Happy 1st Birthday, Shae

Dear Shae,

You most definitely have all the "2nd child" things going on - and the lateness of this post is just one example!

We celebrated your 1st birthday at our small house in Decorah with some of our closest family and friends that lived in town.  It was small, quaint, and perfect.  You didn't seem to like your cake very much (just like big sis on her 1st birthday) but I was ok with that!  I'm not sure you even realized the presents were for you because Quinn took complete control.  Go figure!

You are almost 13 months now, going on 3.5 years old.  You mimic Quinn with just about everything these days.  Whether its standing on a chair to reach the monkey bars, swinging on your stomach, balancing on the wall at the park, playing "raaaaar" in the kitchen, eating cheese wraps, pickles, or sitting on the training potty fully clothed... you want to be just like your big sis.  Quinn loves it and she loves being with you!  Her favorite part of the day is when you wake up in the morning or from your nap.  It goes both ways.  In fact, recently, I have to watch you closely if you wake up before Quinn because you will go to her room and bang on the door or barge in and yell so she wakes up!  

You still like to wake in the middle of the night to get a little cuddle from mom - and want absolutely nothing to do with dad during those wee hours.  You actually hit him over and over and over until he puts you down or I come in.  But when you wake - he's the one you want!  I'm more than ready for you to sleep through the night, so please consider it.

Words you like to/can say: bye bye, maaaaa, brrrr (I think) baaaaa (that's your raaaaar) and hi.  You make the cutest "vroom" sound when playing with blocks and chase Quinn around the island every night while I cook dinner.  Your favorite foods are mini meatballs, strawberries, veggie straws, and pickles pickles pickles.  Whole milk is probably the grossest thing you've ever tried - or atleast you make it seem that way.  Your 1 year check up is next week so i'll be sure to edit this post with your weight and height, etc.

Shae, you are one of a kind.  Determined, stubborn, sweet, loving, and silly are all words that describe you very well.  We love you so very much!

Love, Mama

Shae is 11 Months.

Our blonde haired girl is 11 months!  Shae is trying her best to run - her lower half can't keep up with her upper half, so she falls fairly often now! It's pretty cute.  Shae wants EVERYTHING Quinn has.  From toys to food, she wants it all.  11 months going on 3!

We love you baby Shae.  Can't believe 1 more month until you are the big 1!

Shae is 10 Months

10 months old...we have a walker!  Shae has been taking steps since 8.5 months old, but never would do it without any prompting.  On March 3rd, the day after she turned 10 months she decided to do it all on her own!  It's still the cute wobbly walk, hoping she finds something to hold on to eventually :)

Shae has quite the personality.  She is shy, sweet, aggressive, angry, and curious.  She loves to climb in drawers, boxes, baby carts, and climb over/on everything in sight.  Other than walking, not a whole lot has changed with her.  She is starting to eat different foods, which is exciting.  Today she about threw a fit because she wanted Quinn's cheese and hummus wrap.  So that's what she had for lunch!

I hope I'm not jinxing anything, but she is doing really well napping these days!  90 mins in the morning and 90mns in the afternoon.  She's taking her afternoon nap at the same time as Quinn.  It's so nice!  Today, I actually slept for an hour while they did.

Our Lenninger cousins flew to California last week and they all had an absolute blast.  Quinn is still catching up on sleep from all the hard playing :)  Here are a few pictures of Shae and the cousins last week.

Quinn update

Where to begin with this girl.  She is full on in full force.  Quinn has been a pretty awesome big sis lately.  She is always concerned about Shae, loves when she wakes up, gives me little pieces of whatever that she finds around the house thinking Shae could choke on it, helps her walk, and is starting to take more interest in playing with her.  So much fun ahead of us.

Quinn loves going to all the parks around our house and thoroughly enjoys playing with kids ALL the time.  She will wake up asking to go to a park, to the gym (the YMCA kid zone), and soon enough she'll be asking to go to the pool right away in the morning, too.  Her favorite show is "Frozen" and Daniel the Tiger.  Still loves noodles and cucumbers and is starting to try new foods more often.  Makes mom happy!  She is all about "fixing" with daddy in the garage.  Tony had her help him rotate my tires and change the oil a couple months ago.  This past weekend she was helping him build something with all his new DeWalt tools... I guarantee she already knows more than I do about all that stuff.  

Some random fun things about Quinn:

• She thinks her boogers are catepillars
• Always needs the door open when she goes to bed
• Takes her "nightybaby" (blanket and baby) everywhere we go
• When you ask her how much something is, she says "200 days" or "1 money's"
• Her I love you's are "I love you sooooooo much"
• Not really great at leaving places she's having fun at (duh)
• "I AM NOT HAPPY" "MY NOT HAPPY"
• Biking to the park by herself

I'm sure i'll think of a million things later :)

Shae @ 9 Months (& 1 Week)

    Better late than never writing this post!  Shae turned 9 months old last week and she is growing FAST.  I think the last week Tony and I have said "she seems older today"about 10 times.  She is keeping up with her big sis better than ever and has taken 4-6 steps consistently!  Shae loves to be outside, push her polka dot cart, and laugh when others are laughing.  She still has 8 teeth and I don't see any more coming any time soon.  Our night wakings are getting way better, although she is still up twice a night.  Her morning naps have extended to over an hour (most of the time) and afternoons are still a little too short for me :)  Favorite Foods: pear and mango pouches, purple carrot pouches, noodles like Quinn, still likes oatmeal cereal, and bananas! She is in 12-18 month clothes comfortably and wears size 3-4 diapers.  There's not too many things Shae dislikes.  However, she hates the first 10 seconds of getting in her car seat, getting dressed after a bath, and having her nose wiped.  I'm sure there are many other things, but you know how it is when you love someone so much - you forget about the "bad" things!