Seventh-Month Shea!

Attempting the splits, while wearing her fancy shoes and a dress I wore when I was a baby.

Serious Shea.

Dex- top and Jax- bottom, also glad their little sis is seven months old!

A few random thoughts on Shea (they're random because I'm trying to make lunch WHILE I do this... if I wait until I have the time to organize my thoughts, this will NEVER get done!).

Shea turned seven months old this week. I'm constantly amazed at how fast time goes with little ones. As one of my mommy friends said, recently, "The days can seem so long, at times, but the years just fly by." This is very true.

Last week-end, Shea and I took our first airplane ride together to go visit the gals in my dad's side of the family for our annual Yum-Yum week-end retreat. She was amazingly spoiled by all, but I didn't exactly expect anything less!! :) Of course, that also meant that I was spoiled, as Shea was either held or played with by a great aunt, cousin or great granny the entire week-end and I, for the most part, had an empty lap (something that doesn't happen too often). I was so glad that she was able to meet some of the fantastic women in our family and that they were able to meet her. I made the same trip with the boys when they were the same age. I'll be posting photos sometime soon.

That same week-end, Shea made her first attempts at pre-crawling and within two days of returning home, she officially entered the mobile-baby phase. She is crawling all over the place!! I remember the boys were speed rollers/crawlers. Shea is a little more cautious about her movements. She keeps her tummy low to the ground and appears to be creeping up on her prey. It's pretty cute.

Then, yesterday, she decided to pull up to a stand. I used it to my advantage and changed her diaper with her standing up, holding onto the back of the driver's seat in our car (since she's also got the determination her brothers had when it comes to trying to escape diaper changes!).

She took her first big-girl bath with her brothers this week-end. Dex and Jax thought it was about the coolest thing EVER. They each carefully took turns holding her in their laps while I washed her up. Then, they gently washed her hair with a washcloth, which D.R. and I thought was one of the sweetest big-brother moments we've witnessed, yet. Shea also thought bathtime with her brothers was a lot of fun. I'm beginning to think everything is a bit more fun for a baby when you have two goofy brothers to keep you entertained and happy!

Shea continues to be a champion sleeper, she adores her daddy and continues to be far more interested in her brothers' toys than in her own.

I remember sitting in the operating room before Shea was born and all I could think about was how much I missed the boys and how sad I was that there was going to be this new little creature taking me away from them. I was so afraid I wouldn't love her the way I love the boys and that a new baby would just upset the way our family functioned. Last minute fears, I guess. Of course, within minutes of her birth, the love just poured out of me and it continues to grow, just as it does for her brothers. It's humbling for me to see how profoundly three little people can affect my life. Yes, our family functions differently, now... but it's not any more difficult that it was before. In fact, in some ways, I'd actually argue that it's easier. Shea brings a level of peace and calm to our family and can make each and every one of us smile, at times when we ordinarily might not want to.

Okay... time to get back to the munchkins... and lunch... and the adventures the boys have planned for our afternoon (surely, that will involve disassembling the couch and/or kitchen table!).