3 bites and a juice

As Stella has gotten older, she is also getting more and more picky about what she eats.  I was so proud in the beginning thinking that my baby ate everything.  This is no longer the case.  I have now resorted to bribery.  Yup, I said it….I bribe my daughter.  To get her to eat something she doesn't want to, I bribe her with juice.  I have started the "3 bites and a juice" tactic.  I tell her that she has to eat 3 bites before she gets a drink of juice.  I count each bite aloud and encourage her that she's "one bite away from a drink of juice".  I had no idea whether this tactic would work or not but I have been pleasantly surprised!  When she does earn her drink of juice, I count to 10 (quickly) and we start over again with the 3 bites.  Bribery….it definitely works!  I hope that eventually I won't have to bribe her at all to eat.  There's so much good food out there, and I want her to try it all!

Her fathers daughter (pictures only)

Snuggles with the pups

Loves her bunny and zones out when the tv is on

Plays with Legos

Enjoys reading

Is a snacker!

Dog Food & Diapers

Now that Stella is walking, she has been getting into everything!  It so fun to see her toddle around, but it's not so fun having to keep her away from and out of certain things.  

Take dog food for instance.  She is so intrigued by it and tries her hardest to eat some.  She has managed to sneak a kibble, which I thought would deter her in the future….but alas it has not.  And no matter how many times we scold her, she still wants to get a hold of the dog food.  I don't understand it, but I hope she gets de-sensitized to it so I don't have to watch the dog bowls like a hawk anymore.  She's pretty good at listening when I catch her but I hope she eventually loses interest in the puppy food.   

Another time, I scolded Stella prematurely and felt pretty ashamed.  I had just changed her heiney and set the dirty diaper aside while I closed the wipes and was preparing to throw it away.  She grabbed it and was walking away from me.  I called her name to get her to drop it or bring it back and then she proceeded to take it to the trash can and placed it in there.  I was in shock!!  She totally just threw away her own dirty diaper!  Awesome!!  And next time I won't jump the gun in scolding her ;)

And so, the adventures of a walking toddler begin!  It sure is going to be a fun one!  

Best snack cup?? Munchie Mug!!

Top view of the cup

Enjoying her snacks

                         

I saw an article in a magazine about the Munchie Mug and earmarked it when Stella was just a couple months old.  Once she started snacking I purchased the standard snack cups but found that when Stella would hold it any way but upright, crumbs would fall out.  It was driving me crazy to have to constantly keep my eyes peeled for crumb trails....and I definitely didn't want to attract any bugs, ew!  It finally dawned on me that I had saved the article about the Munchie Mug months before.  I have to admit I was skeptical.  Though after reading some reviews and watching a video showing how it worked, I was sold!!     I bought one first to try it out and then I bought a second one when I spotted it on Zulily (I'm a sucker for Zulily, it's dangerous).  

The Munchie Mug comes in a variety of colors (green, yellow, blue, and pink), is dishwasher safe, and is made in the U.S.A.  It is pricey ($17) but well worth it in my opinion.  Check it out here:  www.munchiemug.com  

baby sign

I had planned to start teaching Stella baby sign way earlier but time got away from me and before I knew it her first birthday was approaching.  One of Russ's aunts told me about how she taught her daughter and she made the point to start small.  I think part of me wanted to learn alot of the signs myself and then teach them to Stella but when she said that, I got really motivated to just start.  I thought about which signs would be most helpful to me for Stella to learn and went from there.  One common frustration we have when our kiddos aren't talking yet is knowing what they need or want, especially when they are fussy.  So I googled some signs and decided to start with teaching Stella how to sign 'more', 'food', and 'all done/finished'.  I wanted to be able to know when she was hungry or full and not have to decipher it via the volume of her whining.  

I taught her by demonstrating the sign for her.  Before I fed her I would do the sign for food and when she seemed to still be hungry I'd ask her if she wanted more and demonstrate the sign for more.  Sometimes I would try to show her how to do the sign herself, but she wasn't always willing to let me do that.  I was amazed at how fast she picked up her first sign, which was 'more' (she's signing it in the photo above).  At first she used 'more' to tell me she was hungry too, but it was great because  she was able to communicate with me!  Sweet success!!  As long as your child is communicating with you in a way that you can understand their wants or needs, that's all that matters. 

So far Stella has learned 'more', 'all done/finished', 'food', and 'please'.  I'm working on teaching her 'thank you', 'bath', and 'nap/sleep' next.  If you're thinking about trying baby sign, definitely start small and be patient...it'll pay off.

houston, we have a toddler!

It's hard to believe that a year has already passed since we became a family of three!  Our Stella is growing so fast!!  She's now 13 months and has changed even since her first birthday.  Here are some of the things our 13 month old is up to:

• walking (and getting into everything!)
• using some baby sign language (more, all done, and food so far)
• can high five
• gives lots of kisses, especially to the dogs (and even makes the 'muah!' sound for effect--it's cute, cute!!) 
• waves at people
• has 8 teeth
• cuddles with the dogs
• claps her hands
• dances to music
• can drink from a cup

I love to just watch her interact with and explore the world around her now that she can walk.  It's truly amazing to see your child learn right before your eyes.  I used to get caught up in wondering if Stella was reaching the milestones discussed in baby literature on time, but I don't anymore.  Now I'm too busy to wonder about it and just enjoy her.

 Here she is donning her Mickey ears and trying to share her snacks with Tobi.

Mickey ears!

Stella's year in review

showing off her favorite toy 

welcome, welcome!!

I'd been toying with the idea of starting a blog and finally decided to take the plunge. I can't say that I have a particular goal in mind for the blog, so I appreciate those of you that are willing to bear with me and the randomness that will surely ensue. Thanks for stopping in!