Fridays, Sundaes, & Sundays...

What a fun weekend you had! This past Friday was a typical Daddy Daycare Day for you and, who other than Daddy?! He always takes you to do something fun, and more often than not, it's a trip to the beach. You also have lots of fun playing at the house! Mommy is super-jealous of both of you every Friday, but also so happy that the two of you have an entire day to hang out together. You are one lucky little lady to have such an awesome daddy.

You look like the only person on the beach!!

Apparently, you insisted on wearing your sunglasses all day!


Playing dress-up in your jammies!

When I came home from work, Daddy suggested that we go get ice cream sundaes after dinner. You have been cooperating during meals much more now that you understand the concept of a "treat" after you've eaten your dinner. So, once you ate all of your healthy food, we took you to get a sundae from McDonald's. After being given the choice between hot fudge and caramel, you chose caramel! Yum! Yum!

Yummy "snundaes" - eating that spinach was sooo worth it!

Once again this morning, we took you to the beach to play. It was such a beautiful morning, and you are so happy just running along the shore collecting seashells. This summer is definitely going to be so much fun with you. Sullivan enjoys the water, too, and you love throwing the ball for him.

Sunday mornings on the beach to play fetch with Sullivan!

"What's that, Dad?"

"I'll find your phone, Mom..." (unfortunately, you didn't...)

Favorite Sushi

For dinner the other night, I was eating sushi. You had already eaten a veggie burger and were in the process of finishing your carrots when you looked at me and said, "I want that." I really didn't think you would eat it because you always say you want our food, but then won't take a bite. For some reason, this time you actually took a taste! You didn't eat the whole roll, but picked off the brown rice and ate the avocado that was in the middle. You told your daddy it was yummy and hot!

Colorblind?

Colors have been a hard concept for you to grasp. Red is green, blue is purple, everything else is yellow. At first, I wasn't too concerned, but then I started to worry because you were understanding letters and numbers, so why not colors?! I was starting to think that maybe you were colorblind! However, you proved me wrong this night when you accurately put all of the colored fishies in their appropriate places on your fish puzzle!

Your little light...

Can you hear the song? This Little Light is one of your favorite songs to sing these days. You ask for it in the car and sing it to your babies. The way you say, "shine," is so stinkin' cute. I can't get enough of it, so I play it whenever you ask for it. You are really good at remembering song lyrics: a talent your dad says you got from me. What he doesn't know is that we listen to the same songs OVER and OVER again. Well, maybe he does know....

Anyway, you are all about singing these days. Other than This Little Light, you enjoy the following tunes: The Wheels on the Bus, John the Rabbit (yes, ma'am), This Train is Bound for Glory, Can You Catch the Moon, Train's Hey, Hey, and Dr. Dog's Down, Down. I have no idea if those are the actual titles of the songs, but that is how you refer to them!

Funny moment from this morning: we were leaving for school/Tina's and we went through the garage. You saw a paint tray on the ground and said, "Oh. Hi, paint! Paint is not safe. No, no, paint." Back story: Your dad painted our bedroom this weekend (two different times), and you were not allowed in the room while he painted because of the fumes and your need to TOUCH EVERYTHING. We kept telling you it was not safe and dangerous. Of course, you turn that into scolding the paint. I'm surprised you didn't tell the paint to go to time-out!

Sand Scavenger

Today we took a family trip to the beach. It was a beautiful morning, and so your dad and I decided it would be fun to take advantage of the warm weather. Sullivan was fortunate enough to come with us and he loved playing fetch while you searched the sand for seashells. Your daddy always says that you are a very accepting little lady because you always choose the shells that are ugly and imperfect, almost like you feel sorry for them. I hope that this is a sign of compassion and empathy, but think that the more likely explanation is that the shells you choose tend to be bigger and look more interesting in terms of shape and texture!

You get so excited and thrilled every time we take you to the beach, so we have decided to try to make it there at least once a weekend in hopes of teaching you to appreciate the beauty and power of the sea. We hope that you will embrace the beach/ocean/sand/nature as a meaningful and important aspect of your life, and come to recognize how it can benefit you in so many ways.

Changing Audiences....

To those who occasionally read this blog:

I just wanted to let you know that from here on out, I will be writing this blog as though Stella is my audience. Previously, I've written ABOUT her, but now I am going to start writing TO her. You are still more than welcome to read it, but because this blog has pretty much taken the place of her baby books, I feel as though she should be my primary audience!

Thanks for reading, and please continue to! Feel free to leave Stella messages in the comments section so she can see how much she is loved!

With love,
Alison

SNOW DAY!!

What a fun surprise to have a snow day today! I knew school was canceled last night, so we were able to sleep in and have a lazy morning together. We hoped to actually PLAY in the snow, but there was actually ZERO accumulation at our house. There was a lot of snow in the northern parts of town, but we weren't so lucky! Still, we were able to enjoy the time off by going to play with Everlee and snuggling during nap!

Look at all that snow!?!


Jumping with Everlee in the bounce house!


Snuggle-time with Daddy on the couch...

Popcorn for breakfast...popcorn for lunch...

...we sure eat popcorn a whole, whole bunch. Stella LOVES it (and so does Sully)!


Since receiving an air-popper for Christmas, we make it more often and it has become our healthy snack. Fortunately, we can often bribe Stella into eating her dinner by telling her she can have popcorn later. This morning, she requested popcorn for breakfast...I almost gave in because I didn't want to deal with the tantrum. Let's not forget that she's a feisty two-year-old.

TICKLE MONSTER!!

One of Stella's favorite Christmas gifts is the book The Tickle Monster. It is a really cute book about how the Tickle Monster is a very nice fellow who came from a different planet to make kids laugh. The best part about the book? It came with gloves that look like the Tickle Monster's hands. Stella loves to run around with them on her hands and act like she's tickling everyone and everything. We have to remind her that inanimate objects can't laugh, and that Sullivan is not always open to her tickles, no matter how cute her monster voice may be....

Mission Potty Training

Recently, Stella has started showing some interest in going potty on the toilet. She will try to climb on the big potty, and put her babies on the big potty, too. We decided it was time to have a potty in the bathroom so she could choose to go when she wanted and sit when she was ready. Today, she spent much of her time sitting on her new potty with her favorite book. Hysterical.

We are going to take the process slow and try to make it as inviting as possible. Right now, she only sits and has yet to actually go, but I can promise you that the first time she goes will be a MAJOR event followed by praise, stickers, and maybe even an M&M or two!

Oh, and by the way, bed time last night and nap-time today were major successes. She went to sleep without tears and slept peacefully (with the door open). :-)

Paci Regression? Separation Anxiety?

Nap-time today was ROUGH. Stella was not interested in sleeping by herself and only wanted to be held. She asked to "snuggle" and to "sleep on the couch." It was so sad and pathetic, but I held my ground and insisted that she sleep in her bed. I'm not sure if she is struggling because she no longer has her paci, if she is used to be snuggled because she was snuggled SOOO much when we were in Ohio for Christmas, or if she just doesn't feel well. I'd imagine that it is a combination of all those things. Anyway, her crying was more than just a few trickling tears. She was sobbing, unable to catch her breath, and it broke my heart. Ultimately, I "won" the battle and she ended up calmly resting in her crib, but only after I hovered over her crib and rubbed her back for quite some time.

After she got up from her nap (on my terms), I continuously reminded her that she was going to sleep in her own bed that night. She kept saying, "No way, Mommy!" Needless to say, I was very nervous come bedtime because I didn't want her to feel that sad again. When it was time to go to bed, we went through her normal routine, read her favorite books, and sang her favorite songs. Then I asked her if she was ready to go to bed. With a quiver in her voice she said, "Yes." I put her in her crib and she looked up at me with the saddest face and said, "Mommy, door open." Never has she EVER slept with her door open. She's never asked for it to be open and we've never left it open. The fact that she made this request entirely on her own made me realize how fast she is growing. Maybe STELLA is suffering from paci regression, but I think I'm the one suffering from the separation anxiety.....