Big Day!

Today was a big day for two reasons. I'll start with the first. It is Stella's 1/2 birthday! I can't believe she is 6 months old already. She is getting SO BIG- which is of course her favorite game. I say "Stella is so big" and she raises her hands above her head and smiles! Precious. Gets me every time. She has brought so much joy to my life and I am proud to be her Mommy. We get comments on the street, in church, visiting Daddy at work about how happy she is! And she truly is happy. She laughs and smiles at everything (including when her big sis cries) and everyone. No other baby I know smiles on the rare occasion she cries!

Besides being cute as a button, she is also a very smart baby girl! She is starting to eat rice cereal, has begun holding her bottle and is "talking" all the time now. Here are all the milestones she met this month:

Turns toward sounds and voices
Imitates sounds
Rolls over in both directions
Is ready for solid foods
Mouths objects
Passes objects from hand to hand
Jabbers or combines syllables
Drags objects toward himself
 
All this talk of milestones brings me to another big one with my oldest. Preschool. Today, we had our first brush with it. (I am sounding so doomsday on this issue!) The head of the preschool that Eric's school runs was at a baby shower with us today and in passing I asked her what I needed to do to get Addi on the waiting list. Thinking, this is over a year away I'll get some info. Newsflash! She let me know that sign ups start WEDNESDAY, like 3 days from now. Ahh! What?! She isn't even 2 yet! I think I covered my shock pretty well and she told me she would put us on the list. We also discussed scholarships (oh my goodness- scholarships?!) I'm overwhelmed just thinking about it. There is a lot more to be done and discussed but this is the beginning and I must admit there is a deep ache in my heart. My girls are growing up.