She's TWO!

Dear Makenna,

Today is your birthday! You're two!! This almost surprises me because it's seems like you've been two for awhile now. You're on the high end of the growth chart for height and seem right on track socially and physically with kids that are a number of months older. You have, in the past week or so, started exhibiting more of the "terrible two" behavior that we hadn't seen much of prior to this. You really are two!

You are so much fun to be around. You smile and laugh all the time, love to play with us and your brother, and constantly want to be tickled. You're still pretty easy going and distractable, although you definitely have a mischeivious streak and have recently figured out "No!". You still love playing hide and seek, peek a boo and even patty cake, but you also appreciate light saber fights with Ryan, books (which you are constantly asking one of us to read) and anything associated with baby dolls. Oh, and I can't forget your obsession with bags and shoes. You got that from your mommy.

You continue to enjoy just about any fruit we put in front of you. You call all of them apples, even the green olives that I eat are called apples, and your favorites right now are probably cantalope and clementines. Your favorite meals are spaghetti and stir fry, both of which generally get a "YUM YUM" when they arrive at the table. Other favorites include pickles, string cheese, yogurt, milk, chi bok...which means juice box to you, and any kind of cracker or cookie you can get your hands on.

You're still pretty quiet when out of your environment or around people you don't know, but we slowly see you coming out of that. Strangers can get you to smile now, although you still survey your surroundings intensely and the smiles only come when you feel comfortable. You get tons of comments about your little ringlet curls, cute cheeks and grey eyes which you couldn't care less about, but they make your daddy and I smile.

You tell all of us that you love us all the time. It's the cutest thing and makes my heart burst each time I hear it. I really want to get it on video but every time you see the camera or video camera you freeze. I hope to catch it soon.

You have your own language right now. I find myself translating for you at times, even with your daddy. Some of your better known "words" are:

chi bok = juice box

elk = thank you...it stems from the shortened version of welcome, which you seem to think means thank you

ook/bok = milk

yock = sock

Your vocabulary is growing all the time and most words are understandable, so your "makenna-isms" are pretty cute. You've also begun stringing two words and sometimes even three together and often if you're talking about an action you have to talk about it for each member of the family, ie. "Daddy bye bye? Ryan bye bye? Mommy bye bye?"

You got Pneumonia for Christmas this year and got to be just like your brother and have breathing treatments. You did really well and even held the mask with only a few short lived battles. I hope this doesn't mean you'll develop the asthma issues that he's developed. You also got to visit a dermatologist last month because of a rash on your face that refused to go away. The doc thought it was eczema, so we're treating it as such. Seems to be working, so hopefully you won't have continued issues.

You seem to have the same appreciation for music as the rest of the family. One of your favorite Christmas gifts was a little guitar that Ryan picked out for you, you play it and dance around. You dance and clap along with songs on the radio and you're constantly singing the ABC's. You seem to have an affinity for 80's music right now...your daddy is proud.

We're thankful your baby brother hasn't arrived yet, I was nervous he'd want to share your birthday. We're glad your special day continues to be just yours.

Your favorite outfit currently consists of a diaper, your brothers sunglasses and some mismatched flipflops that your brother wore last summer. I wouldn't care, except it's the middle of winter, so we're constantly trying to put your clothes back on.

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl. We love you very much!

Love,

Mommy

*1st and 2nd pictures by http://katecrafton.blogspot.com/

*Updated to add Makenna's stats from her well check up. She was a trooper and very cooperative. The nurse and ped both commented on how good she was. She shed a few tears when she got her shots, but then sat through the blood draw like it was nothing. Turns out her iron is a little low so she's on a daily vitamin for that now. She weighed in at 30lb 14 oz which is 90th percentile, 35 1/2 inches tall which is 89th percentile and head circumference is 88th percentile. Ryan better watch out, she might just be taller than he is!