6 Days Shy of One Year Old

I can't believe that a year ago today we were waiting patiently for the last week of my pregnancy to pass and for Stella to make her entrance into our world (though we didn't know she was "Stella" at that point). As I prepare for Stella's first birthday, I find myself focusing on her tiny, sweet little life thus far. Did I let her cry too much? Did I nurse her long enough? Did she get to ride in the bassinet of her stroller long enough? Did I feed her the best foods as an introduction to her culinary world? Did I hold her too much/not enough? Will she remember the time I dropped the remote control on her head? I hope and pray each day that I am the best mother to my daughter that I can be, and as we close this chapter of her first year of life, I am so grateful to the many people who helped me and Stella (and Matt) in my first journey into motherhood.

I can't stop getting choked up thinking of my sweet girl's first birthday, which is this coming Wednesday. We are having the birthday party this Sunday at our new house and the theme is Dr. Suess's "Oh, the Places You'll Go". My favorite part of the party is when Matt is going to stop and read the book out loud for all the children. With his commanding voice, I know the kiddos will be mesmerized, especially his Stella:) She loves to listen to her daddy.

I can't wait to post pictures from her big day - we are very excited to have friends and family over to our new house, even though it's definitely not finished and still a work in progress! More pics from the party to follow...

As for Stella, here she is at 11 months:

 First time EVER swimming, at her new friend Charlotte's house!

 Pool pals, Charlotte and Stella

 All smiles standing!

Sweet Daddy and Stella

At 11 months, Stella is:

• sleeping through the night, duh. She goes down around 7pm and wake at 7am. I usually let her play in her crib after she wakes as she talks and coos to her stuffed animals. These sweet conversations are wonderful eavesdropping material:) I love to watch her when she doesn't know I am looking. Speaking of sleeping, just the other day she slept on her tummy for the first time. Ever. This child never rolls over in her crib if it's time to sleep. You put her down on her back and she stays there. Most of the time she scoots to the top corner of the crib but she always stays on her back. This is probably from my fear of placing her on her tummy to sleep. Regardless, the child is happy on her back. She's not pulled up on her crib yet, but just today as she was sitting up playing in her crib, I saw her awe at the discovery of what happens when she puts her hands on the crib spindles. I know the idea of pulling up is not far away. It's amazing to see these discoveries unfold right in front of her eyes.
• Eats anything and everything we put in front of her. Her favorites are chicken, lima beans, peas, hot dogs (Hebrew National All Beef hot dogs), applesauce, bananas, berries, apricots, raisins, broccoli, etc...the list goes on and on. The best part of meal time is when she gets a whiff or sees the high chair come in to view, she literally says "mmmyumyumyumyumyum" until you start to feed her. It's hilarious. And do NOT play around at dinner time with this one - she means business when its time to eat so you best be ready to put the food down on her tray and back away slowly!
• Just discovered clapping! She discovered the noise her hand makes when she lightly slaps the flat part under my colar bone. She would make the sound over and over with one hand and smile and giggle. Once she discovered she could make the sound on her own, she was over the moon! 
• Says a multitude of words and phrases, her newest one being "oh, wow", taught to her by Aunt Christine. We made her say it all last weekend and couldn't stop laughing. She also loves to say "ball".
• She is the happiest baby and a joy to be around. She loves her mommy and daddy and literally lights up when we walk into a room. Everyone she meets gushes over how beautiful she is and how happy and smiley she is for a baby. She's got a mouthful of teeth and LOVES showing her crooked smile to any and all bystanders! She's already a flirt for sure and loves craning her neck around to take a second look at interesting people. She wants to make sure they take a good look at her. Then she politely gives them an enormous crooked smile.

I'm off to dream of more first birthday party plans, as the party is only 3 days away and, in typical fashion, we are still getting the menu ready, decorations made and final house projects completed. Are you surprised? Well, you shouldn't be. I know we will have such a great time this weekend. Will post more after the big day!