Some recent photos

11 month update

Just thought my readers were due a Stella update. Here are a few things going on with our little munchkin:

• She's on the move! Her highchair, play table, and walker are all used to help her 'walk around', as are Mommy & Daddy, of course. She can stand on her own for 5 seconds or so, just as long as it takes for her to remember she's not holding on to something and... down she sits.
• She's quite the mimic. Her verbal repertoire of mama, dada, bye bye, uh oh, and ladle ladle (we're not sure what this means but it's a very popular word) are supplemented with the noises she makes to match the coffee grinder (hummmmm), Rob's Indian warrior noise (she can even do the hand to the mouth effect), and 'singing'.
• She dances. Play the Mozart Music Box or the CD's Nana gave her and she twists side to side holding her hands together to the songs she likes best. I've been trying to get this on camera but she thinks the video camera is HER toy!
• Her favorite toys right now are puzzle-type things that have blocks or balls she can put inside of something else. She's really into putting something into a container, taking it out, and doing it again about 50 times. Great with me!
• She's growing. We're *finally* about to size out of the 9 month clothes and transition to 12 month. We'll be there just in time for her birthday, I think.

Here's a pic of her conked out on the flight to Austin.

Austin

Hi folks,

We're back from a long weekend in Austin, where we had a great time with our dear friends in a VERY sweet house in the Texas hills. I just took a few photos (below) but Melissa took more. The flight both ways went great - Stella was fine as long as she was allowed to socialize. She walked the aisle of the plane and climbed up to chat with our neighbors over the seat. We turned the corner this weekend on a few things - she can now climb stairs, she eats meat (salami and turkey are favorites), and loves lemonade. What a little toddler she's turning into!

Photos from magazine photo shoot

As most of you know, Stella was selected (thanks to her agent, Aunt Cassie) to be in Pregnancy & Newborn magazine. We went to a studio downtown today for the photo shoot and found out it was for a Halloween article. Stella was paired with 14-month old Brody and was dressed as a 'ballerina princess'. Doesn't get much girlier than that! The headband probably won't be in the final shot - they took it off for most of the shoot. I hope to get some of the photographer's photos in the coming weeks but we'll have to wait until October to see which one they use. Photos from today:

Video: 6/16 playing

Cruisin'

OK I've been busy! Stella went from crawling on one Sunday to full fledged cruising the next. She's pulling on up literally everything and walking around rooms. It's a full-time job just keeping up with her. Those foam floor tiles I ordered could not come soon enough!! Video coming soon...

Peanut Butter

On her 10-month 'birthday' today, Rob gave Stella some peanut butter. He's been counting down the days to this one, peanut butter being his favorite food and all. Sure enough, Stella loved it, complete with big smiles and happy noises.

HOWEVER, 10 minutes later we both noticed a rash on her cheek and chest. It went away in about an hour but needless to say, she will not be getting any more PB for a while! Hopefully it's just her age and not a sign of a serious nut/legume allergy, although from a bit of web research it could be either one. Hmmm.

Video: Crawling!!

Yep, I go see a movie on a Sunday afternoon and what does Stella do in my absence? Crawls for the first time! Rob took this video on his phone. Atta girl!

Photos: Memorial Day Weekend

Video: donkey laugh

Shot some video this morning while Nana was here. First you'll see Stella's new donkey laugh and then a little of her practicing 'talking'.

Early Christmas presents

Stella got her Christmas wish early this year: Two Front Teeth! One made its appearance in Florida and the other one is just poking through now. Poor thing is having lots of trouble sleeping and keeps making biting sounds as she practices hitting top and bottom teeth together for the first time. Oh, and yes...she bit me tonight. Fun times.

In other news, I hired a part-time nanny to watch her 4 days a week, 2:30-5. Today was Egan's first day and she and Stella have really hit it off already. S loves her and I love having some time to focus on the job search. Egan loves Stella - everyone wins!

First words: bye bye

Florida

Just back from a great week in Florida. The week was uneventful in a good way, and it was great to spend some time with Casey and Corinne. Stella basked in all of the family attention, as usual, and said her first word the day we left. "Bye bye" (with a little wave)!

Video: our little roller

New tricks

Stella's uncovering all kinds of new tricks these days. Over the weekend she learned to: roll like a tumbleweed (she can go from one end of our bed to the other end in no time!), take off her diaper ("uh oh" all right!), and sleep on her belly (once she's exhausted from her roller derby time). After all of this activity I thought she could use a massage, so I took her to a massage meetup with my mom's group. Here's a photo of all the 8-month olds post-rubdown.

Photos from Friday's Dogwood Arts Festival

We all came out for Dad's gig Friday at the Dogwood Arts Festival. 80,000 attendees were expected over the weekend and the Dark Hollow Band was fantastic. Nice work, Dad!

Video: loving her toothbrush time

She just did what?

Another surprise...I had Stella on my lap last night after her dinner and she decided to pull herself up to standing! We caught the 3rd & 4th times on Rob's phone.

She's not where I put her!

Today I really had that first moment of...Hey now, she's not where I put her! Stella learned today to scoot backwards on her belly. Here's a photo of her handiwork. Just a few minutes before this was taken she was playing with that bumblebee!

Easter in TN (and some updates)

Several folks have pointed out that I'm not posting as often as I used to. I'm glad you noticed! Mostly, that's because Stella's grandparents (and one great) are now on Facebook, but it's also because she sleeps less during the day and keeps me busier. Plus, the weather's SO NICE!

Anyway...since I last posted, Stella got her first two teeth! That's right, two at once popped right through. She was a little fussier than usual but still slept through the night for the most part, so I'm hoping she'll handle them all this well.

Since Rob's studying hard for Exam 8, Jess, Stella and I got out of his hair for the weekend and spent Easter in TN. We took quite a few pictures and here are some of the best. It was a great time, but Stella was *really* glad to see her crib last night. :)