We have a 1 year old!!

Shelby turned 1 on November 29th. Yes, we have a 1 year old. I can hardly believe it myself; I've never had a year go by faster than this last one did. It was a blur of laughing and crying, sleepless nights and nights full of sleep, burping, puking, pooping, scooting, crawling, walking and babbling all rolled into one. I wouldn't change it for the world. This little girl has stolen our hearts as well as the hearts of many others. It's simply amazing how much she has learned in this one short year. Let me brag a bit about her, ok? Ok! :-)

Weight - 19 lbs
Height - 29"
Head - 18"
Clothes - 9 months still
Diapers - Size 2 still
Teeth - Two on the bottom and 1 barely poking through...also on the bottom

The Goods & Funs

* Waves hello and bye-bye
* Sometimes mumbles "Hi" or "Hello"
* Mumbles a faint "dank" when told thank you
* Says "momma, dada, baba (bottle), and mum-mum (treat) without trouble.
* She was crawling at 6 months and walking at 10 months.
* She's now running, climbing and mastering the stairs.
* Claps when we say "Yay".
* Knows the word "juice" means yumminess
* Likes to mimic our words and sounds we make
* Understands the word squirrel and will run to our sliding door to see it if we say "There's a squirrel!"
* If we say "Let's change your bum" she toddles down to her bedroom and stands by her changing table
* Knows a fish says "blub blub", a tiger says "roar" and a monkey says "ooh ooh ahh ahh."
* Knows how to sign "all done" when she's done eating
* Is totally content in her car seat; no fussing
* Sleeps anywhere from 10-12 hours a night without interruption
* LOVES music and dances to any form of it
* Ryan has been putting her to bed since she started sleeping in her crib and now when she's tired she goes running to him.
* She has mastered the art of sucking through a straw
* Loves books; especially her Dr. Seuss and ABC ones
* She loves to be chased and runs away laughing when someone starts to go after her
* She's very independent

The Not So Goods & Not So Funs

* Is only taking one nap a day now which means I only get about 2 hours to get things done
* Has an obsession with pushing buttons and turning things on and off over and over again
* Is deciding that she doesn't like to eat full meals anymore; is getting extremely picky again
* Threw her first tantrum in JC Penny a couple weeks ago because we wouldn't put her down to run around.
* Absolutely will not sleep at church; it's the hardest day of our week. She hasn't slept at church since she was about 2-3 months old.
* We've recently started "time-outs"; 30-60 seconds of sitting on our laps with her arms folded. Not her favorite thing but it seems to be working...somewhat. Disciplining this child is not easy; we've tried swatting her hands and telling her "no-no" and explaining to her why it's a "no-no"...but she just laughs. Argh!
* She's discovered the toilet...and loves to splash her hands in it.
* Her drool water-damaged my phone...but that's my fault I suppose...haha!
* She loves throwing things in the garbage can. Things like magnets, brushes, toys, stuffed animals, phones, Ryan's electric shaver, and more.
* She's very independent

I'm sure there are tons more but that's all my brain can think of right now. As you can see the good and fun times far out weigh the not so fun things...which we are ever so grateful for!

Shelby's birthday was a blast. I made cupcakes and my mom, Mima, made her homemade icecream; yum yum!! Great Gma & Gpa Kershaw, Great Gma & Gpa Wagley (our adopted grandparents), and my family were able to be there. Shelby wasn't too sure of the cupcake so most of the frosting ended up in her hair which resulted in a bath right after the festivities.

Ryan created this Elephant balloon animal and Gpa Kershaw drew on the face. Turned out pretty dang cute if you ask me! It is also the first balloon animal he's ever made.

The loot

Auntie Kaeli loves to "help" open the presents; it's like an extra birthday for her!

"What? Where'd that bow go?"

OPEN IT ALREADY!!!

Love our little birthday girl! 

"What the heck do I do with this thing?"

Riley had to get in on the action too...lucky dog!

There were a few cupcakes left over and Ryan and I were privileged to be able to take some home. If you know us well then you'll know that we're not entirely fond of cake...so we ended up sharing some of our cupcakes with our squirrel friends. Needless to say...they loved it!! They will now come up to our glass door and stand there and look inside until one of us comes to the door and puts a few peanuts outside for them. Shelby LOVES watching the squirrels; it's so cute!

The squirrels are celebrating Shelby's birthday too!

Christmas can't come soon enough. We are all SOOO excited because this year all of us will be home for Christmas. There's gonna be 12 people at my parents house this year for the holiday and 3 of them are under 18 months, haha!! So much fun! I can't wait to post on that happening.

Happy Holidays everyone!!!