the dawning of a new age…a Marathon runner

She's quick, she's fast and can turn on a dime. I think I can safely say that we have crossed the walking milestone. Over the past week she has increasingly been walking on her own. One of her favorite games has been to hold a big ball or balloon, throw it in front of her, chase after it, pick it up and do it again. Usually however for long distances she would look for mommy or daddy's hand.  Today after her nap, we headed to get ice cream. She lasted all of 20 yards in the stroller and then she was off. She walked probably 80% of the way there and back.

This afternoon as I was putting her down for a nap, we were sitting in the chair looking at a book. She saw her other blanket, pointed and made her "I need my blankie sound" I told her that she needed to get it her self and set her down on the ground. She walked over, picked it up and walked back to the chair. And this evening instead of crawling across the hall she picked herself up and walked. 

Over the past month or so, when putting Stella down for the night, we have had to stay in the room with for a few minutes. To pass the time we had a couple craft books or National Geographic Magazines on the pile of otherwise kid-centric books. Over the last week, Stella has chosen to forgo the usual "Goodnight Gorilla" or Dr. Suess ABC's for the more intellectually stimulating National Geographic Magazine. Lately she has been so tuckered out from daycare and our playing that she has simply leafed through a few pages and then laid down. But she is still very particular about what she has in her bed with her. Her blankets have been thinned down by having one at day care and Sam the giant frog sits quietly in the corner offering a leg for her to rest her head on. The other night Stella was exhausted and should have be out like a light. Her normal end of day conversation where she tells the stuffed animals what happened that day lasted longer than normal.  Usually when this happens, she has filled her pants and doesn't want to sleep in it. So I went in to check. I snuck into the room and did my best to sniff the air for any abnormal aroma. Stella simply said "Nein" (no) and held up a small stuffed frog to me. At first I didn't see the frog but she said "Nein" a second time and then I saw it. As soon as I took it from her hands, she folded them behind her head and closed her eyes. I quietly shuffled out of the room and she was out.

If I haven't mentioned this before, Stella is or has become quite a talker. She babbles on and on and on and tells you exactly what's on her mind. We think that this openness along with another talkative playmate in daycare, Lorenz, has helped Hannah open up. We found out that this past weekend the normally silent Hannah has started talking too. Yeah!
This past weekend she spent the night at Oma and Opa's. When Heidi came in to get her out of bed, Stella had her blankets wrapped all around her and she was sitting with the baby doll "Tina" in her lap telling her a very vivid story.

Day care has been going well. Over the past week we progressed to her eating and then taking her afternoon nap there. At first Stella didn't eat very well but after three days "Conny" the daycare mom found out the problem. When Conny set the kids at the table, she took Stella's blanket away from her and set it on the counter…in plain sight. Big mistake, Stella just fussed and fussed and wouldn't eat. On the third day, Conny thought maybe the blanket might have something to do with it. She gave Stella her blanky and sure enough, once it was securely in her lap, she ate everything in site and sometimes seconds.

For what ever reason, Stella stopped eating ice cream. This made us wonder if she was really ours. But the other day she just grabbed my cone out of my hand and went to town. She had ice cream everywhere. In her hair, all over her face, in the stroller and all over the new polka-dot dress that Grandma had just sent her. We're still working on getting the stains out.
Lately in the mornings during breakfast Stella has filled her pants. Although as any parent knows, you can tell when a baby is pushing, this week more drama has enveloped the event. All activity stops and you can see the concentration in her blushing face. One day Stella even produced a satisfied AHHHH at the end. The next day after this event, I pulled Stella's pants off to change the diaper and felt a plop on my sandled foot. She had pushed so hard that the poop blew out the side of the diaper, out the onsey and literally filled her drawers, down to her socks. Ewww it didn't help that Stella has become a Blueberry monster. I'll save the rest for those weak at heart.

Speaking of, Last week Blueberries were in season and on sale. Stella couldn't get enough of them. Today we picked Blackberries. Same story. Glad she loves healthy food. Hope it stays that way.
Stella has never taken a pacifier, even when we wanted her too. At most she has chewed on it as a play-thing and spit it out after a couple of minutes. So it was especially funny for me to turn around Thursday during a play date to see Stella have Spencer's pacifier in her mouth…the wrong way, bighting down on the hard plastic shell.

Stella loves to push buttons. Give her anything with a button, a remote control, the hairdryer, cell phone. We have a massager that she has become fond off. It's basically a fist size ball with three smaller balls protruding out used for the massaging. When the big center button is pushed, the three smaller balls light up and the whole thing vibrates. Stella loves this "toy", letting it dance on the table, holding it in her hands and recently holding it to her belly to message it. 

Click here to see some pictures over the past couple weeks.

May the force be with you

Today, Stella found a box of daddy's Star Wars action figures. She had a good old time with them and played with herself for over a half hour while mommy cleaned house.
She'd grab two, one in each hand, set them down, pick them back up and set them down again. She's proud that they sit at her attention and especially pleased that she can make the emperor stand.

Speaking of the Emperor, she has a special affinity for him. I hope this isn't forshadowing of what is to come.

Dancing Gorilla

Yesterday we taught Stella how to dance, well baby gorilla style dancing anyway. I started jumping up and down. Mom started too. Stella watched with fascination. Then she stood up and did her own variation. Now that’s the thing. Take 3 steps, bounce up and down, take three steps, bounce up and down.

Maja the May Pole

Yesterday we were running back and forth from the door to the mirror. Today we turn from the door, run halfway across the room, do a 180 and swing back around to the door. Straight ahead charging has turned into half drunken swerving. And mix it up a bit, grab mom's hand and just run around in circles. So fast that we can't catch her.

A strange phenomenon has occurred in a matter of a day. Where yesterday Stella was clingy and had to have physical contact; today she's happy with her doll amusing herself between the chairs under the table while we clean up after dinner. Such a weird feeling. We really attribute it to the daycare. She's learning from the others how to play, share and amuse herself, but she's not ready to share her mommy yet. Stella and Hannah really like each other, today they were cuddling again, giving massive head hugs and Stella wouldn't drink when mommy gave her something. But when Hannah offered to share, she drank.  Needless to say, today at the swing set, Stella was not at all happy when mommy had to put her down to catch Hannah on the slide. But a moment later the mood passed and they were best friends again.

To sleep we have a new routine. We still need our blankets, all four of them but Sam has to come to bed with her. For those who haven't met Sam, he is a giant 3.5 foot frog, bigger than Stella. He talks up half the crib. But she needs him to cuddle and fall asleep now. Later when we go to bed, we sneak into the room and remove him so Stella has a bit of space to move around.

Uh oh, the slobbering bulldozer

So we're going to start this story sort of out of order. What was going to be a fun little story about a new game has turned into a milestone. The past few days Stella has practiced crawling over to the wall, standing herself up, letting go, turning and running the few paces to mommy or daddy. This was a fun game that brought tons of giggles and we would do numerous times. Last night the game changed however. Standing at the hope chest in our bedroom, Stella turned and hightailed it out of the room, across the hallway and into the guestroom where she stopped, hovered for a moment and then landed on all fours. She did this a couple of times, each time with more gusto. Head held proudly back, hand pointing the direction and belly pushed far out to lead the way; half running, half stomping. On her final run she decided to do a celebration dance. Her frenzied head shaking and arm flailing caused Stella to loose her balance. Teetering on the edge of the play mats in the guestroom, she tumbled forward landing a perfect face-plant. I'd give her a 8 out of 10. Harry has a scar, Stella has a (what they call it in Germany) a horn. A traumatic ending to a successful escapade, BUT our little Monkey is back to running back and forth and climbing onto things. Today she pulled herself down from the bed and ran over to the big mirror. Then she ran back and forth from the mirror to the door to the balcony and back, and back, and back…each time more secure on her footing.

Stella has two preferred modes of crawling, 1. Turbo hoopdie 2.  "Bulldozer nothing stands in my way lets go".

1.    Turbo hoopdie -  when Stella turns on her turbo to get somewhere, it's like the Flintstones rock car starting to move.  You can see the proverbial wheels spinning and the legs swing out, digging the knees into the ground for traction. The arms reaching wide out in front to lead the way as the head kicks back form the shock of forward force. The sound? Like an elephant is heading your way.  In a funny sort of way it reminds me of the hoopdie cars where the hydraulics have gone out of whack. Her knees and wrists take such a beating it makes me hurt to watch but I guess that's why they have baby fat.

2.    Bulldozer. A lesson we should all learn from. What's the shortest way from point A to point B. Straight of course, regardless of what is in your way. Books, stuffed animals, balls, daddy. Stella knows where she wants to go, and if something is in her way, she'll try to move it. This morning we were sitting next to the couch. I heard Stella grunting and I realized that she was trying to push my knee out of the way. As soon as I lifted it out of her way she sped past to her goal.

A few weeks ago, Stella found the light switch to the lamp on Daddy's nightstand. A lever type switch, she easily figured out how to turn it on (pushing down closest to her) but she had problems pushing the lever down further away to turn the lamp off. This week however, she's a champ switching the lamp "on" and "off" and "on" and "off". She is also becoming more deliberate in her action. For example, standing up in her crib, throwing a blanket or stuffed animal to the ground awaiting your reaction to pick it up. If you don't notice or react quick enough, she looks straight at you and makes a noise to get your attention. Then she points to the ground where said toy is lying. If she is in position where she can move around, we tell her that she can get it herself. This morning she let her Tonka truck fall to the ground from the chair. After pointing to it and grunting I told her that she can climb down and get it herself. Which she did, climbing back into the chair and proceeded to throw the truck to the ground again.  Because we always say "Uh oh" when something falls to the ground, now when she drops something, for example over the side of the tub, she says "Uh oh" even though she did it on purpose. ☺

This past week, Stella started daycare. This was orientation week so she was only there a couple of hours and with mommy. At first Stella didn't like mommy leaving at all but by the end of the week she was fine. It helps that her friend Hannah is there. The two were cuddling together. The daycare is on our street and when we walked past yesterday, Stella wanted to turn and head down the driveway to Connie. Good sign I guess. She's learning more from the kids too as she watches how they play with toys or interact and she mimics them.
Stella is a very affectionate kid. She loves to cuddle with you and even give you kisses. She hasn't figured how that kissing is with your mouth closed and puckered. Instead she opens her mouth wide, tongue wagging, saliva dripping. Hmm, maybe she has been spending too much time with the dog. With mouth wide open she attaches to your face, covering you in slobber. She also has a new thing, giving forehead hugs. Pushing her forehead as hard as she can against you, practically pushing you over. This she even did to baby Fiona when she visited last week. But it didn't seem to bother her.
Although we haven't had a chance to go out much, this past week we took the bikes and bike trailer out. So far we've gone as far as Herrnburg about a 4 mile trip. Now whenever Stella sees the bikes or the trailer she gets all excited.

We're very happy that we have a kid that eats healthy, at least at the moment. She prefers fruits, vegetables, eggs and whole grain breads as opposed to sweet stuff, even if given the choice. We've spoken before about the strawberry monster, I think we even mentioned how crazy she went over the plumbs from our back yard. A new one this weekend…Bluberries. Maja bought a pound yesterday. At first she wasn't sure of the little blue berries but onces she had the taste of them in her mouth, well lets just say, it's not even 24 hours later and mommy and daddy had maybe 2. No joke! Gotta go to the store tomorrow to satisfy the little monster. Don't want a little shop of horrors situation arising here.

Tom Boy

Stella looks cute in her dresses and straw hats. She looks adorable with those starry eyes and cute smile. But down deep, I think she's a tom boy. She likes to get dirty. She isn't afraid to smear stuff all over her face, or make a mess. She feels at home in overalls and loves her baseball cap. (thanks uncle bill)

We all know that children can be stubborn and that you have to be creative in order to get them to do want you want to do. Mommy took advantage of a playful situation between daddy and Stella. It has been increasingly difficult to get Stella to brush her teeth; she'll suck the toothpaste out but won't brush. And she wont let mommy or daddy help. Well, daddy was swinging Stella around and had her upside down the other day. While upside down and smiling, Maja took advantage of the situation and made a couple swift swipes with the toothbrush. Wow, it worked that night and it worked again a couple days later. We'll see if this becomes a routine.

Stella had her first sleepover at Oma and Opa's…without Mommy and Daddy. This is a big milestone. Oma and Opa watched Stella so Mommy and Daddy could spend the day in Hamburg and get to watch Harry Potter (in English). Turns out Opa is a good stand in mother. If Stella was unsettled by anything, she called to Opa (but said mamma) and wanted to jump into his harms. Which he happily did.

We've already stated that Stella is going to be a talker. She loves blabbering on and she has such a cool sing-song voice. This week she broadened her vocabulary to sheep sounds. Eventually we hope that human words will also start spilling out of her.

She has also started quickly flitting between objects…the chair, couch, to mommy and back. She can indeed walk by herself and when she doesn't think about it she does it fine. Soon she's gonna let go.
Here's some random pictures from the last week. At the beach, in the garden, just having fun.