Cruising

It's official - we have a cruiser. It's so exciting to watch Stella learn how to move and she is having a blast. She can now pull herself up on the couch and cruise from one end to the other. She also loves to walk around her little table. She does better going to her right, but can also go left. She's moving!!

17 Months

This past month has been so much fun, and has been filled with a lot of work and doctor’s appointments. Stella has made huge gains in her balance, coordination and mobility. She is so excited to be moving! Usually all she wants to do is to get down and move. She loves to stand at a table or couch to play and to walk while holding someone’s hands. We have tried using a push toy a few times, but she is a little insecure with it. It’s probably time for us to get one. She is trying to figure out crawling, and it’s pretty funny to watch her get stuck in downward dog. She has been working so hard in OT and PT and it is finally paying off.

We started speech therapy last week, and it was so funny because the entire hour Stella did not make a single sound. She is babbling more, but still not very many words. She does understand a lot. One of her newest things that I love is when I say, “Good girl Stella,” she claps her hands.

As usual, Stella was a good little traveler for Thanksgiving. We spent Thursday with Michael’s family and the rest of the weekend at my dad’s. Stella loved the Thanksgiving feast. It was her first time trying many of the foods and she just gobbled them up. She was such a mess afterward!

Sebastian is having a lot of fun with Stella now that she is more mobile, but I have also had to deal with my first real sibling conflict. Sebastian got upset when Stella found her way to one of his toys and he said, “Stella, no that is MINE!” and grabbed it from her, knocking her over. I’m actually happy that we have reached this stage. It’s cute to watch them play together though – I especially love when we all wrestle together and everyone laughs.

I am very frustrated with the lack of progress with Stella’s conformers. It seems like we are moving backwards and the ocularist doesn’t really know what to do. She did suggest surgery to expand Stella’s sockets, thinking then it will be easier to fit her for prosthetics. We met with the surgeon for a consultation and now we are researching it and thinking things over. It’s just hard to know what the best decision is.

We met with a developmental pediatrician and an endocrinologist this month. The pediatrician confirmed that we are on the right track with everything, and also referred us to a neurologist, who will help provide us with more of a big picture and help us set realistic expectations for Stella. He is well known in the community and was very informed and helpful. I look forward to working with him as Stella grows. The endocrinologist was also very helpful and ran some tests, which confirmed that Stella’s growth hormone levels are very low. No surprise there. We are going to do one more test in January, and then probably start her on synthetic growth hormone. The endocrinologist is optimistic that with the right doses Stella will still reach an appropriate height. All of our appointments have been at the Riley’s Children’s Hospital – I’m very impressed with the facility and the staff there.

I’m excited to see what’s next for Stella!

16 Months

Stella has been so much fun lately! She is quite the wiggly little girl, and doesn't like snuggle or be held unless she is tired. Stella wants to move! She loves to scoot around the floor, gets in and out of 4-point, rocks, gets in and out of sitting, and has started to pull up on things. (Last night she scooted over to the train table and pulled herself up all by herself!) She loves to hold on to our hands and walk around, and is just starting to get the hang of cruising and walking behind a push toy. She smiles and laughs and it is the cutest thing! I was really starting to think she would never want to walk. I am so pleased with the OT and PT that we are using. I do think working with them has a lot to do with Stella's progress, and I think she is finally ready. It's funny to watch her, because she has that age-appropriate stubbornness and independence. If someone is trying to help her she will push the hand away. And she doesn't like anyone touching her hands.

Stella is babbling more, but still doesn't say any words. She does say Mama and Dada,but I'm not convinced she knows what they mean. I have seen her use the "more" sign a few times too, but again, I'm not convinced it was on purpose. She understands a ton though. We are starting speech therapy soon,so hopefully her words will come soon. I'm content with the progress in movement and I know she will talk eventually. At least she doesn't get frustrated by her inability to communicate verbally.

We've had a busy month, with a road trip back to IL and me being out of town a couple of weekends. Michael did great with the kids. It's so nice that they have such a good connection and that I feel comfortable going away for a few days. It gives me a much needed break! Stella is weaned now too, which makes things easier. That is bittersweet for me, but she was obviously ready. She got to a point where she preferred the bottle and she kept biting me. She is a wonderful eater, as long as it's finger food she can feed herself.She has no interest in being fed or in using utensils yet. And we haven't made much progress with a sippy cup - she still uses a bottle, but she does feed herself. Speaking of biting, Stella has 11 teeth now and is currently working on that last molar. Poor thing, these molars have been tough on her. Maybe after this she will get a break for a while.

Adjusting to a new Ocularist (Kathy Hetzler) has been tough, and she finds Stella to be challenging because of the way her sockets are shaped. We have had many instances of the conformers falling out, or twisting around, and Kathy has yet to find a design that fits well and that she can get in and out. The last couple of weeks Stella had one white conformer and one clear one, then nothing in the left eye for 1 week. Ugh. I hope this starts to go more smoothly soon. I am very much looking forward to the day when she has pretty painted eyes - probably brown.

Life is busy, and about to get busier with adding speech therapy and all the appointments I have lined up with specialists to find out why Stella isn't growing. She has gained a little weight, but not gotten any longer since April. I'm guessing she will be starting growth hormone soon. At least I'm familiar with that, as my brother was on it when we were growing up.

15 Months

We moved to Indianapolis mid-August and are starting to feel pretty settled. We are renting a house in South Broad Ripple and love the location. We can walk to a ton of stuff, including a fruit stand, many good restaurants, and a gourmet grocery store, and the Monon trail & a playground are 3 houses down. The more we explore of the city, the more we like it here. Sebastian is at a great Montessori school 3 blocks from our house, and we are only 10 minutes from the blind school that Stella will attend once she turns 3.

Stella is finally all set up with her new doctors and therapists. I am quite happy with her new OT and PT, and she has already made good progress since starting with them 3 weeks ago. I also like her new ocularist, Kathy Hetzler, even though she is a bit more aggressive than I might like and keeps suggesting surgery to help expand Stella's sockets. I may meet with the surgeon to get more information, but I doubt I will agree to surgery any time soon.


Stella is so much fun these days. She is very active, no longer wanting to snuggle and be held unless she is tired. She loves to jump, get on her hands and knees and rock, and stand up (with help). She is starting to transition from one position to another and is scooting backwards on her hands and knees. It's nice to finally see some progress with her gross motor skills. She has also become much more verbal - mostly still babbling, but she does say "hi" and "dada" pretty regularly.

Still a peanut, Stella just weighed in at 18lbs 6oz and measured 26.5 inches. We are currently doing some testing to find out why she's not growing very quickly. She sure looks chubby and healthy though. Stella eats all sorts of foods - she loves to feed herself - and can even feed herself her bottle. She is almost totally weaned now. Every once in a while I nurse her during the day, but usually it's limited to during the night a couple of times a week.

I joined the YMCA here and Stella goes to the child care there while I work out. This was a big step for both of us, and Stella is doing great there. The women who work there just love her. They tell me she sometimes interacts with other babies and laughs when they "talk" to her. It is so nice to have someone I trust to watch her.

We are busy with life and enjoying our children! Sebastian is a great big brother and is having more fun with Stella now that she is more interactive. The cutest thing is when they take baths together and he gently helps clean her, then they splash together.

13 Months

We have been very preoccupied with moving this month and probably haven't worked with Stella enough. Nevertheless, she is making progress and has adapted very well to her new surroundings. Unfortunately there will be a 2 month lapse in her therapies as we transition to the services in Indiana.

Stella is eating a lot more these days and I can tell that she is getting heavier. She feeds herself many finger foods and is drinking several bottles of cow's milk daily. We nurse at night and once and a while during the day. I am feeling fairly ready to wean her, and it's nice to know that she will easily take cow's milk. We are trying to work on a sippy cup but it has been slow going.

Stella is very active and often doesn't want to be held. She is sitting very well and also enjoys standing (supported) and walking while we hold her hands. She has started getting on her hands and knees and rocking. She laughs and thinks it is so fun. She is also babbling quite a bit more.

These pictures were taken when she was about 12 1/2 months old.

12 Months

Stella is finally sitting up unassisted. Yay! My goal was for her to accomplish this by the time she was 1 and she beat the goal by a week. Now she just has to figure out how to gracefully get in and out of sitting. I think things are moving right along with her development. She has better control of her body now, finds things more quickly and is exploring and manipulating toys more thoroughly.

Stella is still teeny tiny, not even on the growth chart anymore. She breastfeeds many times a day, but doesn't eat a whole lot of food. She has 8 teeth, so she is perfectly capable. She does best when we put small chunks of food on her tray, giving her a chance to explore the food and then feed herself. The only problem is, she doesn't eat much quantity. I am going to focus more on feeding this coming month. We gave her cow milk for the first time today. First we tried cold milk and she spit it out, but once I warmed it up she chugged it.


Stella makes all sorts of sounds, including dada, and blowing bubbles, but I don't think she says any real words yet. Michael, of course, wants to claim Dada, while I like to think Mmmiii means milk.

Stella still loves her swing and her exersaucer, and any type of fabric. She is playing with blocks a bit, and rings, and still loves rattles and anything musical. She is taking a Kindermusik class, which she mostly enjoys. Sometimes I think she gets overwhelmed. We went to a fair the weekend of July 4 and took her on her first ride on a ferris wheel. She loved it! Stella also enjoys being read to. She grabs the book and wants to chew on the corners, but she has also started exploring the pages with her hands. She finds the dots on the braille books and likes to feel textures on other books.

Sebastian is so eager for Stella to talk, and walk, and play with him. He is usually very sweet and gentle with her, but they do both enjoy rolling around on the floor together. Sebastian is a big help in the car. He will hand her a toy, or her pacifier, but sometimes he hits her just to get a reaction. Sigh. Part of the joy of parenting siblings. Sebastian loves to push Stella in the stroller, or in a swing. It's fun to watch them together.

Happy Birthday Stella!

My darling, beautiful, happy, snuggly, Stella Bella Boo is 1!!!

She wanted nothing to do with the cake, but enjoyed the presents. I think she liked the crinkly tissue paper the presents were wrapped in more than the presents themselves. Stella loved when we sang for her. Sebastian picked out a musical toy for Stella that he, of course, wanted to play with the whole time. All in all, a happy birthday for Stella.

P.S. Look how well that little girl is sitting up now! I'm so happy she has finally reached that milestone.