Sweet sweet Stella girl,
Goodness, I feel like these have been the fastest 6 months of my life. Every time I look at you, I expect to see my tiny little newborn. I am shocked every time I pack up another set of clothes and pull out the new size, but you are growing like a weed, so it's happening pretty frequently.
I feel like I knew what your sweet spirit was like long before you were born. I felt you kick and move-enough to know you were there-but not so wiggly that I thought someone was slipping you Mountain Dew. You never pounded my gallbladder or pummeled my ribs or practiced gymnastics. Coincidentally, these were all things that your brother did. I knew that you were going to be different. I felt so peaceful with all things concerning you...and with good reason.
From the moment you were born, you have been such a peaceful little person. Dare I say, quite angelic. And not just in a sweet newborn, straight-from-Heaven sort of way, it's much more than that. You have a calming presence and a gift of sharing that calm with everyone around you. When I feel agitated or overwhelmed, I love to pick you up and hold you for a while. You smile and snuggle and just make everything feel better. It's tough to explain, but we use you like a sweet smelling bundle of zoloft for our frayed nerves. When someone is unhappy, we pass Stella girl over and the frowns turn upside down in a jiff. You are one of very few that has this affect on Abby, but when your Auntie is upset, we force you into her arms and she turns into jelly. Happy jelly. She even goes from hating everything to offering to bathe and feed you-even to change your diapers.
Charlie has been getting a little possessive and grumpy and a lot like a two-year-old lately. Sometimes, your little noises bother him. This week, you were babbling away and he yelled, "Sella, don't say 'bababa.'" Honestly, he's got a pretty scary growl and voice for circumstances such as these and I was worried that he'd make you cry. I shouldn't have been surprised to hear you giggling. The more he yelled and growled, the more you giggled and before I knew it, the two of you were lost in fits of laughter.
Aside from those few moments, Charlie really does adore you. I often find him wherever you are rubbing your head or making you laugh. When you wake up from a nap, he yells, "Mom! Sella's awake. I take good care her" and runs to peek at you through the bars of the crib. He calls you his best friend-even when he's mad at you and makes you laugh harder than anyone else. You always keep an eye on him and know exactly what he's up to. You try to touch whatever he's playing with and can watch him contentedly for hours. He likes to pack things for the car into your carseat or stroller. You never mind that either...even when you are covered with twenty five books or a package of diapers or whatever else he wants to bring along. When I pull away whatever it may be that is obstructing your face, you just smile as if there is nowhere else you'd rather be.
You roll non-stop and prefer to sleep on your tummy. You do a funny little backwards inch worm move that makes it hard to keep you in one place. You have always loved having a blanket on or near your face. You rub it and chew on it and bury your face in it. As you can imagine, it is not my favorite of all your habits, but what can I do? You like to be in your jumparoo or just sitting up where you can see all the action. You are grabbing everything now and intensely fascinated with spoons and bowls. You are starting to eat solids, but hesitantly. You attacked the mashed potatoes I gave you this week though, so I think you're getting the hang of it. You act as if you want to sit up, and are always in a pilates pose, holding your head up for ages, but I think it will be a while. You love to watch your hands move and sometimes look like you are doing a little hula.
You are starting to get teeth, but have the cutest gummy smile I've ever seen. You smile at everyone, including strangers and can be incredibly charming. You still don't really have any stranger anxiety, but love to see your mommy and brother. You save your biggest, most illuminating smiles for your daddy. Every time you see him, you light up. It looks like you are so happy that a mere smile doesn't do it justice. You smile and wiggle and lunge toward him. You literally shake with joy at the very sight of him. It is hysterical. It doesn't matter whether or not he is looking at you either. You smile at the back of his head and wait patiently, grinning all the while, for him to turn around.
I am so grateful that you snuggle with us. You still fall asleep on me sometimes and I love to just hold you. Some of my favorite moments are at night before I go to bed. You sometimes wake up, and I feel like it's just because you want to hang out a bit more. So, we do hang out. We play and then snuggle and then I hold you while you sleep. There is nothing better.
Stella girl, you never cry. We've been saying this all along, but it is very rare. You aren't silent by any means, but you don't cry. Most babies cry themselves to sleep when they are put in bed, but you sing and yell. It gets very loud, but rarely escalates to crying. It's usually sort of a pleasant moaning that puts you to sleep. You chat and laugh and coo. Man, you are wonderful.
You are just beautiful, baby girl. Really, really beautiful. People rarely tell me that you are cute. They use words like beautiful, gorgeous or pretty. Not just cute. Although, you are also cute. Your eyelashes are long and your cheeks are round and chubby. Your eyes haven't decided what color to be yet. They are brown/gold on the inside and bluish gray on the outside. This seems to drive the general public crazy. Everyone wants to know what color they are. I suppose it will be difficult to fill out your application for a driver's license if they don't change completely. I like them the way they are. You have lots of fluffy brown hair and you wear headbands like a champ. You are getting chubbier by the day.
You are growing up like crazy, but you don't seem to be in any hurry. You just take everything as it comes and are content to enjoy it. You don't push yourself, you could hold your own bottle, but you aren't really interested. No reason to push it. I think you help us all slow down a little bit.
Honestly baby girl, it is hard to remember life before you or imagine life without you. You were such an important puzzle piece for our family. You make us all so happy and we adore you. That is no understatement. We really adore you.
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