Brinley's been taking baby steps for weeks now. She'd walk a few steps, then remember how much faster and easier crawling is. Last Thursday is the first day she really started walking non-stop! She only crawls when she's being dramatic and needs to be as close to the ground as she can for a big lay-down-on-the-ground-cry in hopes we'll pick her up.
She also likes to climb on the couch. Last night when Dave told her "no standing" while shaking his head, she looked at him and nodded yes. Now her favorite thing is to slide over the side armrest onto the ground.
Makenzie has come up with a few words of her own. Around Christmas last year, when referring to her Twinkle Toes Skechers, she would say they spinkle. That's sparkle and twinkle combined, and I think it's brilliant. My new favorite is when she refers to one piece of clothing as clo. Since her entire ensemble is clothes, if she's talking about one piece it is clo. She told me this morning that we need to put her clo (nightgown) in the dryer because she spilled milk on it.
One of our rituals on a hot day after a visit to the park is to have popsicles on the front porch. This is mostly because, in Makenzie's opinion, there are few things better than playing at the park, and one of them is a popsicle. She will leave the park at any time for one. So when I'm ready to leave the park, all I have to do is ask who wants a popsicle, and she will run for her tricycle and head home. Makenzie is not a popsicle biter. She patiently and loudly slurps until hers is half the size around. Then she will bite it. Brinley, on the other hand, bites off as big of a piece as she can and doesn't wince once while chewing it. Brinley and I share a popsicle. One of my favorite summer moments was when Brinley and I had already finished ours, while Makenzie slowly worked on hers until it lost almost all color. She was nice enough to let Brinley have some of hers. The priceless moment was the look on Makenzie's face when Brinley took a huge bite out of her nicely manicured popsicle. Makenzie was so disappointed and just stood in awe for a few seconds staring at her popsicle. It probably didn't help that I was laughing.
We move in three days. THREE DAYS! Waiting to move into this house has almost been torturous. The townhouse we're in suits us fine. It has three bedrooms (I'm grateful the girls don't have to share a room), a double car garage to hold the 3/4 of our belongings we left packed (and also seems to be air conditioned . . . bonus), slow close toilet seats (that Dave's not sure he can live without now) and it's a good location. I've learned a lot about what I do not like in a house. Just a few I can think of right now: carpet in the dining room, cheap doors and knobs, single sink in the master bath, and cabinets without pulls. I could live with those things if I had to, but the one I could not live with is a top loading washer. Can't do it. Do yourself a favor, and if you are ever in the market for a new washer & dryer, do not buy top loaders. Don't do it. Your clothes and electric bill will thank you!
I'll close with some pictures of Makenzie. She loves her Hello Kitty rainboots. I almost threw them away while packing for Minnesota. But Krystal was there to tell me not to. And I'm so glad I didn't because they are Makenzie's go-to shoe. I'd like to make some of these pictures black & white before I post them but I'd rather get in a shower while Brinley naps than take the time to do that, so just use your imagination! I will include one of these on a gallery wall in our new house; a winter project!
This reminds me of a Michael Jackson dance move. The one where he would pull up his pants to show his white glittery socks and jump up onto his toes.
