First day of school and other stuff

Stella's first day of school was today. She woke up in a great mood and even decided to use the potty! We had a great morning and she was so excited...until we walked into the building. You should have seen the teacher's face when she saw that Stella was holding an old cell phone and Josh's duck call. She wouldn't let them go. The crying began and I had to leave. When I picked her up, she was so full of stories! I don't know how much of it I believe, but it was an interesting drive home. "I had a good day at school and I played with my friends and my teacher said 'you don't take the piano from Jill and you need to apologize' and Jill had an accident and I had an accident and I don't like school and I cried and I am going to eat a snack and a slice of cheese and look at the signs! I don't like to cry because I like to play with my friends...." Whew. Hope she wasn't the cause of Jill's "accident." We came home and had lunch and I said "Let's go try the potty" and her reply was "I already used the potty this morning." Hmmm...how do I explain that this is going to be something that occurs several times a day?

We have a butterfly bush in front of our house and the butterflies are everywhere! Stella loves going out to look at them and this one really caught our eye.

First bath together-it ended shortly after the picture because I couldn't get Stella to stop splashing Sophia in the face. Maybe it will work when they are a little older and Sophia can get her back!

Went to a music class with Caoline-you can see Caroline dancing and Stella decided to play the bongos (in the background)

Hello!

Fort with kitchen chairs and sheet

My friend Angelecia's little boy Jamal and Sophia-we worked together last year and she was Stella's teacher

Playing in the rain

Hiding from the rain

Good Times

Sophia's new face-she practiced doing it all day yesterday

Stella is "walking" her walkman headphones and an empty bottle of basil. You can see the toys she is surrounded by, yet she chooses these two objects to play with. It reminds me of the times that she would spend half of the day pushing the laundry baskets around the house.

Dancing while watching "Diego"-her new favorite on Noggin

"Playing" with Sophia-minutes later she was squeezing Sophia's arm and when I asked why, she replied "Sophia is making me angry!" I said "What did she do?" "She knocked over my blocks!"

Very smiley

Piggy tails!

Painting at the art studio with Caroline

Purple Hippo Art Studio

When all is quiet....she found the mosquito net I bought for Sophia's pack 'n play for the upcoming beach trip

Playing in the Mac box

Making pudding-or eating half of it before it makes it into the containers

Sophia's big enough for the exersaucer! Happy day!

Stella and Caroline at the paint pottery place

Painting a trivet

Stella's latest game to play is asking me who her daddy is in public places. I think I made the mistake of giving a horrified look the first time she asked (my ob/gyn was the first victim) and since then, she thinks it is hilarious to look at me and point to a strange man and ask "Is this my daddy?" Great. At least Dr. Knoer kind of resembles Josh. The guys she has been pointing to lately look nothing like her father-the nice Jamaican man at the gas station, the day laborer at the grocery store.....you get the gist.

Another thing she is learning to use in her favor is "no thank you." We both came down with a cold this week and Tuesday morning, she woke up really congested and coughing. I said "Stella, you are sick!" She looked up and me and said "No thank you." When I ask her to clean up her toys-"No thank you." When I ask her if she would like to take a bath and get ready for bed-"No thank you." I told her to go get her shoes so we could run errands and she said "No." I said "Stella, you do not tell me 'no.'" She replied "No thank you." Wouldn't it be great if you could use this approach in any situation?

You are going to have to pay $394 for your electric bill. "No thank you."

You get a speeding ticket. "No thank you."

You are diagnosed with some horrible illness. "No thank you."

Wish it worked...

Funny Stella-isms

crunchtable-comfortable

fligilator-refrigerator

Mr. Tomato Head-Mr. Potato Head

tomato-play dough

chocolate footy-chocolate pudding

bluh-fly-butterfly

sparkly-sprinkler

a sweep-broom

cutie boots-her new rain boots from the Donalsons

If you ask her to repeat any of these words, she can say the correct word clearly-she just chooses to use her own language, I suppose.

Sophia-sweet little Fi-Fi. She is such a sweet baby. She caught our cold on Friday and she is still smiling through her phlegm and watery eyes. She has an occasional fit and can be inconsolable for a few minutes, but it is usually overstimulation (can you imagine that with Stella as a sister?) and she calms down when you leave her alone. She no longer wants to be on her back-she prefers sitting up in the exersaucer or jumpy thing looking around. We have a 4 month check up on Monday, so I'll let you know how much she has grown. We weighed her this morning and the scale said 16 pounds! Stella is only 30, so she is catching up fast.

Time flies!