By Jove, We've Found It!

We have discovered Stella’s absolute favorite place (besides home) in the entire world – the beach. This past weekend found us escaping the East Bay heat, to Pacifica. We had planned on playing in the sand, and wading ankle deep in the frigid water. Stella spent the entire time in the water. Once she got her feet wet, she had no desire to do anything else, but stand in the water, and let the waves drench her little body from the legs down. We had to actively hold her back from walking further out into the water. We all had fun, and Stella sealed the deal on what our weekends will be like, over the summer.

Out!

Of course we all know that these little ones are just the sweetest when they are sleeping. I just thought the t-shirt was so appropriate, that I had to get a shot of it. She was actually sprawled across our bed – arms and legs spread out. She couldn’t have looked more comfortable…

So cute (or 'coot', as Stella would say)!

A Stella Sandwich

I just love babies. When I say babies, I include toddlers in that bunch. Actually, I just love kids in general, but babies are just plain sweet. Miss Stella has been showered with affection since she made her entrance into our family. It has been really sweet to see her become quite affectionate with me and Glenn. She often will see me and Glenn kissing and has to wander over and interrupt. She stands there, prying us apart with her little hands, and then reaches up to us, so we will pick her up, all the while repeating, “Hugs for Stella”. Once we have her in our arms, she takes turns kissing us both.
On the weekend, when we all sleep in together, she wakes us, and just wants to snuggle right in between us. If she were a cat, she would purr. That is just heaven for our little one, when the three of us are all together. I love that Glenn and I aren’t the only ones who truly appreciate the rare moments when the three of us are all together. Then there are the spontaneous moments when I will be reading to Stella, or Glenn is getting her dressed, or the three of us are just playing around together, and she will stop whatever she is doing, and pucker her little lips, and plant a delicious little kiss on one of our faces.
Sigh…. I love being Stella’s mom.

She Found It!

I think you know what I mean by ‘it’. ‘It’ would be that lovely combination of plastic and silicone that we have previously referred to as ‘The Bink’. Remember my dread for the day when Stella would inevitably stumble across one, when we least expected it? Yeah, well, Stella and I were in her room a few nights ago, just engaging in our pre-bedtime routine of playing and reading books. She was standing over her basket of toys, when I watched her pause, and then promptly thrust her little arm down to the bottom only to retrieve ‘It’. With a rather impish grin, she immediately stuck It in her mouth, and turned around to look at me. I smiled and asked, “Now where did you find that?” In response, she runs to the other side of the room, to prevent me from removing It from her sweet little face. I just sat there, taking note of how odd it looked, as she has now grown into a full-fledged toddler, and hasn’t used one in weeks. I went to grab the camera, just to document her discovery. When I returned to the room and turned on the camera, she came right over, and offered her treasure in exchange for the camera (my ‘narcissistic’ daughter loves to look at pictures of her stored on our digital camera). I accepted her proposal and she sat on my lap as we scrolled through pictures, while I tucked what I am sure is just the first of many such findings, in to my pocket. That was that. I will post some pictures of the dreaded discovery when I get some time to upload them from my camera.



The recently estranged couple...

Springtime, Ariel, & 'Kee-Cats'

So, I realize I am a little late with the Easter pics, Papa, & Yaya. First, we went to an Easter egg hunt, and left right before the hunt. There were way too many kids for Stella's taste, and it was a two hour 'activity'. Needless to say, Stella lasted about an hour. Once it became crowded, She was outta there:









Then, Easter came. It was fairly uneventful. Stella got to taste jelly beans for the first time, and she got an Ariel (Little Mermaid) doll that goes with us everywhere.
















So, after church, Stella was so tired, and in no mood for pictures, yet, Glenn had to get a couple of cranky pics for posterity:













On my desk at work I have last year's Easter photo of our little family. It makes me smile, because Stella was so ticked at me dressing her in an Easter dress last year, that we couldn't get the kid to crack a smile to save our lives. So, here are pictures from Easter of 2007, and Easter of 2008, respectively:











Stella's 'thing' right now is to hunt for the neighborhood 'Kee-Cat' every time we step foot out the door. Even if we are headed somewhere, we had better take a few minutes to hunt down the object of harassment, so that Stella can stand over the poor creature, meowing at the top of her lungs (in case it is unsure of the sound it should make), until the cat just gets up and finds another hiding place. Stella, however, has not learned to take a hint. She sees this as an opportunity to practice her chasing skills, all the while calling out, "Kee-Cat, where are you? Kee-Cat, come here!" If nothing else, it does provide some much needed comic relief for me, after a sometimes long day at work.

Aw, Man....A Toddler!

Strong-willed. Independent. A bit stubborn. TANTRUMS. Sweet. Affectionate. Always moving. If it isn’t her idea, she doesn’t want much to do with it.

These are just a few of the descriptors for Stella these days. She is definitely going through that phase of separating herself, psychologically, from Mom and Dad. I gotta be honest. It really wears on me sometimes (mostly when I haven’t had much sleep). At the same time, I just wanna squeeze her, and shower kisses all over her face. What to do? Right now, we are not only trying to establish boundaries with Stella, but also learning to choose our battles. I didn’t think we would have to start this so soon, and yet, if we don’t, I think it will be more difficult for us to do this, later on.

Yeah, I think one kid is enough for right now. I do have to say, though, that Stella is still a pretty darn easy kid.

Words:

Bog = frog
Bippo = hippo
Bippo = Rhinoceros
Hey Babe! = mom
Steya = Stella
No? = no
Kee-cat = kitty cat
Poop = Pooh (Winnie the)
Pooter = computer

So darn cute!

Ashland, Oregon

Roadtrip: a journey via automobile, sometimes unplanned or impromptu; a journey involving sporting game(s) away from home.

Games? There were none unless you count ‘Entertain the Toddler for Four to Six Hours So We Don’t All Go Insane’, a game.

I have a sister who lives in Ashland Oregon. She is going to school there, and getting ready to graduate as a drama major. Carly’s a smart, fun, beautiful girl that I hadn’t seen in almost ten years (long story), so it was time. Stella got to meet yet another Auntie, and Glenn met yet another of my siblings. Typically a six hour drive, it took us around seven, as we had to let Stella out to run off some energy for a while. We stayed with some dear family friends, whose home Stella found to be quite entertaining. Ashland was beautiful, and we all had fun, though I am sure Little Miss doesn’t care to see the inside of the car for a while. Some snippets from Stella while we were up there: "Hey, Babe!" (She heard Glenn calling me - she followed me around the house calling me at the top of her lungs), "Keeee-Cat" (trying to get the stuffed cats to come to her), "No?" (typical response when asked about most anything). Stella was a great sport, though a bit homesick. She was on cloud nine, once we walked back in the door to our place. So, here are just a few of the pics from our little trip…

PS - Here's to no more bink (until the next one comes along, someday) - Woo-Hoo!!!

Carly and Stella outside the Children's Science Museum

Impossible to get a shot where everyone is looking at the camera.

Snacking on Cheerios

Mugging for the camera

Part 2.

Part 2 of the ‘Poop?’ story: This may have lost its’ luster, since it has been a little while since I posted the first part of this story, but I am going to continue it anyway. And, just for the record, I promise to try and use the word ‘poop’ in moderation. Since we are on the cusp of potty training, the word comes up a lot around our place, and, unfortunately for those who dislike the word, trickles into the blog.
OK, so there is Glenn sitting on the pot, with Stella in the doorway, watching, as she again questions, “Poop?”. “Yes”, comes the response, “daddy needs to poop.” With a clear answer to her question, Stella proceeds to tell Glenn to “Push!” and promptly follows this with a grunt – “Hhnngh!” Now, just to provide a little background, for a few months, we were having a hard time regulating Stella’s system. As a result, she developed an aversion to pooping, and so began clenching her little cheeks in protest to the inevitable need to go no. 2. We began the task of trying to convince Stella that is was alright to do this, and that we would help her. Without thinking, we would encourage her to “push” so she could be done with it. Little did we know that word would come back to haunt us in the same context with which we used it on Stella. Allow me to clarify, however, that we never once followed this encouragement with any sort of grunting sound. It was never anything we joked about with Stella, as, for quite a while, this was a dreaded and very uncomfortable task she was faced with each day. So, there you go. While it may not seem as humorous with the background included, I assure you that it had me on the floor of the hallway, in a fit of laughter, that brought tears from Glenn as well as me.

Bye-Bye Bink, Cont'd

Day 5 and all goes well. It definitely takes Stella longer to fall asleep, but she sleeps through the night, and seems to be in better spirits the last day or so. More to come, I'm sure. I just know she is going to find a long lost bink under a bed, or something....

Bye-Bye, Bink-Bink!

You know those scenes in movies and cartoons where the main character is struggling with their conscience, in the form of Angel vs. Devil? The conversation usually consists of a volley of arguments from either side. I want you to just imagine, if you will, the following scene: I am on my hands and knees searching for the one remaining pacifier we had (we have gone through about 30 of them over the last 20 months or so), for the seemingly hundredth time. At this point, what went on in my head was a conversation like this: Me: “This is absolutely ridiculous! I shouldn’t be so panicked about finding the bink, to get this girl to sleep!” Angel: “Maybe it’s time to wean Miss Stella off of the bink. Devil: “Do you really want to endure the torture of taking her off the bink right now?” Me: “No, not really.” Angel: “It will just get harder the longer you wait.” Me: “That’s true. OK. That’s it. I am not doing this anymore. Off the bink we go.” By ‘we’ I also meant me and Glenn. I have occasionally wondered aloud if we are more dependent on the darn thing, than Stella. This was last Saturday night. It is now Tuesday. So far so good. Stella is a bit clingy, a little whiney, and wants nothing to do with Glenn, when I am around. Other than that, she is doing just great. Last night, as I am trying to get her to sleep, sans bink, she begins to fuss, and try to escape the king fu grip I have around her, so she’ll stay in the rocker with me. After a few minutes of this (she seemed to be gaining strength from this, not losing it), I start singing the opening number from Hairspray. This got her attention, if only for a few moments. Then, I suggested we say a little prayer. To digress, I just have to confess that we don’t say a regular family prayer. We bless our meals, but, other than that, we are never together to say one. And, frankly, things seem to change so much around our place that it has been challenging, to say the least, to get into much of a routine. Whenever I think about it, Stella and I say our prayers together at night. OK, to get back to last night, As soon as a prayer was mentioned, Stella settled into my arms, as she folded hers. It was very sweet. We blessed anyone and everyone we could think of. I drew it out for as long as I could, because she was so attentive, and still. Once the prayer was over, Stella began inquiring about everyone who was mentioned in our little prayer, her friends, and family. She started to go down the list, and asked “Gramma nigh-night?” “Yes,” I responded, “Gramma’s going nigh-night. “ We went down the entire list in a similar fashion: Grampa, Tio, Alika (friend), Jakey (friend), Dad, Mel, Nay-Nay, Mom, Zack, Ariel (The Little Mermaid), Tacee (Tracy – Hairspray), Belle (Beauty and the Beast), Uncle Scotty, Ya-Ya, Papa, and so on. Once she made it through the list, she went through it again, and again. After the fourth time: “Shhh… Stella needs to go nigh-night….” was the most intelligent thing I could come up with, in response to Stella’s half hour long string of chatter at 10:30 last night. She talked non-stop for almost 40 minutes. I couldn’t get a peep in edge-wise. It was quite funny and sweet, but I was exhausted, and just needed the little monkey to fall asleep. Now that I think about it, I wonder if that was Stella’s way of saying her own little bedtime prayer. If so, then I just need to learn a bit more patience, no matter how tired I may be.