Gone

They are gone.....the bottles are gone....so is the horrible bottle drying rack that I have hated with a passion since it took up residence next to my sink over 3 years ago. When we had Stella she had reflux and we must have bought and purchased 10 different brands of bottles that all promised relief. Not only didn't they offer relief they drove me batty cleaning all the little parts! When Jacob was born I bought the ones with the disposable liners thinking I would be free from the task of bottle cleaning but they were just as annoying. We finally settled in with the cheap Soothie's that had a little cup on the bottom to hold formula. They had a cloudy finish so I never knew if the were truly clean but toward the end....I became ok with that.

Jacob hasn't had a bottle in well over a week. I had planned to have one last bottle/cuddle special moment but frankly circumstance had him in bed without one and it worked out so I just went with it. He doesn't seem to miss it at all. I am grateful he is a hugger and likes to come over at different points in the day and put his head on you. Insanely adorable! So though I will miss our little bottle cuddles I was thrilled to toss the bottles and bottle drying rack from hell into the garbage today. There was a moment where I debated pulling them out to take some dramatic poignent photo to docment the end of the era but I was just too happy seeing them all in the trash to do so. Here is a recent shot of my little guy enjoying his big boy cup!

Just as happy to see them go!

Covered in PB&J!

Are we there yet?

This past week I had an appointment in NY and decided to take Stella with me for a fun day in the big city! We took the NJ Transit in and the entire way there she kept asking if we were in the big city yet. It was adorable. I thought I had years before I would hear cliche phrases like, are we there yet and he's looking at me mom. I am sure the other passengers were grateful it was an express train. Actually, she did great and it was so sweet to see her excitement grow as we stopped at each station on the way. When we finally arrived and made our way up to 7th avenue She was totally awestruck and just loved riding in the stroller watching it all go by. We took the subway to Union Square and met my good friend Jennifer. She sat with Stella during my appointment and Stella was such a good girl I had a couple of surprises for her..... so off to midtown we went.

Here is Stella with Jennifer in Times Square. It was very chilly!

Mommy and Stella with her new West Side Story souvenir program. I have mentioned a few times that she LOVES West Side Story so her first surprise was to go to the theater and buy a program. She loved seeing the huge pics of the cast outside the theater but I don't think she quite understood it all. Here we are braving the wind in Times Square with the new program.

After that we went to Toys R Us and rode the ferris wheel. She had never ridden a ferris weheel and pretty much just stared in amazement. I have a cute pic but I need to scan it. She loved her surprises and after a nice lunch we headed back to the train to go home.

Here is my pretty girl on the train excited to tell Daddy and Jacob about her fun day.

There is almost nothing I enjoy more than seeing Stella's imagination at work. She spent the whole train ride home telling stories about the Jets and the Sharks and Maria and Tony and a ferris wheel and then she would stop and gaze out the window.

Making every part of the train part of her story...

She brought a little friend with her....

My amazing little Stella.

Thanks for a wonderful time Stella B. I am sure I will remember this special day forever.

Cell phone stuff

I took a couple pics today of Stella and Jacob watching West Side Story for the 1,000th time. It is the ONLY thing that they will sit and watch for more than 5 minutes. They LOVE it. Stella asks for specific scenes and then runs aorund the room dancing during the big dance numbers. She also tells her many stuffed friends stories about Tony and Maria and the Jets and the Sharks while she should be napping. It is so adorable. So here they were totally engrossed today and all I could find was my cell phone.

Yes, the coffee table is pushed up there to keep Jacob from pushing all the buttons!

Then I stumbled on this shot in my cell phone.

Last week I took the kids to the dr and Stella noticed this sign and said...

Why is the P riding the bike mommy...that's silly.

This is another cell phone shot of Jacob's favorite way to use Stella's new Easel. He seems to love to crawl into and under things...even some things he doesn't fit in or can't really get out of...see below....

Perfectly happy about this spot till he tried to get out of it.

I'm sure I have lots more little cell phone moments but thought these were worth sharing.

The Last Bottle

Jacob is now just over 14 months old....he should no longer be using a bottle....but I can't quite let it go! I know the longer I wait to stop the harder it will be for him to give up but I just can't do it! He only has one bottle a day...his night bottle. He doesn't need to eat before bed anymore and he doesn't need to use a bottle. He is fully capable of going all night without food and he uses a cup just fine all day so....the problem is me. Jacob also doesn't seem to need to cuddle the way he used to either...or sit for that matter....or stop moving at all! BUT, for a few minutes every night he will....stop wiggling and sit....and even cuddle and have that bottle and stare up at me and sometimes touch my nose and smile and I am just not ready to let that go.