Let Her Eat Rice...

Stella Josephine has her first dose of heaven... Gerber's Rice Cereal!!!

Such a delight!
Give me more, Mommy!

1/3 of a year...

So, we just got back from Stella Josephine's four month well-baby checkup and let me tell you, she was a real trooper.

The bad news-- About five minutes into our appointment, we found out that Stella needed her second round of vaccinations, putting Mommy (not baby) into total meltdown mode. You see, the last round of shots did not end so well. I refused to hold our precious newborn in a locked arm position while she got nailed by four, long (repeat: LONG) needles in her gams. So, I made Jason. Long story short, Jason fought her arms down while lovingly staring into her eyes whispering words like "It's okay, Buddy"... Stella knew better than to trust Daddy that week: "Who you calling 'Buddy?!'" She wouldn't let him hold her without screaming bloody murder for several days. Mommy's no dummy.

You will be relieved to know this go around we were (okay, Jason was) much smarter. We made the evil nurses administer the four torturous shots while we left the room. Much to our surprise, however, Stella seemed relatively unscathed... she smiled at us as soon as we walked in. I swear I heard her say, "Bring it on."

Now for the well-baby report you've all been waiting for:

Weight: 13lbs, 12 oz (My little chunk! She's still only in the 50th percentile-- average-- for her age. Hard to believe with those cheeks!)

Height: 25 1/4" (70th percentile)

The doctor says we can start feeding Stella rice cereal. This news was very exciting. The pictures are the pre and post puncture shots, as well as Stella's very first box of rice cereal. More shots of her actually eating the cereal to come... baited breath, people... baited breath.

Bald is Beautiful

Not only does Stella get a healthy dose of musical culture, she has been taught the importance of good hair and having a good stylist...

For now, this is Stella's select hair style...

Meet Ken Paves. I mean, Heath Hamilton.

Hairstylist to the Stars-- or, maybe just Stella's Mom.

Bathing Suit Ready

we ARE going to Maui, after all...

My BFF Kathy

So, some of you may remember that Jason and my two year anniversary is September 25th. We will be celebrating officially in Maui. This past week, however, Jason decided to surprise me with a special dinner guest while we were visiting Los Angeles. I'm a huge fan of Kathy Griffin. I think her standup and her reality show are hilarious. Her shtick is to make fun of every celebrity she knows. It's really quite entertaining. If you've never watched, now is the time to hit the DVR and start Season 1 & 2. Season 3 should be on Bravo here next month.

My favorite dialogue of the night goes like this:

Mary: "I'm sorry we have Stella with us...I know you joke in your standup that you don't like kids."

Kathy: "That's right. Kids are selfish."

She was kidding of course. Had to be there maybe... :)

Kindermusik

So, this post is for our family and friends who question whether Jason and I are truly working to cultivate Stella's mind and not just plunk her down in her Bumbo for some quality "Wiggles" time(Ps. For those of you who don't know, "The Wiggles" is a crazy-- repeat CRAZY-- morning show on Disney that competes with other borderline psychotic shows like the Bebops where grown men and women dance in flourescent colored wigs and paint their faces matching colors... and well, they're just plain scary).

Nowadays, there are all sorts of "educational" classes that swear by their ability to strengthen your child's motor skills, etc. For those of you who don't know or have never participated (you can go ahead and lump JKin in this category), these classes are borderline crazy. I mean, don't get me wrong...it's a great way to qualify your own insanity. You know, the hours upon hours a new mother spends singing and dancing and talking in goo language to entertain her child. Now, there is a whole class dedicated to this sort of behavior and it's called Kindermusik and well, I'm a true believer. Bottom line-- Stella Josephine digs it. She claps and coos and smiles and bounces. She's a regular Kindermusik prodigy and it's only class number 2.

Stay tuned for more updates on her musical adventures. That's right, we're hoping for the next Dilana (sans piercings). C'mon people, please tell me you at least watch Rockstar Supernova!

Rugrats

Meet Stella's new best friend, Lily Grace Govenar. These two are quite the team-- their moms get along rather nicely, too. :)

The Princess Has Her Own Blog...

I know what you're thinking... "More pictures and updates on their child! She's not even mine...How many bows does one child have?!" We hear ya-- loud and clear. We thought we'd put the Kodak Gallery to rest for now and do what so many obsessive parents do, blog away!

Think of it this way, you won't have to look unless you want to. This is your invitation to take a peak at our very exciting life. Welcome to StellaLand!