Gosh, where does he time go. When I initially thought of doing this, I figured it would be an optomistical daily post, if not for sure weekly. My oh my, it has been 10 months. I guess that's what happens sometimes, life can pass you by if you let it. So, a brief update, pictures to follow, and a ppromise, that this will be a more frequent occurrence.
December, happy 1st christmas, Happy Birthday! It was a busy month, if I remember, getting ready for the holidays, getting ready our holiday. Mackenzie became quite the good walker. Danielle went back to work, and somehow, Mackenzie knew this and magically started sleeping through the night. Amazing.
January, we experienced our first vacation. Mackenzie flew in a jet, moreso on our laps for the ride to Mexico. We had a lot of fun. Not too much sleep since we messed up her schedule a little and her sleeping in thebig bed with us. Regardless, what do you really expect from a one year old. I remember coming home, and wondering what to expect as far as a routine was concerned. Funny enough, sleeping through the night, and one day until 8:45 am. I feel wierd for saying this, but you almost want to go in and check her pulse. regardless, it was nice.
February, Happy birthday Danielle. A little late, but hey, I remembered. Mackenzie was still as adventerous as ever, growing and exploring. A year ago, we didn't fathom this day, she was so small and fragile, now she is her own little person. Her top teeth have come in now, that makes 4, 16 more to go.
March, a sad day, I don't know which day specifically, but we made a decision for Mackenzie to go to day care. There is nothing wrong with day care, she gets to interact with other kids, meet new friends, spend a day in a more structured environment then what we may be giving her. All I know is it is becoming too hard on her Nana & Papa to chase her around and ensure her safety. I remember crying and feeling like a failure. Here, I have this wonderful home based business, that someday will allow us to be stay at home parents. I have worked at it for 5 years, and because I did not build it as large as I wanted too, I had failed. Why, because I did not get my wish of being able to do what I want when I wanted with her. Not only that, to give Danielle the choice to quit her job. This was not yet an option for us. I know it will be someday, soon.
April, daycare is going as planned, an upset Mackenzie, overtiredness, some more sleepless nights. We ponder stopping daycare, but realize this is growing pains. Unfortunately, she has to go through this if dayy care is her option. Thank goodness our sitter, Darlene is brutally honest with us. She tells us if Mackenzie fell, eventhough we have no way of knowing. But apparently, thi behaviour is normal. Show up, make the hand off, leave. No lingering, no visting, do it. It gets easier.
May, seems so long ago. I got a life back and no longer had to work until midnight for the next 4 months. It was a nice change. I still put off doing my taxes. I don't know why I do that. Nobody likes owing money. Oh well, time to grow up. Ever year, I will owe money. Period.
Started doing some outside stuff, started gettinf some words. If I remember, the vocabulary included, Nana, Papa, Mommy, daddy, shoe, up, abby (her cousin), and a few others. I wish I wrote them down. Better late than never I guess. Somewhere this month was the "big fall" at the babysitters. We were using a gate, she wasn't. So Mackenzie came home with a big goose egg. And debate number 2 went on about sitting. Kids will fall, get banged up, have some scrapes, god designed them for this.
June, the summer of fun. That was until we replaced our transmission in our new used car. Not even 5 years old, not even 100K. Crap happens. You win some, you lose some. Regardless, move on, don't hang on. Out side quickly became a new word. Every morning, Mackenzie would bring us her shoes, our shoes too for that matter. Amazing, they always matched. If we wanted different ones, she would exchange them. She doesn't even talk but she knows. Hard to believe what they absorb, and in such little time. Tiime to start watching what you say nd how you say it. She is watching, she is learning. As summer brings heat, Mackenzie's new word...."freezy". Somehow between now and then, then meaning spring. We decided that she was ready for a 'big girl chair' at the dinner table. Well, that was a novelty for a few months. Then we got tired of grabbing her off the table. We know she could climb. But every night, on the dinner table, we had enough. So, back came the high chair. We decided to do what Darlene does. It is hard to be consistent. Some days, we don't feel like it. I don't know why, exhaustion, frustration, lack of patience, it happens. Our jub is to make it happen less often, than more often. So, when we got "attitude" at the dinner table, spin her around, let her yell it out. If it became too much, upstairs, in your room for a few minutes. Over time, we have had to do this less and less. Thank goodness. Neither of us enjoy an upset child. We just want to be happy and fun all the time. We're still working on that. Ironically, we stopped going out for dinner this month too. There seemed nothing logical about going out for a 'break' when you are spending half the time wrestling with your daughter in the restaraunt booth. We didn't go out much, maybe a dinner lunch and breakfast over the course of a month. To some, that is a lot, to others, that is nothing. To us, we just did it if we felt like it.
July, happy birthday to me. Paid for most of the transmission. Decided my 16 year old car had enough km's on it, 420,000 if I remember correctly. It was no longer safe and wouldn't survive another winter. So, I got my dream vehicle. A van. Most guys spend their teenage years yearning for the day they can own a van. No shagcarpets, no tear drop windows, no fuzzy dice, a van. A van for the family to grow in. A van for work around the house. A van for vacations, a van for day trips, a van for visiting, a van I hope, will create some family memories.
So now, I became pick up man at the babysitters. I looked forward to driving around the corner each day at 4:30, and watching Mackenzie stop dead in her tracks, start jumping up and down, excited that you were there for her again. Or if the weather was raining, she would stand at the window, and run to the door when she saw you. Priceless. You don't know how you can love a little thing so much. Not only that, why does she love us so much. Does she even know what that means? A bunch of new words this month I am sure. Truck, uh oh, keem (ice cream), apple, open, all done, horsey, this list goes on. Every day seems like something new.
August came, a day trip to lion safari, a day at the beach (or was that July), a trip to the zoo. The screaming and hitting and pinching still continues...or did I mention that yet. Frustrating. Many a time out has happenned. We will not tolerate it. It is like when she learned to walk. In Mexico, we would spend a half hour going up one stair, turning around, going down the same stair. It drove us crazy. I knew it was a phase, now it is over. Now she goes up 13 stairs, and down 13 stairs, without help and seldom falling. It is getting better this screaming and hitting stuff. But we still want it to be gone. Having a bad temper is not a good thing. Danielle can sense her frustration, 'Mackenzie, use your words..." brilliant. Try and settle her down. Get her to communicate. Soon enough, that is all she will do...more on September.
