Boo-ful Day

Dear Mackenzie,

I love your signature dance! Whenever you hear a happy tune, you stick both of your pointer fingers up in the air and point them around while you bop your head from side to side. So cute!

Also cute was this morning when I was helping you wash your hands and you just looked up at me and said, "You boo-ful." Aww, thank you!

Love,

Mom

Training Day

Dear Mackenzie,

We were playing with your dollhouse this afternoon and I put one of the dolls in the living room. You said, "No, he go in da ain." I couldn't understand you and you said again, "He go in da ain." You said it a few more times and when it was clear I didn't know what you were saying, you said, "Ain. Too-too! Too-too!" It still took me a beat but then oooooohhhhh! Train! Choo-choo for train! Because that particular doll had come with the Fisher Price train. I love that you acted out "train" when I couldn't understand that you were saying "train!" Clever girl!

You are also clever because you are already potty trained! I started putting you in underwear a little over a week ago and you have only had three small accidents. The rest of the time, you have asked to go to the potty when you need to pee and have been able to hold your pee until you are on the potty. Even when we go out and don't have quick access to a bathroom, you are able to hold your pee for hours. There were also a couple times when you woke up in the morning and your nighttime diaper was completely dry. I am so impressed! I was dreading the process of potty training for the fourth time but you have been the easiest kid to train!

Love,

Mom

Staying Dry

Dear Mackenzie,

Yesterday, we woke up at 8am to get ready and catch a ferry to Governors Island. You peed on the potty before we left and then I put you in a pull-up diaper since we were going out and I didn't want to deal with accidents in the car or anywhere else. But you didn't pee at all the entire day! Your diaper was dry every time I checked it and when Daddy set up the portable potty for you after lunch, you sat on it for awhile but eventually said you didn't have to pee. When we got back to the car at 3pm, I thought for sure that I would have to change your diaper by then, but it was still dry! When we got back home around 4pm, still dry! I put you on the potty at home and then, wooosh! Lots of pee! I can't believe you held it in for eight hours!

Ironically, your diaper stayed dry the entire day but we did not! It was a hot, bright, sunny summer day except for two HUGE rainstorms. We actually lucked out during both storms. During the first one, we had just finished eating lunch underneath a gigantic umbrella in one of the outdoor eating areas. It had been super sunny and then suddenly, the sky turned gray and buckets of water starting pouring down on us. Well, not us, because we were safely seated underneath the big umbrella but we did watch dozens of other less-lucky island-goers scramble for cover under whatever building archways were closest to them.

That storm lasted about 15 minutes and then the sun immediately started shining again. We explored more of the island, enjoying the views of the Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty, walking around an old fort, getting Mexican popsicles and stopping in an open field to toss around a football. The sky started turning gray again and we decided to catch the next ferry back to Brooklyn. On our way to the ferry dock, it started to drizzle and then once we stepped foot on the dock, it started to POUR. We ran for cover under an awning and because we had gone to the dock a little earlier, we were near the front of the line and could therefore stand under the awning; people who came later were not so fortunate and had to stand at the back of the line directly in the rain. However, this second storm was so intense that we still got pretty drenched because it was raining so hard and the wind kept blowing that rain sideways onto us. It actually felt as if we were on a water ride at Disney World: The dock was rocking back and forth on the water and every time the wind blew rain on everyone, we all screamed and shouted! A woman commented that you had the best seat in the house because you were seated in your stroller with the cover over you and all of us standing around you to block you from the rain. You still got scared, though, and insisted on holding my hand. You cried out, "I want to go on the boat!" Thankfully, we were soon able to board the ferry and the storm stopped by the time we disembarked in Brooklyn. It was crazy but we were able to laugh about it once we were home, showered and dry!

Oh, and I have another Mackenzie-is-so-helpful anecdote: We actually went to Governors Island to meet up with Aunt Sarin and her daughter/your cousin Julietta. Julietta let you wear her helmet and ride her scooter and when it was time for us to say bye, you not only gave Julietta back her helmet, but insisted on putting it on her head and trying to buckle the buckle for her, too. You're always such a good helper!

Love,

Mom

Potty Training Star

Dear Mackenzie,

Last night, you asked to "go potty train" whenever you had to pee and didn't have any accidents. Then this morning, you woke up around 7am and asked, "Can I go pee?" I took you to the bathroom and when I took off your nighttime diaper, it was completely dry! Go Mackenzie! And as I was writing this blog post, you were playing on the floor next to me and asked to go potty. Today was another dry-diaper-accident-free day, woohoo! Are you already potty trained?! Are we done with potty training?!

Love,

Mom

Potty Time

Dear Mackenzie,

We officially started potty training today! I had been putting it off because I just didn't want to deal with the messes but you ROCKED it today! I put you in your first pair of underwear this morning, took you to the bathroom every half hour and you only had one small accident the entire day. In fact, it was such a small accident that I thought the tiny puddle of liquid on the floor was water (but you informed me that it was pee). By the evening, you were even saying, "I need to go potty train!" whenever you felt the need to go to the bathroom. Whoo! Yay Mackenzie!

When we are upstairs, you just use my toilet but for downstairs, Daddy bought a cute little Minnie Mouse potty seat. It has buttons that make cheering sounds and flushing noises and you were SO excited to use it that you whipped off your underwear before Daddy had even finished putting it together! We were in the living room watching him assemble it when I felt something soft fall on my foot. When I looked down, I saw your underwear and your naked tushee. You couldn't wait to sit on the new potty seat! So funny!

And here are some other recent funny (non-potty-related) moments from you:

-After we watched some BTS videos, you said, "Jungkook have something on his mouth." I told you that it was his lip ring; I have earrings that I wear in my ears but he has one that he wears on his lip. You scrunched up your nose in disgust and said, "That yucky. He should wear earring in his ear."

-You were wearing just underwear and your bee backpack, holding one of my face masks like a slingshot and creeping around saying, "I shoot monsters, piew piew! Go away go away! Mama, I shoot monsters away from you. Can I shoot your butt?" Huh? Were the monsters in my butt?!

-You often dress up in this particular outfit: Second GuhGaw's bucket hat, one Anna glove (just one because we can't find the other one), your Baby Shark fuzzy slippers and your bee backpack. Sometimes, you put on your red heart sunglasses.

-When you are fighting with one of your siblings over a toy, I often tell the older kid to give it to you since you are little. The other day, you did my job for me when you and Second GuhGaw wanted the same toy truck and you yelled at him, "I s'posed to play that! You s'posed to gimme dat! I little! I little!"

-A variation of the above is when I tell the older kids to give you something because you are the baby. And the other day when you were again fighting over a toy with Second GuhGaw and he wouldn't give it to you, you started crying and screaming, "I the baby! I the baby! I the baby!"

Love,

Mom