7/24/11: Shayla is such an amazing and talented little girl! She surprises me every day and I love it! She is a natural gymast and already participates with the 5-7 year old class (even though she is still 4). She climbs to the top of a 35+ ft rope and has to touch the ceiling before returning back down. She can flip herself on the bars and pulls herself up using the strength of her arms. She is very well balanced and enjoys doing 'bum drops' on the trampoline. We counted today and she got to 103 without even using her hands for stability. Her handstands and cartwheels are amazing and she loves it all! She plans to try out dance this year but will still participate in gymnastics. She graduated her first year of preschool in Mesquite at Sunshine Academy and has been doing summer preschool classes here in St George since. She knows her letters and sounds and is working on her numbers. She can finally count to 20 and is figuring out how to keep right on counting past that. She completed the 2nd level in swim lessons. Although she didn't love it, it was extremely good for her and she is now able to put her face in the water without throwing a tantrum. I love that we can go to the pool now and she will jump right in. She has a great memory and enjoys playing matching and other games, doing puzzles, coloring and playing with her dollies. She said today, "When I grow up, I'm going to be a princess and a mom and a teacher and I'm going to have a princess baby in my tummy. I'm going to name her Sherina and my name will be Belle." She has such a zest for life and gets so excited about the little things. She loves to play with Eris and Gavin and to have friends/cousins over but when that can't happen, she loves to play with me too.
10/27/10: As I was tucking the girls in to bed tonight, Shayla randomly says "I want to see Jesus." Not knowing how to respond, I started pointing to the pictures of Him on the walls and those that Eris has collected as bookmarks to which she says, "No, I want to give Jesus a hug the next time we go to His house." It was a very sweet and innocent comment but I love how she feels love toward Him even at such a young age.
10/10/10: Shayla loves preschool! She especially loves that her best friend and cousin Joelee is in her same class. She recognizes her name and picks it out and puts it up on the board before class. She is learning to spell her name too and is able to write the letter "S" and is working on the others. Her favorite colors are pink and black and enjoys telling me almost everyday. She will rarely wear something that is not one of those two colors. She loves to pose for pictures when she is in the mood and often asks me if she can take a picture or if I will take one of her.
9/27/10 Notes from Mom:
10/27/10: As I was tucking the girls in to bed tonight, Shayla randomly says "I want to see Jesus." Not knowing how to respond, I started pointing to the pictures of Him on the walls and those that Eris has collected as bookmarks to which she says, "No, I want to give Jesus a hug the next time we go to His house." It was a very sweet and innocent comment but I love how she feels love toward Him even at such a young age.
10/10/10: Shayla loves preschool! She especially loves that her best friend and cousin Joelee is in her same class. She recognizes her name and picks it out and puts it up on the board before class. She is learning to spell her name too and is able to write the letter "S" and is working on the others. Her favorite colors are pink and black and enjoys telling me almost everyday. She will rarely wear something that is not one of those two colors. She loves to pose for pictures when she is in the mood and often asks me if she can take a picture or if I will take one of her.
9/27/10 Notes from Mom:
To My Shay Shay:
You are always so full of life! You never slow down. It's funny how I have to take you on a drive everyday to get you to take your much needed nap. But I don't mind. I love that you have a lot of energy and can do so many great things. One of the most difficult times is at church. You just don't want to sit still. A few weeks ago after we talked about how the church is Jesus' house, you accidentally knocked the magazines off the table and told me "It's ok, Jesus will pick them up." You love to pray and read me stories and sing and dance to your made up songs. You love to be my big helper and when you and I work together, we can get the house clean pretty quick. Your most recent love has been playing store. You love it when we pretend to buy things with your "casherater" and you love to charge hundreds of dollars and swipe the pretend credit card.
Preschool Father's Blessing: August 31, 2010
3 1/2 years old:
- I bless you as you go to preschool, you will have a mind open to learn what you need to. I bless you that you will pay attention in class and be an example. You will follow your teacher and listen to her. You Heavenly Father loves you. Your mom and dad love you too. I bless you with an open heart as your family is growing, you'll be able to accept the changes and move forward as needed.
3 1/2 years old:
- Shayla is 3 1/2 years old and in preschool. She has an amazing amount of energy. She reminds us of the energizer bunny that keeps going, and going... She is involved in dance and gymnastics. She has great upper body strength and can climb almost anything. She enjoys riding her bike and scooter, playing at the park, playing pretend and following Eris and her friends around. She is also a good big sister and loves to be my big helper and play with her little brother. She is always making up new songs and loves to dress up and dance. We always thought she'd be a tom boy but lately you can't get her to leave the house unless she has her purse and jewelry. She's our little Shay Shay!
- I started feeling the flutterings of our little Shayla around 19 weeks and she was in full kick-mode by 23 weeks. She moved a lot with small, sharp movements like constant little kicks. I also felt her hiccupping a lot. We found out at the ultrasound that we would be having a girl and we were totally thrilled! Eris was so excited to have a little sister to play dress up and dolls with.
- Shayla Shaneil Lewis
- Grandpa Neily served his mission in
Guatemala - We also liked Elayna, McKayla, McKenna... but I always liked the nickname Shay so when I was discussing names with my family on a trip to Idaho, I heard the story about my dad's mission and was sold on "Shayla".
- Nicknames include; Shay-Shay or Shaylers
The Announcement:
- We told our parents shortly after we found out we were pregnant. I bought some fat boy ice cream sandwiches and some newborn sized diapers and told my mom that I brought some diapers over in case she needed to change one. She didn’t get it at first but they shortly caught on that a new grandbaby was on the way.
The Preparation:
- We were able to borrow a bassinet from the Hogue’s and were given 2 baby showers by my cousin Chelsea Capitan and by daddy’s sister, Stacey Young. We were given many adorable clothes, a bouncer, many blankets, etc for baby Shayla. A few months after her birth we were able to buy a crib. Auntie Aubrey stayed with us for the summer to help with the kids while mom went back to work. Afterwards, we put together Shayla’s room with her new crib and bedding.
The Delivery: February 27, 2007
- It was around 2:00 am on February 27, 2007 when I started feeling contractions. We had only recently moved to Mesquite and I was still planning to deliver in St. George and being my first pregnancy, I wasn't sure what to expect. I called the hospital and they advised to wait until the contractions were 5 minutes apart. I decided it was time to pack a bag, take a shower and wait it out. By 3:00 am, I decided it was time to go pick up Spencer at the fire station and head to the hospital. So once a contraction passed, I took a deep breath and rushed to the fire station to pick him up. I was able to get an epideral fairly quickly that probably worked a little too well. I was so numb, that I couldn't figure out how to push so mostly laughing through the end, Shayla made her entrance into the world. She came a little swolen and with huge hands but it was a very beautiful and emotional experience and all of my family were able to be there to share it with us.
The Birth:
- Shayla Shaneil Lewis. Born February 27, 2007 at 3:50 pm. 8 lb 5 oz, 18.5" long. Our slightly swollen, yet super sweet baby girl!
- (insert pic)
The Blessing: March 25, 2007
Baby's First Months:
- I bless you to have wisdom, strength, courage and love. That you will learn of doctrines and study from the scriptures. I bless you with a strong body and mind. I bless you to be a witness of the gospel and have courage to share the words of Christ. You are a person of love and you are very special. This and all other blessings your Heavenly Father has in store for you, I leave with you in the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Baby's First Months:
- She loved to kick and would kick so hard that it would keep her bouncer moving, sucked on her lips, loved to have her arms free so she could put them behind her head like her grandpa Neily. She loved her binkie from the beginning and didn’t want to give it up. She was a very good baby and liked to move a lot and keep busy although her binkie or staring up at a moving fan seemed to calm her down a little. In the early weeks she loved being held and rocked to sleep but shortly after that, she didn’t cuddle as much. She was more interested in kicking herself front and back in her bouncer or having tummy time on her play mat. Her favorite toy was the black and white striped stuffed tiger that Grandpa Neily won her. She adored it and had to take it everywhere!
- By 4 months we found out that she had several hemangiomas (a cluster of growing blood vessels similar to a strawberry birthmark) on her body, the most noticeable of which was on her right cheek under her eye. We were very concerned about them and took her to a series of doctors who indicated that they are basically just birth marks and should go away with time. Once it started pushing her nose to the side and shutting her eye, we were desperate to seek help and were finally advised to see Dr Vanderhuft in Dermatology at Primary Children's Hospital. Shayla was put on a steroid to reduce the size and we had follow-up appointments bi-weekly, then monthly for several months. By age 2, we took her off the medicine completely and they have stayed stagnant. Hopefully with time, they will disappear completely but if not, she is still a beautiful girl with some extra "angel's kisses" as one Dr. who has a daughter with one as well, labels them.
- She was a busy baby from the beginning. She started walking at 9 months and started dancing shortly after. She's always running! She learned how to crawl out the doggy door at a very young age and has always been super strong. She could pull herself up onto the counter with just her arms also allowing her to climb almost anything. By 21 months she was crawling over difficult ladders and bridges at the park without any issue. She enjoyed looking at books and playing with dolls at that age and began dressing herself by then. She is very independent but struggled with verbally speaking until age 2. I taught her some sign language (please, milk, more, eat...) that really helped us through the transition of not talking and things became much easier. She doesn't focus very long on any one thing but enjoys always keeping busy. Nap time and bed time are difficult. After attempts with using a crib tent, locking the door, laying with her, playing music... she escapes and doesn't want anything to do with it. Most naps have to be done with a drive and we are still trying to figure out what to do about bedtime.
Baby's Firsts:
- Hike: 3 days
- Took you on a small hike down in the baby bjorn.
- Smile: 2 weeks
- Slept through the night: 3 months
- Roll over: 4 months
- Front to back: All of us were home to see it which I know I was really worried about since I was working at the time. By 4 1/2 months you were rolling all over the place.
- Swim: 4 1/2 months
- Teething: 5 months
- Beginning to grow bottom 2 teeth. You were very slobbery and sucked on everything! By 6 months, teeth finally broke through. Hello pearly whites!
- Laugh: 5 months
- Giggles regularly but sissy Eris makes you laugh the best!
- Sit: 5 1/2 months
- Starting to sit although you fall forward after a couple of minutes.
- Held a bottle: 5 1/2 months
- Crawl: 6 months
- Started scooting more than crawling but still in a crawl position.
- Steps: 9 months
- By 9 1/2 months, you were walking great!
Baby's Growth:
6/27/07 : 13 lb 8 oz, 25 inches
9/4/07 : 15 lb 6 oz, 25 ½ inches
11/28/07 : 18 lb 11 oz, 27 inches
3/20/08 : 19 lb 5 oz, 32 inches
9/18/08 : 22 lb, 32 inches
3/5/09 : 27 lb, 33 ¾ inches
1/30/10 : 35 lb, 37 inches
2 1/2 yrs old: August 2009
Shayla has been hitting many developmental milestones lately. She is mostly potty trained and loves to ride her trike and scooter all over the place outside. She also loves to push her big sister Eris in the stroller and does pretty well at it. Her speech is getting much better and it is much easier to communicate with her. She calls herself “Sheela” and says funny things constantly. “You wanna piece of me?”, “Come here”, “That’s so funny,” “Holy Cow,” “Oh goodness,” “OK,” “I Love You,”, “I hold you,” “You’re a sugar bear (she copied that one from sissy Eris),”… She is as crazy as ever and loves to do flips with mom or dad or by herself using the side poles on the playground. She is excellent on the beam and loves to pull herself up on the bar. Her stomach muscles are so strong she can lift herself up to almost any countertop with her arms alone. She loves to dig in the dirt, swing, play at the park, read stories, play in her room, color (she colors for about 2 seconds on every page), ride her trike or scooter, listen to music, dance, go on walks, push the stroller, kick a ball around, jump on the tramp, run through the sprinklers, swim, go down the slide… She has finally given up the binkie and the sippy cup which were thrown away because of all the trouble she had over them. She calls herself a “big girl” and wants to wear “big girl panties” so she does most of the time. She has to dress herself and put her own seat belt on. She usually doesn’t want any help from anyone because she can “do it”. She is very polite by saying please and thank you and her little voice is absolutely adorable when she does. She loves to give big hugs and kisses on the cheek to family members. She loves to play with her dolly and feeds her a bottle or out of her belly button (that’s wear she think the baby eats from). She is a very good big sister to Gavin and is always concerned when he doesn’t have his binkie. She practically forces it into his mouth when she can. She always says “oh no, baby crying” and makes sure that I take care of him right away. She loves to sing him “twinkle little star” and gives him kisses all the time. She gets along fairly well with Eris but isn’t great at sharing yet so she tantrums frequently for toys that she wants. Now that she communicates better, her tantrums are not quite so difficult but we usually see at least one a day. Sometimes she gets so mad that she flexes every muscle in her body and points her toes, her face turns bright red and she screams at the top of her lungs. After awhile it turns into more of a baa (daddy thinks she sounds like a lost lamb). Thank goodness they only last around 5 minutes. She loves her daddy and is definitely a daddy’s little girl. She has to sit on his lap for all meals and during movies… She loves all of her family members and grandparents. She loves to dance and has the cutest little moves. Any time that music comes on she says “mommy, lets dance”.
Shayla has been hitting many developmental milestones lately. She is mostly potty trained and loves to ride her trike and scooter all over the place outside. She also loves to push her big sister Eris in the stroller and does pretty well at it. Her speech is getting much better and it is much easier to communicate with her. She calls herself “Sheela” and says funny things constantly. “You wanna piece of me?”, “Come here”, “That’s so funny,” “Holy Cow,” “Oh goodness,” “OK,” “I Love You,”, “I hold you,” “You’re a sugar bear (she copied that one from sissy Eris),”… She is as crazy as ever and loves to do flips with mom or dad or by herself using the side poles on the playground. She is excellent on the beam and loves to pull herself up on the bar. Her stomach muscles are so strong she can lift herself up to almost any countertop with her arms alone. She loves to dig in the dirt, swing, play at the park, read stories, play in her room, color (she colors for about 2 seconds on every page), ride her trike or scooter, listen to music, dance, go on walks, push the stroller, kick a ball around, jump on the tramp, run through the sprinklers, swim, go down the slide… She has finally given up the binkie and the sippy cup which were thrown away because of all the trouble she had over them. She calls herself a “big girl” and wants to wear “big girl panties” so she does most of the time. She has to dress herself and put her own seat belt on. She usually doesn’t want any help from anyone because she can “do it”. She is very polite by saying please and thank you and her little voice is absolutely adorable when she does. She loves to give big hugs and kisses on the cheek to family members. She loves to play with her dolly and feeds her a bottle or out of her belly button (that’s wear she think the baby eats from). She is a very good big sister to Gavin and is always concerned when he doesn’t have his binkie. She practically forces it into his mouth when she can. She always says “oh no, baby crying” and makes sure that I take care of him right away. She loves to sing him “twinkle little star” and gives him kisses all the time. She gets along fairly well with Eris but isn’t great at sharing yet so she tantrums frequently for toys that she wants. Now that she communicates better, her tantrums are not quite so difficult but we usually see at least one a day. Sometimes she gets so mad that she flexes every muscle in her body and points her toes, her face turns bright red and she screams at the top of her lungs. After awhile it turns into more of a baa (daddy thinks she sounds like a lost lamb). Thank goodness they only last around 5 minutes. She loves her daddy and is definitely a daddy’s little girl. She has to sit on his lap for all meals and during movies… She loves all of her family members and grandparents. She loves to dance and has the cutest little moves. Any time that music comes on she says “mommy, lets dance”.
Fav songs: Wheels on the bus, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Itsy Bitsy Spider
Fav tv shows: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Handy Manny, Barney, Wiggles, Dora
Fav movie: Finding Nemo
2 yrs 9 mo: November 2009
*pulls herself up onto the counter with her arms
*climbs to the very top of any jungle gym at any park so far
*hangs off the bars by her feet
*can do flips off the bar
*can go down the fire poles and climb up the rope
*knows how to ride a scooter and tricycle fast and well
*uses the doggy door on a regular basis to come in and out as she pleases
*knows how to unlock the deadbolt but hasn’t run away (yet…)
*has to put her own seat belt on
*has to dress herself, (including her shoes which are usually on wrong feet)
*saw the dog pee in the backyard dirt so she followed by peeing there as well
*then saw a boy pee in the backyard dirt so she chose to squat and poop
*dumps out the soap dispenser into the sink and fill it up with water because she loves the bubbles (while saying “bubble, bubble, bubble, pop”). She proceeds by filling up the dispenser with water and putting it back.
*while on the toilet, she puts her bum in the water
*recently been caught sitting backwards on the toilet
*likes to climb up the pantry shelves to get the treats
*stands on her chair while she eats
*likes to pretend she’s a baby and get in Gavin’s car seat, exersaucer, bouncer, swing… (no wonder the swing creaks when it rocks)
*likes to draw circles all over several pieces of paper and then cut them up in strips, then squares, then shreds and let them fall to the floor
*likes to draw on every single post-it and scatter them about
*loves “chloclate”
*puts in her own dvds and has to push the button to get them started
*loves to dance and is constantly saying “this is my favorite song” and rocking out
*plays crazy with dog, kudos and loves to pull his tail and grab his face and occasionally tries to pull out his whiskers. She loves him though and she also loves Kapri (she calls her “puppy”)
She loves to tell everyone that she has brown eyes and show everyone her cute hairstyles by turning her head so you can see. She is always saying “so pretty” and “ah man.” She keeps me on my toes and I love her zest for life. It’s amazing how she can see the world and the energy she brings to it. She has the cutest dimples and big brown eyes and golden blond hair with a slight curl to it. She’s beautiful and I love her so much!
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