As always, she is as hilarious as ever. Just about every time she opens her mouth it's funny, whether she wants it to be or not. She has a sarcastic side to her. She not only says sarcastic things, but uses a sarcastic voice and sarcastic facial expressions. She likes to use the word 'Sorry' when she is being sarcastic. I not going to do that Momma. Sor-ry! (with a cute lil' head tilt and all.) She tends to be very much aware of what the rules are, but breaks them anyways and, what a shock, resists any consequences. As soon as a 'consequence' is being implemented, she will state all her infractions and promise never to do them again, in a very I'm humoring you type of way. Oh, okay Mackenzie...nice try! Or, she tries to find new creative ways to push limits. One day she didn't like something I said and she said, I going to spit at the word (insert spitting noise). See Momma, I no spit at you, I spit at the word. Again, nice try Mackenzie! Clever and full of sass that girl is and, as I have said before, way smarter than I am. Unfortunate, but true! (I'm happy to say she has finally, it seems, moved on from the spitting phase. Replaced by what, I don't know yet. But she appears to be 'over' spitting.)
Mackenzie has a thing with doors right now. We have three doors off the living room, two bedroom and one bathroom. She will close them all and wants them to stay closed. If I go in a room and don't close the door when I come back, she will stop whatever she is doing and go close it or will say: Will you please close the bathroom door for me, Momma? If I do close it, she will say, Thank you for closing it for me. Polite little thing, isn't she? Now she also wants the window blinds closed, which is a drag, since it makes the house even darker. But she seriously cannot tolerate them open right now. She is in a Scaries Stage. So, I oblige her because...
Mackenzie likes to be the boss. At all times. She has no problem letting us know when we do something wrong. Noooo, you supposed to do it like this. You supposed to say it like this. And, she has no problem telling me when I do something she doesn't like or when she is mad at me: I no like that Momma. I not love you. I not your friend. But, when she's over it, she will sweetly say, I love you again Momma. You my friend. And, she's irresistibly sweet when she does. As much as she likes to be the boss and to be in charge, she also very much likes to be my helper. She is the most adorable helper there ever was. I am sure of it. She takes her jobs very seriously and works them to completion. She's diligent. And, as much as she likes to be the boss, she still likes to be our little girl and to be snuggled and taken care of.
Her imagination continues to be phenomenal. It cracks me up how I have gotten her so many toys to stimulate her imagination, yet very often she would much rather use a box for her baby to sleep in during her imaginative play than the play crib. I guess that's why they refer to it as 'using your imagination,' right? All of her play these days involves her imagination. And very often focuses on figuring out social norms and relationships. She rehearses a lot through play. With her dolls, her little people, stuffed animals, real people. You name it. One day on the way home in the car I heard in the back having pretend conversations with her friends. Saige, that's a beautiful shirt. Do you want to go play and be my friend? Oh here comes Emerson. A whole world she had going on in her car seat. Hearing it being played out was simply magical. As you can see, she's moved into social play. Her friends change all the time. Seems that the kids at the totcollege go through phases where so and so plays with so and so and the next day it's so and so and so and so. Lately it's been Saige again.
When things don't work out as well as she - we - would like, she is able to talk about it. Today her friend Ben was over and she did something that upset him. After he left she pretended to be Ben and told me that I was his Mommy. I asked 'him' what he did today and she went on to tell me about his play date with Mackenzie and how she hurt his feelings.(She did apologize to Ben and he accepted, so it was all okay. But clearly, after he left, she still had a little more processing to do.) This showed me that not only is she aware and trying to figure things out, but that she has some empathy too. And, is capable of reflection.
She works hard on her problem solving skills and, frequently, tries very hard to 'do the right thing' instead of impulsively reacting. She will 'decide' to wait patiently for her turn or share and take turns with someone or something. One of the best things about this is that she feels a sense of accomplishment when she successfully handles a situation. Seems that Three is a lot about repetition and rehearsal. Hard work. One morning she had had a rough morning and was cranky. After she calmed down, she said to me Momma, I'm sorry. Sometimes I don't know what the problem is. I was crying, I don't know why.
She's hit a few new 'milestones.' In no particular order:
- She's very into being 'first' unless it involves something she doesn't want to do and then she wants to be second or whatever is last.
- She is also into things being 'fair,' which means swayed in her favor. She has used the phrase Mo-om. That's not fair!
- Using different forms of the word 'Bored.' One day she was doing something unsafe and I told her I didn't want her to get hurt. She asked Why and I told her then we would have to go the hospital and she replied with Oh Mo-om. The hospital is boring!
- Being focused on being a 'big kid' and all that comes with it.
- Carrying BuddyCat around, which he doesn't always like.
- Having an evolved sense of 'what usually happens.' Usually I snuggle with Buddy in the morning on the couch.
- She loves using scissors. She is sort of starting to draw people like figures. She makes an 'M' and and an 'A.' And, she recognizes a few letters. She can do some counting - meaning identify how many objects there are. I think she counts to 20 now.
- She has some sense of time. Past and future. But they are still always yesterday and tomorrow.
- Using the word 'gross' on a regular basis. And 'stinky butt.' And, unfortunately, 'stupid.'
One night we were playing in bed before sleeptime and I told her I was going to eat her for lunch the next day. She got really (pretend) serious and said, But then you won't have a child. But then you could born-ded me again and I would be your baby.
She still is my baby. Doesn't matter how old she gets, she always will be.
Have I told you lately MyBabyMackenzie how much I Love You? VeryveryVERY Much!
No comments:
Post a Comment