Nice Sister?

Kenzie got a baby doll from Santa at a party at Dustin's school earlier this week.  Should we be worried about bringing a real baby into the house?

 (P.S. that is a balloon animal that has come undone in the background...don't be getting any ideas)

Christmas is in the house

A tree?  In the living room?  This is a crazy holiday.  Every morning, when Kenzie remembers that we have a piece of the woods decorated in our home, she says excitedly,"tee, tee, tee!" (translation: "tree"...and yes, she always says things at least twice, usually more, with a great sense of urgency).

She enjoyed the hunt for the perfect tree, especially because it included a tractor ride up the mountain.

Sad side note: I lost that absolutely adorable hand-me-down puffy vest from LL Bean while shopping earlier this week.
I am so disappointed in myself.

I know she loves the holidays because she gets to do things that we never let her do, like eat handfuls of candy while making a gingerbread cottage.  We had intended this gingerbread-home-making session as a photo opportunity for our Christmas card, but we weren't able to pry the candy from her death grip and every time we asked her to smile a mouthful of purple/yellow/orange drool leaked down her chin.  Not exactly what we had planned.

Her hands and mouth are full of candy.

Her chin isn't always that color.

Halloween: Quack Quack

Without a doubt, McKenzie was the cutest duck in the pond on Halloween.  While I was hesitant to take her trick-or-treating because she can't even say "trick-or-treat" yet, we decided that she would enjoy the experience and it turned out to be pretty fun for us too.

At the first house the owner placed a bowl full of candy at Kenzie's level and she just stared at it in amazement.  The woman put FOUR pieces of candy into Kenzie's bucket.  As Dustin and Kenzie walked back to the bottom of the driveway where I was waiting she couldn't stop looking into her bucket.

They just gave this to me?  I didn't have to beg? Didn't have to whine?

At the second house, as soon as the bowl of candy was in reach, Kenzie dug her hand in and grabbed a pack of Nerds before anyone changed their mind.

This is crazy! 

By the third house, Kenzie was leaving Dustin behind as she ran up the walkway to the awaiting bowl of candy.  

Come on daddy!  There's chocolate up there!

We only went to five or six houses, but she got plenty of loot.  She also enjoyed checking out some of the other kids in their costumes.  I'm sure her favorite part of the night was the mini Twix bar that we let her have on the car ride home.  We can hardly wait for next year.

Halloween: Pumpkin Guts

Dustin and I waited until the last possible moment to carve our pumpkins because we had a hard time finding a time when we would be able to do it together as a family.  We were so excited to see Kenzie's reaction when she dug her hand inside the pumpkin to feel the slimy, juicy pumpkin guts.  Boy were we disappointed! She refused to go anywhere near the guts with her bare hands.  She kept holding out her arms and indicating that she wanted to touch the gooey stuff, but when we tried to hand it to her she ran away.

Next year I'm hoping she'll dig right in.

Halloween: Picking the Perfect Pumpkin

A Tough Year for Squirrels

I fear the squirrels will have a difficult time making it through winter because of the stores of acorns we are bringing into the  house.  McKenzie has made it her personal mission to collect all acorns found lying in our yard, and there are a lot. I've tried to convince her that they are best left outside, but she insists on bringing them inside and keeping them in various cups and buckets.  I've recently resorted to hiding them from her in hopes that she will forget about her new game  "Put an Acorn in my Mouth Then Run Away from Mommy."  She's very good at this game.

Celebrations

There is a lot of clapping and cheering happening in our home these days. There are just so many things to celebrate.

We celebrate when,

• McKenzie pokes her fork into a piece of food and then takes the food all the way to her mouth. Woo Hoo! (she claps for herself everytime she successfully does this now)
• McKenzie does something we ask her to do, although she usually does things on her own terms. She may not give me the pen, but when I say, "please give the pen to daddy," she does so willingly. Good job!
• after coming up with an elaborate plan and timetable to make binkies "only for bedtime," Kenzie surprises us by willingly throwing her pacifiers into her crib before we take her out each morning. Yes!
• without any prompting, Kenzie announces she's "ah da" playing with the cardboard box, brings it to the cupboard, opens the door, and puts it with the rest of the paper recycling. Nice work!
• instead of hitting us or Kona, Kenzie is able to "do nice" and give just hugs and kisses. Good girl!
• after much practice, our little climber figures out how to go backwards down the stairs on her own...not that we want her to, but it's better than the just-step-and-hope-someone-catches-me method.  Chee Hoo!
• the last ring is placed on the "Rock a Stack."  Not an easy feat when it is floating around in the bathtub. Yah!
• any body part is correctly identified.  You got it! When asked, she consistently points to her mouth, belly button, feet, fingers, toes, and hair.  She can find my nose and eyes, but can't seem to locate them on her own body.  
• Kenzie says a new word. Go Kenzie! This happens almost everyday now. She says over 20 words (including animal sounds) and is really good about telling us what she wants and needs. She has perfected a vigorous head shake while saying "no, no, no," and always has an appetite for "boo bawee, boo bawee" (translation: blueberries).

She does NOT want to get out of the pool.