Birthdays and Poop

Mackenzie's birthday was great fun for all of us! We had her party at a playground near home, during a heat wave on the 18th. We had no problem getting a picnic table in the shade, to be host to the party, because no one else was dumb enough to be out at the park on such a hot day. :-) Regardless, we had four little girls show up for the party, ranging in age from 1-4. Everyone played great together. The two 1-year olds (Jenna included) found respite by sucking on ice from the cooler. Fun fun! When it was time for birthday cake, we unveiled "Hello Kitty," known to Mackenzie as "kitty cat." We lit two candles, sang "Happy Birthday," and encouraged her to blow them out. She stood there despondently, probably thinking we were all crazy. After continued prodding by everyone to blow out her candles, she finally muttered, "No way!" All the other big kids helped blow them out. Ewww...spit all over the cake! But, before cutting into the cake, we pulled out the cupcakes and showed them to the kids. That was the real hit. Cupcakes with Elmo on them. Mackenzie was so excited!! Elmo!!! She ate Elmo. She did not eat the cupcake.

Present time was fun too. Mason kept encouraging Mackenzie to open her presents and tried to show her how. It took quite a bit of coercing and constant prodding, but it finally happened. Mackenzie was quite pleased with her loot.

On Wednesday, the 21st, we celebrated her real birthday, just us and our cousin Erica. We had more cake (an Elmo cupcake for Mackenzie). She once again ate Elmo, but no cake. Her first present of the day was a new tiger suitcase. She dragged it everywhere and called it "kitty cat." She even took it in the car with us on our normal errands.

Mackenzie also saw an opthalmologist on her birthday. She has always had teary eyes, so we thought it was worth having it checked. They would like to perform a procedure to try and clear her tear ducts, assuming that is the reason. We'll keep you posted if and when that will happen.

After the birthday came bathtime, and hence, here comes the poop story! Okay, many nights are bath night, but last night was poopy bath night. There is a difference. After having a very large water bill after we moved in, we have been very conservative with water, and we tend to bathe all the girls together. Alan was doing the bathing while I was cleaning the kitchen. "Deb, I need some help." I went to the bathroom to see what was the matter. And what should I see? There was such a poop splatter! (Okay, that's my extent of Dr. Seuss rhyming.) All the kids were standing outside the bathtub, dripping water. Inside the tub was floating poop shrapnel. The culprit? Jenna. How cute. Ha ha. That was her fourth, yes, fourth poop of the day. Who would've thought? But, who's counting anyway, right? Needless to say, the kids had to be bathed again. Hurray! And, the very next night, she started to poop again in the tub. We yanked her out and sat her on the toilet. No more poop. Whew!

So now, almost one week after our heat wave, it's barely 60 degrees and very stormy. Global warming. Need we say more?