Short Stack

I now find beautiful little piles of blocks all over the house and I love it.

Stella now builds. She's really intrigued with her blocks all of a sudden and has moved past the hilarious phase of sheer destruction. Instead of indiscriminately obliterating all towers and mazes Mama artfully constructs for her amusement, she now takes part in the creation. I love it.

What cracks me up is that she makes a little pile, drags the basket of blocks to another spot in the room and then creates another. It's almost as if she's instigating a modern sculpture installation in our home. Again, I love it.

The other night, I actually left one of the sculptures in the center of room as I was cleaning up because it was frankly so pretty to me.

Here are two of my favorites from the last few days.

The Chickpea and The Peanut: Part Two

Stella took her second plane ride this weekend as we journeyed to Berkeley again to visit our dear friends, Alex, Erik and Ava Jane. Stella traveled beautifully, befriending those who sat near us, and enjoyed watching and playing with her big girl buddy, Ava, throughout the weekend.

A sweet kiss.

Post kiss giggles.

While Stella and Ava managed pretty well considering they really don't know one another, they did hit some speed bumps along the way. Understandably, Ava felt possessive of her toys as this new kid was running around her pad. And understandably, Stella felt frustrated that she couldn't play with everything Ava had. They both had a few tough moments.

But all in all, they did beautifully and managed to share several lovely moments playing together. I know Ava will be talking about Stella for quite some time, and I know Stella learned a lot from watching a big girl like Ava. (It's crazy, but a ten week difference in age at this point is momentous.)

Stella spent a lot of time swinging in the backyard. This girl loves speed and the dizzies.

Alex and Erik were kind enough to host a mini Forest Ridge reunion on Saturday night. It was wonderful to see Nancy and Rebeka (and Brian's childhood friend, Chi-hui!). Stella loved playing with Luke, Nancy's oldest son, and was fascinated by Kirk, Nancy's new baby. It's always great to see old pals who, after living our lives separately for nearly fifteen years, still feel like dear friends.

Both Stella and Ava find dogs amazing. They're obsessed. So when Stella received a big ol' sloppy kiss from this fella at the park, she was thrilled. Her Papa and I were grossed out, but that's neither here nor there.

Cutie Patooties.

A quiet moment watching the planes land and take off.

While it's always good to be home - especially with an active toddler - we already miss our buddies. Thank you, Alex, Erik and Ava, for such a fun weekend. We love you to the moon!

Thwarted

We have bad pumpkin juju.

Or so we thought last year when we hauled around a not-even three month old Stella with our dear friends, the Poulsons, to pick some pumpkins and came up empty handed.

We've been picking pumpkins with these pals for nearly ten years, and we always have a fantastic time "on the hunt." (It's been an amazing record of how quickly time flies and children grow. I can remember Abby and Isaac as wee ones running through fields with clippers and spending hours elaborately carving our prizes in their kitchen.)

So since we were so dismally disappointed last year, I took it upon myself to find a farm that would surely have oodles of pumpkins. Yes, oodles.

We searched far. We searched hard. We tromped through what we were told were the patches, but we ended up...

... here?

It seems the pumpkin patch I had so lovingly researched was a bit on the sparse side, and we were pretty much skunked.

Again.

Eric suspects the pumpkin gods are frowning upon us because we failed to carve our pumpkins three years ago. Bad pumpkin juju. I fear he's on to something.

Fortunately, it was one of those amazingly crisp and clear days in the northwest, and we simply enjoyed ourselves catching up, breathing the fresh air and eating some delicious apple pie.

After admitting defeat, we journeyed to the only place we knew would offer an overflowing abundance of pumpkin-ey goodness - our local supermarket.

This is the beauty of life with a toddler. Stella was happy at the farm, and she was happy at the market. She really didn't seem to see any difference between the two, and we were just happy to be together in the crisp autumn sun.

Fall Is In the Air

To celebrate Papa's homecoming this weekend, we headed to Cloud Mountain Farm for their annual Apple Festival. We love tasting the countless varieties of apples, grapes and pears and walking around the pumpkin patch. Lena, Kris and Isaac joined us, and the kids had a blast running around the farm and dancing to the xylophone band. Stella was particularly intrigued by the pumpkin cart and wanted to touch (and chew on) just about every gourd.

Stella took a gnarly face plant this weekend and now looks like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. (We actually think she looks pretty cute, plus we know this is just one of many bumps and scrapes to come. This girl is a bruiser!)

Stella's first pumpkin patch.

This picture kills me. Stella loves Isaac. Lena and I often find her trying to hug and kiss him. The amusing part is that Isaac merely tolerates this affection. They're starting to develop a real kinship, but kissing isn't usually on Isaac's To Do list with Stella...

...but he occasionally caves.

Oh, the bounty.

Feelin' the Rocks

Stella and I have been walking a lot lately. Before her nap and before bath time, we head out to the streets and explore the neighborhood. Seeing as she screams with glee every time I ask her if she wants to go out for a walk, I think she enjoys our ritual strolls.

Every time a car, bike or jogger passes, Stella waves enthusiastically. Nobody ever told me how indignant I would feel about those who don't wave back at my baby. I mean, come on. How cute do you have to be to elicit a quick wave? I am, however, pleasantly comforted by how many people do wave (especially burly guys in big trucks). It reminds me that babies (and pregnant bellies) make people smile. They yank us out of our daily grind and remind us how ridiculously cute it is to be a tiny human.

This morning, Stella stopped about a half a block away from our house to point at some pretty lanterns hanging from a neighbor's porch. She was amazed. She then pointed to about every leaf she could find on the sidewalk and grass. And then she moved on to picking up every stick she could find. I must admit that this is when I started to get impatient. Weren't we on this walk to... walk? Weren't we out to get some fresh air and move around? Let's go, Buddy. Let's go.

And that's when another non-earth shattering but oh-so-important revelation hit me - it's important to stop and feel the rocks.

Yup, we didn't smell roses. We felt rocks.

Stella found a fascinating stretch of pebbles and dust in an alleyway and spent about twenty minutes touching each rock and pushing around the dust. She was absolutely and thoroughly content.

All of this reminds me of my favorite scene in the movie Amelie where Amelie dips her hand in the bags of lentils and legumes at the corner food stand just for the delightful sensory experience.

Simply put, rocks and dirt feel good in our fingers. Toddlers know this.

After our twenty minutes of feelin' the rocks, Stella smiled at me, stood up, and started to walk toward home. I couldn't stop laughing. She was done, she knew it and it was time to head home.

I love these daily strolls and eagerly anticipate what Stella will find fascinating tonight.

Dear Papa

Dear Papa,

Oh, how I miss you! I know you've only been in the Netherlands since Saturday, but it sure feels like it's been ages since we last hugged. And that's just too long.

Mama and I have had a wonderfully busy week so far. Right after we waved bye bye to you at the airport, we drove to Seattle to visit Grandma and Poppy. We had a blast. We got to have dinner with Uncle Bob and Cindie (and Christine and Abel) and explore their house. What fun it is to take everything off of shelves and tables! We also got to see Uncle Chris, Aunt Lisa, Olivia and Eva Maria and Charles on Sunday during brunch. Poppy made his famous pancakes - YUM! - and I got to play with my big girl cousins at the park. I also got to see television for the first time. Mama only let me watch about five minutes, but I was captivated! You can see me above absolutely enthralled as Eva Maria and Olivia giggle. What fun.

I had a really fun time exploring the zoo with Mama and Poppy on Monday. We saw grizzly bears and a super cute grey fox, but my favorite parts were seeing the otters swim and riding the carousal like a big girl. It was my first ride and I waved to Poppy and watched all the other horses move up and down. It was amazing.

Mama and I drove home yesterday to see Vinnie and Cooper. I gave Vinnie a gigantic hug and kiss when I arrived. He seemed pretty pleased to see me. I tried to kiss Cooper but she ran. She's so funny.

Grandma Jannie came over today and I got to show her my Spanish picture book. Did you know she gives really nice hugs? I'm excited to play with her again tomorrow when Mama takes a few hours for herself. (I have no idea what that means. What could she ever do without me?)

This week has sure been fun, Papa, but I miss you. Mama tells me you love me to the stars and beyond every morning and every night. I know it's true. I love you too. I can't wait to show you all my new tricks and give you bug cuddles. Mama says you're coming home soon. Hurry, Papa. Hurry.

I love you!

Your little bean,
Stella Scout