My Little Aussie Girl

Today the rain derailed our park plans and instead sent us all to the market. On the way Stella and I were discussing how the day before she had dropped her raisins in the car. Then, she interrupted and said, “Mommy, it’s SULTANAS. I’m so disappointed in you, mommy, it’s sultanas, not raisins. SULTANAS. That’s so cheeky, mom. Stop calling them raisins.” What?!

Don’t dare call them “raisins”

Sadly, she corrects me all the time. The kid is full-on into Aussie-speak.

I say stroller, she says PRAM.

I say rain boots, she says GUMMIES.

I say diaper, she says NAPPY.

I say breakfast, she says BREKKIE.

I say pacifier, she says DUMMY.

I say buh-NAH-nuhs, she says buh-NON-nuhs.

I say flip-flops, she say THONGS. (Actually, it comes out more like “tongs” and is absolutely hilarious.)

She’s also fully embraced saying, “no worries.” No worries, mom, I’ve got it!

She’s even begun to dabble in the classic Aussie greeting of “How’re you going??”

In other Stella news, we are seeing a very special doctor to help with some of her food issues. That, if you don’t know, is a very, very, VERY long story. The doctor is super-crunchy,  as Phill says (with one eyebrow up) and I love her. Her name is Dr. Kate Swincer and she’s a chiropractor, but like a super duper chiropractor. Take a look at her practice areas here. After our first meeting, I feel really good about her and her ability to help Stella. She, after all the conventional and unconventional doctors we have seen, might finally have the answers we’ve been looking for. 

Also happening in the Simpson household, Phill is now the 3rd one to be taken down by the nasty gastro bug. He’s nowhere near has bad as I was, though, thank goodness. He has seemingly bounced  back after 24 hours. Declan, the only one of us to avoid the nastiness (yay breastfeeding!), has been busy being a maniac with the walker. And cruising along anything he can get his hands on. He’s also doing a ton of free-standing… working hard on that balance! Lastly, he might be terrified of being in the swing when Stella is in charge of the pushing. 

Really mom?!

He never cries so we aren’t sure if that’s a look of terror or of delight disguised as terror?  Who knows!

Stella Turns 3!

A lot can happen in two weeks. Sorry for the dearth of blog posts. I’ve been a bit derailed by life. More on that later. First, the fun stuff.

My first baby turned 3 years old last week! She is such a big girl now. She is so tall and SO smart. We had our first visit with our homeopath, Debbie, last week. Miss Debbie is pretty amazing. She has practiced homeopathy for 15 years but is also a R.N., having studied at a top school in London and is even a certified Montessori teacher! I pretty much love her and Stella does, too (Phill, of course, still has one eyebrow raised, but he’s coming around). She told us Stella was very advanced for her age, especially with her language expression and comprehension, and that Stella should immediately be enrolled in a dance class as she has the charm and personality fit for the stage. My poppa saw this from the minute he met her because he nicknamed her, “Tilly the Entertainer.” Pop, you were spot on!!

The morning of Stella’s birthday, she was surprised with a massive pile of prezzies and cards from family and friends.

Princess Stella

She got some amazing gifts. She is very into princess things, as you can see. And Peppa Pig. And she got her first bike! A princess bike, naturally.

After prezzies, it was off to her birthday brekkie!

Sassafrass and Budga

Just too cool.

We went to one our favorite spots, Hemingways with our nanny Diana (she’s amazing) and our friends Jill, Natalie and Nate. Stella had her birthday babycino and gluten-free toast with jam. She spreads the jam on all by herself!

After brekkie, we happened upon some face painting in the Corso.

 

 

 

Afterwards, Stella, Diana and Budga made beautiful mosaic princess crowns. If Budga were writing this part, she would want you to know Stella was of no help at all and that she and Diana were tasked with the job. Hired help! 🙂 Just kidding, Budg.

 

Thanks Jerretta for the awesome bday prezzie!

 

Meanwhile, this dude was busy pulling up on EVERYTHING.

 

Anyway, back to the birthday girl.

 

The next day was Saturday and we had a low-key (versus years past) birthday party at our place.

 

 

We had over Stella’s friends Nate, Natalie, Mila, Kaden & Scarlett. It was our first official party at our place! And, in keeping with true Aussie barbie style, we made sure to serve sausages (Aussie speak: snags) and grilled onions.

 

I’m so glad Stella had an amazing birthday. When we realized we would be here in Oz for Stella’s 3rd birthday, I worried it wouldn’t be any kind of affair. Not that it needed to be, but, you know… I wanted to have a celebration. Wanted her to feel the love and experience the joy in a gathering of people there to celebrate HER. Thank you, Maureen, Buntings, Coviches and Swilleys for making our girl feel like a real birthday princess.