My grumpy girl

Matt and I are constantly amazed by the complexity of emotion that Stella shows on a daily basis but lately we have been seeing our grumpy girl much more often than our happy Stella.  It is hard to go somewhere, a restaurant or grocery store, without someone commenting on how serious she is or how she is "mean mugging" them and staring them down.  Alas, it is true...we do have a very serious baby.

Don't get me wrong, she has her smiley, laughing moments often too but she just seems to be very serious by nature.  She is constantly observing and taking everything in around her.  I can tell that little brain of hers is working overtime.

I guess we should have known from the beginning since we took this picture when she was only a few weeks old:

As I noted, lately she has been extra grumpy, especially at night.  I fear that we may see more teeth soon since I can't keep her from putting everything in her mouth and she is a big drool and snot monster.  I'm hoping that her grumpy demeanor is related to something temporary like teething.

I am sure this is all very temporary but it is funny to watch her go through her little phases and how much her behavior and attitude is impacted by whatever it is she is going through.  I have to admit that I won't be sad when this teething stuff is over.  I'm having to switch her sheets almost daily because of the ridiculous amounts of drool and snot that comes out of her while she is sleeping.

On another note, her sleep patterns are still AWESOME!! She sleeps for a minimum of 9 hours straight now and is always in bed by 7pm.  We are so happy to be getting some sleep again.

And on yet another note, Stella had her first snow on Saturday, November 12.  Here is a little video of her trying to figure out what it is (sorry it is sideways - it was taken with my phone):

We are going to be travelling to the Seattle area for Thanksgiving.  I'm sure we will have MUCH to write about after our visits with everyone!

6 Months...Can you believe it?

Stella had her 6 month birthday yesterday! I desperately tried to get around to writing a post on that day but before I knew it, the day was over.  So here I am 1 day late...but who is counting anyway!

It is really hard for me to believe that 6 months has gone by since I had my beautiful baby on May 2nd.  They tell you time flies when you have kids but I had no clue how right everyone was.  I feel like I have spent the last 6 months anticipating the next milestone and they really have come to quickly.  Stella is now sitting up on her own, eating squash and sweet potatoes (and LOVING them), and she is even starting to imitate mommy when I make a raspberry with my mouth!  She is amazing! Soon she will be crawling and then walking...ugh! I can't get ahead of myself but I guess I should start baby proofing the house because I know that is just around the corner.

As I mentioned in a previous post, we had been working hard to get Stella back to her fantastic sleeping abilities.  I am proud to announce that we made it!  Over the last week, we have been allowing Stella to self soothe and, yes, cry it out.  The funny thing is that she cried a heck of a lot less without us there than when we were in the room trying to comfort her.  The whole thing was much harder on me than it was on her but now we can literally read her a book, lay her in her crib and she goes to sleep effortlessly.  And last night, she slept 11 hours straight! I am so proud of her.  She is such a good baby.  We are noticing that she gets especially cranky in the evening but I hear that is pretty normal for babies to have the nighttime fussies. 

It is amazing to me that 6 months ago, it was just Matt and me.  Now we have this wonderful addition to our lives and we feel so much more whole.  We are a family.  I won't romanticize it...the last 6 months have really had their ups and downs.  It certainly wasn't all bubbles, rainbows and cupcakes but all of the challenges and the sleepless nights and the frustrations.  They are all worth it when I watch Stella learning and growing every day.

Here are some pictures of happy Stella on her 6 month birthday.  Today we are off to the doctor for her 6 month check up but we think they will delay vaccinations because she has a bit of a cold and has quite the stuffy nose.  We shall see :)

I do want to take a moment to thank those of you who have been on this journey with us.  Your support and love means more to us than we could ever express with words.  Stella is a VERY lucky girl to have you all in her lives, as are Matt and I.

Here is to the next 6 months :) Cheers!!!

Quack Quack (translated as Happy Halloween!)

Here is little Miss Stella all dressed up like a duck! Quack Quack!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!!