Here are some pics of Stella with her cousin Molly who is a few months older than her. They had a great time knocking down the towers we built with Stella's new Maisy stacking cubes (courtesy of Aunty Kath). Molly was a bit quicker off the mark to get to the blocks but Stella enjoyed watching the action!
Here is Stella in her cool tracksuit, she is growing up so fast, I thought it would be ages before she would fit it. We started feeding her some solids last weekend whic
h she has taken to pretty enthusiastically. Apple seems to be the fave so far, not surprising that she has a sweet tooth. Other grown up things she is doing: grabbing her cup by the handles and having a drink (after a few attempts to get the spout into her mouth!), enjoying a swing at the park (have yet to get pics of this).
Yesterday, Stella went to her first birthday party. Her friend Rebecca turned two and had a ladybird themed party. Stella enjoyed riding the rocking horse and watching everyone eat the delicious party food. Rebecca had a great time, particularly investigating the garden in her fairy outfit. Stella even got given a party bag at the end which included these cute ladybird antennae.
Stella's little face almost always lights up with a big smile when she sees her Dad, a lovely reward after a hard day's work. Mark and Stella had a big toyfest the other day where pretty much everything got pulled out of the toy box, I must say it looked like a bit more fun than the few I pull out each time she plays! I took Stella into town to visit Mark at work today, dressed up in another one of her American outifts. There weren't too many smiles but not too much crying either which was good. She was pooped by the time we got home as you can see by the picture of her in the car seat. 
Here is Stella looking cute as can be in her Minnie Mouse outfit that came in a box full of goodies from her Poppa and Grandma in Long Beach, California a few months back. She seems to be back to her old self today after a few days being out of sorts following her 5 month jabs. It probably didn't help that she needed a short course of antibiotics for her cheek which got a bit infected after her nap time scratchfest the other day. Her excema comes and goes but its still spreading. We're slowly changing and eliminating things to see if they make a difference such as laundry liquid, bedding, nappies etc.
I decided it was time to invest in some sun protection for Stella. We have heaps of hats courtesy of Holly but no sunglasses so I found some called Baby Banz which have a soft strap that wraps around her head and can be extended as she grows due to a loop of velcro on the side. She wasn't too sure of them but didn't try to take them off... few a few minutes anyway!
Here are some pictures I took of Stella yesterday, she has started to take a lot of interest in her toes which is very cute. She is also taking a lot more interest in her surroundings so when she is nearing nap time she chills out in her bouncer by the open sliding door and watches the trees moving in the wind. I've included a 'Stella's eye view' of what she sees from the bouncer.
around the 97th percentile for her age group. Her excema isn't 
great, I still swaddle her when she sleeps but unfortunately her hand escaped yesterday and she scratched her cheek quite badly. We are visiting the doctor tomorrow before her immunisations so will see what she suggests to help with the excema.
As previously mentioned, we were at Nana K's for a fe
w days this week while Mark was away in Melbourne. I wanted to try Stella out in the portacot to see how she slept in a different environment. She was a little unsettled for her first sleep but quickly got used to it and sometimes even settled better than she does in her cot! Hopefuly this bodes well for future holidays away.
