Stella's Palm

I was nursing Stella before bedtime tonight when she lifted her little hand into the air in front of my face. She held it high and flat, showing me its tiny size. Even at full extension, her palm is about the size of a quarter. After marveling at its minuet-ness, I quickly noted the three main lines: love, health and life. You see, I used to read palms every once in awhile. It was kinda my silly party trick. But, truthfully, most of the time my readings were right. Right enough that I often caused shivers.
So here's what I saw in the very brief moment that I looked at my little Stella's lines: her life line is long and strong. Hallelujah! Her health line is clear. (Note to tell Marshall who worries endlessly about every cough.) Her love line was the one of interest. I saw immediately that she loves deeply, will fall in love hard and a few times. I hope that first time is with me.

Alex's first day at preschool

I'm just getting caught up in my posting. This is one of my favorite pictures. It was taken Septemeber 6th , Alex's first day of preschool. He and his friends Fifi and Lily love it there. Of course, I do too. Alex always comes home covered in paint, glitter and smiles after an afternoon there.

I'm such a proud mom!

The December issue of Parents magazine is finally on the stands! And there's my little covergirl, Stella. I was so sure the shoot would be a disaster, the pictures blurry (Stella's pretty squirmy), the outfit not quite right for a magazine cover. I was wrong! We arrived at the shoot right before Stella's naptime. As is usually the case, she had to wait a little while (half and hour?) before it was her turn. They were shooting ten babies and toddlers that day for the cover. One had a meltdown and wasn't shot. So Stella's chances were one in nine. Wardrobe tried a deep red kimono top and pants on Stella but it was too big. The next choice was this striped sweater onesie from Old Navy. I immediately thought it looked like prison (I seldom dress my kids in stripes for this reason). Anyway, after becoming a bit cranky while getting dressed, Stella lit up when the camera pointed at her. I put my face right next to the photographer's and sang Stella's favorite song: "Stella Bella Bo Bella, Banana Fanna Fo Fella.." during the entire shoot. And there she is.

90 degrees in autumn?

Wow - halloween's a memory and Thanksgiving is just a few days away. Once again, fall is zooming by and suddenly the pressure of Christmas decorating, gifting, partying and card sending will be full-on. But for now, I really just need to focus on Thanksgiving. I have to admit, though, that it's a little tough to get excited about this huge, lovely meal when it's still 90 degrees outside! That's right. 90 today in the valley. What will we do with our (hot) selves? I'm thinking a trip to the Gelato store on Tujunga is in order. mmm... Pistachio gelato. That's atumnal, right?