School Update

Dear Mackenzie,

I had a parent-teacher conference with your teacher today and she only had great things to tell me about you! She said you are a pleasure to have in class and that you get along with all of your classmates. You do well in math, you love music and art and you like riding the bike on the playground, which you didn't used to, but now you do maybe because your legs are strong enough to pedal it. Also, when you started school in September, you could only identify one letter in the alphabet, but now can easily name 23! (The letters o, p and q give you a little trouble.) You are so good at writing your first and last names and you have also learned how to write "mama" and "love." (So, all the most important words, haha!) You know all of your letter sounds and I am relieved to see that you are currently more interested in reading. Up until recently, you would only look at books briefly and sometimes only if I read to you, but now I see you choosing to read all on your own. And every night, after I put on your pjs and it's time to get in bed, you haul half a dozen books to your bed to read until you fall asleep. And it's always the same six books, more or less: Madeline, Curlfriends, Peanut Butter & Cupcake, Unicorn Diaries, Beautiful and a copy of your Community House yearbook (I spent so many hours putting that together, so I'm so happy you still look at it all of the time!). Sometimes, you swap something out for No More Kissing or All About Bluey.

I'm so proud of how well you've done in school this year and how much you've learned!

Love,

Mom

Straight Up

Dear Mackenzie,

You have an ear infection and you have been an absolute rock star when it comes to taking your medicine. You have to take 11ml of amoxicillin twice a day and I know it tastes pretty gross but we didn't have any juice to mix it with, so you took last night's and this morning's doses straight up. You said the medicine was disgusting and tasted so bad but you also understood that you have to take your medicine to get better, so that's what you did while scrunching up your nose and making grossed-out faces. I asked PoiPoi to pick up some orange juice in the afternoon but ironically, it was harder for you to drink the medicine when I mixed it with the juice. I guess it actually tasted worse? You even asked to take the medicine plain tomorrow! Maybe with a separate orange juice chaser? Either way, I am proud of you for being so mature about taking your medicine! Not a lot of 4-year-olds are!

Love,

Mom

Tiger Terror

Dear Mackenzie,

One of your classmates celebrated his birthday in school last week and his mom gave everyone a cute T-shirt in the goody bag. Your shirt had a rainbow-colored tiger on it and when you first saw it, your eyes lit up and you said you loved it--but then you changed your mind. I washed it and laid it out on your bed for you to wear yesterday, but you said you didn't want to wear it. I said you didn't have to and you picked out another shirt to wear. Then at bedtime, you asked me, "Do you know where I put my tiger shirt?" You had buried it at the bottom of one of your toy boxes and then taken a bunch of blankets and put them on top of the toys because you were actually scared of the tiger shirt. Awww! I said I would take the shirt out of your room and you looked so relieved! Today, I offered it to another classmate's mom and she said she would take it, so fear not! The shirt is not going to be in the house anymore!

Love,

Mom

Solo Sleeper

Dear Mackenzie,

A few noteworthy moments of late:

-The other night, you came to my room in the middle of the night and you were not wearing your pajama bottoms. You were half-asleep and said you didn't know where they were--but Daddy found them on your bed. I guess you'd gotten so hot that you took them off in your sleep? It really amazes me how warm you get at night--you always throw the blanket off of you while you sleep, even on the coldest winter evenings.

-Yesterday, you woke up in the morning before everyone else did and played quietly in your room while the rest of us slept in. At one point, I heard you come into my room and felt you pull my blanket over my feet to cover them. Later, when I got up, you told me, "Mama, when you were sleeping, I cover your feet so they won't get cold." Thank you so much for taking care of me, sweetie!

-Yesterday, you asked me, "Can I stay this size? I don't want to get bigger. I don't want to have to do homework. What if I only drink water? Then will I stay this size?" Oh, cutiepie, if only!

-I put you to bed in your room every night but you always, ALWAYS wake up in the middle of the night and shuffle sleepily to my room, climb onto my bed, crawl over my legs and flop down in between Daddy and me. Last night, though, Daddy slept with you in your bed, so you stayed there all night, but you didn't know Daddy slept with you because he was already up when you woke up. So when you first opened your eyes this morning and realized that you were in your bed instead of mine, you came running into my room and said proudly, "Mama! I slept in my bed all night! I slept all by myself! I so proud of myself! Are you proud of me? I'm going to do it again tonight!" You were beaming so much over your supposed accomplishment that Daddy and I couldn't bear to burst your bubble and tell you the truth. But we'll see if you do stay in your bed tonight!

Love,

Mom

Batting A Thousand

Dear Mackenzie,

Recent cuteness: 

-A sad music video made me cry and when you saw my red, swollen eyes, you asked, "Huh? Why you crying, Mama? Why you sad? I don't like Sad Mama. I cheer you up!" And then the way you looked up at me so sweetly did just that!

-When I told you that I had previously taken Sawyer to the nearby firehouse for its annual Open House, you asked, "Why didn't you bring me? I'm cute!"

-There is a popular "Bluey" episode where Bluey and Bingo pretend they are grannies. On the way home from school the other day, you and your bestie Ksiusha reenacted that episode by using sticks as canes, walking slowly while bent over and talking to each other in old-lady-granny voices. I am so mad I didn't have my phone to record it!

-I'm also mad that I didn't have my phone the time you and Ksiusha stopped in front of a house with a steep driveway that slopes down to a garage under the house. The two of you realized that if you stand at the top of the driveway and shout, there is an echo, so guess what happened next? You two crazy monkeys stood there for several minutes shouting each other's names and giggling at the way they bounced back at you. I hated to break up the fun but after half a dozen rounds of "Ma-CKENZIE-E-E-E! KSIU-SHA-A-A-A-A!" I said we had to keep walking because if someone was home, they were going to wonder why two little girls were screaming at their house. Hahaha!!

And this one shouldn't have been cute but it actually really was:

-You were in the play attic and fighting with JieJie and Second GuhGaw over toys when I suddenly heard you scream at them, "I hate you 1000!" Whoa. You do tell me all the time now that you love me 1000, so I guess it makes sense that it also swings the other way.

Love,

Mom