What A Day!

Some days are more eventful than others. So here's a play-by-play of this one.

The Day I Broke the Baby
This morning Stellan and I were playing one of our favorite games, "Drop Stuff From the Top of the Stairs." In his excitement to get a new toy, Stellan quickly turned to his right and rammed right into the corner of a low wall next to the staircase. A purple line emerged almost instantly, and within a few minutes he was rocking a huge goose egg. Definitely the worst of his little life. Luckily, he was pretty much over it half an hour later.


The Day the Stars Shone Once Again
Has the sky seemed a little different lately? That's because the stars stopped shining. Yes, the lamp in the planetarium burned out late last week. The timing was terrible (not that there's a good time), and I've been more than a little stressed scrambling to patch together some sort of substitute programming. In the meantime, I've been dealing with unhappy kids, parents, teachers, students, professors, volunteers, etc. To make matters worse, getting a replacement lamp turned into an ordeal on its own; the saga has yet to be completely resolved.
Suffice it to say, I was pleased to hear that a package marked "Fragile" - it must be Italian - arrived for me this morning. I got in as soon as I could, and with the able assistance of my colleagues Javier and Tony (and the less than helpful lack of assistance from the projector manual), we got the new lamp in and functioning. So the next time you notice how sharp and clear the stars look, you can thank me. It's a lot of pressure knowing that it's up to you to fix the universe.

The Day My Son Was Well Developed
Since Stellan's birth, we've participated in the county program, Welcome Every Baby. As part of the program, every three months they send a representative to our house to see how Stellan's doing, track his development and answer questions. Stellan turned 9 months on Monday, and was due for a WEB house call. Today's visit was lovely; he was even gifted with a fun stacking toy set.
In terms of development, Stellan is, well, stellar. Here's the breakdown, given in the age at which such behavior/development is normal:
Social development: 15 months
Self-Help: 15 months
Gross Motor: 13 months
Fine Motor: 13 months
Language: 12 months
Now, to be honest, I have to point something important out. Stellan spent the first many months of his life avoiding sleep. No, really - as a newborn, he got about 7 hours of sleep a day, total. So although he's 9 months old, he's spent as much of his life awake as most other babies at least a few weeks older than him. But of course I'd just like to think that it's really because he's just a bright and brilliant little boy. (Hey, I'm a proud mom and this is my blog; I'll gush if I want to.)

The Day Stellan Saw His Grandparents, Part 1
This evening Stellan's grandmas came by on their way home from work. They were kind enough to entertain Stellan while I gave our kitchen a little TLC. I even had time to start dinner before Kevin came home. In exchange for their services, we shared said dinner with them.

Stellan and Granny enjoy his new stacker toy, plus the Baby Beachcomber Band toys. It's a set of 5 music-making toys in the shape of fun marine animals. I got mine at the SBMNH Ty Warner Sea Center; you can too, but hurry - they're going fast!

Playing with Grandma can be hard work.

The Day Stellan Saw His Grandparents, Part 2
After seeing one set of grandparents, we thought of another set of grandparents who are leaving the country on Saturday. Although Grandma Maggie will be seeing Stellan tomorrow morning (she's kind enough to help watch Stellan on days when I work but Kevin has a class), Grandpa wouldn't be getting a chance to see him. So we dropped by for Grandpa's Stellan fix. (Too bad the kid doesn't get any love, huh?) Although I didn't get any photos of this visit, here's a photo of Grandma with Stellan yesterday. Notice her brightly colored (and steel strung) necklace, worn just for him.


The Day "The Office" Was New
Yep, it's been a while, but it's back! In honor of the occasion, Stephie joined us. Although he tried, not even the baby could distract us from a heaping helping of humor. I can't wait for more! (That's more Office, not more babies. Just to be clear.)