Makenzie is 16 months!

Wow, our little girl changed a lot this month and has definitely become a big time toddler. Makenzie is learning new things every day and is so much fun (most of the time). She cracks us all up, especially her big sis. The girls already have a sisterly love hate relationship. One minute they are the best of friends being so sweet to each other and then next they are screaming at each other while fighting over a toy. I love every minute of it! I find so much joy in watching my two girls together that yes, I even enjoy the moments when they are arguing. It just reminds me how blessed we are to have two amazing little girls. 

Here is what Makenzie has been up to this month: 

New Words: 

*Mama (Finally!!!)

*Minnie

* Fia (for Sofia the first)

*knock-knock (this is my personal favorite. She will say it as she knocks on a door wanting it to be opened). 

* Caity , she also attempts Lindsey (her two big cousins in PHX)

*Wa-wa (water, she signs water as she says it)

*Peas (please, she also signs please as she says it)

*moon (Kenzie is now obsessed with seeing the moon and like Morgan used to she points to it each time like its the first time she is every seeing it)

*stars

*red

*white

*green

*octagon

* I am sure there are more I am forgetting. She tries to say everything now a days. 

Eating

Makenzie is still taking after me in being a very picky eater. New in the last week or so is that we are actually getting her to eat at the dinner table in her own seat. Still half the time most of her dinner ends up thrown on the floor and then I am making her oatmeal since she refused to eat our dinner, but at least she is eating in her own seat. Baby steps. We have found certain dinners that she typically eats without refusal including cheese crisps, black beans, chili (mostly the kidney beans), and of course mac-n-cheese. She is also a huge fan of corn. In fact if we give her corn on her plate that is the ONLY thing she will eat and she will insist on more. Makenzie has also developed a love for the giant pretzel rods, which is nice because they make a great food for teething. 

Sleeping:

Makenzie continued this past month on a pretty regular sleep routine. She went down around 7:00 each night and slept solid until just about 5. She would sometimes go back to sleep, but usually not for more than 20 minutes. I don't think I used my alarm for work once this month. I am really hoping now that we are on break from school we can break her of this early morning wake up. Most of the month Makenzie still took two naps a day. The first usually around 8:30 or 9:00 and that only lasted about 30 minutes. She would take her second nap sometime between 12:30 and 1:00. Typically this second nap would last 45 minutes to 1 hour. 

Likes:

*Practicing her letters: Thanks to the wonderful video Meet the Le.tters Makenzie already knows several letters including O, A, R, S, B, C, Y, E, I, V, and P. 

*Reading books. Kenzie's new favorites include Fancy Nancy, Knuffle Bunny, and Twinkle Twinkle. 

*Coloring. She loves to color with Morgan, however, she has discovered that crayons will make colorful marks on mommy's tile. 

 

Some Highlights in pictures:

Makenzie did a trip to the zoo and Desert Museum with her grandma and buddy.

She wasn't too sure about feeding the giraffe.

Checking out the animals with her friend. Her friend lives two houses down from Donna and Charley and is just 2 months older.

So adorable!

Kenzie decided to help her daddy out with some work.

Taking her baby for a walk.

Makenzie finally grew and her size 3 shoes were getting snug so we headed out for a little girl time shoe shopping.

checking out her new shoes in the mirror.

Morgan told us one night that it was about time we give Makenzie her old horse giddy-up. Morgan said "I want to teach her how to ride" She really is the best big sister!

Enjoying a little family movie night watching one of our many princess movies.

Kenzie has started making shopping trips more interesting. I am now THAT MOM with the screaming kid in the store. David was laughing at the fact that instead of trying to hurry and get out of the store I stopped to take a picture.

We enjoyed a visit from my dad and stepmom. The girls put on another princess movie to watch. I love how Kenz is sitting with her hand on her head just like my dad.

Morgan giving Kenzie her riding lessons.

Makenzie wants to do everything her big sis is doing so when it is time to read books before bed she jumps right in.

Hey sis, what's your book about?

We went to PHX to celebrate my dad's 60th birthday.

Couldn't resist adding this beautiful picture of Morgan.

Or this goofy picture of Morgan. She thought this mask of her Pa was hilarious!

Kenzie enjoyed a wonderful 2 and 1/2 hour nap in the car at 4:00 am the morning after the party in PHX. She hardly slept that night so poor David got up and drove her around.

Later that day she crashed....did I mention how much she likes pretzel rods?

Kenzie and Morgan went on a trip with their daddy to the nursery to pick out a new plant for the front yard.

Makenzie found David's screwdriver and was trying to help fix Morgan's bike. I think it is time for a new bike...Morgan has outgrown this one just a bit.