1 & a half.

...hanging with Daddy on the South Street bridge...

...checking out your super cool new retro play kitchen...

...shopping at our favorite store:) ...

...getting ready to kiss Nonna's necklace...

...eating lunch at the Iron Hill with Auntie Nat & Uncle Nick...

...doing puzzles perfectly in your periwinkle pearl jam shirt:)...

...with your *beloved* GiGi...

...picking out your clothes for the day...

YUM! A lolly.

...reading about turkeys...

...just chillin in your stroller...

That's my smiley girl:)

My dearest Stella Bee,

Shame on your Mama for not finding more time to blog about you!!

I guess we are just too busy having fun together that I don't have a whole lot of time to write on here like I used to.

It's truly a shame though...because you're growing so fast & there is so much to say about you!!

You are such a big girl now. You turned 1 & a half just yesterday, in fact! It's so unbelievable that it has been 18 months since the day that you came into our lives. What a ride it's been:)

You have developed such a quirky & sweet little personality. You are just so pleasant & fun! You still LOVE to be read to & ADORE doing puzzles. Your alphabet puzzle is your absolute favorite. You love to swing on the swings & run around the playground so fast that I can barely keep up with you. The other day we met some friends for a picnic at the park & you had so much fun running all around that you were covered in so much mud before long that I had to change your clothes & run your sneakers through the washing machine when we came home!

You say SOOOOO many words, too. It's so incredible to me that you have learned so much from us in such a short time. I am so happy & SO very proud of you. As of 18 months, these are the words that you know & use on a regular basis...

Mama

Dada
MaaMaa (for Mom-Mom)
PaPa (for Pop-Pop)
Nana (for Nonna)
"CiCi" (for Lucy)
GiGi (your beloved Giraffe friend)
Cheese
"Wah-Wah" (for water)
"Mah" (for milk)
Thank You
Please
Ball
Uh-Oh
Mmmm!
Eww!
"Nah" (for no)
"Nana" (for banana)
Bee
What's that?
What's this?
Oh no
Oh Boy
Oh yeah
Oh well
Shoes
Socks
Nose
Ear
Eye
Mouth
"Foof" (for foot)

Bird
Fishie
Tree
Snow
Baby
Turtle
Bear
Peas
Chair
Bubble
"Bibba" (for bib)
"Dipee" (for diaper)
"Vai" (for your purple dog, Violet)
Woof Woof/Meow
Moo/Baa
"Yah-Yah" (your version of "Quack Quack")
"Rarr" (your roar)
Ho Ho Ho (for Santa)

It's just all so amazing to me. I know that I've said it before...but I can't say it enough! You just blow me away a little more every day. You know so much more than I would've ever thought that a baby as small as you COULD know! When Mom-Mom gave you the little crib that MY Pop-Pop made for me when I was a little girl, you knew to put your baby doll in it & rock her. When you are drinking from your sippy cup in the living room now, you pull a coaster out of the coffee table drawer & set your cup onto it once you're done drinking! When I opened up the miniature kitchen gadget set that we got you for your play kitchen, you took one look at the tiny little silver whisk & promptly took it to our kitchen & placed it into the drawer with our REAL whisks!!

Its just so awesome. YOU are such an awesome little person.

You try to put your socks & shoes on. You try to pull the zipper up on your jacket when we are getting ready to go out somewhere & you do your best to pull the jacket off when we get back home again. You try to buckle your car seat yourself. You find Lucy's toys, recognize that they are hers...and then give them to her. When you find a scrap of paper on the floor, you take it to the kitchen & put it into the trash. You know where your belly is...what your toes are...and where your hair is:) When I was putting laundry away in your room last week, you pulled your sleepers out of the laundry basket one by one & stuffed them into the dresser drawer that they go in. Yes-the correct drawer!

You are just too cool for school, kid;-)

You also LOVE to color! I will draw something for you & you'll watch me closely, then do your best to color it in. You & I have to be more careful though; we are ALWAYS breaking our crayons in half;-)

We just have so much fun together. I am so lucky to have you & so happy that we get to spend our days together. Thank you so much for being so sweet...and for loving life so much! I love you & can't wait for all that lies ahead for us:)

Hugs & Kisses,
Your Mama

A (long overdue) Letter to my Smallest Bee

Dear Stella,

Well, 2010 is here & we just spent our 2nd Christmas with you. Boy, have you changed in the past year! Last Christmas, you were only 3 months old...still so tiny & fragile...but THIS year you were able to practically run across the living room towards all of your presents! You really knew just how to rip apart the wrapping paper to open them, too. It was the BEST feeling watching your face light up as you tore through them all. You had so much fun!! Your Melissa & Doug Alphabet puzzle was one of your absolute FAVORITE presents from your Dad & I. You have been wanting to sit down & put it together over & over again ever since Christmas Eve & we are SO proud that you are SO good at it!! You also *love*love*love* the armchair that your Mom-Mom & Pop-Pop bought for you. And just wait until your "retro kitchen" arrives in another week or 2!! I was bummed that it was on Backorder at first...but now I think it will be so nice to have Christmas all over again for you when it finally arrives:)

We took you to see Dr. Trotsky for your 15-month visit today & learned that all of that healthy eating you've been doing sure paid off:) You are 31.5 inches tall now & you weigh 23 pounds, 13 ounces! You were always such a little peanut...but you are finally up to the 60% percentile for your weight!

You have 6 teeth now: the 2 in the middle on the bottom, 1 in the middle on the top, 1 right next to the one in the middle on the top & one upper molar on each side! You've done great with teething, too. It hasn't kept you up at night or anything like that...only made you drool more than usual & want to bite on random things more than usual.

You are an expert walker & a SUPER fast crawler.

You say tons of things, including...

Mama

Dada

Nonna

Lucy (even though it comes out like "Ci-Ci")

GiGi (your favorite bedtime friend)

Shoe

"Bibber" (your word for bib)

"Dipee" (your word for diaper)

Cheese

Bee (your favorite character in Tumble Bumble)

Tree

Thank You

What's That?

Ooh Yeah!

Oh No!

Oh Well

Uh-Oh

"Nah" (your way of saying "no")

Fishie

Ball

Shoe

Mmmmm!

Baby

Plus...all of your adorable animal sounds..."Ruff Ruff Ruff", "Meow", "Moo", "Baa" & (my personal favorite), "Raaa-Raa"...which is your interpretation of what a duck says:)

Oh & you say this mystery word, "Tadoo", allllll the time these days but none of us have been able to figure out what it means yet. We are hoping that you will enlighten us one day soon because its driving your Dad & me CRAZY! ;-)

You try to put your hat on your head yourself now & one day you tried to put on your own shirt, too! You LOVE to pretend that you are talking on the phone & a lot of times will grab one of your toy phones & hold it up to your ear & walk around babbling while I am walking around talking to your Mom-Mom on the phone!

You just are way too amazing for words. Every day you do something more fascinating than the day before. Its awesome to see how much you are learning & how eager you are to learn!

Thank you for being the coolest kid on earth. I'm not sure how I got so lucky to be your mom but I thank my lucky stars every chance I get:)

All my love,

*Your Mom*

P.S. I breastfed you exclusively until about a week after your 1st birthday, at which point I started to introduce cow's milk & soy milk to your diet. From there, I gradually decreased the number of breastfeedings per day. Eventually we were down to just 2 nursings a day: 1st thing in the morning & once before bed. Then we gave up the morning feeding too & continued on with just the 7pm feeding. That is, until last week when you so eloquently looked up at me & stated, "Nah. Nah. Nah." With that, you turned your head from my chest, grabbed your beloved Gigi & snuggled into my lap as you always have at night...but for the first time without nursing. And that was that. You weaned yourself, my love. You decided that 15 months was enough time & we were done. You are such a big girl & I am so proud of you:)

P.P.S. It is also worth noting that you like to let us know when you've got a dirty diaper. You'll point to it, look at us & say "Uh-oh!" You are just too smart & way, way, way too cute:)

...xoxo..

Let the Christmas Photo Madness...BEGIN!

...xoxo...

S'more Catching Up

You were the BEE GIRL for Halloween...

That is...the absolute cutest, sweetest, most wonderful little BEE GIRL, ever:~)

We visited Linvilla Orchards twice this year. Your buddy, Luke met us there the 2nd time!

You looooooove pumpkins.
You enjoyed sitting amongst them SO MUCH & didn't want to leave them behind!

You got to meet your Auntie Urs for the 1st time!
...not including the time when you were in my belly...

You love to look out our front door.

On this day, you squealed & pointed out to me that there was a squirrel on our porch, eating away at our pumpkin! By the time I grabbed my camera, he had inched away onto the lawn.

My favorite part of this photo is your tippy-toed feet:)

14-months/Catching up

My Dear Bean,

It sure has been awhile since I last wrote to you. Life has just been so busy! Your Mom-Mom had a big operation & I was spending a whole lot of time with her, trying to help her to get better as quickly as she could. Thank Goodness she did...and now she's home again, asking me every day when the next time she will get to see her Little Stella will be! ;-)

As for you? You are just the coolest...and you seem to get more wonderful by the day!! Your personality is still very much like its been since you were an infant: Just very easy-going & care-free...and HAPPY:) Everyone notices that about you. You love to smile at people & I guess they can't help but to notice when that sweet little grin is pointed their way;-)

It's so fun that you are communicating with us so much now. Your list of words grows bigger by the day...and its almost overwhelming to think about how much you know already!

For example, you say...

"Mama"..."Dada"..."Cheese"..."Shoes"..."Ball"..."Gi-Gi" (the giraffe that you sleep with every night, who you simply ADORE)..."What's That?"..."Thank You"..."Night Night" ..."Bee" and "Baby"

And the gestures?! The pointing & the head shaking & the endless smiles?!?? They are too sweet & almost too much for me to take sometimes:)

You love to open & close Mom-Mom's kitchen cupboards & turn her light switches on & off...and you'll point & point until we let you try your hand at these tasks whenever we're over there.

You understand when you are starting to head in a direction that's unsafe & I ask you to please turn around & go back to your toys. Sometimes you don't want to...but I love to know that you understand:)

You LOVE to climb stairs...which is fantastic & scary all at the same time.

You LOVE to swing on the swings at the park & laugh every time I push you higher!

You make the CUTEST kitty & doggie noises when we ask you to...and lately, every 4-legged creature that you see either says "Meow" or "Ruff Ruff Ruff" to you! For example: Baby Tobey's zebra toy provoked a "Ruff Ruff Ruff" out of you yesterday...while the goat at Linvilla Orchards made you smile, look at me & say "Meowwww!"

You love to ride in the shopping cart at Target...where we venture at least twice a week, on average...and you enjoy pointing things out to me in all of the different aisles. Lately, you love pointing at the oversized Christmas ornaments & calling out "BALL!"

At home, you love to play with your toys & be read to! "Tumble Bumble", "Mr. Brown Can Moo" & "Hand Hand Fingers Thumb" are your top 3 storytime choices. It depends on your mood whether or not you will listen to a different story. Lots of times you will...as long as you know that one of these 3 are coming. But occassionally, you will toss whatever "imposter" book happens to be in my lap (or Daddy's lap) by about page 3 & plop TUMBLE BUMBLE in it's place instead:)

You're just such a character...so full of love & just SO animated! I hope that you always stay this way...because you're such a charmer & so much fun to be around. I am so proud to be your Mom & so excited to see what lies ahead for us!

Thanks for being great.

Love you to the moon & back.

*Your Mom*

*HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY*

*September*

Dear Bean,

Last year at this time, your Daddy & I were wondering when you would make your Grand Arrival. We were only 7 days away from your "due date"...and sOoOoOoOo excited to meet you!

Now you're here...and not only are you HERE...but you're this wonderful, charming little girl......so full of personality that I practically burst with love every time you smile at me:)

You have been learning things faster than I can keep up with these days...and its so overwhelming & amazing & exciting...all at the same time!

Your Mom-Mom taught you to play Patty Cakes & now you clap and giggle about it ALL the time!

You love to put the colored balls & shapes into their proper spots in your Chicco walker/push toy. Sometimes one of the balls will roll away from you & you will crawl after it & actually carry it back with you as you make your way back to the toy. What a big girl you are!!

You love Daddy & I to read to you and I notice you sometimes playing with your books on your own & pointing at the pictures the way we do when we're reading. Its so amazing the way you love to imitate us & play "pretend" already!

You're pulling up on everything you can these days...including me! You love to hold on to the side of the coffee table & kind of *cruise* along the side of it. You aren't walking yet but I don't imagine it will be long before you are! I will admit that this both excites & worries me...very much;-)

Its just been SUCH an honor watching you grow into the bubbling little happy person you are:) I am so proud of what a smiley, easy-going kid you are & feel so lucky to be your Mommy!

In less than 2 weeks, you will be turning ONE & 2 days after that, we will have a big party at our house to celebrate! I know that you won't remember it...but I hope that you have a wonderful time eating cake for the first time & being lavished with love & balloons & presents.

I just wanted to do something to celebrate your 1st year of life...because its been a great one & you deserve it. You are truly the coolest kid in the universe & your Daddy and I love you more than any words could ever describe.

xoxo
Your Mama

*Eleven*

My little star,

Daddy & I can't believe how big you're getting...and how quickly the days are flying past us! In less than a month, you'll be 1 year old. How did this happen?! Our little baby.......is not so much a BABY anymore!!!

You're our little parrot these days, happily trying to mimic just about everything we do or say. You love to listen to Daddy make silly noises & then repeat them back to him! And today you said THANK YOU about 20 times!!! Your Mom-Mom, Pop-Pop & Nonna were beside themselves with laughter over that one;-)

You are a master crawler & love to pull up to a stand whenever you get the chance. Your musical orange guitar is your favorite toy...along with just about any PHONE you can manage to get your hands on;-) You still L-O-V-E cheese, along with Cheerios & watermelon & grapes. You smile and giggle endlessly & melt our hearts to putty every time.

Watching you grow has been nothing short of an honor. I can barely contain my excitement when I think of what the months to come will bring!

Thank you so much for being YOU:~)

Love you to the moon & back again.

*Your MaMa*

*Our Big Girl*

...xoxo...

*Birthday Wishes*

Stella had lots of loved ones to wish a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to this month:~) Meanwhile...we are in the midst of planning a big party for her...coming up in just about a month & a half!!!

*10 months*

I'm a few days late in posting this time around...but our little peanut is now TEN MONTHS OLD:) I can't BELIEVE that we'll be celebrating her BIRTHDAY in less than 2 months!!

Oh & one other thing...

I love the shore!

Tooth #1

No. Absolutely not. I refuse to show you my tooth.

Oh, all right. You got me.

Here it is!

Break out the Oral-B

Well, maybe we're not quite ready for an Oral-B yet...but Stella does have her 1st tooth coming in!

Finally:)

It was June 25th that we first noticed it barely poking through her gums...and now its ever-so-slowly coming more & more in!

Photos will be forthcoming......once I can get her to stay still with her mouth open for long enough, that is!

She is truly Little Miss Mobile these days;-)

Mama & Stella (@ 9 months)

...xoxo...

*Stella's Room*

My friend Angie has been asking me to post pictures of Stella's nursery FOREVER (as in, since before Stella was born) & I haven't gotten around to it until now.

Oddly enough...but like most things in my life...it's still not technically done.

I still have to decide what to do with the big wall behind her crib...(vinyl letters? photo collage?)...figure out where to hang the framed Picasso print that's been leaning against her dresser for the past month...and possibly buy an area rug of some sort.

But for now...

For you, Angie...and anyone else who happens to care...here are a few glimpses into Stella's room at this particular moment in time.

My mom gave me this silver ABC/123 plate. I love it. It was mine when I was a baby:)

I know that you are supposed to take their mobile down at something like 6-months but I love her stars & don't see myself parting with them anytime soon.

This was the very first thing we hung in her room.

Baby's 1st Pearl Jam poster:)

I bought it years ago. Well, traded someone 3 other PJ posters for it, actually.

I just loved it because I always dreamed of having a little girl of my own...and it was TOO perfect that its color scheme ended up matching Stella's room so well:~)


It was Rob's idea to put her Sweet Dreams plaque above the door.

I was iffy about it at first but now I like that its there every night as I shut the door after putting her to bed:)

The way that this mirror complements the design of her bedding makes me happy.

Her crib is really beautiful but we had to buy extra fabric & rig the crib bumpers so that we could use them on it because the wood is so thick that the tie-things wouldn't reach around it to be tied!

I thought I'd treat Stella to her first rocking horse ride & snap a quick photo to go along with the rest of the photos of her room...

She wasn't really too sure about it yet though;-)

We'll have to re-visit him another day!