Fun Things About Shasta

• Shasta loves being a big sister and is willing to help with whatever I let her do. She's helped feed bottles, change diapers, hold Shelby's hands while I try to get her latched (which is incredibly helpful and most of the time I ask her to do it), give baths, burp her, and hold her.

Practicing on a doll

• She loves to shower Shelby with kisses. All day long she randomly gives her kisses.

• She nurses all of her babies and stuffed animals and tells me she's feeding them. She used to lift her shirt and nurse them on her belly, but now she's a lot closer to the actual spot. She's also held the breast pump up to herself to pump milk and she's tried to nurse Shelby!!! Shelby was laying on the couch next to me and Shasta lifted her shirt and leaned into Shelby. When I asked her what she was doing she said she needed to feed her.

• She LOVES to sing. She pretty much sings all day long. She's my walking playlist! Sometimes she wants me to sing with her and other times if I start singing she cuts me off and tells me it's Shasta's turn. I'm always surprised to hear how well she knows the songs when she sings them on her own. And she knows a LOT of songs. (Baby Bumblebee, I Have A Little Turtle, We're So Glad When Daddy Comes Home, Little House, Thumbkin, I Am A Child of God, Sunbeam, ABC's, Snowman, Twinkle Little Star, Utah State Scottsman, USU Fight Song (she knows the words better than I do), Popcorn Popping, 5 Little Monkeys, 5 Little Ducks, How Much is that Doggy in the Window, and all the Baby Signing Time songs to name a few!) For a while we would sing a handful of songs as part of our bed time routine, but as she learned new songs she wanted those added to the list before bed. We would spend a good 20+ minutes singing songs, plus with all the rest of the routine it would be way past her bed time before she actually went to sleep. I finally started telling her she could have I Am A Child of God and 3 other songs. Sometimes she's fine with that and other times she begs and pleads for more songs, but we still stick to the 3 of her choice. And occasionally I'll rock her for a little while and sing every primary song I know because it's not very often that I get good, uninterrupted cuddle time with her and she loves to rock and sing with me!

• She's picked up on sign language and loves it. She almost always signs the words that she knows when she's talking. She has quite an extensive list now. (Mom, Dad, dog, cat, bear, horse, frog, fish, bird, milk, more, cereal, candy, apple, banana, sandwich, juice, drink, eat/food, hungry, popcorn, pizza, tree, leaf, grass, bug, rain, wind, snow, cloud, sky, hot, cold, shoes, socks, coat, hat, outside, day, new, up, down, play, again, water, bath, baby, doll, sign, cracker, cookie, book, hurt, time, sleep, jammies, clothes, blanket, goodnight, brush teeth, wash hands, soap, bath, again, stop, go, car, train, plane, bike, boat, stars, moon, sun, all done/finished, wait, please, thank you, sorry, and I love you). I'm sure there's more, but that's a list of 82 words! We owe most of it to Baby Signing Time. She's addicted and asks me several times a day if she can watch it.

• I was trying to get her to tell her dad she loves him so I signed, "I love you , dad". She said, "I love you, Nick". I have no idea why when I sign dad she says Nick.

• Three times she's picked up Shelby without any help. The first time I was in her room putting away laundry, Shelby was down the hall in her rocker, and Shasta was running in and out of her room. I heard Shelby fill her pants and Shasta came running in to tell me she needed a diaper change. I was almost done so I told her it could wait. I finished up and came out of her room to find Shelby on the floor next to her rocker, half undressed. The second time I was using the restroom. When I came out Shelby had gone from her rocking chair to the couch on the other side of the room. Yikes! The third time I was talking to Nick in the bedroom and Shasta was in there with us while Shelby was in her rocker in the other room. Shasta left the room and literally 30 seconds later I heard Shelby cry. I ran down the hall to find Shasta laying in Shelby's rocker with Shelby on top of her. My goodness. I have to lock Shasta in my bedroom with me when I take a shower so I know Shelby is safe!

• Shasta's into EVERYTHING. There is seriously no safe place in this house. She climbs up to everything. Bathroom counters, kitchen table, kitchen counters, kitchen bar, banister, dresser, even the shelves in the linen closet; she can get to all of it. I had a stool in the bathroom so she could sit on the potty by herself, but she carried the stool everywhere and caused way too much trouble so I took it away. But it hasn't stopped her. She climbs on top of the toilet to get stuff off the bathroom counter, she drags the kitchen chairs around to get to whatever she's after, and she's even stepped up onto a folded blanket to reach what she was after. And she causes the most mayhem while I'm nursing Shelby or pumping and lose track of what she's up to. 

• She got into the linen closet and dumped half a gallon of hand soap on the carpet. It cost me $65 to have someone come and clean it. Thankfully, I had a coupon. Otherwise it would have cost $99. Ugh.

• Since then I've caught her with the bathroom hand soap 4 different times and rubbing it all over herself. I'm seriously going crazy trying to keep her out of things.

• We started potty training a week and a half before I ended up on bed rest. She was doing awesome and then with being passed around so much and the inconsistency she stopped trying. I put her in pull ups because I was tired of all the accidents and didn't want to go back to diapers, but then she just started using them as diapers. Once Shelby came home and our lives got back to normal we buckled down and went back to panties cold turkey. It took a few days for her to get back on track, but she's back to doing awesome! I'm not sure when her last accident was during the day and she's only wet the bed twice; once at night and once during a nap. I'd like to say she's potty trained, but since I've taken away the stool in the bathroom she can't get on the toilet by herself so I have to help her every time.
  

• Before I took the stool away she would put it by Shelby's bed, stand over her and say a prayer. It's one of the most precious things I've ever seen her do! She says random prayers throughout the day and kneels at her bed with me for prayers at nap and bed time. Every time I hear her randomly say a prayer I have this image run through my mind of Heavenly Father smiling down on her!

• She loves getting dressed and wearing shoes. I've decided they should put underwear labels in the front because she always puts her panties on backwards and I think the label is the reason why.

• She asks me every single day if we can go shopping.

• Every night before she goes to bed she goes up to Shelby and says, "Goodnight, Shelby. I'll see you in the morning" and gives her a kiss!

• She's the most destructive child in the world! She tears apart everything. There was a box of unopened nursing pads sitting on my bed and while I was in the shower she tore the box to shreds. She's torn apart board books, ripped apart boxes, and today she destroyed a puzzle by peeling the backs off of the pieces.

• She loves to eat. All day long she tells me she's hungry and asks for a sandwich. I've told Nick that we won't be able to afford having boys if our girls eat this much!

• She LOVES her cousin, Meili and always asks if she can play with her!