Happy Halloween!

Stella's first Halloween was very special because rather than going out trick or treating the treats came to her.  Thank you to Grammie, Pa, and Grandma for coming over for dinner to see Stell Belle all dressed up.  We had so many trick or treaters stop by that Pa had to go down the street and buy extra candy!  Stella wasn't all that interested in Halloween this year, but we had fun anyway!

Carving Pumpkins

Playing with slime daddy made for his chemistry students.

Other news this week: Stella has mastered crawling.  She is making her way around and is so pleased with herself when she reaches her desired destination/object!  Stella had to go to an alternate child care provider on Friday and she did great!  She is a 'go-with-the-flow' kind of girl and she didn't mind being around new kids at all!  Thank you Missy Mills for looking after Stella for the day!  Stella also had some time with Grammie and Pa on Friday when our family had a sleep over in Canton.  And Saturday Stella was able to visit with her Great Grandpa Cutway and meet Great Grandma Ann for the first time! 

Stay tuned because next week we will be making our way back to Burlington for Auntie Caroline's baby shower and a special ceremony in remembrance of Fletcher Allen pediatric patients, including our beloved Trey. 

Time is flying...

We continue to be amazed at our beautiful little girl as she continues to learn about the world around her.  As she plays with new toys, it is fun to watch her figure out how the toy reacts when she does something to it.  Stella also chews on a regular basis, which has opened the door to her trying new foods.  (She had a mcdonald's french fry, and tried (and loved) black beans tonight as we had some mexican)  She continues to brighten each and every day of our lives and we hope she can continue to do so for so many more people besides us!!

This weekend she got to visit with some of her dad's cousins, as both Jeff, and Jessica Gilson and their families were home in canton.  It was the first opportunity for us to meet Gianna Basta, and the first time they got to meet Stella in person.  This also marked the first time that we saw Jeff and his family in quite some time. (way too long)  It was great to see everyone, and there was not enough time to visit, but Stella loved meeting new relatives and can't wait to play with them again!

The other exciting milestone this week is that Stella is crawling!  She is by no means an expert yet, but she has taken at least 3 or 4 "crawls" before falling on her stomach.  She can now move to get something that she wants, and this makes her happy.  Although sometimes she gets frustrated because she cannot quite move as fast as she wants.  Here is a quick video of her moving just a bit.  This is the first time Daddy saw this, she currently does it a bit better.

Falling Leaves taste good?

It seems as if time just flies by, especially with our beautiful girl growing like a weed.  It is hard to believe that the leaves are leaving us, and that white stuff will be here sooner than we would like. (With white stuff comes an orange round ball also)  We continue to be amazed at how much Stella is learning each and everyday.  She now knows how to get something when she wants it.  She waddles, military crawls, and rolls all over the place.  She is always finding something that catches her attention.  We are waiting for the time when she crawls, as of now she gets on her hands and knees and rocks back and forth.  She is figuring out how to feed herself some finger foods, although she by no means has this mastered.  New toys amaze her, but to her there is nothing more interesting than an items' tag.  It doesn't matter how colorful, or loud, or bright something is, Stella will find the tag and play with it instead of the toy itself.  This should make birthdays rather simple in the future!!

Stella also experienced her first babysitter that was not family or daycare.  Mom and Dad attended a "Beers around the World" party and Whitney Sevey was kind enough to watch our sleeping cutie.  They had tons of fun, and we wanted to thank Whitney so much!!  We are so happy that Stella is very laid back (I wonder who she gets that from); it is nice that she doesn't mind just going with the flow sometimes.  This is especially the case when Daddy is taking care of Stell Belle!  One of our favorite pictures so far...

Burlington Friends Visit

Stella napping with Burlington Auntie Caroline

This weekend Stella had a very special treat: a visit from Caroline!  Stella spent a lot of quality time with Caroline during our time in Burlington and the two of them were able to relive some of those special moments this past weekend.  This time around Stella is a little bit bigger and a lot more interactive though!  We had a fun weekend which included a visit to a local Apple Orchard.  Stella isn't ready to pick apples but she enjoyed being outside.

This week Stella had her 9 month pediatrician appointment.  She now weighs 16 lbs. 8 oz.   She also grew two inches in length.  She's a  growing girl and she's doing great!

Our Changing Baby

 Stella is growing and changing so much.  It is fun to witness first hand all of the things she is learning.

This week has been particularly exciting.  We discovered on accident that Stella can hold her bottle all on her own!  She was spending some time with mommy's bff Kristen while mom was cleaning the basement.  It was really fun to walk in the room and find Stell Belle being such a big girl!

Stella hasn't learned how to crawl exactly but she certainly can figure out her way around.  She is moving all over the place and trying to touch and feel everything.  She is even starting to show her frustration with us if we take something away (especially paper - she loves to put paper of any kind in her mouth and hates to have it taken from her!).

Doubly exciting this week is Stella's ability to sit all by herself.  We've been waiting patiently for this as it changes everything.  As you can see she really enjoys playtime.  She is double fisting it with the toys too.  She brings something with her more often than not now when we are on the move.

Stella continues to fill our days with joy, laughter, and excitement.  We hope she does the same for you on a weekly basis through our blog postings!