We went to the park yesterday to soak in some late January sunshine before the rain returns. It was a family affair with John and myself, a rarity. Stella surprised both of us by walking all over the place. She’d walk, fall, knee walk to an object, pull herself up and throw herself out on her feet again. It was a sight. And she is, of course, looking at us and smiling the entire time. Look at me, I can do this now.  She also learned how to slide down the toddler slide all by herself. I called her the “butterball express” as she swooshed down a giggles and shuffled (on her knees) back to the stairs to go down again. She was an amazing collection of energy and gross motor skills.

In the hustle and rush of our daily lives, I need to remember to back off and give the girls time to explore. To try things out and to also remember that for them each day is so new. One day Stella wouldn’t walk. Now she’s stepping out. It’s amazing.

Her hair, at almost six months, is turning from the very red it was at birth to a bright blond. I hold out hope that the  will be touched by strawberry…but after meeting a much truer redheaded baby at the park I don’t think her birth hair is going to last. Alas. I always did want a red head.

She is becoming my physical baby. She lifts herself up onto her arms and is trying to figure out how to move her legs as well. She can flip from her tummy to her back and it won’t be long until she can rock that body to the side to reach for toys just out of arms length.

She is also developing a high pitched whine when she just wants something or is bored. It’s driving me crazy! The whining is something I hope we can get her to grow out of once she has better ways of communicating…we’ll start with the signs soon. But when she’s happy she’s all crooked smiles and her laugh melts me every time. When she’s happy all her vocalizations come out and it is the dearest sound in the world. Nothing like a bubbly baby laugh to cure what ails a day.

What else…she is getting the hang of eating solids. I started them out about a week ago. Stella, being the bottle champ that she is, had a hard time figuring out how not to suck down food and wasn’t keen on the whole solid experience. Now she still spits a lot of food out, but likes the spoon in her mouth and will open up for more. Yay baby!

I remember this a rough period in babyhood…and it’s proving to be taxing on all of us. I can’t wait until she gets the hang of sitting on her own, and even moving more independently. I think she gets bored these days…she wants ot be a big girl but can’t get her body to comply. She’ll get the hang of it soon…then it’s watch out world for Stella.