stella - 9 months!

stella is growing up way too fast - i can't believe she's 9 months old already! here are her stats from her last dr. appointment: 29 inches long and 20 lbs, 2 ozs! in the last couple of months, stella has lost her gummy smile and cut a tooth, started standing on her own, has developed a love of dancing and hangs out with her own little friends. she is her own little person already. she is also getting quite sassy! she will actually get mad at me now if i take something away from her! she no longer just eats anything i give her. and today i tried to give her her water and she swatted it out of my hand and then knocked it off the table. i think with cole beating up on her all the time, she's turning into one tough cookie. she has also been having a little bit of separation anxiety i think. i can't go anywhere! even if i'm just in the kitchen doing dishes she will stand there next to me and hold on to my pant leg until i'm done. i want her to be independent but i'm gonna be sad when she outgrows this phase.

here are some recent pics...

loving the swing just like big bro!

 

mommy and me music class. we go on thursdays when cole is at school with stella's friend ava.

ava and stella :)

tofu! cole didn't like it so i didn't realize it would be so messy!

she loves to dance!

 

pulling up to standing - 1 week after thanksgiving (7.5 months old)

her standing today - it's crazy! she's gonna be walking soon and couldn't be more pleased with herself!

christmas and new years

it did not feel like christmas this year. i don't know if it was because i did most of my shopping online and didn't hear christmas music at the mall or because it crept up so fast or because it's been an unusually hot winter. i have no idea but i can't believe it's already over! but it was stella's first christmas so that made it super special. it was also the first year that cole realized there were presents under the tree so that was...er...super fun. he even opened a few before christmas - luckily they were all stella's.

here are some of the pics..

christmas morning - santa came!

playing on his new street mat with tutu - thank you hendricksons!

riding his new bike - thank you koga cousins!

shooting with his spiderman glove - thank you bailey and conner!



she isn't normally dressed like such a diva but i think it's pretty funny that she's playing with the vanity mirror in this outfit - thank you auntie kc and fam!

 



this year we invited friends over for a new year's eve bbq and rang in the new year in english style - big ben struck midnight at 4 p.m. PST! it was perfect because everyone was gone by 7 and the kids went to bed at a decent hour. here are a few pics...

stella and tutu - mom stayed around for a few days after xmas so i could prepare for the party - thank mom!

 

stella's first new year!

happy new year lucy!

vere and his old friend tony

party favors!

sometime in november 2012...a day out with thomas

every year thomas the tank engine tours the US and one of his stops was in perris, ca. here are some pics from the day...

us and thomas... and some other kid ;)

boarding thomas!

cole and his jr. engineer certificate

me and stella

watching thomas videos in the train museum

thanksgiving in maui - a vacation in paradise that was not so paradise :/

i wrote this one a while ago but then i didn't have enough space to download the pictures and then christmas and new years and here we are...

we're back from 8 days in maui but it really feels like we need a vacation. just to summarize...

• the day we left cole was going on day 8 of diarrhea (sorry cole if you're older and reading this).
• the plane we were traveling on didn't have a changing station in any of the bathrooms which made it kinda tough when you're traveling with 2 kids in diapers.
• stella had 2 blowouts before the plane even took off so i went thru all her extra clothes before we even left lax (sorry stella - same reason).
• about 2 hours after we check into our condo cole fell and hit his mouth on a table and knocked in and chipped his 2 front teeth :(
• the day after thanksgiving something clicks in stella's head and she's crawling!
• we find out that cole gets car sick - on the way down from haleakala - after lots of snacks...
• vere leaves his wallet on the top of the car after gassing up but a good samaritan returns it.
• departure day - cole's first solid poop in 15 days.

whew!... it was a crazy week! sorry for all the bm talk but this has been our life for the last few weeks! oh and mom and dad once again made a delicious thanksgiving meal - thanks guys! here are some pics...



cole's fat lip the morning after his fall :(

the most fun cole has ever had in a cozy coupe thanks to auntie kc's chalk streets!

the girls!

 

the day after thanksgiving...stella's crawling!

 

at the maui ocean center

tunnel pics

stella checking out the fish

boogie boarding with daddy at baby beach

maya coming in from a swim!

net fishing with auntie kc

the dirtiest stella has ever been



trouble...

yogurtland here we come!

stella and her toes...

top of haleakala

us at the top of haleakala. we were not planning on going here that day but it was so clear we decided to take a detour. we were not dressed appropriately - it was cold!

me and stella outside mama's fish house



i just wanted one picture with both my kids. cole is impossible sometimes!!

cole did not want to leave this cool beach outside mama's fish house

waiting for the sugar cane train

on the sugar cane train

me and stella :)

too soon?

touch a truck

i forgot at the end of september we went to an event called touch a truck. it was a fundraiser for max's ring of fire, a charity that raises money for childhood cancer research. the event was at qualcomm stadium. there were all sorts of vehicles there for kids to get in and "touch." the concept was really cool and it was for a great cause but there were huge lines so it was a little tough with a 2.5 year old. but here are some pics from the day...

fire truck

heading over to the emergency vehicles.

a nestle water truck

san diego's finest

nothing makes cole happier than to be behind the wheel.

army tank

driving a school bus

 

the fire breathing, car crushing robotruck. this was about how long we watched the show before cole took off to look at something else...