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.

Family Time

We've had a great summer so far and Kenzie has had some real quality time with her daddy. I am teaching summer school for four hours a day, so on the days when Dustin isn't working his summer job (right now he's only working Mondays and Thursdays) Kenzie gets to have her dad all to herself. I've already seen the bond between them growing. She used to reserve kisses for just Mama and Kona (okay, and any other dog), but now she shares them with Dustin too. He is enjoying his time with her and I think when the start of the school year comes it will be harder than normal for him to head back to work.


We are so lucky to have lots of time together over the summer and we try to get out ever afternoon to do something fun.

Last week we went for ice cream at the UConn dairy bar, then paid a visit to the cows that provided the milk for our tasty treat.

We went blueberry picking. We've been eating everything from blueberry pancakes, to blueberry bread and blueberry crisp. Kenzie is in her glory!

We had a blast cooking out and swimming at Bigelow Hollow with Alan, Leigh and kids. (Kona had fun, too)

And Kenzie's first (very brief) kayak ride was a success.

We hope you are enjoying your summer as much as we are.

The Cow Says Moo

Kenzie has been talking up a storm these days and it seems that everyday she says something new. She currently says over ten words, although Dustin and I may be the only ones who understand her. She says dada, mama, hi, bye-bye, Kona, ball, moo, quack, brrrrr (that's the noise an elephant makes w/ it's trunk, btw), all done ("ah dah"), more, blueberry, grandpa, and tonight she was trying to say water. Sometimes she says thank you and okay, but not consistently enough to say she really knows those words.

I try to catch some of these things on video, but she isn't a fan of speaking on demand. Here's what I have been able to record.

hi, bye, moo, grandpa, and wet kisses for the camera

all done, quack, elephant noises

Kenzie on Summer Fun

I've had a pretty busy summer so far. If you are having trouble thinking of ways to spend your time, here are some ideas:

Catch a local ball game.

(That's my cousin Kaitlin playing the dirt behind me)

Bury your worries in the sand.

Share a snack with a friend,

Or don't.

Take time to enjoy nature,

and check out the local wildlife.

Cheer on your favorite guy at his first ever dive tournament.

Most importantly, find time to just

relax.

Happy Summer everyone!

Meeting Madison

I ignored the signs for months; walking, communicating, eating grown-up foods, throwing the occasional temper tantrum. Then an event happened that thrust McKenzie from infanthood to toddlerhood the way nothing else could: we met Madison. Sweet, eight pound, three-week-old, little, baby Madison.

As I held that preciously tiny newborn, too small to fill out her little ducky pajamas, I watched McKenzie. While Madison lounged comfortably in my arms, Kenzie wreaked havoc on a home not yet accustomed to a moving child. She was busy touching everything in sight and wandering around from room to room leaving a line of cracker crumbs in her trail. She was playing with the dog, riding the minature rocking horse, laughing at who knows what and babbling incoherently. She was a long way from being a new baby. It had been thirteen months since she was a new baby. She's more than a year old. Yup, toddlerhood is here.

Still, I have a hard time calling Kenzie my toddler. The word conjures up images of two and three-year-olds, talking and running and playing make-believe. McKenzie is years away from that. Right?

She'll always be my baby.