BFF

It's obvious we've been a bit busy. Okay... I've had time to read a few other people's blogs, but haven't the energy to whip up a blog post. I have wanted to talk about the fun that the triathlon was -- how my daughter has started pushing boundaries like no one's business -- how our personal life has been in utter chaos and upheaval until a few days ago -- but what little energy I have left is going into revisions for the dissertation. Which is due October 1. for a November 5 defense date. Yes, really, a defense. Yes really, i will be done.... but that's a joy of another matter.

What I logged on today that seemed worthy of 5 minutes of blogging attention was this photo.
This is Stella and her friend Anouk (my friend Julie's daughter). This picture seems to encapsulate their personalities so much so that I can't even explain it fully. Stella is crying out in joy, attention, frustration, something... (actually, i think she was trying to get Scupper to come). Anouk is looking at her with such confusion, apprehension, or just plain - who ARE you girlie? I love it.

And yes, they are both sitting in swim diapers on a 4x4 on the edge of our yard. Go figure.

So we TRIed it - and survived!

No time for a wonderful recap just yet, but a teaser picture...
and my favorite little cheerleader!!
Let's just say that my younger brother beat me pretty hard... 44th overall out of 790 finished contestants... but I will say that at almost 34 years of age, I completed my first ever organized sporting event .... and loved every minute.

Let me know when the next sprint distance triathlon comes to your area - I'm ready to do another one. Goggles, bike, and running shoes, let's go!

Vacation/Not a Vacation with a Toddler

I mean, really, what were we thinking? That going away for a week with a 16 month old was going to be a vacation? That we would have all this time to chill and relax and whatever? Um. No, say hello to the little girl who always wants to be outside and getting into dirt.
Yep. See, she's even ready to drive the van!!

Seriously though, we DID have a nice week up in Tahoe with Steve's extended family. We learned some very valuable things about traveling with our little girl.

1) water and ice keep her occupied for HOURS in the car seat. Books, toys, songs, etc do not. Just give this girlie a plastic water bottle with a block of frozen water in it and she's good to go.
2) ditto for apples. Apples are awesome.
3) if you can, stop at the gas station that has the chickens, goats and horse to run around after. (no joke. Eastern California can be a very rural place, ya'll). Much better than Mickie D's playplace.
4) Find all the playgrounds in the town along your route. This will save you from running around the truck stop store and trying to get into the showers. (Eek). Needless to say, Stella went to more swings and slides in one week than we ever do here. Sometimes (on the way home) twice in one day!
5) Ten hours is a damn long car trip.
6) Sleeping in the same room is not preferred, but after 4 nights of waking up periodically throughout the night and getting up to soothe her so as not to wake the rest of the condo inhabitants, she'll sleep like a charm. And then of course, that's your last night there and you are now exhausted.
7)If you have a daughter who is addicted to water, maybe going out on a power boat is not the best idea if you want to enjoy yourself.
8) But if you have awesome grandparents and an uncle who just happens to be captaining a boat, take advantage of everyone's generosity and go out by yourself for two hours (seriously, is that us smiling? really and truly?)
9) Pictures like this make the whole trip worth it. but do remember that because she likes water so much, she will sit and play in 55 degree lake water until she practically turns purple and you have to make her sit on the beach.

Nascent Sarcasm?

Stella was up a lot last night. Not only was it about 87 in the house most of the day (ugh, why did we finally get summer here?) and about 83 in her room before bed, but she is STILL TEETHING without getting anymore teeth. Seriously - I think she has had her six teeth since her 1st birthday and since then, I keep thinking that each bout of gum grabbing, ear grabbing, screaming in the middle of the night, gnawing on anything she can get her hands on is FINALLY the next round of teeth, but nope. Nothing yet. But I digress.

She was up at 6am, thus the whole household was up at 6am after a less than stellar night sleep. Finally this morning, after an unsuccessful nap coercion at 9:15, I lay on the floor of the living room at 10:30 and said, "Wow Stella, aren't you sleepy? Mommy is sleepy. Mommy wants to take a nap. Don't YOU want to take a nap?" Stella looks at me and heads into her room. I think, awesome, she might get it. She returns to the living room with her puppy. She hands me her puppy. Then turns on her heels and back to her room. She returns again with her fleecy monkey blanket that she also tends to sleep with. Hands that to me.

She then looks at me and goes off to play with her trucks.

I stopped for a minute and burst out laughing. You want to take a nap, Mommy? She was basically saying.... here you go. Here's the puppy, here's the nap blanket, have at it.

Oh, our independent, spirited daughter.

Stella & Scupper = 2 ; Mommy = 0

You know it's one of those days when everything that you think could happen to you before 8:15am happens... and then it happens again at 12:15pm.

Case in point.

Out taking Scup and Stella for a morning walk before I babysit Stella's friend Anouk for the morning. (Woohoo! So glad Anouk and Julie are back from Montreal... they have missed each other so! Anouk talks up a storm (although all in French) and screams 'Stella!!!' when she sees her... it's pretty great.)

The walk was lovely. Still cloudy, not hot yet, I was gracious and let Scupper sniff at everything he wanted. We are TWO HOUSES FROM HOME and he spies the neighbor's nasty cat that likes to poop in our front yard. The cat holds its ground. Scupper charges. Aimee orders "leave it!" and the worn loop, that has been holding the D-ring on Scup's collar which attaches to the leash (which I have been meaning to get a new one for weeks) finally gives up the ghost.

Mayhem ensues. Scupper chases the cat into the neighbor's yard - the neighbor, who doesn't like us, it sitting on her stoop with her little yap dog and just glares. Scupper and the cat run into the pile of crap and broken chairs, outdoor canopies, and other yard detris where i can't see them. I'm yelling for him to come, she goes inside with her dog yapping, and I hear the cat continue to wail and hiss.

FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER after calling Scupper, squirting Scupper with the water bottle, squirting the cat with the water bottle (no reaction from both), telling Stella to hold on, running in the house to get the tin of dog food to shake to make that "food in can" sound that gets pets running, screaming for Scup to get in the yard NOW, I finally get him in the yard.

At that very moment, Julie shows up with Anouk in tow, I get Stella and stroller in house and just as I open the front door to let them in, Scup races away again and starts to take off next door and then realizes the cat is now gone and takes off ACROSS THE STREET towards this very weird/wacky lady (who i believe is mentally unstable) who walks IN THE STREET down to the bus stop most mornings. GET YOUR DOG AWAY FROM ME! She screams. SCUPPER COME! Ma'am he won't hurt you - his collar broke. THAT'S NO EXCUSE! I'M SCARED TO DEATH OF THOSE DOGS! YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE! GET HIM!

Um, hold on a minute? What? Scup comes right up to me and looks at me and probably is thinking the same thing I am. No excuse for a broken collar? "Those" dogs? Um. last time I looked, Scup looked NOTHING like any stereotypical menacing dog I know. But whatever.

Scup is in the house again, witch hazel to the CAT SCRATCHES on his nose and we're all ok.

CUT TO: EXTERIOR, 12:15pm, FOUR FOOT BLUE PLASTIC POOL
I think it's a good idea to let the girls splash around in the pool outside after their nap. After suiting both of them (what i thought was a Herculean task), we make our way outside. I remember vaguely that Stella didn't poop like she usually did at the end of her nap. Hmmm. I hope she didn't decide to do that now. Anouk grabs my hand and she climbs over the side into the pool. Scupper comes up to Stella and starts licking the back of her legs. Oh no. What does he smell?

Now I have been using these "Reusable" nylon pants that basically "trap" in poo should it happen in a pool and not the throw-away swim diapers. However, Stella's little legs are so skinny and she has no butt so the 6-12month size that she wears is even a little big around the openings.

I check. Yep. Poo. I pick her up, try to "dump" what I can into the outside trashcan (oh, yes, I did that) and put her down, running inside ever briefly to grab another swimsuit bottom and some wipes.... just as i come outside to see Anouk oh so nicely helping Stella over the side of the pool and into the water.

Stella! Don't sit!

She sits.

I take Anouk out of the pool and realize that there are small floaties. Oh yes. I figure the water's ruined by now, so I dump the rest of the icky diaper into the water, wash Stella off on a towel and put on a new bottom. Now comes the tricky part. Finding a spot to dump the water and not let Stella and Anouk back into the pool before I can do that.

I grab whatever is at hand = Stella's sand pail and shovel. I scoop out what I can and try to dump the rest of the water into a 5 gallon bucket Steve has by the hose. Um. Word to the wise: $10 plastic pools really don't have much stability when you want to try to dump them. #2: Water is heavy. What does this mean? I end up dumping the water practically right where the pool is. Great.

What's left to do but put the pool over the spot where the water (and I assume, feces particles) are now soaking into the dead lawn and fill that pool up and let the girls play. And play they do. So much splashing of water, in fact, that I get practically soaked sitting next to them.

And that my friends is a full day. Thank goodness everyone is napping now... I think Momma is going to do the same.

A Foodie?

Okay- so Stella has amazed me lately with what she will eat. Tonight, she ate this:
Hortopita. Basically spanakopita with swiss chard and feta instead of spinach and feta. And it was pretty tasty... but i thought, Swiss Chard? My 15 month old? Nah.

But low and behold. Inhaled. All of it. And a nectarine. And snap pea crisps.

Um, what?? I just hope this little pixie doesn't stop her enjoyment of tasty food.

'Cause it's going to kill me if I have to cook dino-nuggets.

Yes. Dino-nuggets.
I mean, i'd do it.... and I don't fault anyone if that's all their kid will eat for a year. Because Stella likes her pile of Cheerios as much as the next kid. But please, no dino-nuggets.

I, however, won't mention that Stella also likes these:
Don't ask me how I know. Just don't, okay? ;)

Our Pixieweight

Since the hand-written journal was abandoned around month six, this blog seems to serve as good a baby book as Stella is going to get at this point. So I figure I should at least document a few stats...

At her 15 month appt, she was
20 lbs 5 oz (only 1lb more than her 12 month) and in the 14% percentile... Our pediatrician asked if she was eating well. "For example, what did she have for breakfast?" I replied, "A whole one-egg tomato and cheese omelette, blueberries and a piece of toast." "Well," she said. "I guess that's pretty good."

Her height (around 30 or so inches?) is pretty average (53%) but sadly, her big ol' noggin is still in the 99% which means that some of the hand-me-down shirts that I love aren't going over her head unless they have snaps or buttons somewhere else.

Stella also is amazing me with the types of food she seems to like. Besides inhaling about any type of fruit you put in front of her (and i mean ANYTHING - from berries to melons to stone fruits to traditional) she loves broccoli, beans, and baked tofu like it's going out of style. Her new favorite snack, besides rice cakes and freeze-dried banana slices, are these sesame, seaweed rice puffs from Trader Joes. Go figure. Plain pasta? Blah. Mom's pesto/sundried tomato/red onion/mushroom salad = absolutely! Soba noodles with peanut sauce? Give me more! Tabbouleh with fresh tomatoes and mint from our garden? Sure thing. And Sundays, when we go on our walk across the neighborhood to pick up our weekly box of organic veggies from a local CSA (seriously folks, totally worth it!) she has to eat at least a donut peach or strawberry or plum on the way home. This week she tried to eat a raw patty-pan squash. I also wonder sometimes whether all this variety is going to back fire on us. But for now, I'm happy that she's willing to try it all. I just hope that when she's 10, she doesn't go searching through an entire plate of lasagna and surgically pick out all the mushrooms and larger bits of tomato. (who did that? are you pointing a finger at me? no way... really... um, let's move on.)

So that's all about Stella for tonight. We won't even get into how enthralled she is with water (ANY kind! Dog water! Hose water! Bath water! Shower water! Ocean water! Puddles! Her own pee!) and running, yes running, for the door to the backyard any chance she can get.

A last photo for my friend Summer - who exclaimed at my baby shower when I opened this gift from my mom, "OH MY GOSH THAT IS THE CUTEST ROMPER EVER. UH-MAZING."