Friday afternoon

This weekend UT is playing so Stella broke out her orange and white.

One of her favorite activities these days is playing with the water in the sink.

She likes filling and pouring her bottles.

After coming home from daycare, she played for a while in the sink and then mom, dad, and Stella went outside for a Popsicle.

Friday was a little rainy in Knoxville but we had a little break in the clouds in the afternoon.

Molars

In the last 2 weeks, Stella has been acting like her mouth is hurting. She has been waking up more often at night with a pained cry.

Then, Friday when mom was getting her ready for bed, she started crying. With her mouth open, her left bottom molar and top tooth could be seen poking through her gums.

She's needed a dose of Tylenol most nights to help with the pain. If possible, we'll add some pictures of her new choppers soon! Here are a few recent pics. 

Stella's first roller coaster ride - 8/24/15

While in Cleveland Dad & Grandma took Stella to Memphis Kiddie Park, an amusement park that both Joe & Ruth (Grandma) went to as little kids.

Memphis Kiddie Park is an 11-ride amusement park located in Brooklyn, Ohio, designed specifically for children and families. The park is home to the "Little Dipper" roller coaster—the oldest operating steel roller coaster in North America. 

Three generations of visiting Memphis Kiddie Park, which opened on May 28th, 1952.

Stella really didn't care to much for the merry-go-round at first, but warmed up to it. Below: Stella's first roller coaster ride on "Little Dipper." 

As you can see, Stella wasn't enjoying the Little Dipper Coaster and Dad had a hard time just fitting into the seat, the same seat that he once sat in when just a little boy himself. 

Stella enjoyed the mini train ride around the park with Dad and Grandma. 

Checking out the space shuttle ride....

and making sure the ride is safe and up to code by examining the bolts. 

"That" - Stella curious about the bunny. 

Friday afternoon at the park

Friday afternoon, mom picked up Stella a little early from daycare

...and went to the park near fountain city's duck pond.

Stella enjoyed the swings, especially with some sips of milk shake in between pushes.

She also loved climbing through the tunnel and scooting away when mom tried to "get" her.

Her favorite was the slides though. We didn't get any pictures because mom and dad were busy taking her to the top of the slide, catching her, and taking her back to the top again. She really liked the metal slide since it was the fastest.

First day in Pooh & Friends

On Monday, August 10th, Stella had her first full day in the next room, Pooh & Friends.

This room has lots of changes from her former room, Baby Bears. First, they don't drink from bottles in Pooh, only sippy cups.

Secondly, and the biggest change, is that the kids only take 1 nap during the day instead of 2. Also, instead of napping in cribs, they nap on mats on the floor.

Because of this new nap schedule, dad let Stella sleep in a little bit (until around 8:30am).

On the way in, Stella had a breakfast smoothie in a squeeze pouch.

She entertained herself during the drive to daycare by squeezing the pouch all over herself and her car seat.

She made such a mess, dad had to turn around and take her home for a bath and change of clothes.

So, her first day got a late start but she did pretty well considering all the changes. 

Her first day definitely exhausted her. She quickly fell asleep on the car ride home.

First trip to the Zoo

Saturday afternoon, our friends Josh and Mason invited us to the Knoxville zoo.

This was Stella's first time at the zoo.

She enjoyed seeing the animals, especially the elephants...

Which she couldn't take her eyes off of, and the gorillas...

She also enjoyed the zoo's splash pad.

She really liked walking by herself on all the zoo paths.

By the end of the day, she was exhausted and fell asleep almost an hour early.

The hammock

After breakfast, we all played outside for a few hours...well, mom and Stella played while dad stained the deck.

Stella especially liked the hammock that dad hung up. 

She liked watching dad from it and swinging back and forth.