Once upon a time there was a tiny little baby...
Then she grew up.
Sheesh, for as quickly as it goes by I feel like that is exactly how the story goes. One day you have this tiny little thing, and the next day, you've got a goofy, moody, smart, funny, busy, headstrong, talkative, loving, amazing little 2 year old running around!
I cannot believe how much we love this little angel girl. She is feisty, and she certainly gives me a run for my money. Some days I actually go a little crazy and am not really sure what to do with this crazy monkey child!
But she is so funny, and so sweet, and brings so many smiles and laughs to our family. Our home would feel empty without her!
She is growing up so fast. Right now she is just 1/2 an inch shy of 3 feet tall (98th percentile for her age!), and she weighs 26 pounds! And boy is she busy! She loves to run, "skip" (more like a lopsided gallop), jump, dance, spin, stand on her head, stomp leaves, climb everything, sit on the kitchen counter, and get horsey rides from daddy. She loves to ride in the car and often asks to go "bye bye Tar!" But it really is the ride she loves most. Once we're out she's usually pretty eager to get back home and get back to her own little business. Unless we're in the stroller that is. The stroller is her true love, and she will sit and ride anywhere in that thing all day long! She loves dress up, loves to wear everyone else's shoes, loves to splash in the bathtub, loves to unload all the towels and washcloths from the kitchen drawer, and loves to "help" me reorganize the canned food in the pantry. She loves (and I repeat, LOVES!) to follow Brinlee around and try to do everything exactly how she does it. Which is darling! But she also likes to be a bit of a pest. She waits for the very best time to snatch something of Brinlee's away and then she makes off with it as fast as she can. I often find Brinlee crying, and then find McKenna tucked away in a hiding place with an armful of the things Brinlee had been playing with. She takes this younger sister job very literally, and very seriously.
This girl is not the best eater, she just doesn't have time for that. But when she's in the mood for food she will eat just about everything. Her favorites right now though are fruit snacks, blueberries, applesauce, green drinks, and chocolate milk. She feeds herself with a fork and spoon and sleeps in a big girl bed, but she hates going to bed, and hates wearing bibs. She loves to go to the zoo. Her favorite animals are elephants, monkeys, fish, and whatever animal Brinlee is into at the time. She loves to point out puppies from a distance, but is actually really terrified of dogs. She loves when daddy comes home, loves to go to nursery, loves to read and be read to, and loves to sing and be sung to. Her favorite book is Elmer and her favorite song is Old MacDonald. She loves Thomas the Train and is getting to be quite the creative little player. I find her little toys set up really cute all over the house. She loves to color, loves to cuddle and wrap up her baby dolls, loves to push strollers, loves to spread out blankets, loves to try puzzles, loves to stack blocks and drive cars, and she loves to play made up games with her sister. Her favorites are "What princess do you want to be?", 'Hide and find me", "Hep us!" (help us), "Sissy where are you?", "I won!", and "Who dat moise?" (what's that noise).
This little lady has the goofiest little personality. Honestly, most days, from one minute to the next, we're never quite sure what we're going to get. She is definitely a mamas girl and usually likes to have me close by. Fairly often she asks me for a "pick you up" and a quick cuddle. She gives the best squeeze hugs and the sweetest kisses. But only on her terms. She's also very headstrong and very independent. She likes to have her space and do things all by herself, and she gets frustrated and upset when she has any trouble. She hates to be bothered with things like meal time, bed time, and clean-up time, and when anything cramps her style at all, she is very quick to let you know very clearly, and very loudly, that she's not happy about it. She can throw very impressive fits and is not easily consoled or distracted, if she's angry or embarrassed that is. If she is hurt you almost can't help her and cuddle her fast enough. She has really perfected an impressive glare and scowl, and I would say that's the face we see from her most often. Sometimes her mood matches, other times is doesn't. She just likes to be cranky and angry I suppose. But she also has the sweetest little smile and laugh and I would say more often (despite what her face says) she really is a happy little thing. She can be very silly and very goofy, and very very sweet. She loves to be tickled, loves to fly like an airplane, loves to sit in my lap, and loves to follow and copy her big sister. She does like to pester and push her limits, but she has a sweet little heart and hates to see people sad. She is quick to say sorry and give lovies to help you feel better.
And she is so SO smart! She does a lot of talking and you can tell her little wheels are always turning. She likes problem solving, likes sneaking (unfortunately), loves observing and copying, loves books, and has an impressive little memory. She can "read" herself several of her favorite books, and she knows the words and carries a good tune for several songs. She knows most of her colors and can identify the name and sound for almost all of the letters in the alphabet. She remembers places we've been and can often point them out when we're out and about, and she pieces together simple but complete sentences ("Find a purple ball.", "Sissy need some too.") Thankfully though she still does sound pretty little when she talks. Everything she says right now is darling. But here are a few of my favorites right now:
"Nenna" - McKenna
"Sis", "Sissy", "Bin", "BeeBee" - her names for Brinlee
"Muh" - Snake
"Peek-a-you up" - pick me up
"Saw-saw-we" - sorry
"TeeTee" - cookie
"Pway pwace" - play place (anywhere with an indoor or outdoor play area, also her word for Nursery)
"Fine-Fine Doh-doh-we" - Finding Dory
"Moo Moo" - movie
"Pweeem" - cream
"Fo-Fah" - soda
"Acklo" - Ariel
"Fwo-fwen" - Frozen
"Tar" - car
"Ee-atch Dis!" - Watch this
"Sin-see" - silly
"Ban-Ban" - Vitamin
"Peemp boots" - pink boots
"Yah you" - love you
"Tuddol" - color, or cuddle... take your pick, but choose wisely!
"Eppent" - Elephant
"Breh-Bruh" - Umbrella
"Tay" - It's ok
"Dinda Tie-eem" - Dinner time
"Hep Us" - help me
"Kly-Kly" - butterfly
Basically, she's the best! And the cutest!! Honestly, I don't think I'll ever get enough of those blue eyes and that crazy wild blond hair.
Love that little face so much!
And a face like that really needs celebrated, don't you think?
We thought so too.
We actually weren't going to make it much of a big deal, but leave it to our little party planner Brinlee to make sure things are done right. Brinlee spent some time chatting with McKenna one morning, and by the time they came down for lunch, McKenna was all excited about an "Acklo Day" (Ariel birthday). Ariel is her current favorite princess, and not only do I also have a special place in my heart for The Littler Mermaid, I also can't really pass up an excuse to browse Pinterst and try out a couple new fun things. And so, Nenna's Acklo Day was born! We decorated for a little Saturday morning play date and had a few of the nursery and primary kids over to play upstairs while us mommy's and daddy's visited downstairs. And it was perfect! McKenna was in heaven! And it's like she knew exactly what to do! She greeted everyone, and acted shy and cute when they said Happy Birthday and told her what a big girl she was, and she laughed and played with all her friends, and she could not have been any cuter when we lit her candle and all sang happy birthday. It was the perfect day!
I cannot take any of the credit here. My good and amazingly talented friend across the street volunteered, then insisted, then made all of these gorgeous cupcakes. Candies and all!
Amazing.
And so perfect! We had one happy little birthday girl!
Her actual birthday day was a lot more quiet. It fell on a Sunday this year, so we went to church, and ate a yummy dinner, and went for a family walk, and opened presents, and ate more cupcakes, and took a bath, and played with new toys, and then our tired little birthday girl passed out on the couch! Perfect way to say "Hello world, look who's 2 now!"
She is truly amazing. And we are so amazingly blessed to have her.
Happy Birthday Nenna Monkey!
We love you, love you, love you!
