Mackenzie recently had her 3rd birthday. It was a very special day for the both of us since Mackenzie was born on my birthday. I joke around saying that Mackenzie showed up a week overdue because she wanted to steal my birthday away from me however I truly do enjoy sharing a day with such an incredible little girl!
Mackenzie celebrated her birthday with friends and family the week before her actual birthday. And then BJ, Mack, and I celebrated together on our actual birthday. I'm quite certain Mack thought her birthday lasted a couple of weeks!
Mackenzie has been eyeing toddler bikes for quite some time. We weren't (and still aren't) quite sure on how well Mackenzie will do with riding a bike with training wheels but we try our hardest to let Mackenzie try everything kids her age are doing. There is a local program that makes adaptive bikes for kids and adults with physical limitations and one of Mackenzie's physical therapists recommended that we look into it (which we have) but before getting her one we want to see how she does with a regular bike. So for Mack's 3rd birthday we gave her a princess bike. Mackenzie LOVES her bike. She works very hard at riding it. There have been some bouts of frustration on her end (and I'm sure more to come!), even a hard fall on the sidewalk, but she continues trying and I have full faith that she will continue improving with riding her bike.
Mackenzie had another proud moment this past weekend. We ended up getting snow (which does not typically happen in our area this time of year!). Mackenzie was very excited to put on her boots and go out and play with Daddy. The few times it snowed this winter were rough for Mack. She wanted to play in the snow but wasn't able to walk around (or even stand) on her own in the snow plus wearing the boots made it even harder! But this past weekend she was able to get around (with just a few falls) on her own. She helped Daddy build a snowman and was VERY proud of herself. I'm not too fond of snow especially mid-March however I'm so glad it did snow this time because it gave Mackenzie the opportunity to build her first snowman. We're already talking about building more snowmen next winter (since Mack was very disappointed watching her snowman melt).
Mackenzie turning 3 means that she ages out of Early Intervention. With Early Intervention we had the therapists come into our home to do the sessions. Mackenzie had to say bye to one of her physical therapists, her occupational therapist and vision specialist. We have had these 3 women come into our home for over a year and I know Mackenzie will greatly miss them. Laura, Colleen, and Pam- if you read this- thank you for all of your work with Mackenzie the past year+! Since Mackenzie ages out of Early Intervention it means she can go into the special education program in the local public school system. We have opted out of putting Mackenzie in the program for now. She is striving at a local church preschool and is able to have an aide with her at all times. We are taking Mackenzie to private physical and speech therapy sessions weekly so we feel that she is getting the services she needs right now. We aren't sure what services she will need once she starts kindergarten but we will cross that bridge when the time comes. Right now we feel that we should keep her where she is because of how well it is working for her. We are very thankful to have a local church preschool be so accommodating- Mackenzie LOVES going to preschool! She even has a little boy in her class who she says is her boyfriend--BJ isn't too fond of this!:)
And as for Mackenzie's aide at preschool-- This young lady has been a wonderful blessing to our family! We met Katlyn just a few months ago but she has already become part of our family. Katlyn is majoring in special education and works so well with Mackenzie! We truly couldn't have found a better person to accompany Mackenzie to preschool every week. And to top things off, Katlyn also shares a birthday with me and Mackenzie. She's definitely meant to be a part of our lives!
I'm also going to brag about one more young lady, Erica, who I used to babysit (and she is pretty much my little sister!).
Erica is now babysitting my child (and one day Mackenzie will be babysit Erica's kids:)). Erica is part of our family! She is Mackenzie's swimming buddy during the summer. She hopes to go into occupational therapy in the future and I am pretty sure Mackenzie played a key role in Erica's decision:) I love hearing how Mackenzie is encouraging girls like Katlyn and Erica to go into the field they're going into. Mackenzie is only 3 years old and is already blessing so many!
We look forward to what Mackenzie's 3rd year holds for her! I'm quite certain that she will continue making us smile with her many accomplishments, determination, personality, and just being herself! We are very thankful that God blessed us with Mackenzie 3 years ago!
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Mackenzie celebrated her birthday with friends and family the week before her actual birthday. And then BJ, Mack, and I celebrated together on our actual birthday. I'm quite certain Mack thought her birthday lasted a couple of weeks!
Mackenzie has been eyeing toddler bikes for quite some time. We weren't (and still aren't) quite sure on how well Mackenzie will do with riding a bike with training wheels but we try our hardest to let Mackenzie try everything kids her age are doing. There is a local program that makes adaptive bikes for kids and adults with physical limitations and one of Mackenzie's physical therapists recommended that we look into it (which we have) but before getting her one we want to see how she does with a regular bike. So for Mack's 3rd birthday we gave her a princess bike. Mackenzie LOVES her bike. She works very hard at riding it. There have been some bouts of frustration on her end (and I'm sure more to come!), even a hard fall on the sidewalk, but she continues trying and I have full faith that she will continue improving with riding her bike.
Mackenzie had another proud moment this past weekend. We ended up getting snow (which does not typically happen in our area this time of year!). Mackenzie was very excited to put on her boots and go out and play with Daddy. The few times it snowed this winter were rough for Mack. She wanted to play in the snow but wasn't able to walk around (or even stand) on her own in the snow plus wearing the boots made it even harder! But this past weekend she was able to get around (with just a few falls) on her own. She helped Daddy build a snowman and was VERY proud of herself. I'm not too fond of snow especially mid-March however I'm so glad it did snow this time because it gave Mackenzie the opportunity to build her first snowman. We're already talking about building more snowmen next winter (since Mack was very disappointed watching her snowman melt).
Mackenzie turning 3 means that she ages out of Early Intervention. With Early Intervention we had the therapists come into our home to do the sessions. Mackenzie had to say bye to one of her physical therapists, her occupational therapist and vision specialist. We have had these 3 women come into our home for over a year and I know Mackenzie will greatly miss them. Laura, Colleen, and Pam- if you read this- thank you for all of your work with Mackenzie the past year+! Since Mackenzie ages out of Early Intervention it means she can go into the special education program in the local public school system. We have opted out of putting Mackenzie in the program for now. She is striving at a local church preschool and is able to have an aide with her at all times. We are taking Mackenzie to private physical and speech therapy sessions weekly so we feel that she is getting the services she needs right now. We aren't sure what services she will need once she starts kindergarten but we will cross that bridge when the time comes. Right now we feel that we should keep her where she is because of how well it is working for her. We are very thankful to have a local church preschool be so accommodating- Mackenzie LOVES going to preschool! She even has a little boy in her class who she says is her boyfriend--BJ isn't too fond of this!:)
And as for Mackenzie's aide at preschool-- This young lady has been a wonderful blessing to our family! We met Katlyn just a few months ago but she has already become part of our family. Katlyn is majoring in special education and works so well with Mackenzie! We truly couldn't have found a better person to accompany Mackenzie to preschool every week. And to top things off, Katlyn also shares a birthday with me and Mackenzie. She's definitely meant to be a part of our lives!
I'm also going to brag about one more young lady, Erica, who I used to babysit (and she is pretty much my little sister!).
Erica is now babysitting my child (and one day Mackenzie will be babysit Erica's kids:)). Erica is part of our family! She is Mackenzie's swimming buddy during the summer. She hopes to go into occupational therapy in the future and I am pretty sure Mackenzie played a key role in Erica's decision:) I love hearing how Mackenzie is encouraging girls like Katlyn and Erica to go into the field they're going into. Mackenzie is only 3 years old and is already blessing so many!
We look forward to what Mackenzie's 3rd year holds for her! I'm quite certain that she will continue making us smile with her many accomplishments, determination, personality, and just being herself! We are very thankful that God blessed us with Mackenzie 3 years ago!
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Mackenzie will continue to bless peoples lives, she truly is an amazing little girl!
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