Circus!

Is this a sign that Stella goes to "time out" too often? This is how we found Raggedy Ann the other night when we were getting ready for bed.
We went to the circus Saturday. Can you believe it was TWO hours long not including the intermission? This was how Stella looked after all of her snacks and a rather large chocolate chip cookie entered the picture.

She was terrified of the clown. I am terrified of how enormous I look.

She wouldn't let us put her down when we went down to the floor. See the guy on stilts behind them? Amazing!
What a show! Despite the animal cruelty and whatnot...

Stella spent the last hour of the show dancing and throwing herself onto the giant stuffed Lucky Dog in the Aaron's box

Dancing with daddy

Jumping on Lucky Dog

More dancing...

Stella is growing up so fast! She can actually carry on a conversation now. Sure there are words sprinkled in there that we don't understand, but the majority of it is clear. Everyone keeps telling me that she knows something is about to happen (new baby) because she is acting like a baby more and more. She wants to be held, carried around, is very emotional and is as stubborn as a mule. Josh says that she just takes after me. :-)

Stella's comic relief moments:

1. We were sitting at dinner tonight and I was telling Josh about something annoying that happened at work and Stella said "Say whaaaat?" out of the blue. Where does she get that?

2. Asking if a blemish on my face was a "bo bo" and asking to kiss it.

3. Getting on the floor in Maybel's face saying "You wanna play with Stella, Maybel? You wanna play with Stella?" She still repeats everything twice...and refers to herself in third person. Then, she runs around the house holding Maybel's ball and refusing to throw it for her. Hopefully she gets the game of fetch soon or Maybel might lose it.

4. Asking me in the public restroom stall if I was going poo poo on the potty like a big girl. (I was NOT, by the way) I heard the woman in the next stall snickering.

5. Asking me no less than 10 times if the little boy in the doctor's office had a "bo bo" on his head. It was a birthmark.

6. Making Josh wash her elephant's "hiney" in the bathtub.

7. Running circles around the house saying "hi!" every time she passes through the living room. If you don't say "hi" back to her, she stops and says "Daddy/Mama-say hi!"

8. I asked her the other morning how she slept and she replied "In the bed."

9. Hearing her say "Good morning, mama! How are you?" every morning is priceless.

10. When she really wants something, she whispers it. And when you say "You want what?"-because you didn't hear her, she adds "please" to it.

Stella "I want some ice cream, mama? Want some ice cream?"

Me or Josh-"You want what?"

Stella (still whispering) "I want some ice cream, please!"

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

It's Time

I just went in to get Stella after her nap (the nap is back-for three days in a row, that is) and her diaper was on the floor. Her little naked bottom was bouncing up and down in her crib saying "Diaper is yucky, mama!" I immediately ran over to see what was in the bed and thankfully it was only wet. Her blanket, the crib sheet, her pillow, her bunny, and the floor(?) were wet. So now she is wearing panties for the rest of the afternoon. We'll see how it goes. I have already asked her three times if she needs to go potty. Each time, she says yes, sits on the potty for 2 seconds and says "All finished!" This is going to be fun....

Can you keep a secret?

Josh taught Stella how to tell a secret. To us, it means whispering things in her ear like "I love you" or "Let's read a story." To her, it means grabbing your earlobe and pulling your head close to her lips so she can whisper gibberish in your ear. Here, she is telling Maybel a secret. (the red eye reduction function on my software does not work on dogs. Strange, huh?)
Telling daddy a secret-you can't see the vice-like grip she has on his earlobe

" Come closer, daddy"

"You'll never guess what I just read in Mommy's Toddler 411 book!"

Just reading with Daddy

Saturday night she said she wanted to sleep in her big girl bed. We had Josh's boss and his wife over to play spades, so I didn't think it would be the appropriate time to have a Super Nanny night of going to put her back in bed every 2 minutes. We will try to do it this week for naps and see how it goes. We are not ready to do it at bed time just yet. She needs to go to bed at 8 and we need time to chill out before our bedtime and work the next morning.

I went through all of her baby clothes yesterday and loved every minute of it! I am so glad we are going to have another girl to wear those clothes again. Each little garment had a memory attached to it.

As for baby #2, we are scheduled for a c-section on Friday, April 17th at 7:30 a.m. It's so strange to know her birthdate and time already. I was going to try to have a VBAC, but my doctor said that the risks are too high. Let's hope she stays put until that date! Josh has a work conference in Washington, D.C. that week and will be back Thursday evening. My parents are coming to stay with us in case something happens. Pray that she doesn't come when Josh is out of town! Stella was four days late, so I am hoping this baby will follow her sister's lead. We'll keep you posted if anything changes.