I Swear My Baby Was Born in the U.S.

Priceless

• Mom's Canon PowerShot camera: $130
  
• New outfit from abuelita (la Mom) Diaz: $15
  
• Hanging out with Luisa and borrowing her hair barrette and bib: priceless

The Flying Nun

Dear Luisa:

I like to wear diapers on my head, too, but I flip them out a little because it makes my head look slimmer. My mommy said I looked like the flying nun, but I don't know what that is because I was born in 2009 and I'm not familiar with old school stuff. I am glad I got to see you today for a little while, but we couldn't give each other hugs and kisses because you're sick. I hope you feel better soon so I can go hang out with you and we can wear diapers on our heads together.

Besitos,

Stella

California Girl!

Ever since Stella and I got our zoo passes, we've been going out more often and as you can see, the little girl has been getting some sun. Although it's not quite noticeable, Stella is not a pale as she used to be. I had to buy her sunglasses and a hat to keep her translucent skin protected from the sun. I also got her baby sunblock SPF 10,000+ (OK, I'm exaggerating a little).

Stella is not so sure about her sunglasses and, believe it or not, her hat is a bit too big although it's an infant size. Anyway, we had a pretty busy week and Stella is now at the stage where she wants to put everything in her mouth. She's also realized that she can grab things with her hands. And also, by accident, she rolled to one side at her abuelitos Amador house, so now I'm trying to get her to do it again.

Stella turns 4 months today...and she is growing so fast. I just hope Matt recognizes her when he sees her!

The Most Beautiful Grumpy Baby in the World!!!

You know the saying, never judge a book by its cover? Well, in a way, that's how my baby is. Never judge a baby by its grumpy-looking gaze. Tellie is quite a happy, squirmy, and fun baby and she's usually very calm, but for some reason she has this grumpy looking look to her, kind of like her dad.

Anyway, this has been a pretty good week so far for her: we went to the Omni on Monday and paid a visit to tia Lindsey and all her co-workers there. Then we went to Petco Park and I showed her her tio Bobby's plaque and we hung out in the little park there but we didn't stay long because there were too many homeless people there. On Tuesday, we made a surprise appearance at abuelitos Sanchez (her great-grandparents) home in Chula Vista and they were quite happy and surprised how big Stelita is getting....and the week isn't over yet! Stella is getting a bath tonight because she's going to go see her favorite cousin in the whole world, Luisa, tomorrow. So, as you can see, it has been quite a busy week so far.

Stella sends kisses and hugs to her abuelito Jimmy Jam and MaMare in Minnesota for sending her clothes, too. She can't wait to try them on! And, of course, she sends lots of besitos to her daddy who is somewhere in the Mediterranean right now.

Mommy on the verge of a haircut breakdown

A few interesting things happened this week: we had a deluge last week and now all of San Diego is verdant! It's quite pretty and it's so beautiful to see how clean the city looks right now.

Also, since it rained constantly all last week, Stellie and I were cooped up in our house and, frankly, I was getting cabin fever. Unfortunately, when the weather finally did break on Saturday, I took off (my mom baby-sat Stella) and I got a haircut. Perhaps I was a bit too eager to get my hair cut off, perhaps it was my mental state, or perhaps I just wanted to get out of the house but whatever it was, my hair is very short and I look like Joan Jett without the mullet.

My biggest fear was that Tellie (that's what I call her now) wouldn't recognize me. But sure enough, she smiled as soon as she saw me, even if I exude gayelle qualities. Oh, how I love my little Tellie Belly!!!

Luisa and Stella Dancing

With a little help from La Mom, here are the two girlies dancing:

16 Weeks and Counting

Here's a list of Stella's progress so far:

1. Stella has more control of her hands and can flip you off on command (not really)
   
2. She has found her voice: whenever she poops she grunts and groans like her daddy
   
3. She can almost hold her bottle
   
4. She talks more, laughs more, and has learned how to scream
   
5. She has more control of her neck and can hold her head up during tummy time but she still hates it
   
6. She's teething and has her incisors poking through
   
7. She now recognizes Luisa, Lindsey, my pops and my crazy mom
   
8. She's now using 6 month clothing because 3 month clothes are too short
   
9. I believe that she knows the sign for "eat" and "milk" because when I do it she goes crazy and;
   
10. SHE NOW SLEEPS THRU THE NIGHT!

Stella at the Zoo and Balboa Park

Dear Family and Friends:

Today my mommy took me to the zoo. I saw the monkey exhibit and the koalas and lots of birdies and beautiful plants but then I fell asleep. My mommy tried to wait for me to wake up because she wanted me to see the baby panda but I was really tired. Here I am making my first observations of the monkeys:

And all the koalas were asleep. Did you know koalas sleep 22 hours a day? Maybe I'm part koala.

After the zoo, my mommy walked down to Balboa Park and I finally woke up when we reached the fountain.

We walked around some more, but I was getting fussy because I have two teeth coming in. Yes, I already have teeth coming in at 14 weeks! Can you believe it? I think I just want to grow up fast so I can catch up to my cousin, Luisa, so I can play with her and we can call each other on our mommies' cell phones.

Next time, my mommy told me we'll go to the zoo a little earlier so that I will be more awake and I can finally see the baby panda. Bye for now.

Love,

Stella

The Ceiling Fan, Ghosts and Stella

Perhaps there is a logical explanation for this but something very peculiar happened today. This morning while I fed Stella, she kept staring and staring at the ceiling fan. This is not unusual because she stares at the fan or at the shutters for hours sometimes. Matt used to say that those are "in-between" spaces. Anyway, today while I fed her and she stared at the fan, all of a sudden the fan came on along with the light.

I have a ceiling fan where there are two different switches so you can't turn both fan and light on at the same time. In other words, either Stella turned it on with her mind or she had a ghost turn it on for her. No other fans were on in the house. And the remote switch was still in the wall, so....???? I did freak out a little because as soon as the fan came on, Stella began talking and laughing. Crazy, weird huh? Sometimes I wonder if my brother, Robert, is here and is doing this along with Stella to scare me or to pull my leg or something. Hmmm....

Tummy Time!

Stella was "officially" 3 months yesterday, although she's really 13 weeks now. She still hates tummy time, but now at least she lifts her head up for a few minutes at a time.

I really don' know why she hates tummy time so much; it could be that her neck muscles area still not developed enough to support her big noggin'.

But with the addition of a gazillion toys in her little playmat, Stella will focus on them for a little while but then realize she's on her tummy and will eventually cry and cry. Anyway, I took these pictures right before she had a meltdown.

Stella trying to wake up in the morning

Miss Stella has begun to sleep through the night, but today she didn't wake up until 10:22am! I think our little trip to Lindsey and Luisa's house last night really tired her out.

The Jumper

Stella received a jumper from her tia Lee Lee for Christmas. Stelita is still unable to fully control her head, but with the help of a few blankets around her, she has mastered the jumper and she loves it. She especially loves her little toys. I think she's using her Jedi mind tricks here to try to get the toys to move or something.

Abuelita Elaine's Birthday

Yesterday, the 27th, was Elaine's birthday but we took her out today to have a late breakfast at the Mission Cafe in Downtown. Stella wore her special leopard outfit today. Meow!

Stella's First Christmas

Stella's first Christmas was both sad and wonderful. Well, she probably wasn't sad, but her mama sure was. Matt had to leave for the Seychelles on Christmas Eve and it was hard for both him and I that he wasn't here, however we did have our own Christmas morning on the 24th.

The evening of the 24th my immediate family came over and we were all surprised that my sister and Albert flew in from Hawaii.

Then on the 25th, Christmas day, we all went to Lindsey & Tom's house and the girls opened all their presents. It was so wonderful to see Luisa getting excited about Christmas and the best part is that Luisa LOVES her cousin Stella.

Finally, we had our big family finale on the 26th at my Pop's and Elaine's house. Most of the family made it and it was definitely a full house. It was an even bigger surprise that Santa showed up and he gave presents to all the kids in the family. Can you guess who this Santa is?

As usual, though, Stella was asleep when Santa stopped by...but next year we're definitely taking a picture with abue-Santa. :-)