After Shelby just turned 10 months old, I almost gave up on trying to teach Shelby this because I had no idea what I was doing and felt like it would never happen. I only knew that it might help lessen Shelby's frusteration and help us communicate better. Well folks, after months of what I thought were failed attempts,something finally clicked and the stars aligned...
Now, if she could only understand "NO"...any pointers on how that works?
So I know what you're thinking...
Lindsay and a marathon?? Aren't those complete opposites?Well, yes you are right if you're thinking of the type of marathon where you run...run.... and then run some more, but that is not what I'm talking about here.
I've decided to do a different kind of marathon; one we can all participate in and hopefully, by the end, not feel like you have to pass out or puke your guts out. I'm going to post a video or picture of Shelby everyday for the next week or so until I run out of things to post. There are just too many from this last month to chose from,so I'm taking little baby steps and posting one at a time. Hopefully by doing it this way it will be a little more interesting rather than boring.
So stay tuned folks for the beginning of the SHELBY MAKES 3 Marathon!
I've been told by the locals that around October you can pretty much expect to not see the sun for weeks on end, and that it rains almost everyday until February. Fortunately, the weather has been fabulous since we moved here, and we haven't seen too many rainy days. So last week, in anticipation of sunless weather to come, I decided to be spontaneous and drive to the beach to soak up the sun with Shelby while we still had the chance.
Obviously, I was wrong. Luckily, I was able to distract her with a yellow leaf I found. She quickly forgot how upset she was and spent the rest of the time sitting on this log waving her leaf around. I guess Shelby isn't my little beach bum...yet. Oh well, I can always try again next summer :) Goodbye warm sunny weather! We'll miss you!
*She waves hello and goodbye to random strangers and especially to daddy as he leaves for school. Its really cute because she kind of does it in a Miss America motion but not quite as fluid and graceful.
*She really loves to smile with her whole face by squinting her eyes and sticking out her chin while giving a huge wide cheesy grin. I have yet to capture the complete essence of it on camera, but people really get a kick out of it--especially old Asian women.
*She is just as stubborn as her mom and dad and still refuses to crawl on her hands and knees. However, on a few occasions she proved she could do it with proper motivation, ie. hunger and jealousy (I was holding another baby). Instead of crawling, she's taken to other ways of getting around. She'd rather scoot, army crawl, or cruise along furniture and anything else that will support her.
*She now has 4 teeth on top and 4 on bottom and loves to use them...to my dismay(yup I'm still nursing. My goal is to make it to 1 year but some days I wonder if I'm going to make it!)
*She has been sleeping 12-13 hours through the night without any feedings pretty much since the second week we moved here. HALLELUJAH, its a miracle! Must be something in the Vancouver air...
*Tonight I noticed that her balance has improved over the last month so I thought I'd see if she could stand on her own. To our surprise she actually stood with no support for an impressive 5 seconds or so until we ruined it by startling her with our excitement.
That's all I could think of for now but needless to say, she's growing up so fast! It's already getting hard for me to remember what it was like to hold a wee little newborn.
And now some more pics from last month...(don't forget to click for a closer look :)
...months that is. You'll see what I mean later.
It's hard for me to believe, but as of the 1st Shelby has been outside of me as long as she was inside. My little baby girl isn't so little anymore. Toting her around this summer has been a good workout for me. At her 6 month checkup in June she weighed 17lbs and was 24'' tall. A few weeks ago at her "9 month" checkup she weighed in at 21.4lbs (92 percentile) and was 27'' tall(50 percentile). I'm a bit curious what her stats are now considering her checkup was 3 weeks early due to our move.
Shelby likes to stand with support and pick things up now. She's starting to show interest in "cruising" too.
This last one is of Shelby concentrating really hard while she "bakes some brownies" :) 
Well, after months of anticipation and a little anxiety, we are finally here in beautiful Vancouver. I must apologize upfront for the lack of blogging, but its been a little crazy in the Wells household the last few months preparing for this move, getting here, and unpacking everything.
I never realized how dependent we've become on the internet until I had to go without it for the first week we were here. I kept wanting to "google" things to find the best place to shop, set up utilities, pay bills, email, etc., but was quickly reminded we had no way to do many of those things without an internet connection. Its hard to imagine how our parents ever managed to get anything done without it. Hehe.
Anyhoo...
So getting here was a bit tricky in the beginning. On Tuesday the 12th we had plenty of help from our ward and neighbors (THANK YOU!!) and emptied our apartment of 4 years in just one day. It is amazing how much stuff/junk we've accumulated over 5 years of marriage. Even more amazing is how Scott managed to pack it all in a 17' UHAUL. Halfway through the day the truck looked plum full but we still had alot of stuff waiting to be loaded. I was worried we'd have to take everything out and go exchange our truck for a larger one but somehow (by a miracle or pure genius) Scott was able to rearrange things and make every last thing fit.
The next morning Scott, with all our belongings in tow, headed for Ontario, Oregon to stay with his Aunt Paulette. After Oregon, he was only 11 hours from our new home here in Vancouver (Thanks again Aunt Paulette for letting Scott stay with you--what a lifesaver!) Shelby and I stayed behind to spend our last days in Utah with my sister, and say our last goodbyes to other friends. The plan was to have Scott pick us up from the airport in Vancouver on Friday evening. When planning the move back in May, I figured Shelby would do better on a 2 hour flight than 20+ hours in a truck. She was a great traveler in the car at 5 months, but not knowing how she'd be at 8 months, I wanted to be safe rather than sorry.
Unforunately, the last days I spent in Utah were not quite as relaxing and fun as I'd originally imagined. Shelby seemed to have an allergic reaction to my sister's new cat and hardly slept, resulting in a fever which didn't go away fully until the night before we left. I'm not sure if it was the cat, teething, the stress of the move or what, but Shelby was not her normal self for the remainder of our time in Utah. Her daddy says it's because she missed him so much. Thank goodness for my wonderful sisters Sarah and Melissa, and my awesome friends from Provo for feeding us, babysitting, giving rides, cleaning, etc! If it weren't for them I never would've made it through that last week. (Seriously--THANK YOU SOOO MUCH! I really can't thank everyone enough for all the love and support! THANKS AGAIN!!! LOVE YOU!!)
On Friday, Shelby and I said our last goodbye's to my sister and her kids, and headed towards our gate. I didn't know how to feel at that moment. I was too exhausted from the previous days' events to feel or think about anything really. The only thing I could think was to pray "please Heavenly Father just let me get through this 2hr flight with Shelby, peacefully" I was shouting hallelujiah by the end of the flight because she did actually sleep and didn't cry like last time. Just a few whines on take-off, but after she had her bottle she passed out for most of the flight--phew!
Nothing really hit me until we landed and I was getting off the plane. I had said goodbye to my life in Utah, the place I'd spent the last 7 years since highschool, and I was now in a completely foreign place. Plus, Vancouver airport is HUGE! I mean GIANORMOUS! I felt a bit overwhelmed at first, but felt good at the same time. As I walked to baggage claim and through customs, the signs were in at least 4 different languages and then I heard several different languages being spoken as I passed different groups of people. The anxiety I had felt about moving and coming to this new place melted away, and was quickly replaced with excitement. It was clear we weren't in Provo anymore, and yet it was strangely refreshing. Don't get me wrong, I am very greatful for all the experiences I had living in Provo. I loved it there, and miss alot about it, especially our friends and family. But I must say here in Vancouver the diversity and the change is really refreshing. I can't think of a better word to describe it. It's definately the beginning of a new adventure--a new chapter in our life.
And now, what you've all really been waiting for...some pictures of our place and Shelby since moving. Enjoy :) (Don't forget to click to see them closer mom!)
