Stella: 9 mo Old

Stella Baylee: 9mo Old

May 24, 2011

My baby girl is officially 3 months away from turning one year old! It's exciting and sad at the same time. Time has just flown by and Stella has made some great milestones. She had her 9 month check up on Saturday May 28th. This time around she didn't have to get shots, I'm sure she would have done well with them if she did have to get them. Our pediatrician says that Stella is perfect and very healthy! Here are her stats:

Weight: 19 lbs 10 oz- 66th Percentile

Length: 28 1/4 inches- 75th Percentile

Head Circumference: 46 cm- 94th Percentile

 

 

Doc says that Stella should be crawling at any time. She is already getting into position to crawl. She can pull herself forward and get on all fours, she moves her arms but just can't get her legs to move with her just yet. Doc says that we need to give her more solid foods than formula. She should be drinking at least 24 oz a day of formula. Stella has been eating more "finger" foods like mandarin oranges, chicken, olives, scrambled eggs and bread. She can officially hold her sippy cup all by herself and drink out of it. She is also holding her bottle more and feeding herself. Occasionally she gets lazy and wants mom or dad to hold it for her. She is now eating a whole jar of 2nd stage foods. Depending on her mood she may only eat half of it in one sitting.

Stella now likes to play peek-a-boo with her blankets or our laundry. She'll hold it and lift it over her head and then quickly drop it down. She'll do it over and over and we'll say "Peek-A-Boo!" She loves it! She is babbling a lot now, the babbles she does are "bababa" and "lalala". She also likes to oooo and aahhh at everything. She is going to be quite the talker! Stella still loves to walk more than ever. She can pull herself up with us holding onto her hands and she'll just take off! Grandma and Grandpa have  a walker at their house and Stella cruises in it! She loves to clap her hands and every time we clap she'll start clapping along with us. She's also starting to wave, she mainly does it with her whole arm but I think she understands. Stella still loves to play with her toys and bang them on hard surfaces. She really loves her music dog that we got at the D.I. This dog has push buttons on his ear, foot, tummy and hand. The dog will tell you what you pushed, for example if you push the hand the dog will say "hand" and then it plays music. Stella's favorite stuffed animal at Grandma and Grandpa's house is Mr. Snail and Slow Poke. She will give him kisses all day long. It's so cute! Stella LOVES when we read to her. I've made it a habit to read to her every night, I do miss a couple nights a week. She will sit on our lap and listen to the story, she has even turned the pages for us a few times.

Stella can now pull herself up onto her knees. She has done it in her crib and with Grandma and Grandpa's coffee table. She is very strong, she can lift her heavy toys almost over her head. She loves to play with her feet. If she's sitting, she will lean down and try and put them in her mouth. If she's laying down, she'll pull them up to her mouth and stuff them in. It's adorable! Stella loves to imitate everyone, one of her favorite imitations is to smack her lips. One of the new things she is doing is she will scrunch her face and breath hard through her nose. Her little face looks so cute when she does it. Stella is very articulate with her fingers. She does so well at picking up her food with her index finger and thumb-she looks very proper when she does it :) She is also very perceptive. She will look up when you call her name and she reacts to all loud noises. Two particular noises she absolutely hates are the coffee grinder and the blender. Grandma and Grandpa discovered this when they were babysitting her one day. She just bawled...she didn't like it at all. Funnily enough, she doesn't mind the vacuum at all! She will even let me vacuum right next to her when she's sitting on the ground. Stella had her first trip to Hogle Zoo on Saturday May 21st. She loves seeing all the animals and reacted most to the big Gorilla. She lasted 3 1/2 hours before she was ready for a nap. She was very well behaved, didn't fuss once! We were so proud :)

Stella is still sleeping through the nights 5-6 times a week. There are 1 or 2 times that she will wake up. Sometimes she just wants her binky and other times she wants a bottle. She is still wearing 6-9 month clothes and 9 month Carter's clothes. She is even able to fit into some 12 month clothes. Stella officially has her baths in the big bath tub now. She loves to splash and play with her toys. She's not very fond of it when I have to wash her hair. For some reason she just hates it. I have to distract her with funny noises while I do it so she won't cry. Stella absolutely loves to laugh! She likes to be tickled and loves to play with people's faces. She is always smiling and has the most beautiful smile. Our baby girl is one smart cookie, we are excited for her to start crawling and eventually start walking. We know once she gets the balance for walking she will never look back! She has loved walking since she was 3mo old when she first started taking steps with us holding on to her. Stella is our pride and joy and we love her more and more every day. Life wouldn't be the same without her and she is our special blessing. We love you Stella Baylee :)

Hogle Zoo: 5/21/2011

Today we took a trip up to Hogle Zoo! It was Stella's first time and since she always goes nuts over Bentley we thought she'd love to see the animals. It was so much fun watching Stella react to all of the different animals. We got the best reaction out of her from the big gorilla. We visited the giraffes, elephants, gorillas, snakes, fish, orangetangs, spiders, fox, porcupine, turtles and the list goes on! I was so impressed at how well Stella did at the zoo. The best thing about her getting older is she doesn't take naps every hour ;) We were able to stay 3 1/2 hours before we knew she was ready for a nap. She didn't fuss at all the whole time we were there. We had so much fun and really enjoyed being out as a family. We can't wait to take her again, especially when she gets older!

A few videos of my baby girl!

Getting ready to crawl!

Somersaults!!!

Dance Performance

Tonight Kaitlyn had a ballroom dance performace at her school. She did a wonderful job! Troy, myself, Stella, Brittany, Taylor and Grandma Jan were all there to support her. We had a great time out as family and friends. There were some really great dances and some really talented kids. It sure did remind me of my high school dance performances. WAY TO GO KAITLYN...WE LOVE YOU!

Out and About

Yesterday we went to lunch up Emmigration Canyon to Ruth's Diner. Our friends Laura and Stratton invited us and we thought it would be really fun! We love taking rides up the canyon and Troy and I both have never been to this diner before. Along with Laura and Stratton, our friends Paige and Lexi joined us as well as two other friends of Laura and Stratton's. We ate outside and it was just beautiful. Perfect weather...well almost. It started to rain a little, but luckily it stopped so we were still able to enjoy our meal outside. We definitely want to go there again, the food is amazing!

Mother's Day 2011

My first Mother's Day was absolutely wonderful. We have church at 9am so Troy made me breakfast on Saturday of biscuits and gravy. We had some of our family over for lunch to celebrate: my mom, my sister, Troy's mom, Troy's aunt and her three kids and my friends Brittany and Taylor. We were planning on having a BBQ but of course, it rained. We still had BBQ hamburgers, but just ate inside. We also had my mom's famous potato salad, chips and jello. After lunch we opened presents. We got my mom a couple picture frames: one had pictures of Stella and the other had pictures of our family. We also got her patio dishes. We got Troy's mom picture frames as well: one with a picture of most of her grandkids and then another of pictures of our family. She is renovating her house and so we got her a cute wall hanging. We also got Troy's aunt a present: a picture of her three kids that we took in Park City. I also got my sister a present because she is gonna be a mommy in December. I got her a candle, hand soap from Bath and Body Works and some chocolate. Troy got me a 30 min massage from Massage Envy. I'm so excited to use it! We visited for the rest of the afternoon and everyone left around 5:30pm. Then we just relaxed the rest of the day. It was a very nice first Mother's Day and look forward for the next.

Stella Baylee: 8 months Old

Stella Baylee- 8 months old: April 24th 2011

My Stella Baylee turned 8 months old on Easter Sunday! I know I say this every month, but I just cannot believe how fast my baby girl is growing up. It seriously brings tears to my eyes just thinking that she is going to be a year old in 4 months. Stella’s first Easter was a lot of fun. Unfortunately Troy had to work, but Stella and I went to church and she wore her beautiful purple Easter dress. She only made it through half of Sacrament before she needed to be changed and then she peed on her dress :) luckily I brought a back up dress, still just as cute! After church we headed up to grandma and grandpa’s house for Easter lunch. We had pork roast, mashed potatoes with brown gravy, broccoli with cheese sauce, deviled eggs, rolls and cottage cheese with pineapple. It was delicious. Stella even had some: she tried rolls and mashed potatoes…YUM! Auntie Ashley and Uncle Cody came over as well and we had a wonderful dinner with visiting. Ashley just found out she’s pregnant…so Stella will have two cousins this year! Auntie Brooke is pregnant with a baby boy and due Sept 21st and Auntie Ashley is due on Dec 14th.

 Stella's first Easter basket

 All her goodies: bunny rabbit, two books, three learning card games, bunny ears and a wind up chick

 Stella's first Easter Sunday dress

Stella's back up Easter dress ;)

Stella has grown so much in the last month, oh where to begin! First, I was trying to think of what nicknames we have been calling Stella and the only one that has really stuck is “Chunky Monkey” or just “Monkey”. Stella has chubby cheeks and chubby legs and is overall a little “chunky” baby and one day I started calling her “My Chunky Monkey” and it just stuck. We really haven’t used any other nicknames.
I have no idea how much she weighs right now, but if I could guess I’d say around 17 lbs…maybe 18?? She weighed 15 lbs 15 oz at her 6mo appt. She can still fit in some of her 3-6mo clothes, but just barely. She can also fit in most of her 6mo clothes from Carters. She does fit perfectly in her 6-9mo clothes and some of her 9mo clothes from Carters are almost too small. I have a big girl but I love her to death!

"Just Do It!"

Stella is eating a whole jar of stage one food and has now branched out to other types. She has tried chicken & veggies, apples & blueberries, apples & prunes, prunes and turkey & veggies. She is still a great eater. She has a fruit mixed with oatmeal in the morning and a vegetable mixed with rice cereal in the evening. Stella has even starting feeding herself. One day she just grabbed the spoon and shoved it in her mouth. She will feed herself about 3-4 bites and then she just wants to play with the spoon. Stella also made her very first sour face and it was with real bananas that were mashed up. I got it on video and it was so funny. She is also still drinking 6 oz of formula about every 3-4 hours. Stella has also tried some other non-baby foods such as: mashed potatoes, rolls, tuna and noodles. I wrote down a list from babycenter.com of the 10 best foods for babies and one of them is mandarin oranges. I bought a couple cans but I haven’t had her try them yet. Stella still loves her puffs and has now mastered picking them up individually with her thumb and index finger and getting them into her mouth. I am so proud! I cheer her on each time :)
Stella is also talking a lot; I would say more than she was last month. She is now saying “BaBaBaBa” it’s so cute! We also started this game where I’ll make a “roaring” sound and then randomly switch to blowing raspberries and she mimics right with me. She loves to make roaring sounds and really gets into it. Overall, she is a big talker and will talk all the time. Stella still loves her binky. We try not to give it to her too much.

 Daddy and Stella

Stella and Mommy

She still loves her toys. I would say her favorite toy is her rattle. She loves the sound it makes and she’ll bang it as hard as she can on anything. She loves to play with our cell phones and I just so happened to find a pink play cell phone. She doesn’t like this one as much. I’m thinking because it doesn’t light up. Stella’s favorite thing to play with on Troy is his ear. I have no idea why, but if his ear is anywhere within reach, she’ll just start playing with it! It’s so funny. Stella is waiving her arms about quite a bit now. It almost looks like she’s waiving, but I know she’s not. She is also quite the grinner. She smiles a lot and LOVES to laugh. She will laugh at pretty much anything. Stella loves to be tickled and she just has the cutest laugh. I love to hear it. My favorite thing to do to make her laugh is when I’m changing her diaper I’ll take the wet wipe and wipe it under her chin and under her armpits and she just goes nuts! She is also very ticklish on her inner thighs. She has now learned how to put her foot in her mouth! When she’s lying down she’ll lift up her legs and grab a hold of her foot and try and stuff it in her mouth. It’s so funny!
Stella is still teething, but no teeth yet. I bought her a new teething ring that has ridges on it which she seems to like. She’s not drooling as much but I can tell she’s in pain on some days. The week before she turned 8mo she was really cranky from her teething, but has seemed to settle down now. I wouldn’t be surprised if a tooth popped up in the next month. Stella still loves bath time. She had her first bath in the real bathtub. She didn’t react like I thought she would by splashing. She just kind of sat in there and played with her toys. I’ve only given her a bath in there once, her tub in the sink is just easier right now.

Stella's first time at the park: 5/6/2011

I also gave Stella her first Mohawk! It was just darling, she has a little bit of curl and when you put a headband with a bow on her it just looks even cuter. Stella is starting to stay on her tummy a little bit more than before. We just have to distract her with a toy. She is getting closer and closer to rolling from her back to her tummy, but not yet. We’ve been working with her getting her in crawling position and are hoping that she’ll be crawling in the next month. She loves to stand and we’ll stand her up against stuff that she can hold on to and she has a ball with it. Stella is getting better at lifting herself up when she’s lying down. If she’s somewhat propped up, she can lift herself all the way up into sitting position.
Stella absolutely loves Bentley still. Every time he is around she just lights up and gets the biggest grin on her face. Auntie Ashley has a dog now named Millie and Stella goes nuts around her. Millie is really hyper right now because she is a puppy and when she runs around Stella will just laugh and laugh. Stella is sleeping better, she will still wake up at least once in the middle of the night usually around 4, sometimes it’s around 2 and sometimes if we’re lucking she won’t wake up at all.
Stella has also mastered drinking out of her sippy cup! She can also hold her bottle when she’s lying down. She doesn’t like to most of the time, but when she’s in the mood she will. She is still learning how to hold her sippy cup, she can’t quite do it because she drinks it sitting up and she doesn’t quite know how to lift her arms up in that position. However, she is a strong little girl! She can pick up her thick block pale that’s pretty heavy and she also picks up her wipes box. Anything she can get her hands on, she’ll try and pick it up and sometimes succeeds. Stella is very good at entertaining herself. She can just sit and play with her blocks by herself for maybe 10-15 min and then she’ll notice that no one is there and she’ll want company. She is getting more attached to Troy and I. When we are around groups of people that she doesn’t know and someone else is holding her she’ll start to cry and reach out of us. It’s really cute! Speaking of which, she has started reaching up to get out of her car seat and her jumperoo.
Grandma still watches Stella 2-3 times a week and she just loves it. Stella is definitely attached to my mom, they both have a lot of fun together and my mom just adores Stella. I set two goals to do with Stella every night: read at least one book and to pray. So far I’ve done well. I feel it’s very important to read early in life and I want to make sure I’m doing that. I also want to practice praying with Stella so she’ll learn how to do it early on.
Some of the things Stella doesn’t like are: touching her head a lot. I don’t know why, but if you try and massage her head too much she gets angry. Once Stella has started feeding herself, if you take away the spoon from her she gets mad. She doesn’t like to be in a room alone for too long; she loves to be around people. Those are really the only things I can think of. Stella is just a very happy baby and very easy going. She will still only cry if she’s hungry, tired or needs a diaper change. Along with those, she will also cry if her gums are really bothering her now that she’s teething more.
Troy and I are so very blessed to have Stella in our lives and we feel even more blessed that she is such a good baby. We honestly rarely have any problems with her. She is so happy and loveable and just so fun to be around. I can’t imagine my life without her and I just want to be around her every minute of the day. We love you Stella Baylee!!!