The World of Mackay

The other morning, sun was streaming through the window of our master bedroom. (Yes, despite the past two weeks of constant rain, we did have one sunny day.) I noticed Mackay looking a little like she was hallucinating, as she stared blankly into space, and sort of randomly grabbed at the air with her fingers.  As I came up behind her, I realized that she was seeing dust motes floating in the air. I commented 'You can't grab those, Mackay, they are just dust,' and she looked at me and said 'Dust!'  Not 'Du' or even 'Dus', but 'Dust' with the full tongue tap on the roof of her mouth. This is the first real enunciation we've heard from her, and we are quite proud. Of Mackay, not my housekeeping abilities.

I keep trying to tell her that dancing on tables is NEVER a good career move - especially when you have a feather boa...

Until tonight, Mackay used a spoon merely as an accelerator for transporting yogurt onto the floor or cabinets. In today's exciting news, Mackay has had her first successful use of an eating utensil. She used a fork, repeatedly, to pick up various vegetables like olives and beans, and actually deliver them to her mouth. Each time she speared something, she uttered a little 'heh heh' and looked mighty pleased with herself.  Hey - in this economy, we gotta celebrate the little things. 

Happy New Year to all! Santa, friends and family were extraordinarily generous this year, and the divine miss M has more toys than she can handle. However, she is still unclear on the concept of her Little People schoolbus, circus, and garage. When she's not trying to climb or sit on them, she is ripping the little people out of their seats, chewing on their heads, and leaving their vehicles and games in a pile of wreckage behind her. If you hear of any toy manufacturers that are looking for children to drop test their products, send them our way. Mackay is a one-kid demolition crew.

Mackay can hug. And she can give the most awesome, heartfelt hugs you could ever imagine. With me, it's a mini death grip around my neck, where she hangs on and doesn't let go. With her dad, she holds him tightly, and simultaneously pats him on the back (as he does her). Talk about making your heart melt... But if she throws my hairbrush in the toilet one more time, I swear I'm going to sell her to the gypsies.

Fellow moms, you let me down. I was critically misinformed about the amount of sticky mess that a 1 year old can produce. How is it possible that one baby can cover 500+ square feet with drool, food scraps, and general gunk in less than 30 minutes? The combined effort of vacuum, Swiffer, broom and sponge cannot hope to keep up. If you don't hear from me for a day or two, please send help. I may be stuck to the kitchen floor.

Mackay has learned to stamp her feet. At first, it was part of her dancing. Any time she hears music (radio, tv commercials, even her dad's off key ditties), she gets this look of absolute joy. She sort of hunches her shoulders, bounces up and down, and begins to randomly stamp one foot. Sadly, she lacks any sense of rhythm, and would not look out of place in the backwoods of the Ozarks. (No offense to any of you Ozarkians out there.)  She also seems to stamp when she's excited, or she discovers a new surface (a towel on the floor, a manhole cover, a rug...) She gets both feet going really fast - frankly doing a passable impression of Jennifer Beals in Flashdance. More recently, she has started stamping when she's mad. If you take something away from her, she lets out an ear-piercing screech, balls her hands up into furious little fists, and stamps her foot for emphasis. I have to turn away when she does it, because if I laugh at her, it only makes her madder. I thought the...