When we were thinking of a name for this little one, I wanted something that could be shortened into a nickname, preferably one a little tomboyish. A simple name that could be spouted off quickly because something told me that this one would have her name called out quite often.

You know when you go into a grocery store or you’re at a restaurant and you hear the shriek of a toddler that quite literally makes your ears bleed? The kind of yell that is like a cross between a siren and a velociraptor? Chances are if you’re in California and you hear that sound, Mackinley is near. Mack, as we like to call her, is my spitfire. I’m quite surprised I didn’t end up with a few broken ribs while pregnant as she liked to use mine as a punching bag. She had this way of getting her heel wedged up under them and leaving it there for about 6 hours. Trying to push it down did little for relief as she would inevitably kick back, as if to say, just wait til I am out in the world. When she started walking at 9 months, that’s when life went from hard to infinitely more difficult in terms of worry. Mack is the fearless toddler who will fling herself off the couch, get a rug burn across her face upon landing, giggle uncontrollably, then sprint back to do it again. She’s the one I catch scaling the cabinets to climb on top of the counter, the one who tries to use the seat of her Frozen car as a skateboard, and the one who refuses to leave a bow in her hair. She’s the “roamer” at gymnastics class who can’t walk in a line and would rather swing from rings and eat the foam in the tumbling pits than do any form of tumbling. She’s the one who, when I say to my husband “put it here, so the littles won’t be able to get to it”, is the child who will undoubtedly prove you wrong. She lives to antagonize her older brother and already has a crease between her forehead from the overuse of her angry face. In fact I am quite certain that in some instances, if this one could flip me off, she probably would. I know, that seems harsh, but ask anyone who knows her and they will agree.

Mack is a ball of energy from the moment she wakes up until the moment she goes down…but, she has the sweetest laugh. She smothers me in kisses, and wraps her arms around my neck to pull me into a huge hug without prompting. She busts out with “Aye-Yuh-You” the moment after getting in trouble, knowing I won’t be able to keep from smiling and say I love you back. Just like her brother, she’s a cuddler who loves to snuggle with her “tee-tee”, rock before bed, and watch Frozen for the twelfth time that day on your lap. She’s a daddy’s girl who instantly forgets you exist the moment he walks through the door. She has the face of an angel and the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen. I’m sure one day we will cheer her on at some competitive event where she will shine. And one day, she will grow up, and that fire that burns in her will change this world. At least that’s what I tell myself every time she proclaims, “Ummmm no mama,” forehead crease and all.