As of a few days ago, Mckenna is officially 11 months old! It's hard to believe that we will be celebrating her 1st birthday in a few short weeks - where has the past year gone? Here is a quick update on what Mckenna's been up to recently:
*Mckenna is standing up a lot - pulling herself up, walking along furniture, and occasionally standing without holding on to anything and balancing herself. No steps taken on her own yet, but it doesn't seem too far away.
*She has seven teeth so far, and the eighth is coming any day now. It seems as if she's been teething straight since her first tooth came in early April. We brush her teeth every day, and she will brush them too on her own sometimes, she is definitely getting an independent streak... such a big girl! :)
*Mckenna started daycare a few weeks ago when Matt and I went back to school. It is a home daycare near our house, and she seems to be doing well there. She smiles in the morning when she sees the other kids and her daycare provider, and she is in a good mood and happy when I pick her up in the afternoon. We feel blessed to know that if we need to be away from her during the day, that she is well cared for, safe, loved, and having fun. It has been a smooth transition from our summer with Mckenna 24/7 to having her in daycare three days a week, and for that we are thankful.
*My mom and dad's house is going to be ready to move back into within a few days to a few weeks, and we know that Mckenna has really enjoyed having them around for the past few months. I'm convinced that my parents are two of Mckenna's very favorite people in her world, and she will definitely miss seeing them everyday when they move back into their home. They have been such a huge help with Mckenna, and we are so grateful for their love and care for us.
*Mckenna has been busy modeling for several national ad campaigns, doing an average of one photo shoot per month since the spring. Her cute pictures are featured in catalogs, ads, company videos, and online, including on target.com - really fun!
Also, last weekend we got to see our cousin Magne from Norway! Here are a few pictures from our fun time seeing him.
My dad, Dan, Abby, Ayla, Mckenna and I went to the Minneapolis airport to try and see Magne and his girlfriend Kitty on their layover. They were on their way to spend time with family of Magne's (and my moms third cousin) in South Dakota. We didn't end up seeing Magne and Kitty because they didn't have enough time between catching their next flight, but we had fun hanging out together. Here are the two cute cousins - check out their same outfits! :)
That week Magne and Kitty spent time in the Black Hills with their hosts. The next weekend we drove to South Dakota to have dinner with the whole group, and then the following day we went to the Clay County Fair in Spencer, Iowa together. Matt unfortunately couldn't come with us because he had an MA tennis tournament (he's a coach) to be at that day, but we all had a good time hanging out with one of our favorite Norwegian relatives. We enjoyed taking Mckenna into the barns to see the animals - she was down at their level in her stroller, and she seemed curious to figure out what she was looking at, it was cute!
My mom cuddling with a sleepy Ayla. A few minutes after this picture was taken, Mckenna shrieked loudly at something and woke Ayla up, really startled her... sorry sweetie!
The whole Clay County Fair group: Mary, Bob, Dan, Ayla, Magne, Kitty, Abby, Mckenna, and Julie. After we took this picture, we got back in the car for the drive home to Minnesota, and Magne and Kitty went to a Bill Engvall comedy show at the grandstand - fun!
Here is Mckenna this past Friday, in the car ready to go to an audition downtown for a Target 2010 ad campaign. Cute and smiley, as always!
Trying on her new ladybug costume for Halloween. It's fun in our neighborhood, because all of the kids, even the young ones, get dressed up and walk around the block. We will take Mckenna out for a little bit early in the evening to say hi to our neighbors - should be fun! We love living in a neighborhood where everyone knows each other and is so friendly, plus there are a lot of kids Mckenna's age to grow up and be friends with - it's so great!
I think she likes her fancy new outfit - she makes one CUTE ladybug! :)
