First Love

Dear Mackenzie,

Last night, you said "I love you" for the first time! We were cuddling in my bed when you smiled at me and said in a sweet voice, "I yoooo, Mama!" Then you hugged me and it was just so so sweet! You have also learned to put your hands together in a heart shape and say "art" (heart) the way JieJie and I do when we do our special goodbye in the mornings.

In other news, you learned how to say cook (you often say this when you are playing with my oven mitts in the kitchen) and cook-eeee (cookie--the best was when you ate one of my cookies and said, "Cook-eee good!"). You can also finally say Elsa, though you pronounce it "Da." And when you were standing at your bookshelf trying to pick out a book for us to read together, you said, "How bout . . ."

It's so exciting when you learn new words!

Love,

Mom

Letting It Go

Dear Mackenzie,

You just started saying "otay" (okay) and it is so adorable! "Mackenzie, do you want a snack?" "Otay." "Mackenzie, wait here for me." "Otay."

Also, you love popping out and saying, "Boo!" You often do it when you put on a shirt--you pull the shirt over your head, peek out of the neck hole and say "boo!" with a big smile on your face.

In other news, you have listened to the Frozen songs so many times that you are getting better at singing them. You mumble most of the lyrics but you can recite the last word in each refrain, so your version of "Let It Go" sounds like this:

Ungh ungh GO! 

Ungh ungh GO!

Ungh ungh ungh ungh DOOR!

Ungh ungh STAY!

Ungh ungh ungh ungh WAY!

I love it!

Love,

Mom

Eyeing Me

Dear Mackenzie,

When you're sitting in my lap and looking up at me wistfully with your big, round eyes--is there anything cuter?!?

Love,

Mom

Rockabye Baby

Dear Mackenzie,

When you want me to pick you up and cradle you like a little baby, you look at me and say, "Baby!" And I always oblige!

Love,

Mom

Flying High

Dear Mackenzie,

We were in the kitchen when you suddenly laid down on the stepstool, stuck your arms and legs straight out and made "nggaaaaoooow" noises--you were pretending to be an airplane! So cute!

Love,

Mom

New Words

Dear Mackenzie,

New words in your vocab: hug, tree, leaf, broke, light, dark, car, beep beep, room, door, push, hat, socks, glove, doll, Coo Coo (Blue's Clues). My personal favorite new word of yours, though, is Ngaw Ngaw--this is how you pronounce Connor!

It's crazy that one year ago, you were just learning how to walk and now you can easily climb up and down our big spiral staircase and jump an inch off of the ground. You can put on your gloves, pants and slippers by yourself and yesterday, you even peeled a hard-boiled egg on your own and didn't even leave any shell remnants on it. You are also developing the cutest personality! I always catch you singing and dancing now. You love to be held and also to be spun around until you're dizzy. When I haven't talked to you or paid attention to you in awhile, you grab my cheeks, turn my face to face yours and say, "Me!" You snort when you want to watch Peppa Pig and talk into your toy phone while shaking your head and putting your hand on your hip, as if you are on a very important business call. You love dressing up in hats, gloves and slippers and wearing a backpack around the house. When you were done coloring with your Frozen coloring kit today, you put each of the markers back in their slot. You love string cheese and ask for one practically every time I open the fridge by shouting "Cheese!" When I am cooking or baking, you like to help me mix things and put the spices back on the shelf when I am done. When we are eating dinner, you inevitably crawl into my lap after 10 minutes and ask for bites of my food even though you have the exact same food in your bowl. You are so fun and I love watching you grow!

Love,

Mom