Stella's 9th Month

This last month has really been all about Stella learning more about what she can do.  It's amazing to see and hear her test herself to see what happens when she tries something new.  We've been busily trying to complete final projects in the new house and enjoy the summer, and she's also been very much part of everything we do.  It's hard to find ourselves free to work on our projects because Stella wants to see what we are doing and try to help.  But, we ended June feeling one step closer to finally having our big projects out of the way.


 

 





As we started July, we were all very excited for Stella to have her first 4th of July!  The 4th of the July is one of our favorite holidays, and it is also the anniversary of when Steve and I started dating.  We didn't have big plans per say, but we were definitely looking forward to barbeque, sunshine, and fireworks.  Unfortunately, Stella started to act a bit odd a few days prior to the holiday.  Our little happy lady was moody and not quite herself; she didn't even want to play!  We checked her temperature and it was clear that someone had a bit of a fever.  She has only ever had a cold, but this was definitely something new.  The night before the 4th her temperature spiked at 102, and she didn't sleep more than a few hours.  With all of us running on little sleep and Stells still maintaining a fever, we decided to spend the holiday in a pillow fort on Mom and Dad's bed.  It was so sad to see our happy little baby so upset and uncomfortable, but thankfully her fever broke and she was as good as new the next morning.  We still aren't sure exactly what she had, but her pediatrician said is was some kind of virus that she obviously overcame.  As long as he wasn't worried, we weren't going to dwell on it either.  

With Stella recovering from her fever, her appetite also recovered!  She went from small meals to putting food down like a bottomless pit!  She was eating with gusto and always wanting more.  The cutest new thing that she started doing was with her bottles.  She no longer wanted to be held while drinking; she wanted to stand and drink.  It was like watching Napoleon Dynamite chug Gatorade!  On the other hand, she also started a new thing with her eating that we are not huge fans of- yelling.  She does not want to wait and be patient for her food, so she will yell at you to put more food on her tray.  We've been trying to teach her that we won't react to being yelled at, but trying to teach an infant is interesting.  Imagine telling a puppy not to bark and you'd understand where we're at.  She's starting to understand that yelling doesn't get her attention, so our meals are going back to happy eating sounds instead of the sound of Stella testing the range of her vocals. 

 Stella had been feeling well for weeks and the weather was lovely, so we decided that it was time to finally get her into a pool!  I had been reading that you could teach a baby to swim as early as six months, so I thought we should get her into a pool to see what she thought.  It was such a fun day (probably most fun for Mommy and Nonna) and I was so proud of how Stella did in the water!  She would turn into a little motor when you told her to kick, and she would splash around and laugh at the water.  We now go to the pool every week, and she gets a little bit braver every visit.  Our latest visit had her going under water!  

We also had the pleasure of having another photo session with Kendall this month.  We didn't really have too many ideas for this shoot, but we thought it would be a great idea to get her first time on a swing in photos.  We did a few shots here at the house, a few outside in the flowers, and then we walked over to the park for the big event.  To say the least, Stella LOVED swinging!  She was laughing and smiling, and we were lucky enough to have Kendall there to capture the whole thing.  With so many parks in our neighborhood, I have a feeling that visits to the swings may become a regular thing.

Right after the photo shoot, we had a rather significant event looming.  I had not left Stella since the day she was born; in fact, I had not left the Reno/Tahoe area since I moved here last summer!  In addition to this, Steve had never been alone with Stella.  After much planning and preparing, I would be taking my first trip and leaving Stella with Steve.  The plan was to go visit my sister in LA for her birthday for an overnight visit.  I was extremely nervous, but I knew that Steve could handle it.  Even when my flight was cancelled and I stayed an extra night, Steve had everything covered.  It was nice to have a weekend to enjoy my sister and help her celebrate her birthday.

Steve did very well with Stella, but I think that he might have had a little help.  Gwen has always been interested and protective with Stella, but now the two of them have become best buddies.  Gwen comes into Stella's room every morning and gives her kisses through her crib.  Stella gets up after every nap and crawls over to Gwen's bed to pet her.  But, I think that Gwen really loves Stella because she knows that Stella is her meal ticket.  Gwen will prop herself under Stella's highchair and wait patiently.  Of course, an infant will drop food on the floor by accident, but Stella will now bend over and share her food with Gwen.  She thinks it's hilarious and laughs when she watches Gwen eat.  So now, when we eat, we ALL eat! 

After months of doing it once in a while, Stella finally started to clap regularly.  She always liked it when we clapped for her, but she started to want to clap for herself.  Every time we would clap for her, she would start clapping too!  She now claps all the time at just about anything.  I'll find her sitting at the back door or in the kitchen just clapping at nothing.  She even put it together with standing, and she will stand and clap!  She loves to stand up and dance to music; well, dance is a strong word.  But, she will stand and bop out to music, then clap for herself.  I think she's proud of her mad dancing skills :).   

We had been seeing Stella stand for months now, and we have anxiously been waiting for her to walk.  She continued to crawl at a lightening quick pace, and she even climbed the stairs!  We have two levels of steps, and she will go up both without pausing.  But, in the last few days, she finally took her first few steps!!!  Steve and I will sit a few feet apart and clap and cheer for her, and she will walk to us!  It started with a few short steps, but now she has taken almost ten steps to get to us.  She still won't walk on her own without encouragement, but we're still pretty amazed to see her walk towards us with a big smile on her face.





Nine months- where does the time go?  Stella continues to change and learn things that blow us away.  She is so curious and wants to do things for herself, so we are trying to stand back and let her discover.  It's incredible to hear her sweet little voice and watch her walk; two things that I think all parents look forward to.  The summer is getting closer to ending for us, but we are relishing every day that we get to spend watching Stella grow.  So, here's the little peanut who is not so little anymore:

July 28, 2012