New 'Do

Stella's curls have been getting longer and longer and starting to get in her eyes. I hadn't been able to bring myself to get them chopped off (was also not sure how she'd go sitting still either!) Nana was given permission to take Stella to the hairdresser so off they went yesterday after Mainly Music while I was at work. Apparently she behaved beautifully until some hair fell into her mouth half way through! Here she is, looking so grown up I think. There are still a few curls at the back and I know they will grow back but the end of an era all the same. Stella is becoming more adventurous, climbing stairs at every opportunity, she has the hang of turning around to go down the stairs backwards and has moved on to climbing other objects such as her little armchair. She has a new interest in photos (particularly of herself!) and climbed the armchair to get closer to a pic of her on top of the piano.

Exploring Nana's House

Stella loves visiting Nana's house, Nana often takes here there during the week when I am at work. She apparently has a little routine when she arrives which goes something like this... climb the stairs up to find the secret stash of soft toys and have a pat of Missy the cat who is usually sensibly out of reach in the middle of the bed. Then its back down the stairs to have a fiddle with the desk (apparently Katherine and I used to do that too), try and get to the stereo, peer into the china cabinet then into the kitchen to play with the tray. Nana's house is now quite Stella proof, she did some great walking between tables, chairs and couches (4-5 steps at a time), looking very proud of herself in the process.

Stella & Lucas

Stella's friend Lucas was born on the same day, he had a party the weekend after hers. It took a while for them to find each other but they had a good play in the end. Stella always makes a beeline for this little house/tent with the gate - she spends ages opening and closing the gate and this time climbed over it a couple of times! It was Mark's first outing since his 3 nights in hospital. He'd taken himself off to A&E on the previous Saturday and ended up being admitted to North Shore Hospital. All seems to be well now, just working to get the heart medication right and we'll be good to go.

Party Time

We had a small gathering at home on the Saturday after Stella's birthday. I even made a cake (of sorts) - little cupcakes in an 'S' shape. I thought Stella coped with the party remarkably well given she doesn't spend much time with big groups of people. She was very spoilt and given some lovely pressies.

365 Days Old

Yes, on Friday 11th May we celebrated Stella's first birthday. Actually Friday was a typical day with me working in the morning and the usual pottering and chores in the afternoon. I did want to document the day nonetheless so here she is: opening and reading her first birthday pressie, yelling for me to read another one of her new books (My Dad - a fave from the library so had to buy a copy to keep) and playing with the leaves outside in the rain. The hood on her rain suit covers her eyes so I stuck her pom pom hat on underneath which worked like a charm and even stopped her trying to pull it off. She had a great time slithering around on the wet grass and was dry as a bone when we got inside and took the suit off.

More birthday pics to come, events out of our control this week have held up posting on the blog, more on that later...

Almost 1!

Our antenatal group met at the Zoo yesterday morning for a 1st birthday celebration. In the group picture the bubs are shown from left to right: Benjamin, Lucas, Greta, Marcus (in backpack), Stella, Isobel and James. Sam joined us later on. We weren't sure what Stella's reaction to the animals would be, she was quite taken with the seagulls that tried to eat her sandwiches! She seemed very interested in the giraffes, emus and the elephant which we got to see very close up. Later in the day she wanted to explore outside in the wet grass. I had come across an outdoors all in one suit in some vintage giveaways from Aunty Linda, they were fantastic, keeping her warm and dry while crawling around. No steps yet but a lot more standing unsupported and the odd turn in our direction so it won't be far off now.