Uncle Mike, Aunt Rosana and a milestone!

Today is Memorial day and we went to the city to meet up with Brian's brother Mike and his wife Rosana. They are visiting from Miami and though they met Stella the day after she was born they haven't seen her since. Today was supposed to be a beautiful day and we were excited to go in and take Stella to the Central Park Zoo. Since we had, just last week, had such a HORRIFIC experience driving in we thought we would play it safe and take the train. Things were off to a good start but turned rocky pretty quick as Stella fussed and fitted her way through the train ride. Not content to sit and stare out the window she became bored with the limited tricks and toys we had on hand to amuse her with. BUT, we got there and headed up to the street level via various pee pee scented elevators in Penn Station.

As promised, the weather was BEAUTIFUL! A perfect day to be in NY. We walked uptown through Times Square to Central Park and for most of the 30+ blocks Stella didn't make a sound. She was totally mezmerized! Mike and Rosana met us in Columbus Circle and we headed into the park. The zoo line was so long that we decided to save that roadshow for another time. Instead we had some lunch at a little cafe near the zoo and got caught up. Stella did great, although she didn't eat much beyond raisins. After that we strolled into the park to people watch and reminisce about our days living there. Stella fell asleep right after we found the perfect bench and she had a great little nap. Funny that almost every time I bring her to the city she manages to nap in her stroller, something she would never do elsewhere. I guess all the stimulation knocks her out.
She woke up just in time to watch a jazz trio play a few songs and then we headed back downtown to grab the train. Stella wasn't as fun as other times and didn't do all of her little tricks....like kisses and high fives and great giggles but she was very good and we are glad she got to spend some time with Uncle Mike and Aunt Rosana.
Unfortunately the train ride home was almost as brutal as last weeks 3 hour journey from hell. At least this time it was only an hour and a half. The train was crowded and although we were strategically placed in the 4 seat handicapped area with the stoller tucked between us......someone sat down in the seat next to Brian meaning he had to hold Stella on his lap the entire ride. What makes that really annoying is that other seats opened up but they didn't move! ARGH! I really can't stand people sometimes! Poor Brian was trying to manage a very unhappy Stella B as she fitted and fussed and cried and wiggled. I did my best to provide snacks, water, toys, songs etc but it was all futile. The kicker was that Stella's diaper was so full she was leaking but because that woman had sat next to Brian I couldn't change her on the seat and to go to another seat to change her wasn't going to be easy because I would have to climb over the stroller and the other woman's bag. Did I mention how much I hate people sometimes! As she sits there chatting on her cell phone Stella is growing more and more difficult and more and more wet. Finally I did crawl over the stroller and bag to go and stand with Stella by the exit area. It was too late though , the damage was done and the rest of the trip was Stella crying and carrying on while I tried not to go and smack that nitwit in the face.
Anyway, we got home and Stella spent the evening playing in a diaper only and looking adorable. Just before bed we play with her in her room and then read books. She was standing by her crib and turned around to look at Brian who was sitting quite a good distance away. She put up her arms and without any prompting from us she walked right over to him! At least 6 or so steps. It is the very first time she has done anything like that and we were so excited and she was so proud! I am so happy that we both got to see Stella take her first steps and it was really a fabulous finish to the day!
Here are a few pics from our fun time in the city.

Stella trying to hard to find a comfy position in the stroller so she can nap!

Riding the rails with Daddy, before the drama begins!

Racing Stella!-Video!!!

Ok, I doubt very much this will work, but hey, anything is possible.

We had a lot of fun with Stella today in the backyard. This is a new world for her since spring has hit, and she seems to enjoy it, although mostly she likes to climb up and down the steps leading to the house (while ignoring the slide and other fun toys we have set up for her out back). Since we have finally had some nice weather after tons of rain (and since I finally got around to cutting the grass!), we took her out back and let her explore tonight. She didn't seem to be finding much that interested her, until she found her little car. I plopped her in and strapped her in, but she was less than thrilled by being pushed around our tiny backyard at a slow rate of speed. So we went to the nice strip of grass outside our property and really got moving! As you can see, I am horribly out of shape and way too old for this, but this was lots of fun, probably more fun that this looks. Stella completely lost her mind when we took her out of the car but to me that just means she enjoyed it! Ok, let's see if I can get this video posted here...Update--Ok, it looks like it actually might have worked but this took me forever and almost pushed me over the edge. Hopefully this will be easier in the future! We probably have about 30 hours of video of Stella that I should really get around to editing!

Grandpa's birthday! (we almost didn't make it...)

So today was a surprise dinner for my dad in the city to celebrate his birthday. My brother got him theater tickets and told him he was taking them out to dinner after. He didn't tell them that my sister & her boyfriend and me, Jen, and Stella would be there! So it was a fun surprise, although we almost didn't make it because we experienced the most horrific traffic ever trying to get through the Holland Tunnel (mental note, no matter how long the delay is at the Lincoln Tunnel, never, ever take the Holland!). Fortunately we left at about 2:15 even though dinner wasn't until 5, thinking we would get some time to walk around the city. As it was, we got there late! The traffic was one thing but we had a very minor incident that turned into something ridiculous while trying to get through the tunnel. We were backed up for miles, but the lane next to us was moving pretty quickly as it was the Ez-Pass lane for the tolls. Of course, many of New Jersey's least intelligent citizens were speeding down the Ez-Pass lane and then trying to sneak into our lane since they didn't have Ez-Pass but didn't want to wait like everyone else. It was extremely frustrating and just made the wait that much longer. We had been there just about an hour, barely moving. The traffic lights would go from red to green and we would move like 4 feet. Stella was completely losing her mind at this point, understandably so. But then things went from bad to worse. Yet another idiot was trying to cut in on me from the Ez-Pass lane. At that point I had it, so after nearly colliding with him because I wouldn't let him in, I rolled down my window and we had words. Then he started moving so I started moving because I thought he was trying to creep in ahead of me. But unfortunately, the car in front of us wasn't moving and I hit it. "Hit" is probably too strong a word, I tapped it. I got out as did the driver in front of me and we saw there was no damage to either car. But he wanted my insurance information. Wha?! There's a 10 mile back up and you want us to exchange insurance information in the middle of the road over a little tap that did no damage to either one of our cars?! I gave him my business card and told him to call me on Monday and we can talk about it then. His wife then got out and she was a piece of work, to say the least. Anyway, we finally got moving and made it to the tolls and we thought we were home free. No. The driver of the car in front of us spotted a police officer and called him over to tell him about the accident. You have got to be kidding me! Anyway, long story short, we wound up sitting by the side of the road for another 30 minutes while the police filled out a police report. Lord only knows what will come of this. Jen got a photo of the back of the car I hit with her cell phone and there is absolutely no damage.

Anyway, once we made it in, it was a fun day but Stella was a bit fried at that point, understandably so. The poor thing was screaming the whole time we were by the side of the road after the "accident", not to mention the hour we spent in traffic leading to the tunnel. It was nice to see my family and they were thrilled to see Stella Barbara. Fortunately the trip home was drama free and little bird is how happily snoozing away with Bear-y, Brannen Bear and her little doggie friend, a new addition to the crib!

Rare opportunity, thankfully!

Two nights ago Stella woke up and woke us up with quite a scream and a cry around 12am or so. She sometimes will cry out in the night for reasons we can't begin to figure out but almost instantly quiets and goes right back to sleep. I wonder if she really wakes up in those moments. Anyway, this was a little different and after a few minutes of her really crying and carrying on Brian and I went in to check on her. She quieted as soon as we got there but when we left she started right up again. We tried going back to bed ourselves thinking she would cry for a few minutes and fall back to sleep...but no. Finally I went back in and she calmed as soon as she heard me. I picked her up to check her diaper which was fine and found myself sitting in the glider rocking her and her little beary as she gazed up at me in the moonlight. I realized that this might very well be the first time she has settled in my arms in the rocker since she stopped bottle feeding almost 5 months ago. Even then she rarely settled! Our little Stella is many wonderful things but she is not a cuddler! So I watched her try to keep her eyes open and stroked her little hand in mine and thanked God for the opportunity to be her mom and know how it feels to be able to comfort her. The sweetest thing was that after a few minutes of stroking her hand I noticed she was rubbing my finger with hers! How sweet is that!!?? I hope I always remember how soft and gentle and sincere her little touch was in that moment. Sigh. Finally after a while I put her back in her crib and she went right to sleep without a peep the rest of the night. Needless to say it is much easier to see the beauty and charm in a late night moment like this one...because they rarely happen! I know how blessed we are to have a champion sleeper but I was grateful for this little chance to love on her in a special way.

She is so cute right now and this age is a lot of fun! Here is a sweet picture I took of her yesterday as we were playing in the playroom. She was looking up at my new fancy flash! If you click on it to see the large version you see both the sparkle in her eye and some lunch on her face.

Mother's Day!

Although this was Jen's second Mother's Day, for some reason it seemed like a bigger deal than last year; at least to me it did--of course I'm not the mom so what does that matter! Anyway, we started the day with some gift and card giving from me, and then headed out to Mastori's for breakfast. We got there at about 8:30 so we figured we'd be in good shape with the crowds--um, no. The place was packed. Fortunately, we somehow managed to get a table within about 2 minutes of getting there. Maybe they thought we were VIPs or something. Anyway, breakfast was good and plentiful and we all enjoyed it, although Stella fussed a bit towards the end. From there we headed home for some playtime and then nap time; after which we took a drive to Trenton to tour the historic Mill Hill area. Wow, that was neat! Who knew you could buy an amazing old, restored brownstone for less than we paid for our place! And then we had dinner at Pizza Hut, as per mom's wishes (never argue with a pregnant woman!). All in all it was a nice day and I hope Jen enjoyed it. She is an amazing mom and Stella and I are so lucky to have her! We love you mama!

New Jersey Animal Kingdom!

Wow, what a fascinating day we had today! Who would have thought you could find all kinds of bizarre animal life in Bordentown, NJ! We went to the New Jersey Animal Kingdom (Ok, the official name is the Animal Kingdom, Pet Store and Zoo, but whatever). They had dozens of really odd animals that you would typically only see on safari somewhere. Actually, we went to the zoo in Philly last year and I think this place has a better selection of animals than the Philly Zoo. Stella seemed more confused than anything else and didn't react as much as we would have liked but maybe next summer she'll be into it more. You would think this kid sees camels everday they way she barely glanced at one four feet away from her! Anyway, below are some photos from the day.

Fun day at the park!

We had a fun day at Veteran's Park in Hamilton today. The weather was beautiful after a cold spell for the last week or so, and Stella enjoyed being out and about. And, she got to see her very first caterpillar! As you can see, she was fascinated and enjoyed petting it...