Windy City

Ben and Ellie, who my mom babysit/practiced on

Kathryn, hostess with the mostest

Liz, the one who got me to laugh

Uncle Wobbie, an old favorite

Sorry for going so long without posting but I have had a busy month. It kicked off with a trip to Chicago, my first LONG car trip. I stayed out way past my bedtime, got to meet lots of mom and dad's college friends and I even laughed out loud for the first time!

3 months...

Poppin' my collar Miami-style... NBD

Take that Doc, don't yell at my mommy

Bumbo Seat, looking a little squished

All you can eat pancake breakfast at the Ferris's

Play date with J.J.

Believe it or not I am already 3 months old and of course my list of accomplishments keeps growing. At my 3 month checkup I got 3 immunizations which were supposed to make me a little crabby, but I am a strong girl and didn't have any side effects. However, my mom got yelled at by the Dr. because she isn't helping me with my tummy time and since then I have been spending A LOT of time on my belly. I think I will be rolling over and crawling in no time. I can now support all of my weight on my legs, hold my head up and prefer to sit up vs. laying back. I am starting to like my own space and enjoy kicking back on my play mat and playing with my Pink Poodle Lala. I tried to hold a boy's hand, to see video check out his blog: http://skeldonfamilyadventures.blogspot.com/2010/02/jjs-first-valentine-and-playtime.html

All Smiles from the Mile High City

Who takes an eleven-week old baby on a plane? Seriously? Of course, it turned out the flight was uneventful, well sort of. I decided to sleep, eat and smile almost the entire way there. I was just as pleasant on the way home, other than a really nasty blowout of my diaper. Mom and dad had to change me on their laps, bu thankfully the other person in our row was a really nice man with 4 kids of his own. He understood. However, the stewardess did give mom a dirty look when she handed over the plastic bag full of dirty diaper and the onesie that I ruined.

While we were in Denver, we stayed with Emily and Nick Sass and their dog Dorsey. They were great hosts and we loved the city. Dad got to go skiing and mom and I had no problem staying behind and supporting the Denver retail industry. It was really sunny and beautiful all weekend and we all had a lot of fun seeing how things are in the Rocky Mountains. On Saturday I got to meet mom's oldest friend Jen and that night I got to sleep under a table while the adults went out to a nice Valentine's Day dinner.

Good thing we got home when we did because it has been snowing in Cincinnati ever since. Dad has had 2 snow days and has discovered new tricks to get me to smile and even giggle. Of course the giggle happened in between takes but I promise I will let them capture it on camera once I feel more comfortable.

2 Months and Counting

Staring at daddy on his snow day (2/9)


Hanging out in my crib on my two-month birthday (1/28)


Sucking on my thumb during tummy time (1/19)


All bundled up ready for a walk (1/14)


Mommy's trick to get me to sleep in my crib (1/27)

My life has changed so much since I was born. I can add sleeping in my crib to things I have already accomplished (after numerous failed attempts and tricks found on the www, the trick that worked is shown above.) In the past couple of weeks I have visited with baby friends, had a special out-of-town babysitter so my parents could go to law school prom, gone to Louisville, the grocery store, Costco, and LPK... 2 months and already a social butterfly! And I am off to Denver this weekend. Yep you heard it right I am taking my first plane ride to the mile high city. My parents are crazy, huh?
As you can tell from my pictures, I am eating much more these days, between 5-7 ounces every 4 hours. My favorite things to do these days are to go on car rides, suck on my hand and thumb, smile and watch mommy and daddy make silly faces at me (fish lips is my new favorite). It's only a matter of time before I begin to giggle. And Facebook. And Tweet. And go on dates. And talk back.

The Bucket...

Many of you know about my living arrangements and for those of you who don't, there is NO bath tub! One of mommys friends found the perfect solution, the bucket bath. This video is for all of you skeptics out there. I LOVE my bucket, it reminds me of being nice and cozy pre-birth. This is now part of my new nightly routine as mom and dad are searching for some sort of schedule, ok mostly my type A mom. My routine starts with a bottle, then the bucket, next a baby message, then a book and finally some time rocking in my chair. So far this new routine has contibuted many sweet dreams for me and my parents.

Stella's Firsts

So I'm six weeks old now and have already accomplished quite a few things:
- Slept through the night
- Took a bath
- Had a diaper blowout
- Went on a road trip to Cleveland
- Went on a road trip to Toledo
- Rolled over (mommy thinks daddy helped me, but I did it all on my own!)
- Shopped at Nordstrom
- Went out to breakfast at Echo with mom and dad
- Rode a two-wheeler (just kidding)
- Smiled at mommy when she made funny noises with her tongue
- Had the sniffles
- Forgot to go to my one month doctor's appointment
- Played in the snow
- Met a cute older boy and let him hold me
Mom and dad are hoping that "slept in my crib" is the next thing to add to the list, but I really like sleeping in my lamb seat for now. Here are some more pictures!

All my apologies for taking so much time off between blog postings... Looking back at my old posts, it's funny to see what I was writing about on December 13th. I mean, I'm a month old now.. twice as old now as I was then. I don't want to use all of my stories and material on my first blog back, but I'll give you a quick summary of what you've missed and here are some pics of me in my Christmas gear.
First, Gigi and Pops came to town, we celebrated Christmas early, and opened up some presents! Then, Mom, Dad, and I went on an extended vacation to Noanie and Papa Jeff's. It was nice to get out of the apartment but for some reason it wasn't the first vacation I had envisioned. I was thinking beach and I got Toledo. That's okay.. we still had fun.
All of mom and dad's friends showed up to meet me the very same night we arrived. There are so many perks being the first baby born to both sets of grandparents and of all of my parents' friends. I am a hot ticket. I am in demand. People buy me stuff and want to hold me. It feels good to be loved.
I met a lot of my dad's crazy family on Christmas Eve and now I know where Aunt Jenny learned how to (or how not to) control the volume of her voice. I don't think there were ever less than 5 people talking at the same time and somehow they all understand each other. Aunt Jenny also helped out when I took my first real bath and was always around to help take pictures of my pretty face.
On Christmas Day, Santa found us in Toledo and we got to open presents. Uncle Joe and Aunt Jeana stayed over night and both of them practiced on me so they can get ready for their baby who is due in July!! I can't wait to have a little cousin who I can show the ropes to and cause trouble with.
Then we went out to a Japanese steakhouse for dad's birthday and I was such a good girl sitting in my pumpkin seat while they ate. The waitress thought mom looked so good for just having a baby, she asked her "where you fit her?" Everyone thought that was really funny.
After that, Noanie and Papa Jeff went on a trip to Florida and I helped mom and dad make sure that Uncle Jake didn't have a New Year's Eve party. He's such a rascal, but he was good at making me stop crying when nobody else could.
Finally, we got kicked out and had to come back to Cincinnati. That's okay though. I haven't been back here in what feels like a lifetime. Stay tuned for my next post.