26 Weeks Old!

6 Months Old! I can hardly believe it.  It really flies by! It seems like there is a bunch of new feats coming with this age.  She can practically sit up on her own, she needs a little support on each side, and sometimes she just tries to eat her toes, but it's there.  While sitting, she will often arch her back trying as hard as she can to push herself up on her feet. Have I mentioned how much she loves standing?  Once standing, she is so curious to look around. Still no rolling over.  She can roll up on one side, back to her back and up on the other side, but not completely over.  She likes her tummy time too.  She so desperately wants to crawl.  This kid, I tell ya is a mover.  She is just dying to go places. (Shopping, I'm sure!) When we lay her on her tummy she will do anything to move forward.  She can get her little legs to push her forward, but then her arms get to her sides and she hasn't quite figured out how to move them back in front of her.  She will bury her face down to see if that helps, but nope, arms are still at her side.  We will move them forward for her and she'll push herself forward again, but then there she is stuck with her arms at her sides.  She'll figure it out, all to soon I suppose.  :) She is one big growing girl.  We had her 6 month check-up today. 

Weight : 13 lbs

Height: 23 inches

Head Circumfrence: 41 cm

Doc said he was very impressed with her development.  She's right on track and all caught up.  He said her motor skills, feeding & brian development are all looking great. He said she'll probably just be a bit on the tiny side. I think she's par for the course.  She's 6 months and wearing 6 month old cloths.  I can't believe how much she is growing.

We went to Portland this week and squeezed in about as much as we could.  Taylor was great once again on the plane rides.  I time her eating right before take off and it seems to work.  She played in the seat next to me most the plane ride home.  The pressure doesn't seem to bother her ears.  She was sucking on her pacifier on the decent into PHX and I think her ears popped at one point based on the look she gave me, but she didn't make peep.  Let's hope & pray this keeps up.  

1st stop in Portland was to see Grandma Cathy & make the office tour.  Of course Grandma loves showing off her adorable baby to everyone at the office.  Next pit stop at Jill's.  Perfect timing for Taylor to have a blowout and quick bath in her sink.  Thanks Jill ~ wink! Next up, a wonderful visit with our friends the Hermans! The kids, Lily, Addie & Bryson put on a show for us.  Lily loved on little Taylor Poppy as much as she could.  She wanted to hold her, play with her, dress her in her ball cap.  She was very sweet with her.  Jenny & Lawrence are old pros at this baby stuff.  I love just soaking them in.  It was, as always, was too short of a visit.  Next stop off to see the cousins! But not before blowout #2.  Only this time I was caught with only a couple wipes and unfortunately one of my favorite little outfits for Taylor was now going in the trash.  A quick pit stop into Target for a new outfit & wipes and we were back on the road. We came to Portland for Ally Maggs 1st Communion, but poor Ally got sick the night before, she was a trooper thou. And fortunately we came out unscathed. We still were able to spend time with Nan & Pop & cousins and had a wonderful visit. Aunt MaryBeth demonstrated how Taylor is about as big as her wine glass, (Francesca). Colton & Abby, Taylor's cousins, love them some baby Taylor and baby Taylor loves them right back.  I wish I could attach their video entertaining her.  I'll have to figure out how to do that. We stayed with my sister-in-law Lisa, where Taylor would constantly try to mimic Ty Ty's faces.  They were very cute together.  We went to Sydney's basketball game and Taylor slept right through the whole thing.  I thought my arm was going to fall off. Did I mention how heavy this girl is getting? Wow! We had quick visits with the Orneals' and Grandma Leona. There's never enough time when we're there.  

In the Pictures this week you'll see Taylor's adorable butt shot and loads of time with cousins & friends. 

Enjoy!

Meg.

25 Weeks Old!

This week Taylor gets snuggley.  She's such a little sweetheart.  At the end of the day she'll sit on my lap, lean back and let me rub her belly & rock her until she falls asleep.  I just love it.  We visited with friends this week. Uncle Chonie tried to tell her how cool it is to almost be done with school. Taylor gave Uncle Poppy the surprising news, he was shocked... as seen in the pictures.  Taylor went to Uncle Michael's to help him get some work done.  Then took a little dip in the pool. When we got back home she decided to start working out on her bikini body with her little rattle weights.  She was very pleased with her results, so she slipped on her glamorous shades (which she could not get enough of, she was tickled seeing herself in them) and went to dinner with our good friends the Kules brothers.
She seems to really observant this week.  She loves looking around and seems mezmerized at new environments.  OZ also tried to get Taylor to crawl.  She would even put her face down in the blanket and try to move forward using her forehead and legs. She's sitting with a pillow props around her, but still no rolling over.
Click here for pictures from this week.

We're off to Portland.  We'll see you next week.
Meg.

24 Weeks Old!

My little Bashas' baby! :)  Loves her deer meat!
Another fun, busy week full of visitors & friends.  She's growing so fast. I can't believe it.
This week: She's loving tummy time.  We practiced crawling.  She seems to like it. Today she started zerberting raspberries with her lips. And smiles when we do it to her.  She will also watch our lips and try to imitate what we do when blowing kisses.  She loves when we repeat sounds to her. Her facial expressions are still hilarious, I caught a couple of them in this week's pictures.

I'd love to know what her little baby dreams are about. She sometimes makes faces while she's sleeping.  I caught a picture of her smiling in her sleep.  In pictures this week you'll see Taylor had loads of grandma loving, met more cousins Kim & Nicole & baby Lark (pictures to come).  Lark is my cousin Jami's little girl.  Jamie and I are 3 months apart and Lark is 5 months older than Taylor. They just moved back from Belgium. We've been anxiously awaiting getting these littles together.  Taylor spent time with Aunts & Uncles & family in from Wisconsin too.  She went to her friend Tressie's birthday party.  She visited with Mary Megan in from Thailand.  We had a family dinner at my mom's cousins Lois & Dan.  Dan rocked Taylor for a good hour in the rocking chair.  Taylor is not a big snuggler, she's more of an observer. As Dan rocked her she just sat observing and taking it all in.

Each week is getting better and better.  I love her more and more and can't wait to see what the next week brings.  See you all next week.
Meg.
Click here to see the pictures from this week.

23 Weeks Old!

Taylor has a few new tricks.  Speaking with her eyebrows is the best one. She is also standing, twisting her body, tooting, and listening to her voice.  One of her favorite things to do is stand.  If you hold her up, she would love to stand all day.  OZ loves to show how strong she is and can practically stand on her own with just a little assistance in balancing.  She does have really strong little legs.  OZ thinks she would be the 'strong arm' man in the circus. She can twist her body like a churro.  She'll bury her face into the ground and tries to kick her little legs over.  This usually leads to a little tooting from the twisting. haha.  She has a big voice to go with her growing feet and hands.  She loves to grab her toes and roll around.  She's super active, loves to kick her legs, flail her arms and talk up a storm. She has her crawling position down and will grab at the blanket to try and pull herself forward. Still my favorite moments are when she's calm, sweet and snuggling in to sleep on my shoulder.  We spent some time outside by the pool, loving the fresh air, hoping the great weather will last longer.  We loved our visits this week with old friends and new friends.  Taylor is a very vocal, busy, active little baby and we just love her to pieces! 

For pictures from this week click here. 

Meg.

THE SKY WAS FALLING

It is with tremendous regret that I must inform you all of my unconsolable sadness.  As some of you may know, I was recently retained as a public relations specialist for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.  Earlier today I am sure you were waiting with baited breath to witness the spectacular delivery into orbit of the observation satellite that was in fact named after me - the "Glorious Taylor Poppy Shaw Global Observation Satellite."  Instead of celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the birthday of Kil Il sung, the launch was more or less like trying to shoot pool with a rope.

I am sure many of you are just as distraught as me over this obvious act of sabotage by either Japanese conspirators or an act of terrorism by the late Harlan Sanders and his explosive concoction of 11 herbs and spices.  I simply cannot put into words the sadness that I am feeling.  I have attached a photo to share with you my angst -- feel my pain!!!

The only thing that is getting me through these troubling times is the nearly full season of Duck Dynasty that I have recorded on the DVR.  I urge you all to keep the faith for the DPRK, I know you all look forward to the day when you can spend your spring break enjoying all the sights of Pyongyang, home of the 234th largest ball of twine and one of the worlds most active museums of torture, second only to Guantanamo - hopefully.

Well Meg keeps distracting me with milk and OZ is just pacing back and forth mumbling incoherently about the prospects of the Bears this season in a state of consternation.  My only hope is that if I just cry long enough and loud enough one of you out there will step up and get me a real drink and teach me how to send these updates myself.

Well I think I just dropped a present for my folks so I am going to warm up the vocal chords for a little concert.  Keep the faith.

My unconsolable screaming has been kindly translated by Uncle Poppy - Guest Blogger. . .  who was under the influence of my mind splitting screaming and drinks that he was hoping would drown them out, which apparently only limited effect. . .

22 Weeks Old!

5 months old this week.  My cousin Vikki once told me, "Give it 6 months and it will get so much better." She was right! Well it's been 5 months and this week I have started to have a peace of mind that I know this girl and she knows me. The more time we spend with Taylor the better I understand her.  Finally!
This week was Taylor's first Easter.  Uncle Poppy & Aunt Nikki came over for breakfast.  They gave Taylor the cutest Easter dress. OZ started our day off with his famous deer chorizo burritos.  Delicious! We had a fantastic time at my mom's in the afternoon. It was more meet and greets for Taylor this week.   Taylor met Aunt Ann & Uncle Keith at my mom's on Easter and our friend Dougie Fresch'e made and appearance.  She charmed everyone with her sweet smile & coos.  She is so inquisitive and loves to observe. Her vision may be stretching a little farther.  She loves to walk around and look.  One of her favorite things to do this week is to stand up.  Her legs are so strong.  She found her toes yesterday.  It was adorable to watch her grab them.  I really wanted to get a picture, but I just couldn't take my eyes off her.  I knew if I walked away to get my camera the moment would pass.  She was grabbing both her toes and rolling her body back and forth.  She's really close to rolling over. She thrusts her body from side to side and will grab whatever she can to help pull herself over, it just hasn't happened yet.  OZ and I are waiting on pins and needles.  lol.

Click here for pictures from this week.
See you next week,
Meg.

21 Weeks Old!

I just can't believe how quickly it flies by.  We took a quick trip up to Sedona for the weekend to hang out with my dad, Marilyn and family.  It was a fantastic weekend.  Taylor had her first trip to Elote and loved it.  Hopefully 'entertained' everyone on the patio.  We checked out downtown Cottonwood.  Had a wonderful lunch with Marilyn's daughter Leah & kids.  Then it was a fun night at my dads.  We grilled out, read books and played games.  Taylor was very entertained by Hayden & Granger, (Leah's boys).  They have a lot of practice with their little sister Dylani.  Taylor is a very happy baby in the mornings.  She wakes up from a good nights sleep and is ready to take on the day with gusto.  She had big smiles for everyone. Taylor did a little hanging out with Grandma Mary this week too.  She snuggled right up and went to sleep.
Taylor is getting so big.  No rolling yet.  I'm sure it's going to happen soon enough.  She can do it when slightly assisted, but mostly she rolls up on her side when going from back to stomach.  And from stomach to back it's more like a flop /falling over than anything, but o'well soon enough.  She does scoot a little bit by pushing with her heels.  I took pictures of her on OZ & my baby blankets this week.  She was a very happy little baby.  As I flip through the pictures, she looks like she is a little dancing machine.  She just can't wait to get those legs going.
Today we took our first trip to the Phoenix Zoo.  I can see this becoming a regular activity for us.  It was a really great day! Taylor did had a little play time with her friend Cameron.  Taylor still has a thousand looks.  Generally a furrowed brow is her trying to figure something out.  It's very cute to watch her observe.  And boy does she like to just hang out and look around. She's talking a lot more.  Will coo herself to sleep for her naps and hopefully soon for her bedtime.  Speaking of which, I'm off to hit the sack.  See you all next week.  

Click here to see pictures form this week.

Love,

Meg.