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.