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

Stella's 8th Month

After celebrating Memorial Day and the end of June, we all knew that we were getting closer to the best holiday of the year... SUMMER BREAK!  Yes, I said holiday because I consider this an extended holiday for those of us who are lucky enough to be in the teaching profession.  I was very much so looking forward to this because it also meant that I would have some serious time to spend with Stella and Steve.  It also meant that we would start kicking everything into high gear with the new house.  We had a lot of changes we wanted to make to the house, and more importantly, we just wanted to be in there!

I celebrated my last day of school and the successful completion of my first year teaching in Reno.  It's amazing to think that I took the job at my school on a whim, moved back up here to Reno pregnant, had our first child, and survived the remainder of the school while Steve was still living in Albuquerque.  With my job on break, I was ready to get us into our house!  But, we had one pretty important event that would be happening just before we could get in- Stella's baptism.

We had been trying to plan this baptism for what seemed like months (probably since the poor child was born) because we had a lot of coordinating to do with the most important people involved.  To start, we had to make sure that Steve would be in town.  Next, we had to find a time that worked for Stella's godparents that would also be when Steve was in town.  We were lucky enough to have two of our incredible friends from Vegas say yes to being godparents.  We actually asked Dana and Marco while we were staying with them on my drive to move to Reno last summer, so they've been very much a part of Stella's life even before she was born.

Graciously, our Las Vegans took the short flight to Reno to be here for the ceremony.  It was also pretty special for me because Dana is actually pregnant with a little girl!  This would be my first peek at the baby bump, and we would get a chance to talk babies now that we will both be mommies :).  It's amazing to think how much has changed since we met and became friends back in our college days at UNLV, and I can only hope that our girls can become great friends like their mommies.

I would say that the baptism was probably the fastest and easiest ceremony that I have ever seen in a church, and boy was I grateful because Stella was done with the entire thing right about when we finished.  It was actually pretty funny to see a seven-month baby being baptized because it's rare that you see a mobile baby in a baptism dress.  She wanted to walk and stand, she wanted to talk, and she even stuck her tongue out at the deacon!  It gave the audience a few laughs and made for some funny pictures.  Overall, the day was a huge success and Stella was welcomed into the church.  Having our guests in town also seemed a success because it gave them a chance to see Reno in a different light; you know how we UNLV people feel about Reno.  I think that we mainly owe their slight change in opinion to Lake Tahoe though :).  I am so glad that Stella has Dana and Marco in her life, and I look forward to seeing them as parents and getting to know their little girl. 

 Literally, the day after Dana and Marco flew back down to Vegas, it was moving day!  We were really hoping that they would be the first guests in our new house, but a few flooring changes and the delivery of our appliances put us all back to the day after they left.  It was a whirlwind of a weekend with the baptism and our visitors, so I have to admit that we were a little less than ready for the big day.  By the grace of God (and with a lot of help from my parents) we were into the house for our first night.  After all the delays, all the planning, and all the waiting; it was an amazing feeling for the three of us to finally have our first night together in our first home.

Admittedly, the rest of this month ended up being all about the house!  We had appointment after appointment, contractor after contractor; I think that just about every craftsman in the greater Reno/Tahoe area visited our house during the month.  I kept holding my breath because I was worried that Stella wouldn't be able to get settled and stay on her routine with all the oddities going on around her.  Luckily, our little girl acclimated to her new surroundings better than anyone!  She moved seamlessly into this house; it was as if she never knew she moved.  There was so much change going on around her that Steve and I really had to take time to recognize the changes going on with her.

To begin, Stella started to feed herself.  She had moved beyond Mom's milk and Mom's Baby Bullet treats, and Stella began to eat everything we could give her with her own hands.  She loved everything we gave her; from cantaloupe to mozzarella cheese, and loved to pick them up off her tray.  She also would be quite the little chatterbox while she ate; you could tell when she really liked something because she would give "Ma, Ma, Mammas" and "Da, Da, Daddas" in between bites. Oh yes, Stella learned to say "Da, Da" right after Steve got here.  I'm so glad that he got to hear her say it for the first time in person!

I think that having everyone clap for her when she picked up food and put it in her mouth probably helped her along.  She even took to giving everyone "the dictator" as a response to their clapping!  We call it that because it looked like the backwards wave that dictators give.  My mom loved it because it reminded her of her favorite Italian gesture.  By the end of the month, "the dictator" remained on occasion, but it turned into Stella actually waving!  She now will wave hello and goodbye to people.  It's the cutest thing to see her wave to you!










Stella started to feed herself all kinds of finger foods right before a very big official holiday- Steve's 1st Father's Day!  We took Dad and Grandpa out for breakfast to start the day, and then we all headed down to meet Stella's great-grandmother on the river to watch River Fest.  It was a beautiful day with beautiful weather, and I think what made it so special is that we were all together.  Even from thousands of miles away, Steve has been an incredible father.  So, it was nice to get a day to be reminded of how lucky we are to have Steve in our lives.  He already has been an unbelievable husband and partner for me, but I truly feel blessed that Stella gets to have him as a father.  I think a fall in love with him a little more each day that I get to see him and Stella together.  

The day after Father's Day, Stella decided that she had one more present to give her father.  As I had mentioned in a previous blog, Stella has been all about the business of walking.  She will use just about anything to help her stand, and she will get pretty fussy if you don't walk her around the house multiple times throughout the day.  We even had to drop her crib (again) to the lowest level after we kept catching her standing and trying to scale the rails!  When we saw her stand on her own (which was HUGE) we were one hundred percent sure that she would bypass crawling all together because all she wanted to do was walk and stand, but apparently we were wrong. The day after Father's Day Stella decided that she would in fact crawl, but crawl probably isn't the right word for what she does; Stella is lightening quick!  If we take our eyes off of her she is already in the next room.  For example, Steve put her down to change the diaper genie, and Stella crawled down the hall, through our room, and into our bathroom to find me!  We have one mobile baby on our hands!  As if we don't have enough going on with our house, but now we have really had to baby-proof everything because Stella is everywhere.


With so many exciting changes happening with our new home, I was sure that the month of June would be all about the house, but Stella made sure to make some big changes of her own to definitely ensure she was still the center of attention.  To say the least, she definitely keeps us on our toes!  It absolutely blows my mind just how inquisitive and smart she is, and I love seeing the world through her eyes as she discovers new things and discovers what she can do.  Here's our little mobile momma, Stella Mia, at eight months:

June 28, 2012

Stella's 7th Month

Stella's horse, Trigger

Stella and I ended the month of April happy to finally be in May because May was a very important month for us; May meant that Steve would be here for good!!!  Steve was days away from his final day as an active duty member of the Air Force, and then all he had was the two-part drive to Reno.  Let's just say that our calendar had the 19th of May very clearly marked!

Shots? What shots?

Since Stella was born at the end of a month, we always end up having her check-ups scheduled at the beginning of the next month.  My dad and I met after work, and we prepared ourselves for a long afternoon.  Stella does well with shots... after they have been in her system.  The initial shots themselves are always a bit of an emotional roller coaster for both baby and Mommy.  Our poor nurse, Julie, is now known by Stella as the source of the pain, so she always gets mixed reactions from Stella whenever they meet.  The first exchanges between the girls was excellent, and the check-up by Stella's doctor went very well.  As of this six-month visit, Stella now weighs fourteen pounds, ten ounces; she is twenty-six and a half inches tall; putting her in the seventy-fifth percentile for height and head, and the twenty-fifth percentile for weight.  All I could think was, "Just like Daddy; tall and skinny!"  Following the stats, it was time for the real fun!  When poor Julie came back in the room, Stella immediately began to cry.  She knew what Julie was there for, and she did not want her shots!  She handled them like a champ this time; she actually stopped crying once she got the shots.  I guess we'll have to see if Julie continues to be the source of Stella's tears instead of the actual shots from here on out!

Giraffe jumper and party hat :)

It just so happened that the same week as this appointment was a rather big weekend for Stella.  Stella had her first birthday party to attend on Saturday, and Sunday was Mother's Day.  A co-worker of mine had his daughter Emma's first birthday on Saturday, and we were pretty excited to see that it was giraffe themed!  I told his wife that they were speaking my language because Stella's theme in life was giraffes, so we would be happy to attend.  Stella had on her best giraffe outfit, we had giraffe gifts for Emma, and we were ready to party!  Stella was a bit overwhelmed by all the people, the noises, and the other babies, but she did very well for her first time as a party-goer.  We spent most of the afternoon on the lawn in the backyard, but Stella seemed to enjoy all the attention and new faces.

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day was the next morning, and luckily Stella had recovered from her day of stimulation.  We started the day off right with breakfast at my favorite, The Squeeze In!  They had a pretty amazing special that morning- free mimosas for mothers!!!  Let's just say that my favorite breakfast spot made my first official Mother's Day start perfectly.  Stella was great in the very loud and crowded restaurant, and she gave her momma and Nonna a morning of feeling very spoiled.  Mother's Day for me was more about celebrating my little girl and being thankful that I am a mother, so it was nice to have an entire to day to play in gorgeous weather with Stella.  Her grandparents had even spoiled Stella with a few gifts for the holiday; Stella's first balls and bubbles!  This meant that Stella and I spent the rest of the day outside practicing rolling the balls (and keeping them away from the dogs) and watching the bubbles blow across the lawn. It was an all-together perfect day, and it gave me yet another reminder of how lucky I am.

Auntie Manthie's hilarious!

Mother's Day also held a surprise for Nonna- my dad had arranged a surprise visit from my sister Sam.  We had been orchestrating the visit for weeks, and we shocked my mom when Samantha pulled into the driveway.  We were all very excited to see her, but it would also mean a test for Stella.  She had been having a small case of "stranger danger," so we weren't too sure how she would handle seeing her Auntie Mantha after such a long time.  Thank God, my sister is brilliant with kids!  She used to be a nanny, so she knows exactly what to do to make a child instantly trust her.  Stella was immediately taken with her; in fact, she was more than taken with Sam.  For the rest of her visit, my sister had a HUGE fan keeping her eyes on her every move. 

Ah... grass!

As far as Stella's activities for the month, she was continuing on with her daily practices in walking and talking.  Our little girl was still not caring much about crawling, mainly because she was still all about walking.  She would get very frustrated if you held her too long because she wanted to walk.  Around the house, one the porch, on the lawn; she was going to walk around every inch of this property.  It was not the best for our backs, but we all took turns holding her hands and walking around behind her.  Thankfully, the weather was beautiful this month because we spent A LOT of time outside on the lawn.  Stella loved to be outside walking, looking at trees, watching the dogs, and playing in the grass.  Yes, I said playing in the grass!  Most babies (myself included as a baby) hate the feeling of touching grass, but Stella is the exact opposite.  She will actually move the towels and blankets we put down so that she can feel the lawn.  I only hope this weather continues because our time outside has become a big part of our daily routine. 

See you soon, Daddy!

With the month about at its half-way point, that meant only one thing- Daddy was coming!!!  I got the call early on a Friday morning that Steve had finished his out-processing and was on the road to Reno!  It really took me aback when I began to process what that actually meant.  Steve had completed ten years of active duty in the Air Force; we would never be separated by a deployment again; ten long months of separation were going to be over; Steve would be here for good!  Steve had a short stop for the night in Vegas, but then we would be seeing him on Saturday afternoon.  It was so incredible to see his big, black truck pull into the driveway.  We had made it!!! 

Daddy's here!!!

Steve and I are definitely still getting used to the idea that he is here, and not just for a visit.  It's SO nice having Steve here, especially for Stella!  We no longer have our nightly FaceTime conversations for him to see the baby, and I no longer have to worry about getting video of everything that Stella does so Steve doesn't miss anything.  Steve was lucky enough to only have to see a few "firsts" via video, but we still have many more that he will get to watch first hand.  More than anything, I think he had to adjust to the hours that we keep with Stella.  Other than that, like he always does, Steve fell right back into being a dad without missing a step.  To her credit, Stella also fell back into her routine with Daddy without skipping a beat.  I think that talking to him every night helped because she knew his voice.  They really are cute together, and it makes me feel so blessed to have them together for good.

We celebrated Steve's end in the Air Force and change of residency by taking Stella on her first trip up to Tahoe.  She had been there in the winter with her grandma, but we had yet to take her there to actually go to the water.  With the perfect weather I had mentioned, it was definitely time to spend a little time up at the lake!  I've said it before, but Lake Tahoe is by far the biggest perk to living in Reno!

Peek-a-boo!

Once Steve was here it also meant another big piece of closure- closing on our first house!  We ended the month by going down as a family and signing the paperwork to move into our house.  With the documents signed and keys in hand, we were ready to finally be on our own!  We won't actually move in for another week or so (mainly due to a few changes we are making) but our furniture will be here from Albuquerque by Friday.  We spent Memorial Day weekend picking out things for the house and preparing for the move.







May has been a big month for The Adkins!  Stella continues to grow like a weed (mainly in height) and amazes us every day with how much she continues to change.  She really does have her own little personality, and it's fun to see how much of both of us we see in our little girl.  I think the best part of this month has been the coming together of our family.  Distance may have kept us apart, but we always did our best to be as connected as we could be.  I almost feel spoiled now that Steve is here, and I have to keep reminding myself that he is not leaving us again.  Now that our biggest obstacle is behind us, we have the joy of moving into our first house in our very near future!  So, here she is, Little Miss Stells, celebrating Memorial Day as she turns seven months old:

May 28, 2012

Stella's 6th Month: Half-Way Through Her 1st Year!

March ended quickly, and we were ready to head into April.  The main thing that I was looking forward to in April was Spring Break!  I still wonder if students realize how much teachers LOVE this "holiday."  I was looking forward to it because it meant a whole week to be with Stella.  It also meant that Steve's monthly visit was upon us!  There were many things that made this visit special: the visit would be for a whole week, my parents would be in LA, and this would be Steve's last visit before he moved to Reno for good!  To say the least, I was very much so looking forward to Spring Break.






Steve flew in on Friday; the perfect was to kick-off our break!  We started the trip with a visit out to show Steve the house.  It's difficult for a lot of people to fathom that Steve and I would choose a house without the other person seeing it, but we have had to do this before; Steve picked our last house in Albuquerque while I was still up here in Reno.  Granted, we were only renting that house, so the idea of me buying a house with Steve only seeing pictures made everyone a little nervous.  Thankfully, the visit out to the house only made him love it more!  Pictures and a short video can only show so much, so I was thrilled that when he got the tour he was okay with this being our first home.




To add to Steve's visit we also had another actual holiday to celebrate- Easter!  We opted out of having any egg hunt or activities for Stella, mainly because it would be enough of an event to be in a house full of people.  My parents typically have all of the family over at their house for Easter, so we knew that there would be more than enough activity to occupy Stella.  The day was gorgeous, and it gave Stella the first opportunity to show off her legs!  Seriously, the cold Reno weather has kept this little girl in two long-sleeved onesies and pants since she was born, so it was odd for her to be showing some skin :).  She was the perfect little lady in her first Easter dress.

  Right after Easter, my parents headed off to LA to visit my sister for the week.  This left Steve, Stella, and me alone together!  We had never had this opportunity since Stella was born, so it felt like a week to play house before we would be doing the real thing next month.  It was so nice for us all to have time to just be "us."  More than anything, we were looking forward to time together.  Steve had been watching Stella via iPhone, so he was excited to see the real thing.  We were lucky because Stella decided to save a few firsts for her daddy to see! Steve and I filled the week with many things that we had been putting off or didn't have time to do, but we also tried to schedule a few activities specifically for Stella.  To start, Stella's 1st baseball game!





 Back in March, I was blessed to hear that one of my favorite sorority sisters would be headed back up to Northern Nevada!  I was thrilled at the idea of having one of my Vegas people here in Reno, let alone two people that Steve and I both love.  Gretchen and Zac were coming up to Reno for an Ace's game, so we decided to join and have Stella's 1st baseball game!  In true Reno fashion, the weather was not optimal for a ball game, but I bundled Stella up as much as I could, and I loaded her into the Bjorn covered in blankets.  I cannot say that she thought much of the baseball game because she was very quiet.  I think she was a bit overwhelmed by all the noise and people.  I gave her the best play-by-play I could and explained how pitchers choose their pitches, all right behind home plate.  In the middle of my analysis, I looked down to find my little girl had fallen asleep.  I'll have to try again when she's a little older!  We ended the night early for a night game, but someone had a bed time.

On the same day as our baseball venture came another first, Stella's 1st word!  Now, as I mentioned before, Stella had been rattling off things that sounded like words, but this day brought something new.  Out of nowhere, she said "Momma" clear as a bell!  She seemed pretty proud of herself that she had actually said a word, so this word became her whole vocabulary.  She no longer tried to mimic "I love you" or "hello," her sole focus was "Momma."  For the rest of the day (and Steve's visit) we were all Momma: Steve, Gwen, Trigger, objects in the room.  If she wanted something, she would reach for it and say, "Momma."  All other words were on hold (and frankly still are) but we were all pretty excited to hear the first official one! 




In addition to talking, Stella continued to be little miss active!  She continued to be a huge fan of rolling over, mainly when she was in her bed.  She would roll over from side-to-side, back to front, etc.  It became a bit of an issue when she started clocking herself in her crib and getting her legs tangled in the railing.  Now, everything and every doctor will tell you not to buy bumpers for your baby's crib, but I was having trouble watching my poor little girl injury herself due to her nighttime activities.  I finally caved and bought bumpers for her crib.  Her injuries subsided, and the only issue I had was listening to her pet the bumpers as she falls asleep.  It seemed a fair trade off for me!

 She was sitting by herself and enjoying playing with her toys.  But, this month brought a big change that none of us saw coming.  Typically, you have babies that like to be on their backs, then they transition to their stomachs, and learn to crawl from there.  Our little lady decided that the back and stomach were okay, but she wanted to stand!  While Steve was here, he taught her to use her arms to pull up on our fingers to sit up.  We were pretty pleased with this because we would help her sit up, and then she would sit all by herself.  The day after Steve left, she decided to change the game a bit.  While I talked to my dad, I helped her to sit up from a nap.  I wasn't really paying attention, but the look on my dad's face told me that she was doing something.  When I turned back, she had used my fingers to stand up!

And thus started the new game for Stella- standing up!  She now could care less about playing sitting down or lying down; she always wants to be standing.  I even bought her a sit and stand toy that she could stand behind and push.  Our games now consist of practicing standing, standing and playing with her toys, and her favorite- dancing.  She has not taken any official steps on her own, but the girl is always standing up now!  I honestly think that she might just bypass crawling and start walking. 

The last big piece of news that came in the month of April were the appearance of Stella's 1st teeth... yes, teeth, not tooth!  After becoming even more of a chatterbox with her new word, Stella all of the sudden became very quiet.  We could tell that she was struggling and playing with her gums, but little did we know that her teeth were what were keeping her from talking.  It was almost overnight, but I woke up one morning to see two little tops of teeth staring back at me from her bottom gum.  Those two teeth came together, and they came with a purpose!  She has become even more invested in her mouth, and seems to enjoy the sound her teeth make on everything.  We shall see the direction the rest of her teeth take, but it is pretty cute to now see two little teeth when she gives us a big grin.




This was a big month of new things for Stella.  The craziest for me to believe is that she is now six months old!  Can it really have been six months since we met our sweet little baby for the first time?  It is amazing to me just how much she has grown and changed, even month-to-month!  Well, here we are at the half-way point of Miss Stella's 1st year with us.  She continues to surprise and entertain us every day, and I can't imagine life without her.  The best part is that Stella hitting the six-month mark means that we are extremely close to our little family all being together!!!  As soon as we hit May, we have nineteen days until Steve officially moves to Reno!  It's incredible to think that we have made it this far, and how close we are to being together again.  Here she is, Miss Stells at six months:

April 28, 2012

Stella's 5th Month

I'm getting bigger!

This month brought warm weather, some more firsts, another trip for Dad, and the biggest thing on our agenda... HOUSES!  Stella started out the month with her four month check-up.  As of March 5, Stella now weighs thirteen pounds, four ounces, and is twenty-four and one-half inches long.  As her doctor says, she is "fifty, fifty, fifty"- meaning that she is in the fiftieth percentile across the board.  I could have sworn that she was bigger, but it is still nice to hear that she is progressing.  I have to remind myself that this is the little peanut that the doctors were concerned about gaining weight.

Mmmm... rice cereal!

The trip to the doctors also brought the green light to start Stella on eating food!  This is something that both Steve and I were really excited to start.  We wondered which foods she would like, how much of a mess she would make, and of course, what funny faces would the poor child make as she tried the new tastes and textures.  I promised Steve I would wait, so we did not try anything new until he came to visit the day after her doctor appointment.  To start, we went with the tried and true: rice cereal.  To say the least, we were both impressed that Stella did not spit everything out and make a huge mess.  Mixed with milk, the cereal was nothing too magical, but it was a very different idea from how she had been eating.  We stuck with the cereal and kept coaxing her to enjoy her timeouts from her liquid diet.



Steve's visit was not all about baby food; it was all about house hunting!  We both realized that we were getting closer to Steve officially living in Reno and no longer visiting, so this meant that we needed to get serious about looking for a house.  This meant that his trip to visit his girls ended up turning into a business trip.  Steve was only here for four days, so we tried to squeeze in as many viewing as we could.  This meant that every minute I was not at work, we were scouting out potential homes.  We were determined to find a house that Stella could grow in, that we could have another baby in, that was in a location that we liked, that had the right features; the list went on and on.  Let's just say that by the end of Steve's visit, we were both discouraged.  We could not find a house that fit the description we were looking for in the location we wanted.  In a stroke of luck, we did find a house we were willing to buy on the last day of Steve's visit!  We literally viewed the house and took him to the airport!  But, he left happy because we had found a house.  We put in a bid and crossed out fingers for good news.

Learning about trees with Dad

Go Rebels!

The viewing of houses, stress and strain of choosing and losing them, and a mixture of odd weather brought a delightful treat- I got sick.  This in turn only meant one thing- so did Stella!  Thus, we were hit with Baby's 1st Cold.  It is the saddest thing to have a little baby sick because there is nothing you can really do for them.  I had a happy, sweet, little baby with a snotty nose and a cough.  It was amazing what good spirits she was in for not feeling well.  But, to say the least, neither of us were getting much sleep.  In addition to this, Stella's teething hit an all-time low, so she was definitely struggling through every night. 

Ohhh... can I have some?

Speaking of teething, we found out a new trend for Stella.  On St. Patrick's Day, I decided to have a Guinness to celebrate the holiday.  I could see little eyes following my every move I made with the glass.  I held the glass out to her to let her feel it, and the next thing I knew she was itching her gums on the rim of my beer glass!  This started Stella's new thing- sharing glasses!  If you had water, beer, anything in a glass... she wanted it!  You could actually see her little teeth when she would itch them on our glasses.

And the gums are on ice :)

Between her cold and the teething, I decided that something had to give.  I finally broke down and bought her an amber necklace.  I don't know if this cute little accessory truly does work, but her drooling has gone down and she seemed to be sleeping easier, so I won't question it! Unfortunately, with one success came a failure.  We heard that we had been outbid on the house.  After looking at the appraisal, there was not reason to go any higher than our original bid, so it was time to move on.  And so, we were now onto house hunting for Stella and Mommy, without Daddy :(.  We decided to open up the areas of the city we were looking to try and find the type of house we were looking for.  Stella and I were just starting to recover from our colds, so we got back to searching the internet.

Morning, Mom!

Just as Stella started to feel better, she also started to expand on a previous skill- rolling over!  In the past, I had only see her roll over on her play mat.  She would roll over from her tummy time to get back on her back, but this only happened a few times a week.  Then, she started to look at me or the dogs and roll from her back to her stomach, but again it was something that she only did a few times a week.  However, all of the sudden Stella decided that she loved being on her stomach!  I discovered this new love one night in the midst of our cold recovery.  I was hearing Stella in the monitor, but she sounded a bit off.  Upon entering her room, I found her rolled over, just looking up at me smiling.  It's a bit unnerving to find her in this position when you check in on her, but she sure did look cute!  This became her new thing during the month; every time you came into her nursery, she would be looking up at you from her stomach! 


As the month went on, so did our trials with food.  Let's just say that Stella was not a fan!  Rice cereal was still our main sampler, but she was stomaching it because it was mixed with milk.  The only place to go was into actual baby food.  After doing my research, I found out that we had quite a few foods to choose from.  I decided to start with something that I personally adore and that is fairly bland- avocados!  I figured it would be easy to mash and a taste that wouldn't be too shocking, so I had high hopes.  Stella had other thoughts about one of her mom's favorite foods.  She made faces and sounds I had never seen or heard from my little girl, and it was quite clear that she was not a fan.  The next food we tried were carrots.  I steamed and blended them, but again Stella was less than impressed.

We repeated these two foods, but nothing improved; I decided that I would call in an expert.  One of my coworkers has a daughter that is about ten months, so I figured that he might have some insight.  He suggested that I should mix the foods into the cereal/milk mix that Stella seemed to like.  So, with high hopes I headed down to the grocery store to buy a sweet potato.  I also decided to purchase a Baby Bullet to help me get a texture that I think Stella would be more likely to eat.  After making my first batch of "sweet potato surprise," it was time to see what our tiny critic thought.  Bless my coworker for his advice because it did the trick- Stella ate!  She ate more than I had ever seen, and she actually seemed to enjoy it!

Beautiful day for a run with my beautiful girl!

Stella final change came throughout the month; her little voice started to really come into its own.  We had all heard Stella babble and make little noises, but all of the sudden she was actually repeating us!  Stella would hear tones and repeat the sounds we were making.  The words that she really took to were "hello" and "doggy."  I can't say that either of these would be considered her first word, but man were they close!  She started by mimicking the tone that we used when we said words, then she started forming them into words.  As the month closed, she would even say "doggy" when Gwen and Trigger came into the room!  On a side note, she also became a HUGE fan of both of these dogs :). 





The month ended with excellent news- we got a house!  On a whim, I went looking at three houses on the twenty-second of the month.  By a complete stroke of luck, the first house I went into was perfect!  It was everything we were looking for in a house (minus Steve's three-car garage request) and it reminded us of the houses we loved back in Vegas.  Unlike the last house, we decided to look a bit further away from my parents and branch out to a new area in Reno called Damonte Ranch.  We loved the area and the new development coming up around the house, so we decided that the longer drive to Nonna and Grandpa's house was worth it!  We put in a bid on Friday and heard back on Saturday that it was ours!  It was a bit of an adventure because I had picked out the house and put in a bid without Steve even stepping foot inside.  But, he said that between the video I took and the pictures online, he was definitely on board.

And so, we ended March with many big successes: Stella was eating, talking, and rolling over with ease, and Mom and Dad had found her her first home!  We all felt blessed that she had survived her first cold, and that our hunt for our first home was over.  This meant that we were one step closer to the half-way point in Stella's first year, and one step closer to her dad being with us for good!  Here is our beautiful little giraffe at five months:

March 28, 2012