Perfectly average or just slightly above

Gweny had her 2 month check up on Friday, which means she got shots! I was terrified that she would scream and be in so much pain, but she was such a trooper! She cried for a minute and then calmed right down and slept for the rest of the day and most of the next. She is such a calm baby it's just awesome!

So the info everyone wants to know... her stats.

weight: 11.6 pounds = 66 percentile
height: 22.5 = 56 percentile
head circ: 39.3 = 65 percentile

The doctor said she is just perfect, which we already knew, of course. But she isn't showing any signs of autism, and has no signs of anything physically wrong either. We are so blessed to have such a perfect little girl.

It's virtually impossible to get a picture of her smiling, so this one is the best we can do. She does smile though, just not long enough for our ancient camera to catch it.

My Love

There are so many things I love about Little G that I thought I would write a few down.


The way she manages to always get one arm out when we swaddle her, no matter how tight we wrap her. I always find her like this in the morning.

The way she "talks" to me when I hold her close while she is sleeping. I assume she is dreaming and talking in her sleep.

Her long eyelashes. Her chubby cheeks. Her awesome mohawk.


The way she smiles and laughs at me when she doesn't really want to nurse, just wants to be held close.

The way she lightly scratches my arm when I hold her.


The way her binky will slightly fall out while she is sleeping, and she will just let it stay where it is.

The way she flexes her little fingers while she is sleeping.

The way she sticks her tongue out and smacks her lips together.

The way she buries her face when I hold her on my shoulder.

The way her ears stick out.

The way I feel when I settle her down when she gets fussy.


I love our little girl.

People who eat basil are lame

Makes me laugh every time I watch it. These girls are a hot mess!

UH! SO CUTE!!!!

My 2 girls taking a nap.


I tried what the hospital and friends suggested to get the bow to stick to her head, and it didn't work. So I tried the old stand by that my mom used with me, Karo Syrup. Worked like a charm!


This is a yawn, not a scream, and 2 different socks.

Dear IRS...

How is it possible that we don't owe you anything and you don't owe us anything? I think something went wrong here. You are supposed to owe us. You take nearly 15% of everything we make, before we even see it, so shouldn't that mean that you owe us SOMETHING in return? We were glad to hear that we don't owe you, though. Our tax guy said he has never seen this happen before, guess we are special. Gee, it feels so nice to be so special, but maybe next year you can give us a little money back, we've got bills to pay!

Sincerely,
The Shirley Family

The ho in the hot tub

If you haven't been watching The Bachelor this season, this title won't make sense to you, but if you have been watching, you will know that the ho in the hot tub scene is going to be the next Bachelorette. Hopefully she will be a little more discreet next time.

I don't generally watch The Bachelor, but for some reason I got sucked into it this season. It's a stupid show, and the people that go on the show believing they are going to find love in 2 weeks are stupid. But it is for that very reason that I can't get enough of it! This season the Bachelor, Jason, chose a girl and at the end proposed to her, but not before he rejected another girl and then cried like a little baby over the balcony. It was terribly embarrassing.


Then at the "After the Final Rose" episode he changed his mind and broke up with the first girl he chose and asked the OTHER girl for a second chance. All on national television!! WHO DOES THAT?! And who is the loser that would say yes to him after he had already rejected you? Well, Molly is who.


It was all so dramatic and embarrassing and I loved every second of it. An old friend says it best when he said, "Relishing in public humiliation and pain? That is the Tara I know and love!" So am I a bad person for loving it when these stupid shows go wrong? I think not.

I applaud Gwen for her ability to sleep through the night as well as she does. All in all, I would say that only a half an hour has been stolen from my regular sleep schedule - Tara, considerably more than that. But, it has been a rough transition getting used to my new sleep habits. After a month, you would think it was improving, but it's only getting worse. Could a small 30 minute adjustment really make it nearly impossible to stay awake through a regular work day? I'm convinced it shouldn't. Why then am I so tired?

The answer to that question came as I was getting ready for work this morning. Gwen talks in her sleep. ...as much as a baby can. Sure she lets out the occasional "coo," but I think she reserves those for her day naps. No, at night she grunts. And not small grunts either. Imagine a tubby plumber trying to worm his way under a kitchen sink--yah, about that loud and about that frequent. Someone told me babies dream about colors. Whether it's true or not, I don't know, but I don't think colors are scary enough to grunt at. While other kids are cooing over colors, ours is dreaming about union labor.

Being new parents nervous to baby dangers, her constant growling won't allow me to sleep too deeply. So, not only am I 30 minutes short on my sleep cycles, the rest that I do get isn't even restful. Or, maybe the dog is teaching her things.