Wednesday, September 23, 2009

More Stella...

The other morning, I was sitting on the couch folding laundry. Stella was picking through her freshly folded pile of clothes trying to decide what to wear for the day. When I suggested something light and cool, she pulls her favorite pair of bottoms out of her pile and says, "Mom, I think I want to wear these bad boys today".
Later on that day, she was sitting on the potty singing, and twirling her hair, when I came in and started a bath for her. A minute or so after I left, she called me back in there and said, "Mom, can you turn off that bad boy? I don't want to take a bath today."
I guess we know which of our slang is rubbing off on the girl. Pretty cute.

Last weekend, we went to AT&T park to watch Il Trovatore (sp?). As we were getting the stroller and bag out of the back of the car, Glenn called Stella over in a very concerned voice. "What is it, Dad? Are you OK?" Glenn pointed to a leg sticking out of the trunk of the car parked next to us. Stella's eyes got real big and she slowly backed away from it to hide behind my legs. Of course Glenn tried to take it a little further by walking over, grabbing the bare foot and asking Stella if she would like to tickle it. This only frightened Stella more. I asked Glenn to calm her fears while I went to grab my jacket out of our car. I don't know what Glenn said to Stella but when I got back to where the leg was, Stella was kicking it and giggling. Though Glenn and I LOVED the music, the fake leg was the highlight for Stella.

P.S. Stella's eyes close when she laughs. I love that.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Stella

Some things I love about Stella right now (in no particular order):

1. The way she 'Whistles'. She tries so hard.
2. Every day she tells me I smell like chicken (better than beef-vegetable soup, I guess). Even when I've just gotten out of the shower.
3. Her summer tan lines
4. When I ask her to hold my hand, she always holds just my pinky finger with all of her fingers wrapped around it.
4. The way she sings that one song from Mulan, making up her own words in place of those she doesn't know.
5. She is three and still loves to snuggle
6. She loves to look at wedding dresses and talks constantly about getting married in the temple.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Night-Night

The past couple of weeks or so, we have been slowly getting Stella back into a routine. She starts pre-school next week, so we thought it was time to finally let go of the summer 'schedule'.
Typically, Stella goes to bed around 9:30. I don't get home from work until about 6pm, and that is the first time I get to see Stella for the day, so I like to get in a few hours with the little babe, before bed. She has been so great about baths and staying in bed, once we've said our prayers and good night.
The other night, Stella was furiously rubbing her eyes, and crying because she was so uncomfortable. This had been going on for about an hour. We had already given her some allergy medicine (a nightly ritual as her allergies have been so bad), so I went and got a cool washcloth to put on her eyes, hoping to at least soothe them long enough for her to calm down. It wasn't working. Finally I suggested we say a prayer and ask Heavenly Father to help her eyes feel better. Stella nodded her head in agreement. After we said our little prayer, Stella and I looked at each other for a long minute. Finally, I asked if her eyes were feeling any better. She nodded. I told her that Heavenly Father loves her so much, that he wants her eyes to feel better, and sometimes all we have to do is ask Him. She seemed to understand. After another few seconds, she looked back up at me and just started sobbing. This crying was different. This was the cry of someone whose burden had finally been lifted off their shoulders. Hard to describe, but that is the best I can do at the moment. I got to hold that sensitive little soul a few more minutes, until she finally drifted off to sleep.
Last night was a different story. Stella took a good long nap in the afternoon. This must have contributed to an energy burst that seemed like it would never end. 11:30 was when we finally got the little one to calm down long enough to stay in bed. Glenn and I went to bed, minutes later, to the sound of Stella singing Disney songs. As we lay in bed, listening to Stella, it slowly got quiet. About a minute or two later, we figured she had finally fallen asleep. Wrong. Stella suddenly busted out with 'I Love You Baltimore' (word for word), from Hairspray. And loudly, too. Oi.