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..