La La La La

Shae likes to sing, "La, la, la, la...Elmo's Song"

If you're not familiar with Elmo's Song, look it up on youtube. You'll never get it out of your head! :)

Move-In Ready...Almost

I've been trying to update the blog for awhile now, but we've been having some internet problems. As always, I have some cute pictures and video of Shae and would love to share them with the world...but for now, you'll have to settle for a house update...because these were the only photos I could upload so far. :)

We are scheduled to close next Friday (July 16th) and we're so excited to move into our new house and make it our home!

Here's a sneak peek:

Front almost complete. Just waiting for the three posts to be finished.

Kitchen, sans island and appliances

And the detail I was most looking forward to seeing: the hardwood floors!

First Haircut

We weren't expecting to get our baby's hair cut before his first birthday, but his full head of messy hair was just begging for a trim. I had two reservations; one, I didn't want to see his curls go, and two, I was really hoping he wouldn't scream and cry in fear as so many youngsters do with haircuts. (Must be something about a stranger coming at you with a pair of scissors while being strapped down in a chair.)

We brought Shae to Kids' Hair, hoping for a positive first experience, and that is just what we got. We arrived a little early to become familiar with the environment and watched another little boy get his hair cut. Shae was a happy camper the whole time.

I have to first share a little story of Shae in the waiting area while he waited for his turn in the big chair. We were playing with some dinosaurs, having a grand time, when out came the duck-billed dinosaur. Shae squealed, "Quack, quack!"

Some of you may think, "Big deal. He mistook the dinosaur for a duck."

But to me, he was essentially saying, "Look, Mother. The bill on this Hadrosaurid resembles that of a duck, which is how it got it's nickname, duck-billed dinosaur." Genius.

Seriously though, it really is amazing to see him make these connections. He understands so much these days, and the fact that he can even verbalize some of it, at only ten months of age, just blows my mind.

"Quack, quack"

And now for the action shots!

Pre-haircut. I know it doesn't look that long here, but I assure you, it was.

Ooo, it tickles.

Big boy

Almost done

Ta-da!

They still kept it fairly long and "babyish" and they left some curl in the back. Yay! Lookin good, Shae! Also, note the strawberry in his blonde. A little Irish accent to go with his Irish name and heritage. :)

A Week in Pictures (And Video)

What a fun week! Shae's first pool, some siding on our house, and a VERY happy baby!

Water baby

Splashing

Come on in, Daddy. The water's great!
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Kissing fishies

I think my daddy loves me. What do you think?
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Finally, some siding! Woo hoo! We should see some stone soon as well!

Oh, the little hilarious things make my day!

Hats Off to You

Cute hat + cute baby = photo op!

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Just Another Glorious Day with Shae

Shae and I had plans to enjoy this beautiful Thursday afternoon at Memorial Park feeding the ducks, playing on the playground, and having a baby food picnic. I planned on getting myself and everything else ready to go during Shae's morning nap so that we could leave right when he woke up and enjoy a decent amount of time at the park before coming back home for that second nap.

Shae had a different vision. He just couldn't bring himself to stay asleep in his crib (not a problem we usually have these days). I'm not sure if his room was too warm or if his runny nose was bothering him, but I barely had time to pack his diaper bag before he was awake and crying. I watched over the video monitor as he pulled himself up in his crib and cried. I decided to give him a few minutes to see if he'd go back to sleep, but once I saw him stumble and take a spill in his crib and really start wailing, I thought I'd better go make sure he was okay. Great, I thought. He slept for less than half an hour and now he's going to be cranky all day.

I rushed in and scooped him up and he immediately layed his head on my shoulder. Okay, maybe he'll go back to sleep.

I sat down in his rocking chair and immediately noticed that this is no longer an easy task now that he's getting so big. I looked at his scrunched up legs and felt his heavy head on my shoulder. I hope he falls right back to sleep so that I can lay him down, I thought. I still have to get myself ready to go...Rocky has been shedding a lot lately and I need to vacuum...I really should just lay him back down in his crib because that's where babies are "supposed" to sleep...I wanted to get at least one load of laundry done before the park...I wonder what's new in the world of Facebook...

And then I said, Shut up, inner monologue.

I again looked at his scrunched up legs and felt his heavy head on my shoulder. I hope he sleeps in my arms for a long time so that I don't have to put him down. Moments like this are becoming few and far between.

He did sleep in my arms for quite some time. I relished it. Sitting in a quiet room with a peacefully sleeping baby gave me a lot of time to think. I thought back to how small Shae was just a few months ago when we rocked in that chair. I thought about how I would all too soon think back to this very moment and long for him to want me to rock him to sleep. I already felt nostalgic for this moment, even as I was living it.

We did, of course, still make it to the park. The laundry hadn't been done, the floors weren't vacuumed, and I hadn't checked my Facebook. My hair was a mess and I didn't have a speck of make-up on, but Shae didn't seem to mind.

Watching the duckies

Shae's favorite: the swings!

9 Months

9 months old! You read it right. Shae Dallas has officially spent just as much time outside of the womb as he did inside.

First things first: you must see how big he is getting!

Look at that face! Doesn't it just make you melt?

Nothing beats a good bath in the kitchen sink!

Shae is changing so fast! He's doing so many new things everyday. I think the easiest way to sum up this little guy is with a bulleted list.

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  Weighs 19 lbs, 5 oz, which puts him at the 25th percentile for weight
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  28.5 inches tall, which puts him at the 75th percentile for height (he's a long, lean baby)
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  Has 8 teeth (yes, 8!) and seems to be working on some more
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  He's an expert at "Army crawling" and is SO close to crawling on his hands and knees. In fact, he "kind of" did it this morning :)
• 
  
  Waves bye-bye
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  Claps his hands
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  Will hold up his fingers if you ask him where they are
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  Loves duckies and has been quacking for over a month now. His pediatrician didn't believe me at first on this one. I think he may have used the term genius. ;)
• 
  
  Says "Mama" and "Dada," although not specifically
• 
  
  Pulls himself up to standing while holding onto furniture
• 
  
  Gives kisses! I love this one! Although he'll rarely do it if asked, its usually just out of the blue. He especially loves to kiss the baby in the mirror.

It's so cool to see this little person developing right before our very eyes. He's a very active and curious young man and he is keeping us very busy!

Speaking of developing right before our very eyes, our house is coming along nicely! It's all framed and roofed and the windows should be going in any day now, if they haven't already. We've been making a trip out to see the progress every weekend, and are always impressed with how much they get done in a week.

Here's what it looked like last weekend: