The Value of Swiss Miss

Cup of hot cocoa...~$2.00
Cup of hot cocoa with whip cream...~$2.25

Being able to drink hot cocoa with whip cream on YOUR time while your daughter sleeps and your husband is out with friends...priceless.

And Who Says TV is All Bad?

We had an impromptu playgroup on Thursday as Svan & Markus were to leave for Iceland the next day, and Christine, Luis & Robert were bound for the Dominican Republic. At one point, the kids started to get a bit fussy. Markus was ready to leave. It showed in the way he 'subtly' made his way to the door and answered with a clear and resounding 'yeah' when asked multiple times if he'd like to go.

The moms were not quite ready to leave eachother and so a request was made to turn on the TV.

Baby Einstein seemed to have had a way of hypnotizing this trio like no drug I've ever seen. Stella, Oscar & Markus were enthralled. Markus' face captures the epitome of the kids' emotions at the precise moment when they realize what is playing.

It gave us moms precious minutes to speak, uninterrupted, like adults. It was nice.

Bathtime

Bathtime is so fun. There are so many things to explore, new smells to smell, new containers to splash in the tub, new containers to pour water out of, foamy abc's to stick on the wall...plus it's warm and bubbly...and dad is there.

We are trying to make bathtime a 'Stella & Dad' time. She still gets a little fussy when mom is not around, or has water poured over her head, but is getting better and better. She does prefer to play with dad (mom's a little too maternal and predictable :)).

I think Stella & Dad are learning to unwind and bond this way...before Stella goes down for the night. I think they'll enjoy it more and more with time.

Hallow's Eve of '07

Great day today. Stella spent the morning hanging out with dad (he had taken the week off ot decompress and reconnect with the girl & mom was catching up on drs appts.). At about 3pm, the festivities began. Getting up from her nap, dad fed her, and put her into her costume to join the CSP crew at the park. They were to walk up to the starting point of the parade. Admittedly, dad confesses to how difficult it is to juggle all this in a short period of time (yaaay! minor victory for mom). He meets the crew (mom is still rushing home), and together they head towards 11th Street and Washington Street.

The report was that there were two dragons, one monkey, a pumpkin and a duck. Together, the crew enjoyed watching the parade, see their kids run amuck on the street in their costumes and watch other costume adorned kids & adults. Mom finally joined. We did not go trick or treating on Washington (all stores have buckets of candy at the ready to handout), we ended up back at the park as the kids all had had enough of the festivites.

After spending some time relaxing, we ended up going to an early dinner at Arthur's with Kathrin, Robert, Oscar, Christine, Luis', Stacey, David & Sienna. We knew at this point we were pushing it with Stella but still we chose to go trick or treating for about 1/2 hour with Stella's buddy Sienna and her parents. She had a decent haul. But she was more interested in checking out people's apts than getting candy. Best Halloween EVER!!!

Walkabout

So, on Saturday, Susan was busy and I had Stella. Stella is still going through a mommy-itis phase, and after her pre-requisite, 15 minute "mom left me forever" tantrum, i thought getting her out of the house would do her good.

Kicking and screaming, we left. By the time we were outside, our little princess had forgotten that mom, the Queen, even existed and still wasn't thrilled that i (the court jester...)was hanging around.

She began walking. i followed. and followed. and followed. After about a 20 minute trek through Hoboken, we stop at a building. She pointed to the open door. i figured, why not? let her explore... we walk in, she begins to break out into a jog, through labyrinth-style hallways. we see tenants. we both wave. i'm already concocting excuses in my head to defend our loitering...

Finally, after seemingly endless hallways, Stella points to a door and starts saying "gaghool" (clearly, "luis" in babbish speak). i look up and see the name "plecher" on the door. Then, it dawns on me, to my amazement, (wait for it... ) Stella had just led me to her friend luis plecher's home!

after catching my breath, i knock. sure enough, Christine (his mom, our friend) answered. Now, the craziest part of this story is that Stella had only been to luis' home twice, for playdate. i had never been. until that moment. you can imagine how my stomach dropped upon realizing what an impeccable sense of direction our 17 month old has.

clearly, she gets that from the court jester... : )

hence, without further ado, our journey...

Through Thick and Thin (especially for Bampi)

Stella went to the park today, holding her head high as she sported her Irish sweatshirt given by her grandparents...she even had matching barrettes and shoes. Rumor has it that there was a 2 year old wearing a Navy sweatshirt who was trying to give Stella a hard time. Needless to say, Stella rose to the challenge, pushed him aside and proceeded to run him over with her stroller. As her mother, I could not outwardly condone this type of behavior. However, I later gave her a cookie for 'no reason' :) Go Irish!

Here's her version of the story...it's very short and sweet.

Left & Right, Up & Down (For Nana)

Nana,
You'll be happy and proud to know that Stella is very much into the routine of 'brushing' her teeth. In the morning, once she's done watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and having breakfast, she gets dressed (now picking out what she wants to wear from two options), and brushes her teeth before leaving the house. Her toothbrush blinks a red light for 1 1/2 minutes. Often, when the light stops blinking, she hands it to me to make it start all over again. Looks like a promising start to healthy dental hygiene! I always tell her that no one is as happy as her Nana.

Mickey D's Please

In addition to his latest unsolicited promotion to Executive Producer, Scott just finished two spots (TV commercials) considered to be the best work out of his agency (Arnold Worldwide) to date...

He continues to have "The Indianapolis Colts are Still World Champions" on his work email signature line. It has been confirmed that he will not update it with his new shiney title.

Needless to say that we're very proud of him...but we all know that his best work (with my help)is Stella. Shine baby shine!

Playgroup Season

So far, Stella and I are in two organized playgroups: one is on Wednesdays and was organized through the Hoboken Moms' Network, the other was set up by a regular 'crew' that ends up at a neighborhood park the same time almost everyday. As the weather has become less park-conducive, we kicked off this playgroup a couple of weeks ago. Yesterday (Friday) was the second playgroup for the "CSP (Church Square Park) crew". It also commemorated the first playgroup hosted by me and Stella.

Of the 7 moms invited, 6 came and we had a great time. Within the first 1/2 hour, our place was a wreck littered with toys in all corners of the apt, toddlers stumbling and bumbling everywhere as the moms watched, drank some wine (or in my case lots of wine), ate and talked.

This is good for us. It teaches us to have fun beyond the parks and beyond eachother :). It's definitely a great alternative with the coming cold season. The kids are all very close in age - range is from 14-19 months. Overall, a success. Next week, Stella and I take the helm once again and host the Wednesday Hoboken Moms' playgroup. Let the fun begin!

Above: Markus & Madeline. Top page: Luis, Stella (in blue) & Madeline (in pink).

Casting Call

Like every parent, we think that our little wonder of a Stella girl is amazingly beautiful. I think everyone knows that I'm certainly not one of those freakish moms that need to prove it to the rest of the world and make her a model. No way. One of the greatest wishes I have for Stella is to stay a kid for as long as she can.

That being said...the other day, while perusing the Baby Gap site, I stumbled upon a contest entry section. Gap is having a 'casting call' for the next 2008 Baby Gap model. Winner gets some cool things - books, Kodak stuff, and most importantly a wardrobe from where we shop the most. Am I being a silly mom? No. I think I'm being a practical one. If Stella gets a new wardrobe and all she has to do is to take a few pix in San Fran - hey that's great. By no means do I want this to be the beginning of anything. If it happens, great. If not, no big deal. We're definitely not naive as to how the real world works. Curious minds do want to know where this will lead. We'll try anything once.

If you go to: http://kodak.eprize.net/gapcastingcall/index.tbapp?page=gallery and then within the 'Search' field type in susanleekemper@yahoo.com, you will see her entry pix. BTW, get ready to vote come 11/20 - 12/15 if she makes it into the final round!!!

Pumpkin Picking

Last Sunday, a day after Scott got home from LA, we went with Christine, Robert & Luis to Terhune Orchards. Heard about this through the moms' group and this was a big enough place where they had an apple orchard, pumpkin patch, petting zoo and food. Bingo. It was about an hour away from Hoboken in Princeton, NJ. Beautiful campus town - had we known, we would've made a day of it. Stella and Luis had a great time. We spent a couple of hours exploring and came home with a papa, mama and baby pumpkins (as we did last year). Soon to be carved...New family tradition!

Scott favorite learning tidbit: The origin of the word corn means "a country's main grain product. in some countries, their corn is rice, in our country, our corn is corn". We've been hearing this for about a week. sigh*

We find it particularly funny - and suitable - that Scott decided to poke his head out of a cow's rear.

A Message for Dad in LA

During dinner tonight, Stellars reached out for her canisters of Play-Doh. As she had just about finished her meal, I gave them to her and anticipated about 10 minutes of her 'stacking' canister play. To my surprise, she wanted them opened and wanted to actually play with the Play-Doh.

We really missed you just then because we know you to be the King of Play-Doh play. Nonetheless, mom tried to be as fun as dad (tried). Stella did well on her own. This is a glimpse. Hopefully, it'll make you smile and feel that you are here. We miss you.

P.S. This was edited very roughly as there is so much you can do with 3 minutes of footage against a 3 minute song. Plus, I didn't want to spend all night with it as I'm racing to get this to you before you sleep tonight.

We love you.

Conner Introduces Stella to ROCKS!

During our weekend in Mt. Arlington, Stella sees Conner and he introduces her to how cool rocks are. Let the fun begin!

Stella Speaks

Her words to date:

1. dada
   
2. baby (pronounced "may-beeee")


3. choo choo (pronounced ka koo")


4. truck (pronounced "cluck")


5. bus


6. stella (pronounced "della")


7. no (our personal favorite)


8. thank you (pronounced "gen-goo")
9. bye bye (prounounced "bah-bye")
10. uh oh
11. shoes
12. plane
13. mama & uhm-ma (mom in korean)
14. kak-goong (peek-a-boo in korean)
15. head
16. pat pat
17. daddy
18. eddie (one of our concierge who's really nice to stella)

She also just speaks a lot of gibberish in a constant flow. She is talking, beyond googoo gaga. We just don't know what she's saying.

Nicknames to Date

Bandee (Korean Name; means bright star)

Stellars

Little Wonder

Wonder Woman

Turd

Slappy

Bear

The Girl

September 2007

today is september 10, 2007. but i didn't want to put that in the heading section due to it being so close to the date we don't speak of. i've been watching and enjoying everything that susan has done here on the s3k blogsite, that i felt inspired to write my second entry. so, from daddy, here goes: Stella has really begun to communicate verbally. the other day, she said her first fully pronounced word. "baby". she has been saying "mama" and "dada" for months now. she mumbles alot but she thinks she's saying something. looks directly at us and makes a noise. then looks at us as if we're the dummies because we don't understand "babbish". really funny and cute. she also makes a barking noise when she sees a dog (sometimes she makes a barking noise when she sees me.... take what you will from that : ). she runs out on to the terrace to see the "choo choo". which she pronounces as "ka koo".

today was also her first music class. it's called music for aardvarks. we're not sure why stella is an aardvark, but now she is.... and we love her no matter what type of creature she is. as for events in the past few months, her biggest milestone was walking which happened mid-july 2007. i would venture to say july 10. give or take two days. now, in early september, she's nearly running.

U.S. Open

Our first U.S. Open. Was fun watching Federer & Djokovic. Great seats!!! Right next to players' family section.

Artsy Stella

Mom buys Stella some crayons.

The Summer Trilogy (of '07)

This is a year in the making...sadly these are summer 07 videos (not summer 08).


The reason it took so long is due to the concept: one video per month (june, july, august). From here forward, forever to be known as "The Summer Trilogy".


(This is Susan. I love the videos but the titles...come on...really?!?! Star Trek... I mean Star Wars? what a dork.)


Part 1 (june '07) below:
"Summer Wars"

Part 2 (july '07):
"The Summer Strikes Back"

Part 3 (August '07):
"Return of the Summer"

daddy's first blog entry

well, i just returned from the lumberjack world championships in hayward, wisconsin. gone for 5 days. really way too long. really happy to be home... but stella still has a little mommy-itis, although she started warming up to me again before she went to bed. i love her so much and sometimes i feel like she likes me, but she's not sure she loves me...

i'm just being sensitive. no biggie. just wanted to talk it out.

plus, this is only a test.

next stop: kings island!!

Stella is Walken

And we thought crawling was bad...Stella's parents come quickly to the realization that they will never sit again...

In all seriousness though, with walking, comes mental milestones as she develops a whole new level of understanding, a sense of humor, and talking. So far, she's saying her versions of "Choo choo", "Truck", "Bye bye", "Dada", and "Baby". Scott feels that Stella has truly graduated from 'creature' status to become more of a human being. He has more fun with her.

During this Stella goes through a pretty severe phase of mommy-itis. She wakes several times in the night inconsolable and very much afraid (of wandering too far?). Needless to say, she has gotten over this and now wanders further than mommy's comfort level will allow.

And here's to chasing...

Stella and Natasha Speak on the Phone

Stella and Mom met Karen and Natasha for lunch on a summer Friday. After lunch we met Dad at the park and hung out. Stella, who had long been obsessed with the phone found someone who was just as obsessed. She gets a kick out of talking to Natasha.

Father's Day Gift

Stella concepts an awesome video to give to her dad for Father's Day #2. All the moments to depict their time together.

To: dad
Love: your little girl

***Special Posting*** Stella's First Birthday

Okay, Stella is almost two now...we've been a little busy with our little girl and capturing more footage of her than we'll ever know what to do with. It took a little longer to edit this together but I think it was worth the wait. Scott did a great job as he always does.

To commemorate this occasion, we're leaving this posting with today's date. We'll then move it in its chronological place. We know we're dorks. That's okay. That's what we hear happens to cool people when they become parents.

Can you believe that Stella's almost TWO!?!?!?!

Into the World of Mobility

It seems like forever ago when Stella first started to crawl although at the time, we couldn't wait until she was somewhat mobile. Goes to show how you should always live in the moment and enjoy what you have now before it changes in a blink of an eye.

This is a video of our little girl working her way into the world of mobility. The chapter where she was a 'log' ends for us as Stella no longer stays put.