Doodle Bug is One!

My doodle bug is one year old! She just seems too little to be one. She is just a tiny baby!! Right? Right.

On her birthday, we had pizza and cake with the grandparents. She picked up her cake with both hands and handed it to me. I gave it back to her and she pushed it back to me.... like, "thanks but no thanks. Could you get this off of my tray, please?" She eventually threw it on the floor after I shoved a little in her mouth... that she raked off of her tongue for five minutes. I don't know what's wrong with her?! Cake is good!

We opened presents after dinner. By "we" I mean Lennox. I tried to get him to, "help Stella open them" or "show Stella how to do it. She doesn't know how." Even though he opened all of the presents, blew out the candle, and had ice cream and cake for dinner, he ended up in a pile of tears on the floor crying because he, "just wants his birthday back!" :( It was pretty pitiful. His little 3 year old mind can't quite take someone else, especially his sister, getting all of that attention.

Stella loved her gifts. She got a talking dog from Granny & Papa, a baby stroller from us, and a purse and tea set from Meme & Pop (besides a pile of clothes Meme has given me over the last month saying, "here, this is Stella's birthday present!"). Stella was so cute putting her baby in the stroller and pushing it around. Any time I give her the baby doll, she gently holds it to her face and purses her lips to give it loving. So, so sweet. Then she slams it in the stroller or on the floor! She looks like such a big girl playing with her toys... but she's not big, she's a tiny baby.

Stella is a climber. She likes to climb on Meme's fireplace, any stools she can get to, the printer if it is on the floor, etc. She tries to climb in the bath tub... she hikes that leg up and tries to throw it over. She needs another 12 inches or so before she'll actually be able to get in the tub. Last night she climbed up on Lennox's sink stool and fell right off. Her tooth went through her bottom lip. She only cried for a minute though. She's tough!

Stella LOVES to take a bath with Lennox. She likes to stand up and hold the side of the tub and stare at me until I tell her to sit down. Then she turns away and sits or falls over. Repeat about 40 times. She gets on one end of the tub and throws herself to the other side, likes she's swimming. She also sticks her head under the water and tries to blow bubbles. Most times, she forgets to come up before she breaths... then she chokes.

Stella's new favorite treat is ice cream. The first time she really had more than a taste was on her birthday. Last night I gave her a little more to help make her busted lip feel better and so I didn't eat it all myself. When it was all gone, she. threw. down. It was like I had just punched her right in the face! She followed me around screaming and if I looked at her she dropped to the floor and slammed her head down. Then she would get up and follow me until I looked at her again. It was pretty sad. I didn't let her slam her head into the concrete floors.... I am not that terrible. I did laugh a little bit though. She is not playing with that temper!

I would have guessed that Stella would be talking more at this point. She basically says, "Mama" or "Dada" or "Bubba" for everything. I have not taught her to call Lennox "Bubba," she just does. She will say "bye bye" and she knows what to do with the phone. She sometimes whispers,"hey" into the phone. When she sees my dad, she whispers, "Poppoppop." Yeah, she has him whipped.

Lennox and Stella love each other so much. Sometimes they play well together but alot of times Lennox is torturing her or she is stealing his stuff. She knows to grab whatever he has and run away fast... too bad she's not as fast as he is!

Lately

• Stella has been pooping in the tub every day! She started her habit by pooping next to the tub a few weeks ago but she has slowly progressed to pooping IN the tub. On Monday, I got Lennox out of the tub, walked to the other room, and quickly returned to find yet another tub poop. Unfortunately, Stella doesn't know that poop is nasty. She decided to catch a little and put it in her mouth!!! I didn't find any remnants in her mouth but it was still on her lip. YUCK. YUCK. YUCK. If you are wondering, I was only gone about 30 seconds... I don't make a habit of leaving my baby unattended in the bath tub.



• Lennox is so into Transformers lately. He will sit forever just "transforming" his Transformers over and over. He also likes to try and transform himself in the mirror. He tells me he is a truck but I haven't seen it yet.



• We went to my sister's house last weekend. I love my sister so much and I love her family so much too. I do not, however, love my children's behavior or sleep schedules while we are at my sister's house. My kids will not sleep there and I don't know what to do about it. No sleep for the Beech Family makes everyone so ill!!! If you happened to be a Dallas Love Field last Sunday night, that was me with the child who was screaming and flailing about in the stroller while throwing food and crying hysterically. That was also me whose child was laid out in the aisle of the plane kicking and screaming and blocking the path for all other passengers to get to their seats. That was also me who was sobbing quietly as I held my crying almost-one-year-old and my super stuffed carry-on bag as I tried desperately to keep my cool (obviously I failed at this... I was sobbing) while coaxing the fit-throwing 3 year old to the appropriate seat. That was also me who was laughing hysterically 10 minutes later when I looked around me and thought, "Surely this is just a joke. This can't really be happening." It did happen though. It was the airport experience from HELL! But, we did make it home safely so that's what really matters (I guess). I will not be going to the airport with my 2 kids, alone, for a long, long, long time. I did appreciate all of the strangers who offered a hand and expressed their concern that I had 2 little kids, a double stroller, a massive carryon and a huge checked bag but no one there to help me. Super mom failed her mission. For real!!



• Lennox likes to make up words. I told him daddy was in the shower because he was all stinky. Lennox said, "yeah, he's all scratchily and bumpily too." ??? We are still working on the F or "Epp" but we're not making much progress. I like to entertain myself by having Lennox repeat words that start with F. Frankenstein = Plankenslime, french fries = pinch pies, funny = bunny, fish = pish, favorite = paborite, frisky = prbisky... you get the picture.


• Stella is walking like a champ. On Friday, the day before we left for the airport, she just took off like it was her job. She hasn't stopped yet. That poor girl wears herself out but, by the end of the day, she is so tired she just lays right down and goes to sleep. I do love that! She is so cute with her little toddle. She just seems too little to be able to walk. I cannot believe she will be one year old next week.

Kristy Silbernagel Photography

Some of my favorites...

11 Months

THis is SO late!

Stella has been busy, busy! She has 6 teeth now... 4 on top and 2 on the bottom. She is walking. She takes about 5-6 steps at a time... she has maxed out at maybe 9-10. She is so cute teetering on those tiny feet! Her hair is getting so thick and it is platinum blond. When asked where her nose is, she sniffs really hard. When asked where her eyes are, she blinks and makes sweet eyes. She says mama, dadda, bye, and she is always jabbering at Lennox. She still loves him most but sometimes she gets so aggravated with him. She can't stand for him to lay on top of her where she can't move. I am not sure why that would bother her?!?!?! She loves to go outside. She still head butts if she wants to go out or somehow gets an inkling that she is going out... but then we don't. She loves to swing and play in the grass. She can pull herself all the way UP the slide. It's funny to watch. The first time she tried, she broke a sweat and fell backwards about 10 times but she never gave up. I have a feeling she won't be my "giver upper" child! She still eats anything I give her. The child adores eating. She is so tiny in my opinion. I don't know if it is because Lennox was a large 1 year old or because I am comparing Stella to Lennox now, but she just looks so dang tiny. I can't believe the things she can do.