night, you watched me and rubbed your hands all over your head and neck.

- You attempt to put your clothes and socks on by yourself. You're not quite there yet but it's so cute to watch you try.

- When I turn lights on or off, your eyes widen a LOT. It's as if the sudden appearance or disappearance of overhead lights completely amazes you!

- You toddle all over the place now and are getting so good walking. Sometimes you walk too quickly and almost tip over forward but you are able to catch yourself, find your balance and stand straight back up again. You even walked backward for the first time last week.

- Whenever your baby gate is open, you make a beeline for it! Now that you are more confident with walking, you love leaving the safe confines of your room to explore the rest of the house.

- When you do walk toward the door, you often turn back a little, stretch your arm out toward me and smile as if to say, "Come on, Mama, let's go!"

- You love to dance! Whenever I play music on my iPad, you smile and sway back and forth. If my iPad is on the coffee table, you often tap the screen and try to turn it on. When I help you with that and play a song, you smile such a big smile and start bouncing and swaying happily to the music.

- You like to chase me and be chased!

In other news, you have an eighth tooth coming out of your bottom gum. It is so cute but I am still breastfeeding you, so when you bite me while nursing, not so cute! You also tried whole milk for the first time last week but didn't like it. You drank it thinking it was water and immediately look startled when you realized it wasn't. I tried giving you a few more sips but you kept shaking your head and refused to drink anymore. I tried giving you milk again for a few days after that but you still refused it. So that is why we are still breastfeeding. We'll try again soon.

Love,

Mom