Little Sailors

Stella is a sailor now. Our friends, the Shammels invited us out for a dinner on their boat last night, and Stella and her buddy Isaac had us thoroughly entertained as we enjoyed a peaceful sunset dinner on Bellingham Bay. While Stella is currently a bit unsure of tractors and cranes, she held no reservations when it came to the boat. She was thrilled to color in the cozy cabin, wrestle with Isaac in the bed and track the moon as we motored through the bay. Thank you, Lena and Kris, for the wonderful invite!

Of course, Stella was more than thrilled to steer for a bit.

The following pictures crack me up. Isaac is working really hard to look cool in his cap and glasses while Stella is a little ham bone.

And thanks to Auntie Tricia for the fabulous winter caps that still fit! The wee noggins were snug and warm all night thanks to you.

L'Artiste

This is a common sight at our kitchen table these days. Stella has always loved to color and paint, but her interest has taken on a new level of focus and joy. Stella now asks to paint and draw several times a day. And it's such a pleasure to watch her dive into her wee but oh-so-grand visions. As she draws, she tells me about her pictures - "Here's Grandpa Harte climbing a mountain" or "Mama, I drew Vinnie and Cooper!" - and I never tire of hearing her little voice describe her view of the world.

So the other day, as I was preparing lunch and Stella was drawing, she suddenly exclaimed, "MAMA!!!!!" She was beside herself with excitement and, as I realized a moment later, pride. As I walked toward her beaming little face, she screamed out...

"I drew a smiley face! Mama, I did it!"

I hate that I immediately crumpled into a Hallmark cliche and nearly started crying. But geez, to see our beloved feel such pride and to see the impressive reason for that pride was pretty darn moving.

And you've gotta love the sort of Tin Tin-needing-reassurance quality of the smiley face. And what a wicked pony tail.

So we draw a lot of smiley faces now, and we're moving onto mountains and waves and even a few letters. And sure, Stella sometimes masters one object and then has trouble duplicating such genius - I think Matisse had the same problem - but she's thoroughly immersing herself in a world of color and form and creativity which is all we can ask for, right?

Whole-Hearted

One of the things we love about Stella is how she throws herself into every activity with such whole-hearted enthusiasm. (Sure, we know most two year olds do this. But come on, she's ours and we're supposed to brag. Right?) From making make-believe muffins in her play kitchen to looking for ants in the garden to enjoying a picnic dinner outside this evening, Stella embraces everything in this life with bravado and joy. And such zest - yes, zest - is contagious, thank goodness. Yet again, this spectacular kids pulls off the incredible feat of reminding two tired but jazzed parents how lucky we are to simply wake up to this pretty rockin' world.

These pictures kill me. They almost concern me. When did my wee Scout start preparations for the Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest? And who taught her to chug like a keg-loving pro? Too funny. In any case, Stella's enthusiasm for EVERYTHING and her exploding imagination is keeping us super busy and oh-so-entertained. (Stay tuned for a full report on Stella and her new buddy Peter. Yes, an incredibly tiny but fantastically important make-believe rabbit from the land of Beatrix Potter now resides in our home. And Stella is beyond thrilled.... more later.)