Melinda's Space

So I feel like we are really close to back to normal. I had heard that taking long trips can really change kids behavior before, but hadn’t really experienced it until now. Stella is finally back to the happy, giggly girl that we know and this weekend we had so much fun with her. We went to the Jim Henson exhibit at the EMP and she got to see Ernie & Bert, Kermit, Rowlph, etc. She really loved seeing all the “puppets.” And I got to see stuff about the movie I loved when I was a kid, “The Dark Crystal” – wow, that was a trippy movie. Gotta watch again.

I was also really productive. I went to Home Depot Saturday morning and got plants for our deck which I then planted. And on Sunday I reorganized about 1/2 of my kitchen drawers (the junk drawers and lower reachable drawers) and now I can finally say we have a 99% child-proof kitchen. Whew! Its amazing how you can live in a home for years and still be figuring out how to make things fit properly. Right?

On top of that, I had some girlfriends over on Saturday night which was so much fun. And Sunday evening Mike and I went to see Pixar’s “Up.”  Wow, what a roller-coaster of a movie. And a busy weekend!

We do have our Hawaii photos up now, but they are on our Stella website. I don't want to duplicate them here, but the whole thing is really awkward – my blog here, our Smugmug site with photos, and Facebook for friends… I wish it all was one thing. Someday.

I know its been forever since I last posted. Such is life! We just got back from Hawaii – we stayed for 8 days on Kawa’i in Poipu Beach (the south shore). We stayed in a great condo with our friends Katy, Mike, and their 15 month old JD and we had such a great time. It was beautiful and warm, and we enjoyed some fun outings, as well as some great meals on the deck with a view of the bright blue ocean.

The thing that was a surprise for me was how much we enjoyed swimming. As any parent knows, having a toddler around water is a pretty stressful thing. They’ll just walk right into the pool and they cant play in an ocean with waves. So generally its not all that fun. But on this trip we were thrilled to find that the pool at the resort had a huge, shallow play area filled with small rocks, so Stella and JD could walk around and play (which they did for hours) in the water. And we could actually relax! And we also found 2 beaches that had protected, shallow play areas where the kids could scamper around safely with no waves. It was perfect!We also got to swim a bit ourselves and even snorkel, which was so nice because I wasn’t sure we’d get to do that. I saw a whole bunch of great fish, at very close range. I highly recommend Kawa’i for family trips!

It was a lot of fun to be there with another family – JD and Stella had a great time playing together, climbing on furniture and running around the deck. And we got some great adult time too, getting to chat every night over dinner. We definitely got to know them better which was a treat.

We’ll be posting photos of our trip on our site soon!

Other than that, we’ve had a great couple of months. Stella’s been changing a lot, she’s using a ton of words and really communicating a lot with us. She tells us exactly what she wants – or more often, what she doesn’t want with a string of “no, no, no” and a shake of her head. She puts words together a lot which makes our conversations a lot richer. And our friend Katy pointed out that she seems to have a French accent, which I think is true! She says “water” and “cracker” with a distinct French lift at the end. “Waterrrr?”

Stella’s a lot of fun, but this toddler thing can be a little exhaustive. Yesterday we went to the mall and I made the mistake of taking her on the escalator. Well, we spent 30 minutes after that going up and down, up and down, on the “ecalascata.” She was obsessed. I thought about trying to see how long she’d really go for – I mean, how many times is enough?? Does she just ride forever and then pass out? But alas, my patience wore thin and I had to drag her away screaming.

My focus for the next month will be preparing to be the maid of honor in my future sister-in-law’s wedding, which means working on a speech! We go in July to Boston for the exciting event. And Stella will be the flower girl, so it will be a family affair at that altar! :)

I am really happy to have summer here now – I loved having Stella in shorts and shirts and often just in a diaper. Its such a summer treat to eat blueberries in a diaper! This weekend I hope to buy some plants for our deck to make it look nicer. We had a 4 foot tall weed growing from one of our pots. Embarrassing.

People in Seattle often talk about the weather. I guess everyone does it everywhere, but in Seattle, people kind of freak out when it gets nice. Traffic gets worse, people flock to every park and waterhole, outdoor seating is gone, etc. With all that aside, I am sooooo excited to have some warm weather. It’s been 70 the past few days and it feels like the tropics.

What I am excited about is how much our home life will change. It just took Stella one day to discover we have an “outside” on our deck and last night she just ran around it in circles exploring each pot, pulling out the bag of shells I have and sorting through them, pouring the water can into all the pots, etc. I am hoping to buy her a little water play table so she can play each night after work outside while I get dinner ready. She loves being outside so having our deck as an added room is going to be great. Last summer she wasn’t walking so being outside was a totally different experience.

In addition, the warm weather means a lot more exploration of Seattle. Sunday we took Stella downtown and I also walked around our neighborhood with her. Its so nice now that she’s walking. We’ve walked all over several parks and she just loves roaming.

And finally, the warm weather comes with lots of light. Its now light until 8pm and in the morning its getting light while I am at the gym and I love walking home with the sun coming up. Just changes my whole day.

Just a few downers to report: Stella has apparently been witness to and has now learned how to do tantrums. She’s seeing it in her daycare and so she’s learning like a pro. She just gets way overdramatic about things, so the past few days have been a little bit of an awakening for us. Mike and I have looked at each other with our eyebrows raised more than a few times. But, she was sick this weekend (some sort of bug so she was throwing up) so maybe its some hold-over icky feelings? Let’s hope so… I am sure we are in for it.

It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted, the 3 people who might read my blog are probably figuring I’ve stopped. I’ve just been so busy at work that I haven’t really had the energy when I come home to sit down and write. Here are some disparate thoughts I’ve had that I want to jot down.

Amazingly its snowing in Seattle today and I’ve just about had it! Its April, people!

I am so looking forward to our upcoming trips to Mexico and Hawaii (does that sound spoiled?). Well, the family trip to Mexico is the most relaxing thing we can think off – we just have to survive the 8 hour journey with Stella, who is now so active. I just invested in kids earphones in the hope that she’ll relax watching Elmo on the flight. The kid never sits still other than when Elmo is on. We are trying NOT to watch it, fairly successfully, but once in a while I succumb to needing a free babysitter while I cook or do groceries.

Stella is quite a little thing. She’s discovered “rides” on daddy’s back, which is really cool. They are definitely a kid when they can ride on your back around. However, she isn’t consistent about holding on so we are nervous still. She’s using lots of words and even said “Daddy home” the other day which is the first construction of a sentence.

This morning Mike was getting ready for work and heard Stella saying “daddy” from her crib on the monitor. She’s obviously gotten the hang of our routine where Daddy gets her in the morning. But then once she’s up she says Mommy until he brings her in to see me too.

I’ve introduced Stella to milkshakes of frozen berries and milk and she loves it. I’ve heard you can do some other interesting concoctions of more savory things so maybe we’ll try that.

Yesterday I had to go to work early so I had to wake up Stella, which I must admit is one of my favorite things to have to do. I rub her back slowly and brush back her hair – its this great moment when she’s not moving around to just stroke her and sooth her and I love it.

I am in a routine of going to the gym every morning before work and its going really well. I love getting back while the house is still quiet and just having my shake and reading the news. Its great to have that alone time.

We had a great visit with my parents a few weekends back. I can tell Stella had a lot of fun with Noni and Bapa. And its so fun for me to see them interacting with her. We went to a beach and picked up rocks – my dad showed his everlasting skills at skipping rocks – and we had some fun meals out.

And last weekend we had Stella outside twice at parks, so I am really looking forward to this summer when she can be outside a lot more. She just loves running around without limits. We did do one dinner at Tutta Bella Pizzeria which is this big family place = nightmare! Stella would NOT sit down for one minute, literally. Had to be running around the whole restaurant the entire time. I don't think we’ll be back there, its too stimulating. We did, however, have a much more relaxed meal at a smaller cafe.

Mike and I went out on a date with our friends Cassie and John on Saturday to Barrio on Capitol Hill. Love the scene of that place, totally fun! The food wasn’t as good as I remembered. But a real meal and margaritas with friends?? Priceless.

I’ve been busy working on invites and cards for Mike’s sister Karen’s wedding. I love crafting at night after Stella goes to bed. Its kind of mindless but satisfies my need to use my creative side. And I ordered Stella’s flower girl dress, which I can’t wait to see.

Ok, that’s probably enough for now. Love to all!

So, I knew DLS would be a hard adjustment. But I feel like its actually changed my daughter into a wee-devil! Well, she may also not feel well because of a cold, AND we have been trying to wean her off her pacifier, so perhaps its not all DLS’s fault, but I will blame that anyway.

Before the lack of sleep hit us, we did have a lovely weekend. Saturday we went out with two families we love – so we had 3 toddlers out at one dinner table. It actually went smoother than I anticipated, but I did have 1.5 Patron margaritas so that helps.

Sunday Stella and I went to a local park with a great playground and had lots of fun. She just goes and goes and goes. She sat down in the dirt and played for a while sifting it in her fingers, which was good. I worry that my fear of getting my own hands dirty is limiting her exposure to some of life’s finer experiences. :)

Here she is making a goofy face.