August Update

So Shelby is 17 months old now. She is saying Mama, Dada and Hi. She is really into educational sorting toys right now so we have been trying to get her a new one every couple of weeks to keep her challenged. She loves the Toy Story movies and her favorite character is Jessie the cowgirl. Here is Shelby wathcing the Toy Story 3 trailer on YouTube. The second picture is her with her serious face. She is getting annoyed with me taking pictures. She has been doing this expression a lot lately with her little bottom lip sticking out.

Shelby discovered a new spot she likes in the house. She likes to sit on the bottom step.

Shelby also discovered spinning. She thinks it is funny when she gets all dizzy and wobbles around. Although it is cute, I am not crazy about it. I am just waiting her to fall and get a boo boo. Here she is spinning a little bit.

Here is Shelby balancing on her head. She does this a lot lately. I guess getting another view of the world.

Bird Update: We no longer have the bird. Animal Resue came the next day and picked the parakeet up. The women remembered Josh from when we had the racoon. She has birds and knows several people that have birds so she was going to find a home for the bird. Parakeets needs lots of love and attention and we didn't have the time for it right now. Bye, bye Lucky.

Summer Fun

It has been a fun summer so far. Shelby really enjoys hanging out outside playing with her water table and cottage. Here are some pictures from yesterday: We ordered some more stacking, sorting and nesting toys for Shelby since she is so into them right now. Here she is with her latest toy. Unfortunately, there is a video size limit for the videos I upload to the blog and all my videos of her playing with the toy were over the size limit. I did get one short video that was under the size limit but it is only of her adding the blue and purple pieces-the hardest ones. I had to cut off her adding the red, yellow and green pieces which are a breeze to her. The blue and purple pieces are a very similar color so those are the trickiest ones for her.

Other developments: Shelby can say "hi" now and wave her hands. So cute. She has also figured out where the power button is on the TV and likes to turn it on and off. Not so cute when you are watching something you are interested in. She also knows now to pretend to drink out of her tea cups.

Here is the birdie we found in the backyard today. It looks like a bright yellow pet bird. Shelby went after it! She probably thought it was one of her beloved yellow duckies. Josh rescued the bird from under the canoe. We let it hang it in a cardboard box from one of Shelby's toys and eat some toast. We asked the neighbors if they lost a bird but haven't found the owners yet. Hopefully we will soon as I don't really want a pet bird. Josh went out this evening an bought a cage, food and bird toys--I don't like where this is going!

Smarty

So Shelby has really gotten into sorting and organizing toys. Here is a video of Shelby sorting her nesting cups in the correct order. I think this is pretty impressive!

Baby #2

Shelby, Josh and I went to our 20 week ultrasound to see how baby #2 was doing. Everything looked great. The baby is growing right on target. We also found out what everyone was waiting to hear and----

It's going to be a GIRL!!!

The battle of the names has begun!

Shelby's First Haircut

Shelby got her first harcut today. Her hair was getting pretty shaggy so we wanted to go get it cleaned up a little. Shelby did great. She sat like a big girl on a booster seat in the chair. She was a little wiggly because she doesn't like people touching her hair but she did great. Her hair looks so cute. Here are a couple of pictures.

Shelby sitting in the chair playing with a toy to distract her:

On the way home, just in her diaper. She didn't like the cape so she was pretty hairy by the end of the haircut.

I also got my first kiss from Shelby. She made the "mmm" sound like I do when I give her kisses and then put her mouth to mine. She forgot to close hers so it was a little slobbery! It was so cute. We were both giggling.

Beach Baby

We all went to Cape Cod for a few days. Nana and Papa Wallace rented a house in Orleans, MA for two weeks. Josh, Shelby and I stayed in Orleans from Wednesday through Saturday. We had a blast. It was so nice to get away. Aunt Maryann and Ella were also there. Shelby and Ella had fun playing at the cottage with the doll house Nana bought especially for the trip. They also loved playing with the water table outside on the deck. It was funny watching them play together. They play together really well and only had a handful of battles over toys! Here is Shelby modeling her new beachwear:

Dadda and Shelby strolling along Skaket Beach.
It took a little while for Shelby to get used to the beach but each day she liked it more and more. She loved to run as fast as she could along the water.

What a cutie! Here is Shelby struggling to carry around this heavy watercan full of sea water.

Shelby and Ella digging in the sand.

Shelby was non-stop at the beach. She would lose that energy quick. Here she is resting her head for a moment.

Here is a little video of Shelby in action at the beach.

We all had a great time and look forward to going back next year. It was so nice being at the beach and spending time with family. I think Shelby and Ella enjoyed spending more time together. When we were leaving to go home, Ella took Shelby's binky out of her mouth and gave her a big kiss on the lips. It was so sweeet and made Shelby giggle.

Shelby's House Warming Party

Nana, Aunt Maryann and Ella came over on Saturday to visit. Shelby waited by the doors for about 15 minutes waiting for them to arrive. Shelby was so excited when they did arrive. She was running around in circles squealing in delight and clapping. She was even trying to hug Ella which is new for her.

Shelby and Ella spent most of the day in Shelby's new cottage. The cottage is mostly empty right now so Ella brought over some play food and kitchen utensils to use. They both had a lot of fun and play really well together. Shelby didn't stay in the cottage very long each time. She likes to go in and out of the cottage repeatedly. It is so funny-she always closes the door behind her, every time!

When we came inside for lunch, they were wanting to go back outside and play. Here they are looking out the window at the toys out back.

The play food and kitchen utensils were a hit. Shelby tried to taste each piece. Ella opted for a real Italian cookie. Whenever we tried to stack everything on the kitchen table, they would push everything to the floor. So it was a messy, little cottage.

Shelby is looking forward to her next play date with cousin Ella.