Stella turned 14 months last week. I realized that I don't have a ton of pictures of her for this post, mostly because this month involved lots of Halloween pics and the pics Jared took with his work camera. And I already posted those pics in other posts. But, the pics I do have are cute, so let's get down to business.
It's been a busy month for Stella. Most exciting is that she's finally walking! This is a milestone I've been very anxious for for a long time. Typically people would ask if she was walking yet and, when I said, "no", they would tell me that that was good because as soon as they start walking, that's when the trouble really starts and they keep you really going. Well, that's all fine and good, but she already was getting into lots of trouble, so I figured a little more couldn't hurt, and I was really getting sick of everything that comes with crawling. Dirty hands. Dirty and worn out spots on the knees of her pants, the tops of her shoes being dirty, the inability to let her roam free outside, etc, etc. So, sure, she gets into a little more trouble now, but we're liking this walking business. And she's super cute doing it, too. When she first started, she would put her arms straight up in the air to help her balance. Now that she's getting the hang of it, she only puts them half way up and holds her hands in a sort of claw-like position, a la "Thriller". It's awesome. She would've put up a good fight in the Thriller dance contest we had at my 80's themed 30th birthday party.
So the little girl is walking. What else? She has all four molars now, so she's able to eat quite a bit. Mealtimes continue to be one of the more frustrating parts of the day for me, though. Mr. Frisby had to go out of town for a week at the beginning of the month. Stella turned into a nightmare eater at dinnertime while he was gone. I attribute it to the fact that he wasn't there, so we weren't all eating dinner together like we usually do. When he came back home, she went back to her good eating habits. But, she has now picked up the habit of hitting her spoon if we try to give her a bite and she doesn't want it. This typically sends the food flying all over the floor or us. Scout is overjoyed with this new development. She's also learned to throw her cup of milk on the floor when she's done with it. Also fun. She continues to be a good eater, though, and usually eats quite a bit and isn't really as messy as she could be. I just don't like any messes so it bothers me. But, I'm learning to deal with it, because my sister pointed out that it just gets worse the older they get.
Stella is down to one nap a day now. Which is good and bad for me. Good because her schedule has been very regular and predictable, bad because I liked her taking those long morning naps.
She's also looking to be quite a climber. She has successfully climbed up onto the rocking chair (adult sized) in her room, though she's only done it once. And she tries to climb everything she can. She's figured out how to scale all of the outgrown baby equipment stored in her closet. She's working on stairs, though that will take more time, and she's no longer afraid of going down the one small step we have in our house. When she figures out how to climb out of her crib, things could get ugly.
She had her first trip to the polls this month. I had to take her with me when I went to vote. I made sure to dress her in something patriotic. She was very good and whispered in my ear what I should do with each item on the ballot. They even gave her a sticker of her own when we left.
She enjoyed her first Thanksgiving feast this year. She ate lots and seemed to like it all. I think the only thing she didn't eat was Turkey. She also enjoyed our trek to cut down our Christmas tree. She loved looking at the trees. She even reached out and touched them a couple of times, but mostly she just liked looking. And I think she really liked being outside. I'll be excited next year when she can actually walk around.
She is currently a girl of very few words. She's said Scout (pronounced "cow") twice, she can be heard to say Mama every so often, she yelled Dada when she saw Mr. Frisby at the airport when we picked him up from his trip, and she will, on a rare occasion, chant dog (pronounced "gog"). And that's about it. Mostly she just points and screeches when she wants something. She understands quite a bit, though, and she's picking up more and more each day.
She loves people and has a smile for pretty much everyone she sees. She's still hesitant to go to strangers, but she usually will, if only for a few seconds. She enjoys exploring and discovering things and is very observant. She notices when things are different (like when she woke up from her nap and noticed all the Christmas decorations I had put up while she was sleeping) and she likes to check out any and all new things. She is also learning to put books back on the shelf instead of just pulling them off, put her clothes back in her drawer instead of just pulling them out (they may not end up in the same drawers they came from, but it's progress), and stack up her blocks instead of just knocking the stacks over. It's fun to see her learning and developing these new skills. She's also becoming fascinated with buckles. The buckles on her car seat, the buckle on her high chair, the buckle on her stroller - she loves them all. She doesn't have the coordination to actually work them, but she knows what needs to happen with them. As soon as I put her in her car seat, she grabs one side of the buckle and holds it for me so I can slide the other side in and click them together.
I guess that's about it. We're really enjoying this stage and little Miss Stella keeps us thoroughly entertained. She's developed this evil laugh that she does when she gets really excited about something. Makes us laugh every time. We love our little girl!
