I Love Thee Purely

Dear Mackenzie,

How do I love thee? Let me count the (just a few of many) ways: 

1) I love how independent you are. When we were at the playground, I was initially swinging on a swing with you on my lap. After a few minutes of that, you wiggled out of my lap, stood next to the swing and tried to push me off of it because you wanted to sit on the swing and swing by yourself! When I try to help you wash your hands, you push my hands away and say "Do it! Do it" (as in, "I can do it! I can do it!"). You always try to pull your shirts and pants on by yourself and can pull slippers on and off your feet all on your own.

2) I love how helpful you are. Whenever you see me cleaning up your books, markers or whatever, you immediately start helping me clean them up, too, without me even having to ask you.

3) I love the dimple in your right cheek. 

4) I love the way you say "Oh no!" and put your hand over your mouth when something bad happens.

5) I love the way you point at things and wag your cute little finger up and down when you do.

6) I love that you also call Daddy "Al-uh" because you hear me call him Alex all the time.

7) I love the way you cling to my arm like a baby koala as you fall asleep next to me in bed.

8) I love the way you come up and hug my legs when I am washing things in the kitchen sink.

9) I love that you love having tea parties with your dolls.

10) I love that I peeked in on you in the living room today and you were quietly sitting on the couch hugging your baby doll to your chest.

11) I love that I always hear you singing "Apples and Bananas" and that your version goes like this: "oh oh oh app-uh and na-na."

12) I love the way you smile when I sing "Skidamarink" and that after watching me just a couple times, you know how to do all of the hand motions, including tapping your nose on the final 'boop boop bee doop."

13) I love/don't love that you can climb up and down the big spiral staircase by yourself. You are so strong! But oh my god, stop doing it when no one is with you, I don't want you to fall!

14) I love all the new words you learned recently: bed, spoon, knife, phone, attic, more, home, back back (backpack), wall, eyebrow, up, hide.

15) I love how you gesture for me to follow you and say, "Come on!"

16) I love that when you see me doing exercises--like doing planks on the floor or tricep dips on the coffee table--you copy me and do them with me.

17) I love how you beam when you see me and shout happily, "Mama!"

Love,

Mom