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Shelby Visits the Office
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas to Shelby's family and friends! May your Christmas be full of magic and wonder!
Merry Christmas Pictures!
21 Months
- She can say multiple three-syllable words like dinosaur, ladybug and "bee night night." She has a book about a bee and she's obsessed with the last page, where the bee goes home and goes to bed. She always wants to flip to the back of the book and says "bee night night."
- She loves her pink blanket. We recently bought a second one that she could take to daycare, and even after washing it, she rubbed it against her face and rejected it - she knew it wasn't the same!
- She loves to point to things and get us to say what they are. She's very curious!
- She is very into choo choos and dogs lately. She loves books and shows about trains and was very into this Georgia mascot ornament we had until she dropped it and broke it! You could tell she was sad it broke and kept pointing to his broken off foot and saying "shoe?"
- Her cute new thing is to say "hi?" The other night I had just put her down and walked past her room a few minutes later. I thought she was asleep. The floor creaked and I heard a "hi?" from the door. I said hi back and she went back and forth for a few minutes. It was so cute!
- She is very into looking at pictures and videos of herself on the iPad. She will wake up in the morning and request "baby?" which means - look at pictures of herself as a small baby! I think she understands that it's her.
- We have a small space heater in our den and she points at it and says "hot." Even though it does not get hot to the touch, she remembers that it's not for touching!
- She is very into saying "bye bye" to people and objects. If we are in a store and I point out something in passing (like say, a picture of a dog) she will say "bye bye dog" when we move on. It's so cute!
- She has all of her front teeth except for this one on the bottom left. I am beginning to be worried that it's not there!
- Scott taught her to poke our belly buttons and now whenever she does it she laughs SO hard!
- She loves this cat puppet that we have and likes for us to put it on our hands and meow for her. She thinks it's hilarious!
- She is really into her shoes and putting on shoes. We put all of her shoes in a basket by the door and when we ask her to go get her shoes (and boots - she knows the difference) she can pull out the shoes she wants to wear and bring them to us.
- I cannot believe it but she has been well since early September! Knock on wood, but this winter has been SO much better than the last one. We are so thankful. We were driving around last week looking at Christmas lights and Scott and I were reminiscing about driving down the very same road last year, only we were driving around trying to get Shelby to fall asleep upright in her car seat when she had a cold! I remember even driving around one night at 1:00 a.m! What a difference a year makes!
Potty Party!
Shelby has been telling us for a while about her poops. After she poops, she comes over to one of us, points to her bottom and says "boo boo." We've been encouraging to tell us when she is wet, too, but so far it hasn't caught on. For a couple of weeks now, every night before we put her in the bath, we sit her on the toilet in her bathroom and encourage her to pee. Tonight, just one day shy of 22 months, she finally did! Hooray! We were so proud of her. One step closer to a diaper-free household! She sat on the toilet for about a minute, and then finally did it! We cheered for her and after she peed, she even pointed to the flush lever. OK, enough potty talk for now. I promise not to be one of those parents who post potty pictures online for all to see!
Box House
"Snow" At Atlantic Station
In our continuing quest to do everything Christmas-related in the city, we went to Atlantic Station tonight for their holiday lights and "snow." For those who don't live here, Atlantic Station is an outdoor shopping area that looks like a mini city. When it's all lit up at Christmas time, you can almost imagine you're in some kind of Disney-fied fake New York (but warm). We rode the little train ride around the block - Shelby has never met a train ride she didn't like! At 6:00, they promised "snow" which turned out to be tiny foam bubble snowflakes that shot out of these machines rigged in the trees. It was pretty impressive for fake snow! Shelby loved it and it even stuck in your hair and on your jacket like real snow, but it lasted longer. Shelby had fun running around on the green space and checking out the giant Christmas tree and lights. Overall, a pretty quality free holiday attraction.
Shelby Visits Mimi
On Saturday we drove up north of Atlanta to visit Mimi and Bobby in their new house. Shelby enjoyed playing with the toys! This rocking horse was Scott's when he was little.
Christmas Program Video
Here's a video from Shelby's preschool Christmas program. Each toddler "plays" a xylophone with Jingle Bells in the background. You can see Shelby front and center - she's wearing a red bow, a black top and a red skirt. Enjoy!
Santa, Take Two
Today we went to Lenox Mall to ride the Pink Pig, but the line was really long. We checked out the line for Santa instead and since it was short, we thought we'd try to get another Santa picture. This time was no different than the first visit ... she wanted NOTHING to do with him! We ended up all taking a picture together with Scott and I smiling and Shelby screaming! That poor Santa!
I started a month 21 gallery with some Christmas pictures and pictures from her preschool Christmas program. Click on the right side of the page or click here.
A Christmas Tradition
Christmas at Stone Mountain
I'll try to remember to post all the random phone pictures we collect throughout the week. This picture was from last weekend at Stone Mountain. We're sitting on a fence waiting for their Christmas parade to start. The village is really pretty at night - everything is covered in lights. They even had this lighted walkway/tunnel that blinked in time with music. Of course Shelby LOVED it and kept saying "lights!" over and over and she ran up and down the tunnel. It almost made up for not being able to ride the train!
Christmas with a Toddler
I haven't downloaded our pictures yet, so this picture of Ralphie from A Christmas Story will have to stand in for how Shelby felt about Santa.
We spent the past weekend doing a bunch of Christmassy things with Shelby. I don't think she fully understands the concept of Christmas yet, but we are having fun anyway!
On Saturday morning, we went to a Christmas kid's festival at a local church. There were things like crafts, cookie decorating and a bouncy house, which she was a little scared of at first. So of course I had to go in the bounce house with her! She warmed up after a few minutes although Scott said she was going to be like Reese Witherspoon in the movie Four Christmases and have a lifelong fear of bounce houses. I hope we're not traumatizing her! :)
After her nap, we went to get our Christmas tree. Every year we go to this local produce stand because they are super helpful and folksy (ie country). This year, perhaps a little too folksy! We picked out the perfect tree and when they leaned it over to put a fresh cut on the bottom, the (female) proprietor of the place declared there was a knot on the bottom of the tree that needed to be taken off. The person that usually operates the chain saw was not there, so she took it upon herself to use the chain saw anyway (she wasn't even sure how to crank it up) and when all was said and done, she had hacked about a foot off the tree! It was now a little too short for our tastes, so we picked another tree. We werent' that upset about it, but the other worker seemed apologetic so he gave Shelby some free grapes, which she was super excited about. So that's this year's tree story: a chainsaw-wielding woman and some unwashed grapes.
Shelby was excited about the tree and hasn't seemed too into pulling ornaments off yet. We emphasized to just look and point - not to pull - and she seems to be getting it so far. However, just to play it safe, I still hung most of the ornaments on the upper half of the tree, so it's not the most attractively decorated tree I have ever done, but it's still very festive. Her favorite ornament is a Georgia mascot that plays the fight song VERY loudly when you push a button on the back, so we spent the afternoon decorating the tree not to Christmas carols, but to Glory Glory to Old Georgia! I hung all of our photo ornaments on the lower branches and she enjoys looking at them and naming everyone in the pictures - mama, daddy, cat and baby.
On Sunday, we went to the mall to ride the little train and visit Santa. We worked up to the Santa visit, walking by him several times and pointing out that other babies were visiting him, too. She seemed a little apprehensive at first, but still curious. I even went up there first and sat next to him and she was OK for about two seconds and then wanted none of it! She freaked out and started crying and wanted out of there, immediately! We might try again, but it's looking like there will be no Santa picture this year. Although, I always think the crying baby Santa pictures are pretty funny! But it is definitely not funny at the time!
20 Months Old
Sorry for the lack of updates lately! We've been super busy on the weekends and time just slips away from us. Here's what has been going on lately in Shelby's world. She is changing so quickly these days, it's hard to even keep up anymore!
- I have given up trying to write down all of her new words, because it seems like she learns a new word per day, or her pronunciation improves on a word she already knows. She will regularly repeat words we say, or string together two words to form a coherent thought, like "Mama bye bye" or "no no cat" (her favorite!) She understands that "bye bye" means saying bye bye and is also for when people are not present. She also regularly remembers names and people and can recall them from looking at a picture. She knows lots of animals and animal sounds. She understands it when we are asking her a question, although her favorite response is a sassy "NO!" no matter what we are asking her!
- Her physical skills are developing drastically. She can run, jump off the ground with both feet and hang from a low playground bar with her feet off the ground. She also likes to lay on her tummy in the bath and "swim." It's very cute!
- I don't know if it's the weather or shorter days, but she's been a sleepy head lately and slept in until 7:30 and 8:00 this weekend. It was so wonderful! We usually get up around 6:30 on weekdays and she usually wakes up when she hears us getting up and making noise. I was afraid we'd have a super early waker until the time change again, so this sleeping in has been a nice surprise. Let's keep it up, kid!
- She is very cuddly and cute lately and is really into giving kisses and hugs. We love it, of course!
- She is getting very independent and wants to do everything herself, like put on shoes. Of course, sometimes we don't have 30 minutes to spend trying to put on shoes before we go somewhere so sometimes it's a battle to get her dressed and out the door! She is fixated on shoes and socks and loves to put our shoes on our feet, on her feet and everything else.
- She now always tells us when she has a poo. I think we will get a little toilet and start encouraging potty use soon.
Shelby got to go to her second Georgia game of the year last weekend when Georgia played Kentucky and we got a last-minute free ticket. Luckily it was an early game so it didn't cut into her nap time too much. She had a great time once again. Some of her favorite words (with our encouragement, of course) are football, Go Dawgs and Georgia. We are working on the "woof woof woof!"
We had a great Thanksgiving at her Papa's house and she even ate a little Thanksgiving food even though she had a regular lunch before her nap. We also checked out the Stone Mountain Christmas Village yesterday and she really loved all the lights on everything. Although for some reason you couldn't ride the train unless you bought some all-inclusive package, which included all these things she was too young to do. It was so heartbreaking, because she kept pointing to the train and saying "choo choo?" expectantly - how could you not sell us an individual ticket and make a little girl's day, Stone Mountain??
Here are some recent pictures of her. We are in the process of migrating our galleries to a new service, so I will just post a few pictures here until we are done with the transition. Click on any picture to enlarge it.
She loves this little playground near our house and always finds a little friend there to play with. She's very friendly and social!
Bye bye!
Georgia Girls
Shelby would not look at the camera because a giant inflatable mascot was over our shoulder. She could not get enough of it!
This fall, we have really enjoyed taking Shelby up to Athens for some football festivities. She does great and we are lucky to have friends who live there, so we can whisk her away for nap time when the time comes. Although, she'd stay up all day if she could! The festive atmosphere is so exciting to her and she absolutely loves walking up and down the sidewalks checking everything out. She looked so cute this Saturday, decked out in her red velvet jumper, matching red coat and hat! Everyone commented on how cute she was!
She was absolutely fixated on this huge inflatable mascot that was a few tailgates down from us. She wanted so badly to get near it, but not too near! She seemed a little afraid of it, but wanted to get close anyway. "Dog" is one of her favorite words and there are plenty of opportunities to point out pictures and depictions dogs in Athens! We got to our tailgate spot early and as soon as the music started cranking up on the Myers Quad, Shelby wanted to go down there and check it out.
At gametime, Scott took Shelby back to the house and I got to enjoy an epic Auburn beatdown from the stadium! It was great! I can't wait until Shelby is a little older and we can all enjoy the games together as a family. She's getting indoctrinated early!
Fall Fun
Halloween Video
And one more video of Shelby on Halloween. Lots of running, talking, squealing and cute fluffy tutu bouncing!
Corn Maze Video
Here's a video from our visit to the corn maze/petting zoo a few weeks ago. Shelby had a good time checking out the pig and playing on the playground.
More Pictures
I've added some more pictures from Halloween and our trip to Jekyll. Click on the month 20 gallery (month 20!!!) or right here.
In other news, we went shoe shopping today and I can't believe how big her feet are getting. She is easily growing into a size five now. It seems like just yesterday a size four was way too big! We also noticed this morning that she was a good two or three inches taller than the dining room table, when earlier this summer she could walk right under and not hit her head. Our baby girl is growing up too fast!
What's New
Sorry for the lack of updates recently! We've been busy with a trip out of town and Halloween. We enjoyed a nice long weekend trip to Jekyll Island for the Georgia-Florida game last weekend. Four couples and five children in a big beach house for four days - it was chaotic all the time, but really fun. Shelby enjoyed having so many other little people around and they all kept each other occupied. It was actually sort of nice! I can see why people want siblings for their children, but I just need an older sibling for Shelby... do you think I can borrow a 6 year old for times I need to keep Shelby entertained? :) On our first day there, we went for a long bike ride around the island and Shelby really seemed to like riding on the baby seat, but she did not like the helmet very much at all!
Monday was Halloween and we took Shelby around to about five or six houses for a practice run on trick or treating. She couldn't say "trick or treat" yet, but she did take a few pieces of candy and really enjoyed marching up and down the sidewalks and checking out everyone's pumpkins.
We are continuing to transition out of the last remnants of babyhood. We finally moved her out of her baby tub this week and bathed her in the big tub. She bathed in a regular tub on vacation and seemed to enjoy the freedom, although her slipping and sliding around makes me nervous! We bought a water spout cover and tub mat so hopefully she won't hurt herself. Her current favorite bath time activity is to ask me to put some baby wash on her hands and then she washes my face. It's very cute, but I should really give her some of my facial cleanser next time!
We also took the tray off of her high chair and pushed it up to the table so she can eat with us. She doesn't really enjoy being strapped in anymore and I don't know how this will work out. Eating has become somewhat of a battle lately - especially getting her to sit still and focus on eating instead of playing. I don't know why, because she does fine at school and they sit at little tables there. Maybe we will try that approach at home as well and buy a little table and chair for our dining room. I think it's just more of her exerting her independence - it's the theme of her life these days! She wants to do everything herself!
Fall Fun
Today we visited Corndawgs Corn Maze in Loganville and let me tell you - that place was kid heaven! We could have stayed there much longer - those midday naps really cut down on all day activities like this one! This place had a corn maze, petting zoo, multiple playgrounds, giant slides, pumpkin patch, hayrides, jumpy things, games, rides and a gazillion other things for little ones. Shelby loved it!
She especially loved the little pink pig in the petting zoo - she wasn't afraid of him at all! She was also fearless on the giant slide although I found it sort of terrifying! We had a fun fall day with friends and will definitely be going back in the future when she's big enough for more of the activities and doesn't need to nap!
There are more pictures from today and some other happenings in the new Month 20 Gallery. Click on the latest link or right here.
19 Months Old
Wheeeeeee!
Sorry for the lack of updates lately. Our Mac Mini nearly gave up on life two days after the unfortunate passing of her father, Steve Jobs, and was out of commission for a few days. She's humming along nicely now but we were without a blogging and picture downloading platform for a few days.
Shelby is 19 months old now and it is getting exceedingly difficult to even take her picture much these days. She's constantly on the go and never stays still for a minute. It's adorable and exhausting. Here's what up in Shelby's world:
- She is getting pretty good about repeating words now and will usually repeat something after you say it two or three times. Her current favorites are football, walk, and outside. She knows what's important in the fall!
- She's practically running now and will take off in a wobbly run often. She enjoys walking everywhere and we don't always have to take the stroller everywhere we go. She will frequently walk all the way home from our playground, on a route which includes a large hill. We walked home on Friday and she enjoyed stepping on all the crunchy fall leaves.
- She is really exerting her independence lately and getting dressed in the morning is often a tantrum-filled battle. She has opinions about everything - what shirt to wear, what socks to wear, when or if she wants to put them on. I can only imagine it gets worse from here before it gets better. Scott is exhausted by the time he drops her off!
- Almost all of her teeth are coming in and her smile is filling out. It's so cute!
- She is really into imitating whatever we are doing and will gladly amuse herself for a while doing things like sweeping the floor, wiping the floor or taking clothes in and out of a laundry basket. Can you tell we stay busy as Shelby's Cleaning Service? Because we do.
- She's been really into watching videos of herself lately and they absolutely crack her up! It's hilarious! She enjoys watching videos of when she was a baby and I think that she understands that it's her. She has also figured out how to push the button to get to the home screen on our iPad. Such a computer whiz. We're counting on her to become the next Steve Jobs and fund our retirement :)
Here's a video of her swinging at our playground:
Office Visit
Shelby's school was closed today for a teacher's conference so we had the day off together. It was nice to have a day off with her when she wasn't sick! In the morning, we stopped by daddy's office for a visit. She loved toddling around and exploring. We then stopped by Ikea before heading home for lunch and a nap. After lunch, we ran some shopping errands and I am really realizing how hard it is to shop with her! She doesn't want to sit in the cart or stroller and wants to walk around like a big girl. But it's impossible to shop and chase her at the same time! She doesn't really get the concept of "stay close to me" yet, so I feel like my next trips to Target will have to be solo!
Happy Tenth Anniversary!
Today we celebrated a milestone anniversary - ten years together! I can't believe it! We didn't have much planned for today, but after we put Shelby to bed we had a nice candlelight dinner with a bottle of wine and takeout Bambinelli's! This weekend we are enjoying a short overnight getaway to Athens while Shelby stays home with her Mimi. We have never both left Shelby before so it should be an adventure! But I am really looking forward to an evening out to a nice restaurant, a show at the Georgia Theatre and a morning of sleeping in! It will be heaven!
Last Year's Patch Picture
Here's a picture of Shelby at the same pumpkin patch one year ago. She's changed so much!
Fall Fun
This weekend was the perfect fall weekend! Gorgeous weather, cooler temps and lots of opportunities for fun. Shelby and I went on a stroller walk every single day this week after school - the weather was just that gorgeous! She is really into walks these days and will say "walk?" the minute we get home. It's so cute! On Friday, she insisted on walking all the way home from the playground, one tiny stride at a time. It took forever, and I had to constantly corral her to make sure she didn't walk too far into the street, but she loved being so independent!
On Saturday, we attended a couples baby shower for our friends and she had so much fun! I don't know what it is about other people's houses, but she has no problem exploring and walking around in rooms full of people. She warms up pretty quickly and likes to be the center of attention! Our friends had two huge dogs and she was so curious about them and really warmed up to them... until one stole a cracker right out of her hand! She cried a little but got over it.
Sunday was a cool and blustery day so we spent lots of time outside and visited our local pumpkin patch in the afternoon. She was more interested in playing on the playground next door, but we tried to squeeze in a few pictures while she toddled around in between pumpkins. These days, it's so hard to get a picture - she hardly sits still for a second!
I've started a new gallery for month nineteen - you can click on the link on the photo list or click here.
18 Month Checkup
- Weight: 22 pounds, 6 ounces (10-25th percentile)
- Height: 32 1/4 inches (50-75th percentile)
- Head Circumference: 45.5 centimeters (10-25th percentile)
We had a great checkup and after checkups every three months, I can't believe she won't go again until she is two years old! I am sure with the onset of winter we will make a few more visits, though. She came down with a runny nose and cough over the weekend. She also started to cry the minute we started walking back to the exam room! She definitely remembers what the doctor's office is now and knows it's where unpleasant things like vaccines happen! She is still measuring up on the growth charts to be a long, skinny girl.
So, what else is going on? I taught her to wag her finger at our cat and say "no no" when he jumps on the table. She thinks it's hilarious! She is also really into "organizing" things, like for example putting shoes or toys in a bin and then taking them out, over and over again. Now, if I could just convince her to put things up and leave them there!
She is practically running these days, and has also figured out how to climb up on the couch in the living room. She's really playful and a lot of fun these days! Her communication skills are improving every day and it's easy to make her laugh.
All Dressed Up
Here's Shelby all dressed up for a wedding we attended this weekend. The wedding took place at the country club where Scott's dad is a member, so we stayed with them across town in Marietta on Saturday night. Shelby is always afraid of their dog - an energetic whippet - when we first arrive but by the end she wants to be best friends! It was fun to have a sleep over at "Papa and Glee's" and she always has fun running around other people's houses! She did okay at the wedding but we took her home and put her to bed before we went to the reception. I guess she liked us sleeping in the same room as her because she slept until 7:45! It was wonderful! Sunday was Scott's birthday so we had a yummy birthday breakfast before heading back home. Shelby got to have more grandparent fun with Scott's mom "Mimi" while we went to a leisurely lunch and a movie - heaven!
"Outside!"
"Outside" is Shelby's favorite word lately. She asks to go outside every day, multiple times a day. We always oblige because, with this beautiful weather, how can you not!
My Consignment Sale Haul
Can I just tell you how excited I am about my huge consignment sale haul from tonight? I am really excited! There are no better deals to be found than at church consignment sales. I participate in the Oak Grove Young Children's School sale and it's a blast. I sell items each year, so I get a preview night pass for early shopping. It's part Black Friday, part garage sale and all madness. Women start lining up an hour before the doors open. This year, it downpoured while we stood in line, yet eager shoppers held their plastic bags and laundry baskets over their heads, undeterred and excited for the bargains within.
And oh were there bargains to be had. I made out like a bandit this year, with toys, books, and clothing galore, all for bargain basement prices. I am very picky about the condition of what I buy and I was pleased that everything I bought was in like new condition. Sometimes, in the mad dash madness, you can get a couple of disappointing impulse buys, but after inspecting everything, I am happy with what I got.
Here's a preview of what I snagged:
- More than 20 pieces of winter clothing, including some brand new and many brand name items like Lilly Pulitzer, Ralph Lauren and Baby Gap. I love shopping consignment sales for Shelby's school clothes because she wears them out and I don't mind since I paid less than $5 per outfit! I got jackets, pants, holiday clothes, jeans, hats mittens and more.
- Brand new Circo glitter shoes for $5 ($13 retail)
- Two brand new pairs of fleece footie pajamas for $5 each
- Melissa & Doug farm maze wooden puzzle for $3.50 ($13 retail)
- Melissa & Doug wooden pets puzzle for $3 ($9 retail)
- Parents Magazine wooden barn yard play set for $10 ($60 retail) - my top toy find! This was a great set with tons of interactive play features and very nice quality.
- Fisher Price corn popper for $1 ($15 retail) - a classic must have!
- Playskool walk n ride for $7 ($20 retail) - she played with this at school and also at a friend's house and loved it.
- Numerous books for $1 to $3 each
- Fisher Price chatter Elmo for $1.50 ($18 retail)
- Sesame Street giggle vacuum for $3 ($20 retail)
- Elmo talking cell phone for $1.50 ($14 retail) - I might regret buying these three noisy talking toys, but she really does love anything with lights and sounds! But with the prices I paid, at least I won't feel guilty hiding them if they get too annoying!
I haven't bought toys in the past, but I am glad I picked up a few things this year. It seems like her tastes in toys changes daily and I can keep a variety of things in rotation, cheaply. Plus, I couldn't resist buying a few Sesame Street themed toys... her current obsession! I always thought I'd never indulge in licensed characters but those furry puppets really do make her happy!
If you haven't gone to a church consignment sale in your area, they are worth checking out. They are usually held twice a year in fall and spring and you can find some wonderful deals. Money is usually split between the sellers and the organization that puts it on, so everyone benefits because it's a fundraiser and moms make a few bucks, too! Last year, I made $150! It's also a great way for moms to recycle gently used clothing and toys; I feel so "green" shopping there, because I am not buying anything newly manufactured and can resell it again next year. Plus, it's just a lot of fun!
Now... no buying anything for the rest of the year! Shelby's closet and toy box are full!
18 Months Old
It seems like I just wrote one of these monthly updates... where does the time go? Shelby is now a year and a half old. I can't believe it! She's truly a little girl now and no longer a baby. Here's what she's been up to lately:
- Her appetite has seemed to increase lately and she will shovel food into her mouth with such speed and eagerness that it makes us laugh to watch her eat! She is also getting much better with utensils, although we usually just give them to her for practice at the end of her meal, otherwise she'd never finish.
- She's been waking up super early lately - around 6 a.m. I am hoping this is just a (teething related?) phase and ends soon, otherwise the time is going to change in November and she will be waking up way too early! We usually don't go in and get her immediately and today instead of whining and calling for me, she quieted back down and probably would have gone back to sleep if we didn't get up for work and start making noise and turning on lights. I can't wait until she's old enough to implement some kind of clock or timed light system to signal when it's OK to get up! Besides that, her sleep has been awesome. Down for the night by 7:30, and a solid two hour nap every day around 12:30.
- She has started getting her canine teeth on top and we think we can see where more bottom teeth are coming in. So far, she has four on top, two on bottom and four molars.
- She's really started to lose her baby chub and looks much longer and leaner now. She can walk fairly fast and has started to take off on little runs.
- Her hair is getting so long! It hangs down her back when it's wet and can be pulled into a tiny ponytail. I've just about given up trying to send her to school with a clip in her hair, because she always pulls it out and loses it, so she always has this crazy messy hair at the end of the day! She loves bows and will ask for one first thing in the morning. She also loves my jewelry and watch and always wants to put them on. I wouldn't take off my wedding rings yesterday and she got mad! I gave her a small silver baby bracelet she got when she was born and she loved putting in on and taking it off. Such a girly girl!
- She absolutely loves school and marches right into the room in the morning with confidence. She loves playing on the playground so much in the afternoon that she sometimes doesn't want to leave!
- She seemed to be very fussy and tantrum prone last month but not so much in recent weeks. I'm sure it's frustrating to want so badly to communicate but not know how!
- I can't think of many new words she's learned lately, but she is saying the words she does know with much more clarity and accuracy. Her favorite word of the moment is "outside" and she will regularly ask to go outside, and will even bring us our shoes!
- Her communication skills are improving and she can ask for things, say no to things, etc. and we understand what she's saying. It's funny when we ask her a question and she says "no" even though she has no idea what we said. Or maybe she does! So then we continue to ask her funny questions like "Do you want a new car on your 16th birthday?" and she will say "no." Whatever you say!
- She is starting to learn animal sounds and will say "woof" when you ask her "what does the dog say?" It's so cute! She loves any and all dogs and will stand by our front window and wait for neighborhood dogs to come down the sidewalk on their walks.
- She notices things at a much greater distance now. She will regularly point out planes, helicopters and (of course) dogs that are a great distance away. It's amazing the things that she can zero in on and recognize, like a tiny picture of Elmo on a box or flyer.
- The only TV she watches is Sesame Street songs on YouTube and she can request her favorites, like "lala" for Elmo's Song and "wubbawubba" for "The Monster in the Mirror." Watching these for the 20th time in a row might get old for us, but it's cute how happy they make her and she will even motion like she's playing the piano or dance. She loves any and all songs, including this one with Grover.
- She is super snuggly, cuddly and kissy lately and it's just the cutest thing ever. We have so much fun with her!
Baby Bulldog
Shelby did great at her first game! I was nervous at first, because she'd be missing her regular nap and I didn't know how she'd do with a crowd, but our girl is a champ! I don't know why I get so worried when she always adapts wonderfully to new situations and environments. We underestimate her!
We left for Athens in the morning, she snoozed for a bit on the way up there and then once we got there, she was having so much fun taking it all in, she forgot to get tired! We had lunch at our tailgate and she had fun following the older children there and climbing up and down the steps near our tailgate. The game started at 1:00, but we ended up not going into the game until the second quarter and by then people were already leaving, so it wasn't as crowded. We stayed until the beginning of the fourth quarter, and afterwards Shelby instantly fell asleep the minute we got back in the car.
She loved the sights and sounds of the stadium: the band, the people cheering, the fan's program on the seat in front of us, the planes carrying banners over the stadium, the red pompom - she was enthralled with everything! She even clapped when everyone else around her was clapping! It was so adorable and everyone around us commented on the how cute she and her pal Luke were. We had so much fun, we want to take them to another game this year! I could tell she was starting to run out of steam at the end, but she just snuggled quietly on my lap, hugged her blanket and sucked her thumb.
You can see more pictures from the day in the gallery. We capped off the weekend with a trip to the playground at Peachtree Dekalb Airport on Sunday afternoon. What a fun place - and the weather was a perfect fall day!
Toddlerhood
Toddlerhood: I think we are officially there. Tantrums, whining and the whole bit. Of course the flip side of that is that Shelby is even more adorable, huggable and cute when she's in a good mood, so I guess it all balances out. I have read that the period of around 18-21 months is pretty difficult because a lot is going on in a toddler's mind and I can definitely see that with Shelby. Her desire to communicate outpaces her ability to speak and she gets frustrated when she can't tell you what she wants. But she will certainly try! She's able to use more words correctly now, and ask for specific things with more clarity. Of course, when she doesn't get what she wants or when you guess the wrong thing ... let the whining commence!
I've been feeling nostalgic and bittersweet, too, lately because she's no longer a baby. This week I was organizing some things to sell in a consignment sale and I was surprised at how emotional I got over things like a bottle sterilizer or certain outfits. I just cannot bring myself to get rid of anything that was super cute or meaningful to me, but a bottle sterilizer? Really? I guess saying goodbye to those little things that were such a part of our daily lives makes me a little sad. My baby is growing up!
See for yourself how old she looks - I posted some new pictures in the month 18 gallery.
Not Teeth. Hand. Foot. And Mouth.
Ok, so my earlier prediction of teething was a misdiagnosis... Shelby had a horrible night on Monday night and was diagnosed with Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease on Tuesday. Ugh. She has managed to catch every weird disease out there. She is feeling much better now but was pretty miserable for three days. We are still staying home from Athens this weekend to rest, recuperate and keep any lingering germs away. Winter germ fun has begun!
Football is Here! (and teeth)
Shelby and Luke are ready for football!
We had a fun weekend, despite a Georgia loss and what appears to be a particularly rough bout with teething. Beginning last evening, Shelby was very fussy and slept pretty poorly last night. Today she was drooling like crazy and nearly inconsolable all day. She hardly at anything and only napped for 30 minutes. Teething is the only conclusion I can come to. She has her top four teeth, bottom two teeth and four molars so far. It's weird that she doesn't have the other bottom two teeth yet - but maybe these are her canine teeth coming in? I don't know but it is awful! She doesn't like to chew on anything and doesn't like anything near her mouth so remedies like cold washcloths and frozen popsicles are out. What are your favorite teething remedies?
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