Wassailing

So, we went to a carol service at the local church on Sunday. As the congregation launched into "Once in Royal David's City", Stella preferred to regale those there gathered with a moving rendition of "When Santa Got Stuck Up The Chimney". Later, "While Shepherds Watched" was sung in harmony with the topical "Baa Baa Black Sheep".

Christmas Fairy

It was fancy dress time at the nursery Christmas party this week and Stella made a very cool Christmas fairy with jeans under her tutu!

Stella at Little Buds

A few weeks after Africa was born Stella had to unexpectedly move to a new nursery called Little Buds. Fortunately lots of her friends and carers from Apple Tree came with her and she has been having a wonderful time there. Here she is pictured at the Christmas Party enjoying her pizza.

Meeting Father Christmas for the first time

It was a nerve wracking event but Stella was very pleased with her bag of goodies!

Stella is two and a half

Well, she was two and half about a month ago, so it must be time for an update. Stella is a bundle of fun at the moment. She talks from the moment she wakes up to the moment she falls asleep. Whether anyone is listening to her or not! Her favourite words are "Why?" and "No!", and she gets one or other of these in just about every sentence she utters. It's amazing to me and Tim how fervent her negativity can be. Consequently we are becoming experts in reverse psychology. "No, don't eat those vegetables!", "No, don't put your coat on!", "No, don't go to bed!" Our success is mixed, and anyone listening in to our conversations might be bewildered, but at least it gives us a laugh or two!

Stella loves to play make believe. She spends hours with her little dolls talking to them, arguing with them, telling them off and generally having fun! She's still a big fan of books. In fact, she would sit all day listening to you read, if you gave her the chance. She also loves CBeebies, but fortunately they only exist at Grandma and Granddad's house at the moment so we don't have to decide just how much TV is healthy! She will happily sit for an hour in front of the computer watching DVDs like Charlie and Lola and Peppa Pig though, and now she's decided that she won't nap during the day this gives me at least a little rest.

Other favourite activities are painting, drawing and going to the park. She seems to love her nursery, Little Buds, where they do plenty of all the above. They tell me she's a bit nervous of outsiders coming into the nursery like Malcolm the dance teacher and George the music man, but she seems to be getting used to them and the other week she stood at the front of everyone when George came and did a dance.

Stella seems to be adapting well to being a big sister. She likes to hold Affy and talk to her and try and make her smile. Sometimes her affection is a bit too violent for the good of her eleven week old sister, but no animosity seems to be intended!

Moving target!

It's becoming increasingly hard to capture Stella on camera, partly because she's so busy that she doesn't like to stop, and also because I usually have a heavy baby strapped around me these days so it's quite hard to wield a camera at the same time.

Anyway, here are two recent pictures. The first was taken at Halloween. We risked trick or treating after we had such fun in the US last year. We had been told one particular street in Stoke Newington was friendly to the activity and so we went there with some friends. Stella didn't really fancy going up to anyone's door to say trick or treat, but she was very happy when the older children brought her back some booty.


I'm not sure whether I should post the next picture as it makes me look like a bit of a bad mum... taking photos when my daughter is crying! But as the reality of the life of a two year old includes lots of tears I thought I would put up this picture taken after Stella had jumped off a swing in mid flight. Of course daddy is doing a good job of consoling.

Stella is a big sister

Stella's sister Africa was born on September 25th and now Stella seems like a giant! She's quickly getting used to the new addition to the family and is thankfully learning how not to kill her with affection. Stella has been enjoying all the attention from visitors and all the gifts that Africa seems to have brought along with her!

Two years and three months

Getting to be quite a big girl now. Stella is looking forward to being a big sister very soon. She now goes to nursery at Apple Tree three days a week and has lots of fun there learning songs, dancing, painting and playing in the garden. When not at nursery she likes going to Art Club, the park, swimming and story time at the library. She's still a big fan of books. Current favourites are the Little Princess Books and books about Mog the Cat.

Babyccino!!

Stella's drink of choice in London and Italy is the North London invention of Babyccino. It's a mini cappuccino without the coffee, but with the sprinkly chocolate on top. Granddad is also known to make a wicked babyccino at home, making trips to the Lake District a big hit.

Italy and Icepops

Stella is just back from a wonderful 10 day holiday in Italy at an Agrotourismo near Parma called Cergallina. She had a great time thanks to the perfect combination of seven of her cousins to play with and a diet of pasta and ice cream (and some ice pops).... What more could a two year old ask for?

She's chattier than ever these days and is following in her father's footsteps, mastering the art of rational (and often irrational!) argument. Favourite sentences go along the lines of "No I can't go to bed mummy, because I'm a big girl" or "No I can't eat my vegetables, because they're too prickly" and so on. I can see fun ahead!

Enjoying the English summer

The weather has been hot and Stella has been enjoying splashing around in the paddling pool with her cousins Fabio and Massimo. She's very happy at nursery these days, and it's a struggle to get her out of the door at the end of the day. Her other favourite thing to do is watch Bod or Charlie and Lola on my computer. She's watched them so many times that I think she can recite them word for word by now!

And now I am two!

Stella celebrated her second birthday on May 13th with five of her cousins - Martha, George, Molly, Massimo and Fabio, two aunts, two uncles and mum and dad. Lots of fun was had by all and yes, she did blow out the candles!

Cheeky!

As Stella approaches her second birthday she's becoming increasingly cheeky and strong willed! She likes to enunciate each syllable very clearly just to make sure we've understood: "I_Want_A Bread_Stick_Mum_Mee" and especially first thing in the morning when Tim and I are hardly awake "I_Want_Some_Weet_A_Bix_Down_Stairs_With_A_Silver_Spoon". It reminds me of a British Person trying to be understood in a foreign land, or maybe she just thinks her parents are stupid. I guess given the speed of our response sometimes she might be right to think this.

She still seems to be settling into her nursery, Apple Tree. Every time we go there she tells me "Mummy will drop you off and Mummy will pick you up" as if to reassure herself. When at home her favourite things are listening to nursery rhymes, drawing (read: scribbling) with crayons especially on furniture, getting all the pans and pots out of the cupboard and pretending to cook, changing her bear's nappies and being read to.

We recently had a lovely time on holiday in Ireland where Stella became very attached to life in a "HoTail" and going to restaurants. Mummy was relieved to be home and not have to worry about plates and cutlery flying towards other guests at meal times.

Settling in...

It's a sure sign that we're finally getting on top of things after the move that I have some time to update Stella's blog. Apologies for the silence.

Stella settled back into London life much quicker than either of her parents. She is over the moon to have her two cousins, Fabio and Massimo, next door to play with. She's also been enjoying the chance to catch up with all the other 9 cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents much more frequently.

All being well, in six months or so, Stella is going to have another big life change to cope with when she becomes a big sister. I'm not sure she's quite grasped the concept yet because apart from enthusiastically pointing to my stomach and announcing "There's a baby in there" she also does the same to her own tummy, and even this weekend to her granddad's! I think we need to be careful as the next recipient of this friendly banter may not be quite so good humoured about it...

Despite displays to the contrary when I say goodbye in the morning, Stella seems to be having lots of fun at her new nursery, Apple Tree. She loves the "singing, singing and dancing" in particular but is also a big fan of the painting, drawing and garden. Probably Stella's favourite part of the nursery regime is the white sliced bread which they get at lunch time. She loves it so much that they've nick-named her "Bread Girl". When I ask her what she did during the day "Bread" is the most common answer. Still only the crusty brown variety at home though.

Stella's language continues to explode beyond our belief. We've decided that "floppy ears" is a good name for her these days because even the most subtle of conversations seem to get repeated back at us. We are learning that we need to be careful. One popular four letter word has already been making embarrassing appearances, so we will need to wash our mouths out.

The picture above is at grandma and grandad's local park in the lake district and the one below at Kenwood House on Hampstead Heath, a favourite outing for us these days.

Lots more to tell, but I'll try and get back to monthly posts rather than infrequent and lengthy ones!

Something different

Sorry for the lack of updates recently. Things have been very busy getting ready for the big move back to the UK next week. In the meantime Stella is busy expanding her vocabulary. She now amazes us by reciting entire books (Peek a Boo and Chicken Soup and Rice are the current favourites) nursery rhymes (Hey Diddle Diddle, Twinkle Twinkle) and by finishing sentences whenever we stop reading the books she knows well. I don't think she really understands what it means when we say we're moving to London, but she's got her responses off pat, it goes something like this. Fran:"Next week we're moving back to London, Stella" Stella: "Fabio, Massimo, Giuliana, Paul, Apple Tree, Children" I think she's got the idea of what it will entail! Apple Tree is the name of the nursery where she will be going two days a week once we get back.

These pictures were from my final project at the Corcoran Art class I did last semester. Thanks to my brother in law for the beautiful backgrounds.