Girls Night!

Every Friday night in November, Joe is working videoing a high school football game. 

So, Mom and Stella have a girls night. We usually leave daycare early and head to the park.

Stella loves the slides especially and has gotten more and more brave going up the stairs or ladders by herself.

Last Friday, we decided to go treat ourselves to dinner after the park.

Stella had macaroni and cheese which she really loved. She did great feeding herself! 

She had a few bites of applesauce for dessert. Then we headed back home and watched some Elmo before bed.

Stella's growing vocabulary

In the last 2-3 weeks, Stella's vocabulary has been growing very quickly. For months and months, she has been saying dog ("doh!"), dad ("dah!), that ("thah!") and a few other one syllable words.

In mid-October, she said "Apple!" Since then, she has started more clearly saying her one syllable words and has added a few two syllable words. 

She's started (finally!) saying mommy ("mah mee"), hippo, Max, Gus, up, down, elbow. Stella has started repeating a lot of words and phrases, like good morning and spaghetti, which sound pretty close to what mom and dad say.

She's also gotten pretty brave and has climbed all around the playground equipment all by herself.

First trip to the Emergency Room

Stella was hit by a falling can at daycare on Thursday afternoon around 4pm. Mom and Dad rushed over to get her and get her checked out by a doctor. We wanted to be sure that she didn't have a concussion.

We ended up at the ER because our doctors office was closed. Stella did really well while we waited the four hours it took to get in and see a doctor.

She colored and read books until her exam. After an exam and some X-rays, which Stella hated, the doctor said she had no significant head injury. She will just have a nasty bruise for a few weeks.

Trick or Treating

This Halloween was Stella's first one where she was able to walk from house to house and trick or treat.

She did really well and even said "thank you!" once or twice.

She had a good time at Nick, Stephanie, McCarley, & Collin's grandparents neighborhood. We went over there for dinner, trick or treating, and bonfire/s'mores.

Stella had a whole weekend of Halloween partying which started on Friday at Daycare 

Having a Halloween treat at snack time

Russell as Frankenstein 

Stella's 18 month check up!

Stella had her 18 month check up today and everything looked good. She's right on track with milestones. 

She now weighs 21 pounds 6.6 oz and is approximately 31.75 inches tall. She was wiggling quite a bit and wouldn't stay still, so it was hard for the doctor to get a good measurement. 

Fall in Vermont! 10/11-10/16/15

Beautiful fall foliage views from Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont. 

Stella and Dad went on a little walk in Stowe while Mom was busy with work. There was also an animal petting area where you could feed the goats and cows. Stella really enjoyed feeding the goats. 

Stella taking in the views from an adirondack chair - Stowe, VT 

Short hike to a 50 ft waterfall at Moss Glen Falls, Stowe, VT 

Stella and Mom hiking up to see the waterfall. 

Looks like a postcard and only a ten minute hike up the trail from the parking lot to Moss Glen Falls. 

More photos of colorful fall foliage from Vermont. 

Our little pumpkin surrounded by a bunch of carved pumpkins in downtown Stowe. 

Woolly Worm 2015

We made our annual trip to Banner Elk's Woolly Worm festival.

We stayed up at sugar top and, of course, spent some time in the pool and hot tub. 

Sarah, Micah, Isaac, and Monroe (with Stella below) met us over at the festival.

We tried out several of the food vendors...

Stella really like the lemonade and fried Oreos...

Stella didn't race a woolly worm but did get to pet one