SOMETIMES A GIRL JUST NEEDS A PHOTO SHOOT

Stella was looking so cute this morning and I realized that I've spent way too much of this nice weather taking pictures of other kids, and I have neglected the greatest model that has ever lived. I got her dressed and took out a new prop I borrowed (stole) from my dad and we had some fun in the morning sun. All poses are trademarked by Stella Sallay Modeling.

PROOF SHE IS MY DAUGHTER

Stella in her crib 10:21 AM today.

BANGS

Stella's hair is getting long. I can't believe how fast it is growing, especially since I don't really notice until I look at old pictures. Stella has had a real bang issue for a while and I wasn't sure what to do. She always had hair in her eyes, which is so obnoxious! I thought about barrettes, or just constantly sweeping the hair out of her eyes. But both seemed like a bother. Especially since if I totally ruined her hair by cutting the bangs shorter, it would grow back...eventually. So last night we had a quick first hair cut for Stella. Thanks Brent for taking the pictures, even though you needed to leave the house. Most of these are a tad blurry since I didn't have it on the right auto setting for Brent.

"What happened to my hair?!"

Mourning the loss of her long bangs. She was over it in about two minutes.

SO HELPFUL

Like most toddlers Stella's age, she is an expert in helping. And naturally her helping is very helpful at, well...making a mess. But I do enjoy letting her help since it seems to keep her occupied and entertained.

Recently Stella was helping me sort out the laundry. I had out the big basket of all of Stella's clean clothes and I was also folding Daddy's socks, which she then helped me put in the smaller basket. I have to say, I was surprised that she actually did help me with the sock task. But that was the end of her making things any easier for me. She soon started pulling out her clean clothes and putting them in the basket with Daddy's socks. And then when that got old she just started taking out the clothes and "sorting" them all over the floor. I let her keep this up for a full day until I had had enough and cleaned it up myself, putting the clothes out of her reach.

Another frequent chore Stella helps out with is doing the dishes. She is mostly concerned with the silverware, and I try and only let her get her hands on the spoons. As soon as I put the dirty spoons in the dishwasher she grabs them, and they go on the floor. However, recently she has starting "putting away" the spoons. On Sunday I saw her put a spoon in one of our drawers and when I went to fetch it I found a total of FOUR spoons! It was nice to know we hadn't been going through the spoons as fast as I thought, but in fact Stella had been putting them away. (So helpful!) This morning she put the spoons in the cupboard next to the dishwasher, along with her morning sippy.

Other ways that Stella "helps":

• Closing the garage door when we go in the house
• Changing the channel and doing other remote control functions unasked
• Calling my family and friends that are on speed dial
• Getting the mail (which, thanks to her Aunt Beth constantly sending her postcards, is actually very exciting for Stella)
• Feeding me my daily dose of Cheerios or Kix
• General re-organization of items from room to room

Post Update, Friday September 4: I just found a spoon in my camera cabinet.