This little piggy.

This is what we call "num nums on the the piggies" at our house. Yep, lots of baby talk going on around here these days. Stella loves it!

Stella's First Swim.

Trying on her hat.



Ready to go!



Cool, a starfish!



Curls galore.




She smiled a bunch.



Who knew that swimming was so much fun?



This is the life!

Sweet Dreams!

Is there anything any sweeter than a little snoozing baby? I could watch her all night. I love when she lays on her little arms like this.



Look at those curls!

SCORE!

Wait a minute, I'm wearing my "I Love Daddy" bib again. Is this that silly baby food?



Hmmm. . .not so bad.



Mom, I think I like carrots!



Can we do this again soon?



A little after dinner play.

More weekend photos.

I'm not sure why, but this is Stella's normal position for bottles. The hands crack me up.



Stella and her E enjoyed Toy Story on Sunday afternoon at Aunt Sis's house. It's almost 40 below at all times over there, so Stella was snuggled in a blanket.

Look at me!

Tonight, Aunt Sis came over to get her hair done and brought us dinner. Stella was wearing her "Frank Burns Eats Worms" shirt that she got for her.



Stella started out playing on her favorite mat like this while Mommy highlighted Aunt Sis's hair.



We looked over to find her like this! I guess she wanted to watch tv instead. She turned a complete 180. Little sweetie is slightly mobile already. YIKES!



Ummm . . . Aunt Sis, I don't mean to alarm you but something terribly wrong has happened to your head.

One of the many. . .

Stella is a little over 4 months now, and I think that it is our first "hump" to get over. She is not a tiny baby anymore and wants to be so independent, but there is so much that she isn't able to do yet and she forgets that she is still so little! She doesn't need constant attention like she did as a newborn, but she can't stay entertained for long periods either. She hasn't used her bouncy seat or swing in over a month. She thinks she is too big. Her legs will stiffen and down she will slide when we try to sit her in them. We just put them in the spare room this weekend when we got tired of trying. She only likes her play mat and Baby Einstein entertainer now.

She can grasp her toys well and still bats at other things and plays. Then, it's almost as if she is frustrated because she knows they are supposed to do things that she can't make them do. I know I am probably dreaming it up, but I really think she knows that her piano is supposed to play music and she can't press it hard enough. When you put her down on her back, she will sometimes try to raise herself up unsuccessfully of course. She just turns red in the face and grunts. I think she may be a little hard headed already. Where in the world did that come from?! She mastered rolling over from belly to back many weeks ago and today rolled from back to belly!

She still doesn't want to eat ANYTHING! She is strictly a bottle girl. We have tried cereal, apples, pears, peaches, bananas, and sweet potatoes so far. She spits most of it out or will start to cry. We will still introduce things a few times a week and sooner or later she will take to the idea. She has to have something in her mouth constantly and we call her "Princess Drools Alot" like the baby on Toy Story. We are still on tooth watch. The doc checked her gums again last week. The signs and symptoms are still in full swing, it's just something you can't predict. It could happen this week or months down the road. I'm just glad we have a nice collection of ralph rags and toys for her to chew.

Stella is so much fun. Stephen and I love to listen to her new jibber jabber and watch her huge smiles. She loves to "talk" when we are in the car. Of course, I am convinced that she is singing along with the music. Being a mommy is the greatest!