The Third Week of the Seventh Month of Shae's Life on Earth

A study of Shae, in three parts -- the "I can do it myself" chapter.

Playing with the handicrafts of one of our two favorite woodsmen -- Shae is really good at taking each block off, knocking them together to make all sorts of wonderful sounds, and (with just a little help) re-stacking them to start anew.

"Mama, I can feed myself!" The Lifetime movie will be titled "Squash Gone Wrong: The Shae Lily Story." (We're not trying to stifle anyone's experiential learning, but it might be beneficial to learn which end of the spoon works best for delivering food to the mouth. I'm just sayin'.)

Big girl Shae likes to sit in her chair and read. Okay, so this one is a totally falsified photo-op, but it still works with the theme -- and, let's be honest, she's just cute as a button sitting up in her chair all by herself.

Photoshoot: Work it Girl! You're Fierce! Blue Steel!

I had auspicious plans to have Shae's pro photos taken when she was a mere fresh pipsqueak (i.e. 4 weeks or so), but that never happened. So then I rationalized that I would get them done at 6 months on the dot, and follow up every 6 months thereafter. Mmhmm. So seven months and some change will have to suffice -- we'll see when the next ones happen. Meantime, we're waiting to be "discovered" any day now! I've even found a website that peddles infant pageant wigs (think: bouffant) and false eyelashes. I'm going to make an awesome Pageant Mom. Yay*!

*I'm kidding. :-)

Shae's first non-camping camping weekend

We had planned to spend Memorial Day weekend camping in Dillon, but the weather forecast scared us away. So instead we drove up to see Kyle, Amy, Becky, Josh and Korti (who elected to brave the forecasted cold and rain) on Saturday... and it turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous day. Oh well -- next time. So, **warning**, a lot of campground-related photos ahead.

Hi, Auntie Kortni!

Hi, Uncle Josh!

Hi, Gramma Becky!

Sittin' 'round the campfire is the best part of camping.

Every mountain girl knows the importance of a good pair of shades.

What's that??

Providing comic relief to all, Roskoe finds a cushy seat on Dexter. These two are brothers from another mother without question.

Kyle also finds a comfy seat...

Playin' with Dad in the mountain sunshine:

Does this look like 50s and rain to you? Yeah, us neither. Stupid Ashton Altieri.

Shae says hi to Roskoe. "He sure looks a lot like my puppies, except he has polka dot lips..."

Roskoe says hi to Shae. "She kinda smells like my mom and dad, except she's like 1/10th their size..."

Good idea or no? Shae attempts to ride Dexter.

Bring on the brats!

Roskoe says "brats? what brats?"

A preview of things to come: Dad and Shae are the best of camping pals.

You can tell Auntie Amy is going to be a fabulous teacher -- she brought crayons and a coloring book to play with.

"I'm thinking a turquoise and apricot treatment on this page, Auntie Amy. May I have the colors, please?"

Hard at work.

A brief karaoke interlude. Song of choice: "Funkytown."

Back to work.

Roskoe and Shae are new best pals.

...and Auntie Amy is a close second.