March Madness

 
It's one of our favorite times of year in the Larsen Household... Brackets are everywhere. We even helped McKinley with her first bracket. She had two pieces of paper and whichever one she grabbed determined whether she was picking an upset or not. Ha ha ha. We actually didn't do that. Come on we're not that over the top :)

We enjoyed our time in Portland watching the 2nd & 3rd round games. Here are some pictures.

McKinley has gotten pretty use to napping through basketball games, but since this was a long haul of 4 straight games we got her some ear muffs to help.

I thought I would also include some pictures from last year's Final Four. McKinley was in the womb :)

Gone are the days of only being able to watch one game.  Love it that I can now dictate which game I want to watch.

Sleepy Baby

I have personally gotten a kick out of McK's sleeping habits...

Everytime we put her to bed she has to find her "snuggle spot".  It is typically in the corner of her crib and she will arch her head back and roll to one side.  We couldn't figure out where she got this until one night I noticed that Nick does the same arching action in search for sleep comfort.

The second funny thing she has developed is right before she falls asleep she will lay in her bed and use the last bit of energy to play peek-a-boo with her blanket.  We will put her to bed and hear her giggling away at herself while playing peek-a-boo.  It will last a few minutes and than she's asleep.

She can sleep anywhere, anytime.  Even at basketball games =)

At a young age we began reading Mck books.  The only book we could get a reaction out of her with was "Very Busy Spider".  At 4 months old she would smile when we made animal noises.  And well, we have been reading it practically every night since.

Note to viewer:  My animal noises are not the best (Nick makes a proper duck noise & does it way better than me) but none the less I have been assured by family that my animal noises have greatly improved over the past few months.  Practice Practice Practice =)

Everyday

Everyday it seems McKinley is learning something new, discovering a new noise to make, or expressing a new face.

We go from lying in a bathtub and kicking, to sitting upright in a tub swaying like a buoy, to splashing with her hands, to playing with a rubber ducky.  It feels like this all happened in a matter of days.

I love each day with her because it's a new discovery. I feel blessed to observe her figuring out who she is and how she fits into this world. Right now it is simple complexes. Later on it will get more complicated. It's only the beginning of a lifetime of discovery. I pray and hope she continues to go about it with the attitude she has now...with thoughtfulness, careful calculation of risk and a smile on her face.

Discovering Bubbles