Never a dull moment...

I've actually  been asked by a friend for a new blog post. My Christmas New Year rather belated holiday greeting recap of 2010 is getting old, but sadly, when the day "ends" at 9:30 at night (aka when Steve and I finally sit down for a breather) chronicling the adventures of the Germonskis seems to be the last thing on my mind. However, if I don't sit and blog a little from time to time, Stella will never have a proper baby book (as the blog so often ends up becoming) and I'll be too old, batty, and senile to remember fondly the moments of her youth.

Like these: another camping trip marred by an event... Dec. 31, 2010 we head to the valley beyond the small mountain range right out of town. 40 minute drive (and that's in the VW!) to a small camping area in the Santa Ynez Valley... just for the night. Just for a try to see what it's like when you actually might get a full night of sleep with a toddler and a dog in a van. Just maybe.

Stella likes the pop top.

 Scupper was cold so we fashioned a "poncho" out of his dog towel.

We brought a little propane heater acceptable for tents and campers that kept us all toasty in the 35 degree nighttime weather, so toasty in fact that Scupper refused to sit outside with us by the fire and instead happily climbed in his usual front driver seat perch to bed down early for the night.


Stella enjoyed marveling at the wonders of gloves, eating by candlelight, and headlamps. At 5:30 at night, we heard a car come racing around the bend near the campground and slam into the utility pole nearest our site. People rushed around, the campground hosts were contacted, and a while later, a police car and ambulance showed up. We did not know what happened to the driver, although the car ended up in the ditch off the side of the road.
              What we do know however is the the aforementioned slamming of said pole caused the electric company to come out and investigate. And when you live in California, and wildfires happen because of downed power lines, you don't mess around. You don't mess around in fact, even on New Year's Eve. You send out guys to replace the utility pole. At 10pm at night. And they come. Because, hell, it's New Year's Eve and they are probably getting like quadruple pay. And they replace the utility pole. UNTIL TWO IN THE MORNING. With chain saws. And jackhammers. And jokes. And loud guffaws. And then Stella wakes up at 5 in the morning because she's having intestinal distress from the campfire dinner of the night before and you just pack up and go back over the mountain. Because hey, it's only 40 minutes, it's 6am, and you are used to camping trips just never going smoothly.

Yep. 5am folks.

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In the department of 2011 adventures that have gone smoothly, my parents graced us with a wonderful visit for two weeks. I got to play tourist in Santa Barbara with Stella and her Delaware grandparents, and Stella had a ball having two other playmates that were here to do nothing but love on her. The joy that she exuded when they showed up in the morning, the smile across her face at seeing my father and mother elated me to no end - and reminded me why families chose NOT to move 3200 miles away from their kin in years gone by.

 Stella appropriately showed off...

 And tried to use chopsticks

 Snuggled with Grampy

 Had way too much playing with her dolly and Grammy

And rocked out basically every day. Yep. Daughter of theatrical parents right there. No denying that.

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One more amusing Stella story... I finally squelched the impulse for people to think I was a neurotic first time mom and went to the doctor to have her evaluate Stella's speech (or lack there of). She suggested for her to get her hearing tested (passed with flying colors) and have an evaluation done by the local center that usually works with children and families with an array of disabilities. I told the social worker on the phone before our first appointment that Stella had 3 clear words that she used often, which, at that point, was true. No, uh-oh, and hi. Occasional words included kick, dig, sit, stick (all related to Scupper, go figure) and when she was feeling blue, mama. At almost 22 months, the woman said we should definitely have a meeting and also scheduled a speech therapist to do a further evaluation.

In the week it took for the therapist to show up at our house, Stella increased her phrases to "more please (or in Stella speak "morah thease") and added a voracious usage of "baby" due to the increased attention paid to her soft doll. When she arrived, although we were in her environment, Stella wasn't into playing the woman's games - she wouldn't talk for her, for me, or even do any of her favorite animal sounds. The woman flipped through a book with photos of everyday life things and asked Stella to either say or point to the picture. "Can you find the book? the ball? the dog?" yes yes and yes. But no words. On the page with food, "Can you show me the cookies?" prompted Stella to think on it a lot. I told the woman that we rarely had them (I think she was little surprised). And yet, the minute she turned to the page with pictures of animals and farm equipment, Stella blurts out "TRACT - TAH"

The therapist looks at me in surprise. So now I'm not sure whether 'tractor' qualified us for therapy or not. ;)