Mischief Maker

I found some adorable pajamas on the clearance rack for Makenna the other day. They have two little monkeys on the front and it says "Mischief Maker". Unfortunately they don't make these in Maryn's size because she is the child that should be wearing them! She is definitely our mischief maker! Full-of-it, push-her-luck, sometimes devious, whatever you want to call it! :) The funny thing is is that she is still our really good baby (okay toddler, but I still call her my baby). She will have days of just being an angel, and then I'll have a morning like yesterday morning where I just don't know what to do with the kid! When she gets in her mischievous mood she will purposely go to the things in the house that she knows are off limits and test me! If anyone tells her "No no" she will just smile and if you raise your voice after repeated attempts of trying to get her stop she will just start laughing at us. We try removing her from whatever situation it may be and distracting her with something else but it doesn't work. This kid will stop at nothing to prove her point and get her way! The thing that just makes it all the harder - God gave her that adorable dimple and those twinkling eyes so even when she's being naughty it's hard not to smile at her. I can't tell you how many times Josh or I have had to leave the room or turn our heads so she can't see us smiling or laughing. I've always heard that every child is different to parent and so far that has proven to be true... Makenna was a higher maintenance baby whereas Maryn was super laidback. As a toddler, Makenna has a very big heart and will start crying if you even look at her crossly whereas Maryn will just laugh at us and try again. Right now I'm just thankful that her mischievous mood isn't an everyday thing :)

I always have a hard time telling who my kids look like. I hear repeatedly how much Makenna looks like Josh, but I don't know if people just say that because she has lighter hair like him. As she's gotten older I've seen more of the resemblance, especially when they are sitting right next to each other. But the other night I had the weirdest experience... Maryn was sitting in her highchair finishing up her dinner and as I glanced over at her all of a sudden it was like I was looking at my 1 year old pictures! She looks just like me as a 1 year old! Albeit a much thinner me at 1 year old, but she has the exact same eyes, nose, mouth and hair color. It's an amazing thing to see this in your own child.

The girls have started going to the gym daycare with me during the day so I can get my workouts in earlier in the day rather than always waiting until after they are in bed. This works out much better for our family since we have two people trying to fit workouts into our crazy schedule. Anyway, as is to be expected, Makenna loves going and playing with all the kids. She doesn't even bat an eye. Maryn has her good days and bad days. Some days she'll run in there and not look back whereas other days I'll pick her up and I can tell that she's been crying :( I hate that. But the ladies that take care of her told me that the thing that bothers her the most is when other moms come to pick up their kids, Maryn wants to leave with them! She thinks it should be her turn to leave and the other moms are her ticket out of the play area! She apparently will stand at the little kids door with her arms outstretched wanting all the other moms to take her! That child concerns me since she has no weariness of strangers whatsoever. Much too trusting of a soul. We will be doing lots of talk about stranger danger when she gets old enough. Luckily Maryn has a very sweet older sister... the ladies that work in the daycare have told me that Makenna will come over to Maryn and sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to her when she gets upset because "That's what Mommy does." :)