brushing the dog and face paint

Stella loves to be outside and also play in the garage. So I was fortunate to have lots of time trying to clean up and organize our garage a bit. She entertained herself very well. And while I was sure there was no anti-freeze or other harmful things within her reach, I hadn't seen the sack full of paints in the dog toy basket! How the heck did they get there?
So Stella climbed up in her stroller, her back facing me, and was quiet for a very long time...and this is the face I saw when I checked up on her. Of course the first thing I did was run to get the camera!

Stella likes to brush Millie, and Millie is a very good sport most of the time. Here she's using two brushes at one time! Why didn't I think of that?

A patient builder

Stella has always loved these blocks. Just the other day she started sorting them and as you can see picking up all the like ones and building this tower. It was so cute to watch and I had to catch it on video. She was just so patient. As the tower kept falling over she just kept right on building and putting it back together again. So fun to see her come up with a plan and attempt to carry it out no matter what!

visits from friends and family

The week in review...Our good friends form Savannah came this way for a visit. Stella and their daughter, Gracie, are a month a part. So it's very cute to watch them play together. My family...Sister, Dad and 4 nieces came for a visit this past week. We had a full house and a great time. Dad and I painted very heavily for two straight days. Now the living room and foyer are done and look great. We managed to do other things as well, enjoying some time in downtown Greenville, swimming, shopping and such. The good-bye was made slightly easier knowing that I'll be flying home for a visit in Sept.

Stella with our friend Jesse(Gracie's Dad). She really likes sitting on his lap. Especially when he has snacks.

Stella and Gracie play with Gracie's Little People barn. She loved it so much. Stella's Aunt Laura got her one of her very own.

Stella and her Aunt Laura.

Stella gets a ride on Pagi's shoulders. She seems to be checking if he's still down there.

Stella with her cousins: Andrea, Kate, Lizzie and Mary. She had such a great time with them. They sure wore her out well each day and were so great to her.

Stella loved sitting on Kate's lap especially. Who knows why, but she crawled on her lap to hang out many times.

Here they're playing with another new toy from Aunt Laura. They had a good time together.

What a toddler we have on our hands

Stella's first popsicle of her very own. We've had a few since as well. Like mother, like daughter; she loves banana popsicles. In the evening we like to sit out on our front porch, wave to the neighbors and enjoy. I definitely have to be in the mood to get sticky too.

Here, she was trying to get mine. I suppose she was trying to make sure mine tasted the same.

Stella is still very much obsessed with carrying things around. Anything she can hook on her arm: Buckets, baskets, purses etc. She even helps me carry in grocery bags from the car.

She will wear her shoes all day around the house. She especially loves her croc imitation ones. She's got the 'shhhh' part down. She's also got the 'ccceeee' part down of juice and the 'ccckkkkk' part down of yuck. And as far as she is concerned both Randy and I are 'Dada' or 'Daddy'. This little girl just doesn't have time to sit around and work on phonics with us. Though we continue to try.

If we've emptied a milk jug, she must have it. She will play with an empty milk jug for the better part of a day (sometimes two) She'll put things in it and take the cap on and off with great concentration.

She knows her tummy, feet, nose, hands, hair and mouth. She also knows how to work her mom and dad. Or should I say dad and dad. :) Stella loves to be tickled and laugh. She also loves to be spun around in the computer desk chair and do tricks with me.

What a toddler we have on our hands!

Bathroom before and after

Before...

After...

Ahh, such a nicer place to be.

We've still got a lot to work on. With little Stella running around it sure makes it hard to get things done as quickly, but we're tackling one space at a time. Slow and steady wins the race. :)