Stella Miscellany

I've had a hodge-podge of different ideas floating around in my head about Stella lately, so this post is going to be a bit stream of consciousness. With fun pictures, of course.


Here, here! I call this blog entry to order!

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I had my first "mama bear" moment. Thursday morning, I set Stella down on her activity mat before running to get a new cup of tea. Fortunately, I looked down for a moment and saw an ant. Then I noticed an alarming number of ants swarming on her mat, very near her. I snatched her up and made some kind of noise that got Tyler's attention. Even though having some ants on a baby wouldn't be that big of a deal, it made me realize just how fiercely protective I feel of her and I can only imagine how I'd react in a really serious situation.


I look calm, cool and collected here, but ants beware my wrath!

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One of the great things about babies is how of the moment they are. In some ways, it seems like being a baby must be a a very intense experience, taking so much in while having so little control and ability to communicate. Occasionally I get a little frustrated when Stella's unhappy about something and immediately launches into a "the world is ending" kind of reaction, but I have to remember that it might feel like the end of the world, and that's the best way she can communicate these days.

On the other hand, we also get lots of joy and laughter and smiles. I love that almost every time she sneezes, Stella follows up with a smile and a satisfied sounding sigh. I think we all generally feel good after a sneeze, but with Stella we really know it.


Another thing that makes Stella smile? Going for a walk with Daddy in the hiking carrier. (Thanks, Leah!)

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But you know what's less cute? Neck lint. Now that Stella's more drool-y and urp-y and on her tummy, she gets crud and lint and cat hair in her neck folds. She doesn't have much of a neck to speak of yet, and she really doesn't like to let us get at it for a good clean without a lot of effort. The other night she had gotten stinky enough around the neck that we had to have an emergency bath night to remedy the situation. Nobody tells you about gross baby neck lint.


You'd never suspect the sweet sleeping baby throwing gang signs can have such a stinky neck....

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I'd been worrying about what we would do when Stella outgrew her Moses basket. It's been so handy to be able to have her close at hand and moveable. I wasn't that excited about something like a playpen, and our kitchen floor just seems too hard and cold to have her on a blanket or something. And frankly I think she was just getting bored of laying on her back all the time. But it seems that she's growing up enough to start enjoying things that have her upright, like her jumper (see the video below) or a "car" she can sit in with lights and toys and such. The first time or two she got overwhelmed by all the excitement pretty quickly, but now she loves it. And we can still move it around for something for Stella to do while I cook or while we eat dinner.


Stella, the driver (thanks, again, Leah!)


Good times!

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Not often, but occasionally someone will ask me if Stella is a "good baby." This always strikes me as a slightly odd question. Can any baby not be good? She's just a baby. And Tyler and I seem to agree that while she's not a difficult baby, she's also not an easy baby. Sometimes in groups with other parents, we see the babies resting quietly and comfortably on their parents lap. Stella? Usually not so much. She wants to see what's going on, usually from our standing level, be jostled, look around, be part of the action. She also already seems to have a flair for the dramatic, flopping her head down on her arms out of frustration during tummy time when she can't roll onto her back. But she's also alert, curious about the world around her, very smile-y and happy, lively and a lot of fun. She's our girl, and while it might be nice if occasionally she was a bit more shy and retiring, we'll have good arm muscles in the long run.


Note the blurry arms and legs--almost always on the move!