Open Wide

Dear Mackenzie,

You were standing up in your room today and I was suddenly taken aback because you looked so big! It's funny how I see you every single day but then I blink and it's as if you've suddenly aged several months. Your arms and legs are longer, your cheeks are chubbier (you even have a dimple when you smile!), size 12-months clothes are too tight on you, your hair has grown down to your shoulders and you have so many teeth (even your molars are all coming in). You have also become incredibly strong--in the past few weeks, you have acquired the ability to climb up the entire staircase, climb onto the top of the coffee table and pull yourself up on the iron bars on the side of the daybed in your room. The latter is especially funny because it's a little more difficult and you grunt so much while pulling yourself up, like a baby American ninja warrior!

In other developments, you finally started drinking cow's milk (about 6-8 ounces a day, but you still like to nurse), can now feed yourself with a fork and are showing an increasing interest in eating foods that aren't the pureed baby mush I've been feeding you for the past nine months. It's actually pretty hilarious how you ask for food: You open your mouth SO WIDE and just hold it open toward me (or whoever has the yummy looking morsels) until I feed you.

Example A:

Example B: 

Example C:

You are such a cutie! You often reach for my hands and lead me on little walks around the house. You like it when I lift you up and let you put items back on their shelves--my bottle of calcium pills, your jar of lotion--and beam and clap for yourself once you've done so. Whenever you hear upbeat music, you sway back and forth and wiggle on your butt if you're sitting. The other day, we were having a dance party with your siblings and you were doing the CUTEST dance! You were swaying back and forth, pointing your fingers in the air and lifting your legs side to side. Yesterday, I was holding you when Daddy came up to me and kissed me. Not to be outdone, you immediately held my head in both your hands, leaned in toward me and gave me the sweetest kisses on my mouth!

I love that you can understand more now. You wanted a bite of food the other day and I told you to drink your water first--and you did! When we were in your room and I asked you if you wanted to read a book, you walked over to your bookshelf, picked one out (your current favorites are Bedtime for Batman and Adorable You), brought it over to me and plopped down in my lap so we could read it together. When we were done, I told you to put it back on the shelf, which you did. You are already such a big girl (with a really big mouth, haha!)!

Love,

Mom