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Sunday, November 27, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving from Stella and the rest of the Devereaux Clan!

Hi-fiving Uncle Michael at Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Beth's. We had a wonderful day in Crystal Springs with the Shulls (my Dad's side of the family) and got to see many cousins I hadn't seen in years, plus all the new babies that had joined the family! We really only get to see each other all together once a year and it's been a long-time joke that every year our family grows by at least one because someone is pregnant or just had a baby. This year we had new baby Tate, my still-cooking baby, Sis's still-cooking baby, and our cousins Jonathon and Gretchen (Tate's parents) new baby on the way-they just announced that Tate is going to be a big brother in June!

Cousin Katie took some great photos of each family, and then a great group shot. Be warned...I'm a red head now, so I may not be recognizable!

I didn't get any shots of it on my phone, but Stella has been a real walking machine. The past 2 weeks have been huge as far as her physical developments, which I owe to Early Steps physical therapy, Gym Rompers class, play time with her bestie, Charlotte, and her awesome Mommy Jenn. Stella started off taking 2-3 steps after gentle coaxing from me, and has since walked on her own unassisted for up to 10 steps AND gotten to a standing position from sitting in the middle of a room with no assistance from people or furniture, which is huge. She is making me so proud. I knew she would eventually walk when she was ready, even though I won't lie about being a nervous wreck that something was wrong -as in, way bigger picture wrong like some disease or syndrome that delayed or no walking was a symptom of...alas, my imagination and anxiety got the best of me and I over-reacted...everyone was right. Stella WILL, CAN, and DOES walk on her own! Like I said...we are so proud of our smart, strong little girl! She has many talents to teach her little sister.

We are currently on the way to Hattiesburg to spend Thanksgiving weekend with Matt's parents. Matt's dad missed Thanksgiving Thursday because he's been on a mission trip in Haiti since Monday - what an amazing sacrifice to give of your time during Thanksgiving! I know he will have wonderful stories for us when he get home tomorrow morning. We are looking forward to having a delayed Thanksgiving weekend with the Devereauxs!!

Caroline Devereaux
Sent from my iPhone




Friday, November 18, 2011

Stella in Words

While she naps, I'll try to notate all of Stella's "words". Though our little 17-and a 1/2-month-old isn't completely walking on her own yet, she IS saying a whole lotta stuff. (In her defense, she took 5-6 unassisted steps yesterday and today she walked all the way from the middle of our huge front yard to the front door merely holding on to one of my fingers. Progress.)

"Mamma"
"Dadda"
"Bo Bo" - our dog's nickname is Bo Bo/Joe...why, I'm not sure - his name is Gus. Ask my husband about that...he is weird with nicknames...thus, Stella now calls all dogs "Bo Bos"
"More" - means she's hungry...she used to same "Yum Yum" when she was hungry, but she's gotten proactive and just goes ahead with "More" when she's hungry.
"Nannie" - not only her fav food "banana", but its also her grandmother Jenny's name - when she sees a banana, whether in a store or on her high chair, she says (repeatedly) "nannienannienannienannienannienannie" until you give her some
"Wa Wa" - water
"Naa" - snack
"Nigh Nigh" - when we ask her if she wants to go night night, she says it back when we know she is ready to go down
"Lo" - shoe...I'm not sure how she got "lo" from "shoe", but every time she sees me putting on or taking off her shoes, she says "loooo" - she also says it when she sees mine or Matt's shoes. Hilarious.
"Walky" - says it when I'm helping her walk
"Noooo" - when she points to her nose
"Eye"
working on "Mou" - mouth
" 'air" - when she points to her hair
"Lawlette" - her best friend Charlotte:)
"Lella" - Stella
"Baby" - multiple meanings...sometimes she says it when she pats my belly (which I love), sometimes she pats her own self and says "baby" and other times she'll call her most fav stuffed bunny "baby"
"Bye Bye" or just "Bye!"
"Aaa-low" - hello - whenever she sees her play cell phone or our real ones, she says this...she also says this when she wants me to sing her the "hello" song from Gym Rompers
"Hiiii" - an alternate to "Aaa-low"
"Mae Mae" - her grandmother
"Maaa" - Matt...comes from hearing me yell it across the house:)
"Ring" - the infamous toy rings I bought her that stack on the white plastic cone, which she will have nothing to do with. The rings are her obsession. She goes everywhere with them. And I mean everywhere. If we are friends on FB, just look at the recent pics of her....almost every pic has at least one ring in it. She will carry one ring, but prefers to have two. She crawls with them, sits and plays with them, will walk for a longer period of time if she can hold them while simultaneously having physical contact withe my hands, rides in her car seat/shopping cart/stroller with them. She recently learned how to hold the sippy cup between her wrists and drink her milk or water while holding a ring in each hand. She wakes up saying "ringringringring" until you give them to her and at night she asks for them. Matt put her to bed with them one night when she was inconsolable. I came home from teaching Pilates and looked at the monitor and saw the rings in the crib with her...her sweet, fat hand clutching one and the other not far from her reach. I will say, sometimes you just gotta do whatever works. Exhibit A...
That's Stella trick-or-treating with a ring...don't fret, I think the other is simply at the bottom of the wagon. Here Stella practices walking while I bribe her with her ring...


Stella has many more words, and I'll add them to this list as I remember them. Also, just because this is precious, here's a pic or two of "Lawlette", Stella's bestie, with Stella (and ring is not far, I'm sure) looking on.