Good morning, Mackenzie!

My little Valentine

Mack enjoyed her first box of chocolates and, not surprisingly, it lasted less than five minutes.

The rejected orange creme filled chocolate:
Watching her new Elmo video in her Valentine outfit:

Learning life's hard lessons

As Mackenzie creeps ever closer to the age of autonomy known as "The terrible two's" , she's having to learn things the hard way. For instance, in the words of her father , " It's not ok to write with your markers on the carpet. Ever". With actions come consequences:

I know! It's almost too sad to look at! However sad it is, though, consistency is the rule in our house :
Cinderelly, Cinderelly!

The countdown begins

Mack's birthday is less than a month away so we crafted a count down chain. She thought it was a pretty neat scarf and doesn't understand why she can't wear it:

Orlando

Mike was given notice that he'd been selected to go to Orlando for the Society of Trauma Nurses conference in April! He's one of three of U of M's Trauma/Burn ICU nurses who will be going. The best part is that U of M is paying for most of Mike's travel expenses including air fare and hotel!

I'm so excited for Mike and , of course, will send him to Florida with a camera!

http://www.traumanurses.org/annual-conference.html

Are you serious?

I can't believe Mack's going to be two in three weeks! In true "mom" form, I have been strolling down "memory lane" and am amazed in the differences that can go on in just one year. Never again in the human life do you see such changes...So in my introspective mood, I have made a list of milestones we've watched Mackenzie meet over the last year. This list is more for mommy than any one else but I couldn't think of a better place to put it:

March 2009:
Cruising like a pro with occasional, wobbly ( and unassisted ) step
Can say , and use correctly, about 15 words
Loves to be read to
Loves to wrestle
Has a grand total of TWO teeth
Gave up the bottle ( 9 months)
Adios toddler chunks, hello big people food ( 9 months)!

March 2010:
Walking, running, jumping, climbing up and down stairs
Vocabulary is limitless- I couldn't begin to count her word. She talks in full sentences
Knows all of the letters by sight and can sing the whole alphabet
Knows her name ( and can spell it) and address
Knows all basic colors , all shapes and numbers ( 0-10)
Can count to 17 ( senenteen in Mackenzien)
Can put her own pants, socks , ( underwear when chooses) , and shoes on
Has all of her teeth but the two year molars and the wisdom teeth
Had discovered jalapenos and eats them with out blinking!
Has memorized almost every book she owns and just needs you to fill in the gaps!
She's a singing machine! She will sing any time any where!

Now that's a lot of growing! I am purely amazed when I compare the two lists...no wonder she soaks in about 14 hours of sleep a day. And I wonder how this list will compare with 2011's list! That's just too much for my mommy brain to consume! So for now, I'm leaving Memory Lane and am off to plan for a 2 year old's birthday party!

Sesame LIVE!

The big day, slow in it's coming, FINALLY arrived! We loaded into the car and headed for Detroit to see Sesame Street Live. Mackenzie had no clue what she was in for and , when the show started she was a bit star-struck. Soon after it started, she was dancing and clapping with a priceless smile on her face. Mike was the main photographer since Mack abandoned her seat for my lap as soon as the show started.

Ready to go!


Waiting to go into the theater with daddy:
Great seats!



Playing with her souvenir ( the figurines) that go perfectly with the Sesame house my mom sent for Christmas!