I'm a big girl now!

So it's been a while since I put new things of Shaelyn up here - not because she hasn't been doing blog-worthy things, but because our computer ran out of memory and I couldn't download all the pictures and videos I was taking! But we've fixed that so we can keep updating our far-away family on what we've been up to.

Shaelyn is so much more active and FUN! But she's also become savvy to the camera and unfortunately, will usually stop whatever cute activity she is engaged in as soon as the camera is pulled out. So we get to enjoy her adorableness, but it's hard to capture. But here are some moments we have been able to get on camera...

Our friends, Brian and Julie, came to visit from Tennessee. Brian and Michael have known each other since they were babies themselves and have remained best friends, so it was fun to have them over for the weekend. They spoiled Shaelyn with lots of presents while they were here, including the dress she has on in this picture. They also bought us our much-needed gate! Thanks Brian and Julie!

Brian and Julie brought along their baby kitten, Boo, when they came for a visit. Shaelyn of course loved Boo, but Maggie wasn't too pleased. Boo wasn't sure about Shaelyn or Maggie. Hopefully neither cat was permenantly traumatized.

Shaelyn has become such a big girl just in the last month. Now that she can crawl, she loves to follow me around the house. It is so much fun to watch her take everything in. She can also pull up on everything and has started taking one or two steps when she pulls up on something (unfortunately, no videos of this as she won't do it in front of the camera). Here are some shots of her being a big girl:

The box the gate came in became her new toy. I was so impressed she was able to crawl up on it all by herself. She had fun crawling on and off of the box.

Like I said, she can pull up on anything now, so sitting is not as fun for her as standing and bouncing. Guess I've got to keep those toilets clean!

Not only is she eating solids, but she can drink water from her sippy cup all by herself! (I usually supervise to keep the water from going everywhere - I took out the "spill-proof" dohikey on the inside to make it easier for her to drink from.)

She no longer wants to play with her baby toys as much as other things around the house. Her new favorite things? Tupperware, plastic mixing spoons, and paper.

She finally has enough hair that it can get messy. It's so light, I don't know if you can see it in this picture, but it is really sticking up everywhere!We recently took Shaelyn to the playground by our house, hoping to swing with her on some swings. Well, the elementary school playground doesn't have swings! Can you believe that?! So we went down some slides with her. Here she is about to go down a slide with Daddy.

Finally, some videos I was able to capture:

Like I said, Shaelyn now likes to crawl after me (or Maggie) all over the house. Here she is "chasing" me down the hall.

She was playing with Michael in her nursery just last night, and it was so cute, I had to share. Unfortunately, at the end of the video, Shaelyn falls over backward. But don't worry - no tears were spilt over it. Notice her new crazy "machine gun" laugh and the fact that her room is trashed - something she accomplished all on her own.

And finally, a short video clip of her first trip down a slide: