Thursday, February 28, 2013

"momma"

She's done it...she's said her first word. She may be absolutely crazy about her Daddy, but her first word was Momma!

Here's the thing though....she's actually been doing this since she was around 2 or 3 months old. She just didn't know it. But she went through this thing when every time she was hungry or upset she would make a lot of "m" noises and sometimes "momma" would sneak out. We really noticed it on the way home from the doctor's office after her 3 month checkup...she was NOT (I repeat, NOT) happy with the nurse and the shots she administered. She screamed the whole way home (luckily it's about 2 miles away) and most of what she was screaming sounded like "momma". But I don't count that as her first words because it never seemed like she knew what she was saying and it was never consistent...it was an accident because she was making "m" sounds.

However, yesterday she knew what was going on and said it not once but ALL day. I was playing a lot of peek-a-boo that morning on the changing table where I usually say "where's Momma?" or "where's Shaylyn?" and hide on the side of the table. We play this game a lot, she gets real excited about it. She's so funny about it because she knows what I'm doing but pretends to not look for me and looks straight up at the ceiling while smiling and kicking like crazy....until she can't stand it anymore and tries to look for me. While I was changing her clothes after that (which is not her favorite game) she starts whining and says "mamamamama." Although she hasn't done it in a while, I didn't really think too much of it and when she stopped I looked at her and said it back to her. She looked at me for a minute then started back up again...."mamamama." It made me giggle a lot. Then she proceeded to do it all morning, but the second I would get my phone out to record it she would stop. Rascal. Later that morning we were Skyping with my mom and before I could even tell her what she had been doing she was saying it over and over again.

She has been imitating a lot of things lately. This weekend Chad was making a smack noise with his mouth and she started doing it too. (She still does it when you do it to her.) She studies your mouth SO hard when you're talking to her. This makes me so excited! Well and nervous. She's so interested in communicating and is always looking at us like she's soaking everything up. Which also got me thinking about something else.....since she seems so interested, I'm starting a few signs with her. (Started "officially" today!) I don't know enough myself to really teach her a lot, but I would love to teach her some basic ones that will help us communicate with her over the next few years. "more" "milk" "finished/all done" "eat" are the ones I'm starting with. We'll see how it goes to see what we do from here...I'm not going to push it, just see how she responds.

Here she is yesterday (you can hear MeMe in the background on Skype) .....

And here she is today when I put her down for a nap....I also heard this on the monitor at 2:30am this morning. I can't think of a better way to wake up in the middle of the night! :)


Do I think she knows who "momma" is? Mah, not really. Do I think she's calling for me when she says it? Mah, not really. But we're working on those things. I do know that she can see someone say it and knows how to repeat it now. I think she knows when she says it I will come...because I'm making a point of that every time she says it. At least for now...I want her to know who Momma is! Then I pick her up and say "Momma's here." She definitely knows her own name because she turns and responds to it when someone calls her...so I don't think it'll be too long before she knows what our names are too. Yesterday when she said it, it was always when she needed something.....hungry, tired, or just generally pissed off. Today she said it a few times when we were just playing together and I would say it to her (and also every time she was mad). My mom is completely convinced that she does know what she's saying and who her "momma" is. Maybe I'm cutting Shaylyn short? Either way, I'll take it...because really, it's just too damn cute to matter.

xo,
Shay's Momma :)

Monday, February 11, 2013

2 Months

Oh man....can anyone tell me where the past 6 months have gone?? I'm months behind on here! I know all of you internets people are waiting with bated breath to hear about my little girl....right? Right?? Anyone?? :)

Since I'm using this blog as a sort of "baby book" for Shay...I want to go back to do a little recap of pictures and things that happened for each month. So let's think back all the way to October when Shaylyn was just 2 months old........


Happy Shay

MAD Shay



Date night with Chad's favorite girls :)

Morning snuggles...most mornings I bring Shaylyn in our bed after her early morning feeding. :)

Shay's first trip to Napa! We went with Auntie "Madia" and Uncle Mark. :)

In Napa - Momma gets sushi for the first time in like 10 months. Oooh how I missed sushi while I was pregnant!!

Shay discovers she has a tongue in October. I'm pretty sure it was out more than it was in this whole month. 

See?

I remember this day...Shay and I were super cuddly all day. I pretty much let her sleep on me all day. And I happened to catch her smiling in her sleep. This picture makes my heart so happy. :)

Auntie Amy sent a Cardinals uni for our little #7

Shaylyn is introduced to our monthly "Kwanazaaa!" 

Grandpa Scott and Grandma Connie come for a visit and we eat lunch on the beach in Half Moon Bay. (If  you ever go there you MUST eat at Sam's Chowder House and get the lobster sandwich and clam chowder. You will NOT be disappointed!!)

Shaylyn first Halloween! At the pumpkin patch.

I mean...you saw our Christmas card, right?? I LOVE taking awkward family photos. I actually waited until she was crying to take this picture. Yeah, I'm that mom.

Our little family

She passed out on Auntie Donna while watching the Cardinals/Giants game in the NLCS.

She cried when the Cardinals' season was over.

She decided to root for the Giants in the World Series. (2012 Champs!)

She went as an owl for Halloween and trick or treated with the big kids...her  cousins Olivia and Zoie and their friends. Mommy went as "fifty shades of grey". 

The cutest owl there ever was.
She was over the owl costume by this point. Daddy went as "The Jager Bomber" :) 
I love this picture of Zo at the pumpkin patch. :)

Roadtrip to SoCal to meet her ADORABLE cousin Kiley!! I can already tell these 2 will be big buddies. :)


All the Johansen/Gillette cousins together! 3 grandkids born in 2012! (Sidenote: Shaylyn did NOT have a good day this day...had a really bad belly ache and spent most of the day crying. Like REALLY crying. The only person who could get her to calm down was Uncle Ryan so he spent most of the day walking with her and bouncing her and being the Shaylyn Whisperer.)

Shay insisted she hold her cousin. We were dying over this picture. So cute.

Shay meets the Laukat girls! Here she is with Kendall. I feel like these two make a lot of the same faces. :)

She very much enjoyed McKenna...she kept smiling at her. :)

On the drive back home to NorCal. Took a pit stop off the highway so I could feed Shay. Then we took this picture of her by a cotton field. I have no idea why this picture makes me laugh so much...but it does.

Baseball season may be over but she still rocks the Cards bib!


Alright...and the Cards dress. The little dimple on her right cheek really came out in her 2nd month...and oh man does it hurt my heart! :)

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

For your entertainment.

Today, I needed to make a quick run to the grocery store and the produce market so I threw on some sweats, put my hair in a ponytail, and kept the baby in her cow pajamas and left the house. We got a few things at the grocery store which included some frozen things and milk, then we headed to the market. I love my new car which has keyless entry and keyless start. My husband's car has the same feature and you can never lock yourself out. After leaving the market, I (knowingly) left my keys in the bag in the back and went around to put the baby in. Apparently, my car does NOT have the same feature of never locking yourself out. Shaylyn was hungry, needed to be changed, and was ready for a nap. While we waited the hour plus it would take my husband to come from work to get the spare from our house....I had to breastfeed in a sort of "ally" near the parking lot. I thought I was somewhere where no one would be coming through but some unsuspecting man did and saw me nursing my baby on the ground. Did I mention I was in sweats and the baby was in a cow onesie? Pretty sure he thought we were homeless from the pity look he gave us. I was shocked he didn't offer some spare change.

If you don't laugh at yourself sometimes, you'll just cry. I chose to laugh today.