johnson family tales: stella lately

So happy 95% of the time

I haven't given a Stella-focused update in awhile, so here goes. The girl just cracks me up, challenges me, and makes my heart melt multiple times each day. From the moment she wakes up and cuddles with me for a few minutes in bed (this morning she laid on Brett's pillow next to me while I fed Grace and observed that the pillow 'smelled like Daddy') to her sweet interactions with her baby sister to trying to climb the counter to reach the candy dish (yeah, I think I'm going to have to stop buying candy) to having a decided opinion on what she wants to wear every day (today it was her twirly dress) to never wanting to wear socks even on the most frigid, subzero days, to her love for Caribou turkey bacon mini sandwiches...ok, you get the idea.

Today was another incredibly cold day. She has been expressing interest in potty training the last month or so, and she's gone on the toilet successfully at least a few times a week. Today we have been working on it a little more, and so far so good! I still haven't bought underwear for her, so we're going to do that soon to make potty training even more official. Since it's been so cold today, we've focused more on it, and she is SO proud of herself. She LOVES her princess toilet training seat even though she's a little bummed none of the princesses is wearing a purple dress.

She is really into these books lately. Sometimes she has me read one of them eight times in a row. How do kids not tire of the same thing over and over again???

Yesterday I bundled her up to head out to my mom's to drop her off while I took Grace to her two-month appointment. Stella observed that it would be hard for her to get/pick up candy (M&Ms in the candy dish) while wearing mittens. Like I said, she cracks me up.

The other day she asked me if Brett worked at Target. I don't know how these questions pop into her head.

When we listen to a BSF song (on cd in the car) about saying sorry when we've done something wrong, she always says "like Jonah". Somehow she made that connection, and she always asks Brett to read that Bible story to her. When he reads the part that Jonah says sorry to God and goes to Nineveh, she yells, "GOOD JOB, JONAH!!!" Before she was only interested in how Jonah had been naughty, but now she's excited that God helped him change his ways and obey.

She is very into Brett these days. She worships the ground he walks on! Sometimes we'll hear the heat coming on in the house or some other noise, and she just assumes it's the garage door opening and Brett pulling in. When he walks in the door, she always greets him enthusiastically and asks him if he wants chicken or whatever else we're having for dinner. Yesterday she greeted him at the door holding her new princess toilet seat and telling him that it wasn't purple. LOL!

I'm still having quite the time getting her to eat well. It's so frustrating. I want her to eat healthy, and I don't think I've been the greatest role model for that lately because I feel so rushed or I'm always feeding Grace or taking care of something that I tend to grab carb-centric foods instead of good protein/fat/carb foods. (You can read all about the good protein/fat/carb combo by clicking on the link "Dietician Cassie" to the right of this blog entry under my favorite blogs). I really want my kids to eat healthy!!! I hate that I'm slacking in that area.

While playing with her Mr. Potato Head one day, I heard her whisper to it, "You're so cute."

I recently bought a new little rug for the mudroom for our wet shoes and boots. She noticed it and said, "Cool rug, Mom." So affirming! Haha.

While playing at the library one day last week, a younger toddler handed her a toy, and she ran over to tell me about the girl sharing with her, and added, "THAT'S SO NICE!"

Sometimes when Grace is crying right next to me, or even when I'm holding her, Stella comes up to me and informs me that 'Grace is crying, Mommy!' She is on top of everything, I guess.

She continues to love Sound of Music, so I bought her the soundtrack to listen to. When she requests watching a few scenes from the movie (she only likes the singing parts with the kids), she asks if she can watch "Bar-ee-yah and the Kids". For some reason she cannot pronounce "Maria" for the life of her. I have her repeat it after me, but it comes out as Bareeyah every time.

She continues to love BSF, and I can't wait to see how much she loves the music and play class that is starting up soon! She is at SUCH a fun age. The world is so fascinating to her, and she's so enthusiastic about pretty much everything. I never know what she is going to say! The other day we were getting ready for BSF, and she exclaimed loudly to me: "Mommy, you look SO PRETTY!"

The other day I was finishing up nursing Grace in one room, and Stella was playing in her room. Grace spit up, and I made some kind of sound like, "Blech!" or "Yuck" and the next thing I knew, Stella was running to me with a burp cloth! She likes to help in any way she can with Grace. Yesterday I was getting lunch ready or something in the kitchen, Stella was playing, and Grace was hanging out in her swing. Grace started to fuss, so I walked into the living room to see Stella running over to her with a book to read to her to calm her down. When she plays with Grace, she likes to say things like, "What do you think?" to her and other sweet little phrases. Having two is fun because I get to see Stella talk to her and show her things and then see Grace respond and kick excitedly.