Stella, superkid

So I realized when i got a few comments and emails from people asking me if I was ok that i've been using this blog as a personal therapy/whining device.

Sorry about that. Most people's children's blogs should not contain random crankiness from the parents... but rather celebrate the wee munchkin, right?

So since i actually did already mention that Stella says "dog" now - I will also enjoying retelling some of her recent exploits. She is extremely flexible... maybe she learned a thing or two from all the yoga classes I took when pregnant (and never returned to... ugh). She loves to pick up things with her feet. Seriously. Loves it.

Exhibit A:

This is an easy one, but she's also adept at picking up books, blocks, and the occasional Scupper bone, although she is getting better about not putting them directly in her mouth.

She loves bathtime - and this Saturday we attend our first baby swimming class together at the YMCA. WOOHOO! I can't wait. I know it seems a bit ridiculous to take a 1 yr old to swimming class, but I've read a few things on it, and it seems if you get them used to the water early, they should be very comfortable with it by at least 2-3 years old. I had friends in college that were 20 and could not swim. I can't even image that. So in the water we go!

Besides trying to crawl and pull herself up on anything she can (today our babysitter said she tried to crawl up the dog to standing) she is learning quite a bit from her friend Anouk.

Anouk is two months older and is the daughter of a fellow grad student. We do a babysitting swap - Tuesday I take the girls and Friday she takes them. It's pretty great for them - and a free day of babysitting is great for us as well! This week she took Stella to the zoo (her first time!) and as I put her in the car seat to leave, she and Anouk started talking and cooing and smiling at each other... BBFs. Too cute. Julie said they "Talked" the whole way to the zoo. Stella learned to use a sippy cup by watching Anouk... she is starting to string lots of syllables together and offer much inflection in her voice as Anouk begins to command language better. While they still "parallel play" they enjoy each other's company, although we have to work on Stella and sharing. She's a big fan of stealing anything Anouk finds. I'm also hoping that she'll pick up all the French that Julie speaks to both of them... sadly, my high school French is just about good to speak to Anouk now, but I have a feeling that she's going to surpass me soon.

Stella also has enjoyed eating things that the "big people get." Like sharing apples, bananas and full pieces of muffin or toast. She gets VERY excited when I offer her a bite of apple. I might have to video it, it's so amusing. Let's just hope she is as excited about apples in about two years.

Well, they aren't earthshattering milestones - she's a pretty average Joe, and I'm sure everyone's child has done these things, but it's wonderful to learn and experience the world anew with her. Our babysitter is a cognitive science PhD at UCSD and she is studying brain cognition and how we start to "learn" things so being with Stella one day a week has been a joy for her as well (and I get to learn some things too!) next week we are going to film the "A-B" test with Stella for a lecture she has to do... the one where babies under the age of 1 cannot remember where you have hid the object in a new place and go to the old place even though they see you hide it... pretty cool. Maybe Stella will defy the statistics. We'll see. ;)