The phrase "my turn" has popped up a lot in Bella's vocabulary recently. Seems to mean she can do it and do it by herself, thank you very much. The most stunning example happened yesterday - the day before she turned two - when she and her dad were hanging out at home. Bella said "pee pee," which means she needs to go. So her dad said, "OK, let's go." But in a surprise move, Bella replied, "No, my turn." And walked off. Her father was flummoxed. He followed her to the bathroom, and asked if Bella was sure about this. "Yeah," she said. "No daddy." So daddy walked down the hall and listened for the sound of her falling off the toilet.
Back it up a minute: to go to the bathroom, Bella removes her pants and underwear (and sometimes her shirt), climbs up a two-step step stool, mounts the toilet seat with both and and both feet and then proceeds to turn herself around crab-style until she is facing the proper direction, and then she scoots forward onto her plastic toilet seat. She can do that almost without fail, but getting off the toilet almost always requires a helping hand from a parent (or chosen visitor).
But, I heard no fall, no cry out, and "help daddy." Instead, I heard a flush and when she came out of the bathroom, Bella was wearing her pants (and underwear again). Not to sound like a proud parent, but that was amazing!
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
THANKSGIVING MEDLEY
While Nunya was in town for the week of Thanksgiving, he and Bella sat down at Bella's piano and hammered out some tunes. See if you recognize any of them. Apologies for the low light level of the video, but the sound is what you want most of all.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
NOVEMBER PHOTOS
Everyone's favorite post of the month is here again!
Bella really got into painting at her table this past month. Even though she has no official finger paints, the paints sometimes ended up all over her hands (and face, and the futon).
We finally got around - and the weather got cold enough - to put Bella's down vest on. It was a gift from her friends Adam & Lauren, who just had a little girl themselves!
Bella's other favorite activity of the month was stacking things. She has one of those box-in-a-box-in-a-box sets that stacks up higher than her head, and she started stacking her wooden block as well. We were amazed how high she could stack them and how she could usually always put another piece on top even though the tower was pretty rickety!
And, of course, there was swinging. Lots of swinging. The swings at the "toy park" in downtown Decatur continue to be the best Bella has found. And her parents enjoyed them a bit this month, too.
When it comes to bath time, only the most bubbles will do for Bella. Otherwise, why bother, right?
A new feature in November was trying on some of Daddy's clothes, rather than only Mommy's clothes. Here, Bella models her dad's Daniel Johnston t-shirt, Timberland boots and a cloth bag her mom's monkey pajamas came in.
Bella made it to the Botanical Gardens twice this past month and both times thoroughly enjoyed the metal slide in the children's garden area. She is also reported to have liked the Henry Moore sculptures on display, saw a frog in a water garden, and ate an ice cream.
Bella really got into painting at her table this past month. Even though she has no official finger paints, the paints sometimes ended up all over her hands (and face, and the futon).
We finally got around - and the weather got cold enough - to put Bella's down vest on. It was a gift from her friends Adam & Lauren, who just had a little girl themselves!
Bella's other favorite activity of the month was stacking things. She has one of those box-in-a-box-in-a-box sets that stacks up higher than her head, and she started stacking her wooden block as well. We were amazed how high she could stack them and how she could usually always put another piece on top even though the tower was pretty rickety!
And, of course, there was swinging. Lots of swinging. The swings at the "toy park" in downtown Decatur continue to be the best Bella has found. And her parents enjoyed them a bit this month, too.
When it comes to bath time, only the most bubbles will do for Bella. Otherwise, why bother, right?
A new feature in November was trying on some of Daddy's clothes, rather than only Mommy's clothes. Here, Bella models her dad's Daniel Johnston t-shirt, Timberland boots and a cloth bag her mom's monkey pajamas came in.
Bella made it to the Botanical Gardens twice this past month and both times thoroughly enjoyed the metal slide in the children's garden area. She is also reported to have liked the Henry Moore sculptures on display, saw a frog in a water garden, and ate an ice cream.
Monday, November 30, 2009
GROWING & TESTING
Seems like Bella has grown a lot over the last week or two - mostly in the category of learning new things and trying new tactics, but her pants also seem a bit shorter, too.
Bella's newest skill in the kitchen is opening the freezer door (we have one of those refrigerators with the freezer on the bottom) and digging out a chocolate pop from inside. I didn't even know we had them in there, but she did. We're out of them now (actually , there's one hidden in there really well) and she now tells one of us "I want pop." She does repeatedly until she realizes that her mom or dad is not going to allow her to have one for breakfast. She then moves to the next adult in the room. This has usually meant her Nunya or Nana this week. And she moves on down the line asking for a pop, but we present a strong front, telling her that she has to eat her breakfast first and then she can have a pop. But she is definitely seeking out weak links in the chain of command, trying to get what she wants.
She is also very fond of the word "no" right now. If she does not want to do something - put on her clothes, pick up her toys, brush her teeth - she protests vehemently. Some of these battles we let her win, or offer a reward for carrying out the task at hand. For example, if she brushes her teeth she can read one more book before bedtime, or if she puts her clothes on we'll go outside and play on the slide. But other battles we draw the line: when she comes home, she has to take her shoes off and has to wash her hands. Also, there is no hitting allowed.
There's a spare kitchen table chair in the corner of the room that has become time out. When she refuses to do what we ask of her in these situations, we put her in time out for one or two minutes. We ignore her for that period of time, and she usually just moans quietly in the chair. When the time out is up, we go to her and make sure she understands why she went to time out and how she can get out of time out - by putting on her underwear, apologizing to whoever she hit, etc.
This time out thing seems to work well for us so far. She sometimes requests to go to time out, and in the early days of time out climbed onto the chair herself for minor transgressions that she carried out herself. Funny kid.
Bella's newest skill in the kitchen is opening the freezer door (we have one of those refrigerators with the freezer on the bottom) and digging out a chocolate pop from inside. I didn't even know we had them in there, but she did. We're out of them now (actually , there's one hidden in there really well) and she now tells one of us "I want pop." She does repeatedly until she realizes that her mom or dad is not going to allow her to have one for breakfast. She then moves to the next adult in the room. This has usually meant her Nunya or Nana this week. And she moves on down the line asking for a pop, but we present a strong front, telling her that she has to eat her breakfast first and then she can have a pop. But she is definitely seeking out weak links in the chain of command, trying to get what she wants.
She is also very fond of the word "no" right now. If she does not want to do something - put on her clothes, pick up her toys, brush her teeth - she protests vehemently. Some of these battles we let her win, or offer a reward for carrying out the task at hand. For example, if she brushes her teeth she can read one more book before bedtime, or if she puts her clothes on we'll go outside and play on the slide. But other battles we draw the line: when she comes home, she has to take her shoes off and has to wash her hands. Also, there is no hitting allowed.
There's a spare kitchen table chair in the corner of the room that has become time out. When she refuses to do what we ask of her in these situations, we put her in time out for one or two minutes. We ignore her for that period of time, and she usually just moans quietly in the chair. When the time out is up, we go to her and make sure she understands why she went to time out and how she can get out of time out - by putting on her underwear, apologizing to whoever she hit, etc.
This time out thing seems to work well for us so far. She sometimes requests to go to time out, and in the early days of time out climbed onto the chair herself for minor transgressions that she carried out herself. Funny kid.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
7:30 p.m.
Though is feels like 11 p.m. The meal was great and we all enjoyed apple pie or pumpkin pie with vanilla ice cream afterwards (actually about 2 hours afterwards). Bella got to eat a small bowl of ice cream, which she LOVED of course, and had some apple pie. Following that amount of sugar, she was a bona fide freak. But, she had fun with John, and helping us all play a card game called Apples to Apples, then we all paraded around while she played her Casio SK-5 demo music (see photo of her dancing to it). John left about 8:30, and things got quiet around 9, and Bella is finally asleep with visions of ice cream, paints and food dancing in her sweet, tired head.
3:30 p.m.
The adults break out their special glasses (for wine) and Bella wants one, too. So she gets one half-filled with a mixture of apple juice and water. She gulps it down ravenously, and continues to paint on her kraft paper table. Then her friend, John Short, arrives, and presents her with a gift (a snazzy yellow t-shirt) and a coloring book. He also brought ice cream and more wine for the rest of us! Dinner is served at 4 p.m., but Bella hardly eats a bite preferring instead to be a freak and requiring one of us at a time to leave the table and keep her entertained.
1:30 p.m.
Bella is taking a nap now after helping her mom take compost outside, playing and dancing in the sandbox (see photo), playing on the slide with Nunya and her dad, watching Elmo videos on the computer with Nunya, eating yogurt and fruit and going to the bathroom. It's been a busy day so far!
10:30 a.m.
After she read a book (three times) with Nunya, Bella got into her new paints and started making a new painting (photo to follow), and then helped snap beans and then had a chocolate pop. She is currently singing her ABC's with her mommy.
8:30 a.m.
Bella is helping her mom and Nana prepare food for Thanksgiving. She has already helped put chopped celery into a bowl, beans into a pot, and is now cutting (and eating) tofu.
Though is feels like 11 p.m. The meal was great and we all enjoyed apple pie or pumpkin pie with vanilla ice cream afterwards (actually about 2 hours afterwards). Bella got to eat a small bowl of ice cream, which she LOVED of course, and had some apple pie. Following that amount of sugar, she was a bona fide freak. But, she had fun with John, and helping us all play a card game called Apples to Apples, then we all paraded around while she played her Casio SK-5 demo music (see photo of her dancing to it). John left about 8:30, and things got quiet around 9, and Bella is finally asleep with visions of ice cream, paints and food dancing in her sweet, tired head.
3:30 p.m.
The adults break out their special glasses (for wine) and Bella wants one, too. So she gets one half-filled with a mixture of apple juice and water. She gulps it down ravenously, and continues to paint on her kraft paper table. Then her friend, John Short, arrives, and presents her with a gift (a snazzy yellow t-shirt) and a coloring book. He also brought ice cream and more wine for the rest of us! Dinner is served at 4 p.m., but Bella hardly eats a bite preferring instead to be a freak and requiring one of us at a time to leave the table and keep her entertained.
1:30 p.m.
Bella is taking a nap now after helping her mom take compost outside, playing and dancing in the sandbox (see photo), playing on the slide with Nunya and her dad, watching Elmo videos on the computer with Nunya, eating yogurt and fruit and going to the bathroom. It's been a busy day so far!
10:30 a.m.
After she read a book (three times) with Nunya, Bella got into her new paints and started making a new painting (photo to follow), and then helped snap beans and then had a chocolate pop. She is currently singing her ABC's with her mommy.
8:30 a.m.
Bella is helping her mom and Nana prepare food for Thanksgiving. She has already helped put chopped celery into a bowl, beans into a pot, and is now cutting (and eating) tofu.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
PROGRESS REPORT
Bella has now been at school for eight months, and on Monday her parents went our second parent/teacher conference. The firs one was scheduled just two weeks after Bella started, so this was their first chance to get a fair assessment of how their daughter is doing at school from her main teacher, Brandy.
Brandy said Bella is one of her favorites in the 15-student class. She is good natured, fun and almost always a joy to be around. At school, Bella is sure of foot running on the playground, almost entirely toilet-trained (and can get up during a nap, go to the toilet, use it, and then go back to her mat for the rest of her nap). Speaking of which, she is a good napper, napping an hour to an hour-and-a-half at school and sometimes helping her teachers pat other children's backs so they go to sleep.
Bella defends herself at school. Brandy said she sometimes scratches other children across the face - her parents have only received one incident report regarding this behavior - but Brandy said that has only happened a handful of time and only when another child tries to take something Bella is working with. She also apparently sometimes just stares, or glowers, at a child who has wronged her in some way and Brandy said Bella doesn't always get them back right away but will eventually. In doing all this, Brandy said, Robert the oldest boy in the class who sometimes taunts the younger children, does not mess with Bella.
The disturbing part to hear from Brandy was that Bella will sometimes, for no apparent reason, go up to a child and start poking him near his eye. She has been told repeatedly not to do this - her parents have taught her not to do that to the cats or other people - but its a behavior she carries out from time to time at school.
Brandy said that Bella loves to eat her lunch, often spending an hour at the lunch table having a conversation, well "conversation" with the other two girls who love to linger at the table, Simone and Sela. Bella also enjoys using the apple cutter, washing windows, polishing wood, sweeping crumbs, picking up anything remotely trashy from the floor and throwing it away, putting things that are not in their right place back into the right place, and watching buses drive by outside.
Bella also loves the afternoon assistant, Alma, a Spanish-speaking woman. Apparently, Bella waits eagerly for 10:30 when Alma shows up for the day. Then she follows Alma around, does music and story time with her, and toilet time before going outside to play. Bella's parents have seen this love for Alma, aka "Elmo," when they go to pick Bella up and she rarely wants to leave school peacefully, preferring to stay with Alma and her other friends. But, as they told Brandy, her parents would rather Bella want to stay at school and love her teachers rather than not like school and her teachers.
All in all, Brandy reported that Bella is advancing very well, seems above average in intelligence, is on track to move to the primary class ahead of schedule (usually done around age three), and is beautiful. Brandy said that other parents notice Bella's curly blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and long lashes, and Brandy refers to her as "my little Marilyn Monroe."
It was very reassuring to hear all this from Brandy, obviously. She gave us a few pointers for home life, and gave us suggestions for Christmas presents for Bella based on things she likes to do in class. Let's hope every parent/teacher conference goes as well as this one!
Brandy said Bella is one of her favorites in the 15-student class. She is good natured, fun and almost always a joy to be around. At school, Bella is sure of foot running on the playground, almost entirely toilet-trained (and can get up during a nap, go to the toilet, use it, and then go back to her mat for the rest of her nap). Speaking of which, she is a good napper, napping an hour to an hour-and-a-half at school and sometimes helping her teachers pat other children's backs so they go to sleep.
Bella defends herself at school. Brandy said she sometimes scratches other children across the face - her parents have only received one incident report regarding this behavior - but Brandy said that has only happened a handful of time and only when another child tries to take something Bella is working with. She also apparently sometimes just stares, or glowers, at a child who has wronged her in some way and Brandy said Bella doesn't always get them back right away but will eventually. In doing all this, Brandy said, Robert the oldest boy in the class who sometimes taunts the younger children, does not mess with Bella.
The disturbing part to hear from Brandy was that Bella will sometimes, for no apparent reason, go up to a child and start poking him near his eye. She has been told repeatedly not to do this - her parents have taught her not to do that to the cats or other people - but its a behavior she carries out from time to time at school.
Brandy said that Bella loves to eat her lunch, often spending an hour at the lunch table having a conversation, well "conversation" with the other two girls who love to linger at the table, Simone and Sela. Bella also enjoys using the apple cutter, washing windows, polishing wood, sweeping crumbs, picking up anything remotely trashy from the floor and throwing it away, putting things that are not in their right place back into the right place, and watching buses drive by outside.
Bella also loves the afternoon assistant, Alma, a Spanish-speaking woman. Apparently, Bella waits eagerly for 10:30 when Alma shows up for the day. Then she follows Alma around, does music and story time with her, and toilet time before going outside to play. Bella's parents have seen this love for Alma, aka "Elmo," when they go to pick Bella up and she rarely wants to leave school peacefully, preferring to stay with Alma and her other friends. But, as they told Brandy, her parents would rather Bella want to stay at school and love her teachers rather than not like school and her teachers.
All in all, Brandy reported that Bella is advancing very well, seems above average in intelligence, is on track to move to the primary class ahead of schedule (usually done around age three), and is beautiful. Brandy said that other parents notice Bella's curly blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and long lashes, and Brandy refers to her as "my little Marilyn Monroe."
It was very reassuring to hear all this from Brandy, obviously. She gave us a few pointers for home life, and gave us suggestions for Christmas presents for Bella based on things she likes to do in class. Let's hope every parent/teacher conference goes as well as this one!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
SOCKS
Bella - as anyone who's been looking at her photos can tell you - is into socks these days. No matter what is going, if her mom or dad say "Bella, can you go put some socks on?", she will take off running to her room to go through her sock drawer and pick a pair to wear. Sometimes they match, sometimes they don't (one of the things Bella's daddy loves about Bella's mommy, too!). This morning, she actually brought her entire sock drawer into the kitchen and through the process of elimination, settled on a pair of dark green socks.
She wants no help putting them on, until she pulls them all the way up and realizes that the treads and heel spot are upside down. Then one of her parents has to help turn the sock around so it fits properly.
She's tried wearing two socks on the same foot at the same time, but quickly found out that her shoes do not fit if that's the case.
Bella also enjoys picking out underwear, shirts and pants to wear, but seems to derive the greatest joy from her sock drawer. She is working on snaps and buttons as well, though those still require a helping hand.
She wants no help putting them on, until she pulls them all the way up and realizes that the treads and heel spot are upside down. Then one of her parents has to help turn the sock around so it fits properly.
She's tried wearing two socks on the same foot at the same time, but quickly found out that her shoes do not fit if that's the case.
Bella also enjoys picking out underwear, shirts and pants to wear, but seems to derive the greatest joy from her sock drawer. She is working on snaps and buttons as well, though those still require a helping hand.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
PHOTOBER
Otherwise known as October Photos!
This last one is a shot of Bella with her friend, Holden Young, on our backporch. Rumor has it that while Bella was staying at Izzy & Bud's house last week, she saw Holden's photo on their refrigerator and kept taking it down and kissing it. Stay tuned!
This last one is a shot of Bella with her friend, Holden Young, on our backporch. Rumor has it that while Bella was staying at Izzy & Bud's house last week, she saw Holden's photo on their refrigerator and kept taking it down and kissing it. Stay tuned!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
PUNK ROCK ICON
At the ripe old age of almost two, we think it safe to declare that Bella Avett will influence punk rock fashion/modeling/music well into the 22nd Century!
Monday, October 26, 2009
I DON'T KNOW!
One of the funny things Bella has been doing lately is this:
She asks a question and repeats it a few times. Such as: "Where's ammo? Where's ammo? Where's ammo?"
And one of us inevitably, trying to figure out what she means by "ammo," will say: "Where's Elmo?"
And Bella will reply: "I don't know."
Hilarious.
She asks a question and repeats it a few times. Such as: "Where's ammo? Where's ammo? Where's ammo?"
And one of us inevitably, trying to figure out what she means by "ammo," will say: "Where's Elmo?"
And Bella will reply: "I don't know."
Hilarious.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
OCTOBER 20, 2009
Every morning when Bella is driven to school and every afternoon when she gets chauffeured back home, she and her parents look for several things to count: dogs (aka "oofwoofs"), cats (aka "yeows"), buses, bicycles, squirrels and fire trucks.
This afternoon on the way home from school, Bella and her daddy set a new record. We saw: 13 dogs, 5 bicycles, 2 buses and 1 squirrel. Granted, we took a bit of a scenic route, but it still counts, right?
This afternoon on the way home from school, Bella and her daddy set a new record. We saw: 13 dogs, 5 bicycles, 2 buses and 1 squirrel. Granted, we took a bit of a scenic route, but it still counts, right?
BELLA AT THE ART OPENING
Bella attended the opening of her dad's art show at Capsule in Atlanta this past Saturday night. She had a lot of fun pointing out "daddy's art" and playing with the records and turntables set up around the gallery space. She was also treated to a surprise visit from Izzy and Bud!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
A JOKE
In my ongoing effort to put together stand-up comedy material for an audience of toddlers, I came up with a great joke the other day when Bella was on the toilet. It goes like this:
What does the train say when it goes to the toilet?
Poo-poo!
Bella laughed.
What does the train say when it goes to the toilet?
Poo-poo!
Bella laughed.
Monday, October 12, 2009
CRASH!
Bella and I were on there way to see her mommy at her office this afternoon when I saw the car coming from my side and realized it was going to hit us - its engine against our driver's side. The next thing I knew, I heard and felt a collision.
When my eyes opened again, I was staring at the intersection where had been, but was looking at it from the opposite direction. I smelled something burning, too. I looked to my left, and saw that the air bags/air curtains had deployed and thought I must have hit my head on them. The burning smell was the smell of those deploying, I guess. I put my hand to my head to see if there was any blood. There was not, and I decided I had my wits about me still.
I quickly turned to check Bella who was strapped into her car seat in the middle of the backseat. She looked fine and I asked if she was OK. Then she started crying. I could not open my door, so I crawled out of the passenger door and opened the back door to get her out of the car and check her out. I undid her buckles and scooped her into my arms.
She cried, and I told her we were going to fine. It was sprinkling rain, and we were half a block from Jen's office. I could not find my cell phone to call her to come take Bella. The guy who hit us came to check that we were OK, and a woman in another car told us she could not stay but gave us her name and number in case we needed a witness. Bella stopped crying pretty quickly, and soon was pointing out buses that were driving by - a good sign that she was OK, too.
I found my phone in the floorboard and called for Jen to come take Bella to her office. A police officer arrived, wrote a report cited the other driver for failing to stop at a red light, and a tow truck came to get my car. The damage was pretty minimal based on how hard I thought we had been hit. But the back wheel was bent, and it was undriveable.
The man who hit us, Jay, is a nice guy, took full responsibility for the accident, and he too was glad Bella was OK first and foremost. He has three kids of his own. We chatted for a while until the wrecker and officer were gone, and then I walked up to Jen's office to call Carmichael Insurance Agency to find out what to do next.
We're home now. Bella fell asleep about a half mile from Jen's office and she seems fine.
I am so thankful she is OK, and do not want to think what could have been Needless to say, I highly recommend Britax brand car seats for any child out there. She spent a lot of money on it, but it kept my daughter safe today and that's the highest praise I can offer.
When my eyes opened again, I was staring at the intersection where had been, but was looking at it from the opposite direction. I smelled something burning, too. I looked to my left, and saw that the air bags/air curtains had deployed and thought I must have hit my head on them. The burning smell was the smell of those deploying, I guess. I put my hand to my head to see if there was any blood. There was not, and I decided I had my wits about me still.
I quickly turned to check Bella who was strapped into her car seat in the middle of the backseat. She looked fine and I asked if she was OK. Then she started crying. I could not open my door, so I crawled out of the passenger door and opened the back door to get her out of the car and check her out. I undid her buckles and scooped her into my arms.
She cried, and I told her we were going to fine. It was sprinkling rain, and we were half a block from Jen's office. I could not find my cell phone to call her to come take Bella. The guy who hit us came to check that we were OK, and a woman in another car told us she could not stay but gave us her name and number in case we needed a witness. Bella stopped crying pretty quickly, and soon was pointing out buses that were driving by - a good sign that she was OK, too.
I found my phone in the floorboard and called for Jen to come take Bella to her office. A police officer arrived, wrote a report cited the other driver for failing to stop at a red light, and a tow truck came to get my car. The damage was pretty minimal based on how hard I thought we had been hit. But the back wheel was bent, and it was undriveable.
The man who hit us, Jay, is a nice guy, took full responsibility for the accident, and he too was glad Bella was OK first and foremost. He has three kids of his own. We chatted for a while until the wrecker and officer were gone, and then I walked up to Jen's office to call Carmichael Insurance Agency to find out what to do next.
We're home now. Bella fell asleep about a half mile from Jen's office and she seems fine.
I am so thankful she is OK, and do not want to think what could have been Needless to say, I highly recommend Britax brand car seats for any child out there. She spent a lot of money on it, but it kept my daughter safe today and that's the highest praise I can offer.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
WEEKEND AT HOME
Bella spent pretty much the entire weekend at home with her parents and had a great time.
On Saturday, she helped them clean up the house by putting away clothes and toys, and sweeping with her little broom. She also made it to the toilet each time she had to go to the bathroom, which was great, too. She did a little shuffling dance to let her parents know it was time to go to the toilet, so that helped. One of the cool finds of thr weekend was a box that her mom had put in storage before Bella was born. When we all discovered it again, it turns out to be filled with stuff Bella loves: die-cast metal race cars, a stuffed animal bear, small toy cars, a slinky, one of those little wooden Russian dolls with six smaller dolls stored inside (you know, they keep getting smaller as you open them), and a pair of plastic eyeglass frames. Bella Loved putting those on and modeling them for her folks.
However, Bella did not want to nap. She hung out in her crib for half an hour and sang songs and played under her blanket, but no sleeping. So she stayed up all day, and while her mom went for a run, Bella fell asleep just after 7 p.m. She slept all night and got up in a great mood on 8 a.m.
She had guests on Sunday: David and Leah brought over their eight-week-old boy, Asa, and Bella enjoyed getting to watch him nap, reminding everyone to be quiet while he napped, and showed genuine concern for him when he cried out at one point. Then in the afternoon, Ben and Temple brought Holden over to play for a bit. Bella and Holden had fun dancing to the demo songs on the Casio SK-5, tinkling the ivories of the mini baby grand, and eating grape tomatoes and strawberries. Then they played with some balls on the back porch and took turns very nicely on the slide in the front yard.
Again, though, she did not nap. So at dinner around 5:45, she was so tired sitting in her chair that her eyes would close and shed start to lean over. So her mom scooted over, asked if she was sleepy, and Bella said "yes." Bella never admits to being sleepy. Sure enough, two minutes later she was sound asleep in Jen's arms.
Are we entering a new phase of no-napping, but early bedtimes? I think we could deal with that very well thank you.
On Saturday, she helped them clean up the house by putting away clothes and toys, and sweeping with her little broom. She also made it to the toilet each time she had to go to the bathroom, which was great, too. She did a little shuffling dance to let her parents know it was time to go to the toilet, so that helped. One of the cool finds of thr weekend was a box that her mom had put in storage before Bella was born. When we all discovered it again, it turns out to be filled with stuff Bella loves: die-cast metal race cars, a stuffed animal bear, small toy cars, a slinky, one of those little wooden Russian dolls with six smaller dolls stored inside (you know, they keep getting smaller as you open them), and a pair of plastic eyeglass frames. Bella Loved putting those on and modeling them for her folks.
However, Bella did not want to nap. She hung out in her crib for half an hour and sang songs and played under her blanket, but no sleeping. So she stayed up all day, and while her mom went for a run, Bella fell asleep just after 7 p.m. She slept all night and got up in a great mood on 8 a.m.
She had guests on Sunday: David and Leah brought over their eight-week-old boy, Asa, and Bella enjoyed getting to watch him nap, reminding everyone to be quiet while he napped, and showed genuine concern for him when he cried out at one point. Then in the afternoon, Ben and Temple brought Holden over to play for a bit. Bella and Holden had fun dancing to the demo songs on the Casio SK-5, tinkling the ivories of the mini baby grand, and eating grape tomatoes and strawberries. Then they played with some balls on the back porch and took turns very nicely on the slide in the front yard.
Again, though, she did not nap. So at dinner around 5:45, she was so tired sitting in her chair that her eyes would close and shed start to lean over. So her mom scooted over, asked if she was sleepy, and Bella said "yes." Bella never admits to being sleepy. Sure enough, two minutes later she was sound asleep in Jen's arms.
Are we entering a new phase of no-napping, but early bedtimes? I think we could deal with that very well thank you.
Monday, October 5, 2009
SEPTEMBER PHOTOS
One day, Bella put on her green sunglasses and I asked her if she wanted to go out on the porch and pose for pictures for her mommy. She did and we did!
One day, I asked Bella to help me clean up the house by taking one of her mommy's bags to the closet. She dutifully put the bag over her head and began walking toward the closet. I asked her to stop long enough for me to snap this picture, and she continued her journey - somehow - to the closet.
One day, Bella decided she wanted to put on a swim diaper while we were in the house. She got one pair on, then added another, and another. I left the room and she waddled into the kitchen a few moments later sporting what I thought were four swim diapers. Turned out she had eight of them on somehow!
We are fortunate in that Bella will try just about any food, often with surprising results. One day while I was cooking dinner, she tucked into chopped onions and ate several pieces before I stopped her on account of that being weird. She also likes lemons, despite this face.
This is one of my favorite recent shots of Bella. Her mom took it and it shows off how wild her hair can get, her beautiful blue eyes, and, well, just how altogether precious she is.
One day, I asked Bella to help me clean up the house by taking one of her mommy's bags to the closet. She dutifully put the bag over her head and began walking toward the closet. I asked her to stop long enough for me to snap this picture, and she continued her journey - somehow - to the closet.
One day, Bella decided she wanted to put on a swim diaper while we were in the house. She got one pair on, then added another, and another. I left the room and she waddled into the kitchen a few moments later sporting what I thought were four swim diapers. Turned out she had eight of them on somehow!
We are fortunate in that Bella will try just about any food, often with surprising results. One day while I was cooking dinner, she tucked into chopped onions and ate several pieces before I stopped her on account of that being weird. She also likes lemons, despite this face.
This is one of my favorite recent shots of Bella. Her mom took it and it shows off how wild her hair can get, her beautiful blue eyes, and, well, just how altogether precious she is.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
DUCK!
Bella's dad drove her up to Lake Junaluska this past weekend to attend the annual Gathering of Avetts. She slept for half of the three-hour drive, and then we talked and sang songs and looked for buses and cows the rest of the way. One of the things that kept her going (and made the trip so easy) was the promise of feeding ducks once we got to the lake.
When we arrived, Uncle Wally and Aunt Deanie were already there to greet Bella but she had three things on her mind: the swing she saw on the front porch, the ducks, and her grandparents, Izzy and Bud, who were not there yet. She settled for swinging and talking with Wally and Deanie until Bud arrived. Then it was time to go feed the ducks. Bella decided to take her doll (that lives at Izzy and Bud's house) Mayspring in her stroller to feed the ducks, too. So the four of us took a box of stale Triscuits down to the lake to the first group of ducks we saw.
Bella LOVED the ducks, so much that she disregarded any dogs that walked by us while she fed them. And the ducks were accommodating, waddling up very close to Bella to eat the bits of Triscuits she was throwing on the ground. Bella also tried to be helpful to the ducks by pointing and yelling to them to show them where the Triscuit pieces were in the grass.
For the next two days, Bella and her dad got up in the morning and went to feed ducks after breakfast. We got the following video from that first trip with Bud and Mayspring, but wish we had been able to capture footage of the goose with no fear who walked right up to us on Sunday morning and demanded to be be fed. It actually had to be physically restrained by Bella's dad in order for her to feed the other ducks (and one squirrel).
When we arrived, Uncle Wally and Aunt Deanie were already there to greet Bella but she had three things on her mind: the swing she saw on the front porch, the ducks, and her grandparents, Izzy and Bud, who were not there yet. She settled for swinging and talking with Wally and Deanie until Bud arrived. Then it was time to go feed the ducks. Bella decided to take her doll (that lives at Izzy and Bud's house) Mayspring in her stroller to feed the ducks, too. So the four of us took a box of stale Triscuits down to the lake to the first group of ducks we saw.
Bella LOVED the ducks, so much that she disregarded any dogs that walked by us while she fed them. And the ducks were accommodating, waddling up very close to Bella to eat the bits of Triscuits she was throwing on the ground. Bella also tried to be helpful to the ducks by pointing and yelling to them to show them where the Triscuit pieces were in the grass.
For the next two days, Bella and her dad got up in the morning and went to feed ducks after breakfast. We got the following video from that first trip with Bud and Mayspring, but wish we had been able to capture footage of the goose with no fear who walked right up to us on Sunday morning and demanded to be be fed. It actually had to be physically restrained by Bella's dad in order for her to feed the other ducks (and one squirrel).
Saturday, September 19, 2009
DEAR READER
Thank you for keeping up with me on my blog. It's a lot of fun, but I want to let you know that my momma is doing something serious. She is running in the New City Marathon on November 1 to raise funds for pediatric cancer research. Here's the website for the story of Adrian, who she is running in memory of, and her donations: https://fredsteam.mskcc.org/fundraising/Controller?action=userHome&user_id=40161&event_id=128
Please help support her in this great cause!
thank you,
Bella
Please help support her in this great cause!
thank you,
Bella
Friday, September 18, 2009
NEW MOVES
Here's a collection of clips from the last month or two showing Bella at her finest/weirdest/fearless best!
GROWING UP
Been a while since I just wrote about Bella, and now that she's down for a night's sleep I'll take a few minutes to try to gather my thoughts and recollections.
Potty training has been great. Every one of Bella's BMs has gone in the toilet these last several weeks. She knows when she has to go, often tells us "poo poo" and off we go. Her urination is probably 80 to 90 percent in the toilet as well. We have accidents every now and then - usually when we are playing and she fails to notice that she has to go. But when we do go to the toilet, she likes to take all her clothes off, climb up the step stool and then - all by herself - use her hands and feet to get on the seat and turn herself around and plop down on the plastic training seat. She wants NO help with this at all. She also turns around and and flushes the toilet while she's still sitting on it.
At school, Bella is friends with Robert, Henry, Sela, Simone, Kate and her other classmates. But she is crazy about Alma, one of the assistants who comes in during the afternoons. Bella often refers to her as Elmo, and she enjoys spending time with Alma in the classroom when others are outside playing so she can help clean up the classroom. She is learning to clear the table and clean the table and how to wash hands and sweep. She loves helping around the kitchen these days. We can ask her to get one of her bowls or a plate or a glass and she goes right over to her little shelves and gets one. Then she'll put it on the table or bring it to us, whichever we ask her to do.
Bella is also talking more and more. She is stringing two and three words together at times. And she understands most of what we ask her. She will also repeat words we say if they sound fun, so Bella's momma is really watching what she says! The other day for the first time, Bella brought Hop the monkey into the kitchen and asked Hop if he wanted yogurt. "Hop want yoyo?" Apparently he (and Bella) did.
She's been painting a lot these last few days, choosing what colors to use and where to put them. After using a brush she often squeezes it with her hand and uses that hand to smear more colors on her paper. Will get some photos of her artwork up sometime soon. Gonna work on new videos to post now.
Potty training has been great. Every one of Bella's BMs has gone in the toilet these last several weeks. She knows when she has to go, often tells us "poo poo" and off we go. Her urination is probably 80 to 90 percent in the toilet as well. We have accidents every now and then - usually when we are playing and she fails to notice that she has to go. But when we do go to the toilet, she likes to take all her clothes off, climb up the step stool and then - all by herself - use her hands and feet to get on the seat and turn herself around and plop down on the plastic training seat. She wants NO help with this at all. She also turns around and and flushes the toilet while she's still sitting on it.
At school, Bella is friends with Robert, Henry, Sela, Simone, Kate and her other classmates. But she is crazy about Alma, one of the assistants who comes in during the afternoons. Bella often refers to her as Elmo, and she enjoys spending time with Alma in the classroom when others are outside playing so she can help clean up the classroom. She is learning to clear the table and clean the table and how to wash hands and sweep. She loves helping around the kitchen these days. We can ask her to get one of her bowls or a plate or a glass and she goes right over to her little shelves and gets one. Then she'll put it on the table or bring it to us, whichever we ask her to do.
Bella is also talking more and more. She is stringing two and three words together at times. And she understands most of what we ask her. She will also repeat words we say if they sound fun, so Bella's momma is really watching what she says! The other day for the first time, Bella brought Hop the monkey into the kitchen and asked Hop if he wanted yogurt. "Hop want yoyo?" Apparently he (and Bella) did.
She's been painting a lot these last few days, choosing what colors to use and where to put them. After using a brush she often squeezes it with her hand and uses that hand to smear more colors on her paper. Will get some photos of her artwork up sometime soon. Gonna work on new videos to post now.
Monday, September 7, 2009
JERSEY GIRL
So Bella spent a week at the beach with her momma (she started calling Jen "momma" when we got to NYC, prior to that she called us both "daddy" or Jen "dadoo"), and her grandparents, Nunya and Nana, and her aunts - Stephi and Lindsey (aka NoNo), and uncles - Tony and Bill - and her cousins, Wyatt (aka WyWy) and Travis.
The whole crew descended upon a historic beach front home in Surf City, New Jersey and quickly fell into the beach vibe. Hurricane Bill (no relation) had just passed by, so the waves were some of the biggest Bella's dad had ever seen let alone body surfed. There were life guards on duty, and swimming was only permitted in certain marked areas. But Bella knew no fear and wanted to essentially walk to England over the waves. She was raring to go that first day or two. She liked the water, kept wanting to go deeper, she played in the sand, found seashells and loved seeing airplanes and "ducks" (aka sea gulls).
But the sun and sand took their toll and Bella had a bit of a cold, so she spent most of the rest of the week indoors where she and Wyatt and Travis played games, drew pictures, raced up and down the staircase and walked down the street with their parents to get ice cream cones (Bella's second, third and fourth cones). She also learned to love the outdoor shower, and loved just standing under the warm water and watching it roll off her onto the wooden floor. She also led the whole group in rousing renditions of "Happy and You Know It" and "ABCs" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."
When the sun started setting, Bella enjoyed going to the beach to look for shells, jump in the sand, and chase the "ducks" with the help of her father and Nunya.
She was ready to go when Saturday rolled around, and went back to New York City for a day where she got to meet and play with (and against) Ben Urbanski. Then it was onto a plane for a 7.5-hour delayed ordeal back to Atlanta and her home and her bed and her cats and her school.
The whole crew descended upon a historic beach front home in Surf City, New Jersey and quickly fell into the beach vibe. Hurricane Bill (no relation) had just passed by, so the waves were some of the biggest Bella's dad had ever seen let alone body surfed. There were life guards on duty, and swimming was only permitted in certain marked areas. But Bella knew no fear and wanted to essentially walk to England over the waves. She was raring to go that first day or two. She liked the water, kept wanting to go deeper, she played in the sand, found seashells and loved seeing airplanes and "ducks" (aka sea gulls).
But the sun and sand took their toll and Bella had a bit of a cold, so she spent most of the rest of the week indoors where she and Wyatt and Travis played games, drew pictures, raced up and down the staircase and walked down the street with their parents to get ice cream cones (Bella's second, third and fourth cones). She also learned to love the outdoor shower, and loved just standing under the warm water and watching it roll off her onto the wooden floor. She also led the whole group in rousing renditions of "Happy and You Know It" and "ABCs" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."
When the sun started setting, Bella enjoyed going to the beach to look for shells, jump in the sand, and chase the "ducks" with the help of her father and Nunya.
She was ready to go when Saturday rolled around, and went back to New York City for a day where she got to meet and play with (and against) Ben Urbanski. Then it was onto a plane for a 7.5-hour delayed ordeal back to Atlanta and her home and her bed and her cats and her school.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
BACK TO THE BIG APPLE
Bella went back to New York City last month for a few days before heading to the beach with her relatives. She had a good time walking on the sidewalks, seeing A LOT of buses, meeting doggie friends, seeing a few horses, eating yummy food (but turned her nose up at sashimi), and taking a long nap in Central Park. She also visited the museum of Natural History where she saw the skeletons of dinosaurs and all kinds of other cool/dead animals. It was also in New York City that her grandfather, Nunya, bought Bella her first ice cream cone - which she thoroughly enjoyed.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
BELLA AT THE AQUARIUM
For the 100th post on her blog, Bella is sharing photos of her visit to the Georgia Aquarium with her grandparents, Nunya and Nana. They visited for a week last month and enjoyed getting to spend time with their granddaughter and explore a bit of the ATL. Bella reportedly loved the fish she saw and entertained everyone else who was visiting the aquarium that day. We should charge admission!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
IGGY PECK ARCHITECT
Iggy Peck, Architect by Andrea BeatyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book is a must-read AND a must-see. The marriage of Beaty's words with Roberts' illustrations is a match made in this reader's heaven. And - most importantly - our 18-month-old daughter fell in love with the book. She requests it every night now. Admittedly at first, she didn't take to it. The illustrations aren't as cartoonish as she used to like (such as Dr. Seuss, Karen Katz, or the guy who does Tails and all those books). So we put Iggy Peck on the shelf for a few months. When we tried it again, it worked liked a charm.
And really if you read Iggy Peck, I think you'll fall for it, too. Beaty's flow throughout the book is as smooth and fun to read as anyone's I've come across. And I've come across a lot of books since our girl was born. Do yourself a favor and track this books down. Just flip through the pages in the store, and I'll bet you'll think of someone in your life who NEEDS this book. But be sure to read it aloud yourself. You'll have a great time doing it.
View all my reviews >>
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
VIOLA!
Bella and her parents and her Nana and another friend who dropped by helped make the above pice of art. We've been putting down butcher paper over her activity table, and Bella has been going nuts with it! She enjoys the crayons and pens she gets her hands on, but totally loves these fat, round markers that her aunt Lindsey sent her. Bella will hold the marker tip on the paper for a few seconds to get a lot of marker juice on the paper, then use a crayon to "draw" with the puddled marker juice. She's mixing her media, as her mom pointed out.
Hopefully this is the first of many artistic collaborations between Bella and her friends and family!
Sunday, August 9, 2009
JULY PHOTOS
Better late than never, here are some more pictures from the Life of Bella in July 2009.
This last photo was taken a day or two after Bells fell at school and got a nice scab on her forehead. She is wearing a dress that her Aunt and Uncle Avett brought back from Vietnam for her. And she's wearing beads that she found somewhere or another.
This last photo was taken a day or two after Bells fell at school and got a nice scab on her forehead. She is wearing a dress that her Aunt and Uncle Avett brought back from Vietnam for her. And she's wearing beads that she found somewhere or another.
Monday, July 27, 2009
BUSY WEEKEND!
Bella had one of her busiest weekends ever this past weekend, and took her parents along for the ride!
On Saturday morning, she sported an '80s look and took Purplepotamus for a ride on Plastic Lion.
Later on Saturday morning, Bella took her parents to her school friend, Simone's, two-year-old birthday party at the Decatur Recreation Center's social room. It took Bella a while to get accustomed to the party atmosphere and all the people, but once she warmed up she danced and played instruments and pulled down decoration with the best of them!
All of the kids at the party got name tag stickers to wear, and then enjoyed singing and dancing with a woman named Doris.
To close out the birthday party, everyone got cupcakes. Bella had her first one and thoroughly enjoyed it while wearing a red Elmo party hat. her mommy held her in her lap while the cupcake carnage took place. Bella ran around for a while afterward, then got in the car and fell asleep for her afternoon nap.
After a good nap, Bella got ready to go to a baby shower for her parents' friends, Michael & Amy. She had a great time playing with some of the other children who showed up, though she was the youngest. At the baby shower, Bella set a new personal best record by eating three slices of watermelon in one sitting. Needless to say, her shirt was soaked and she got changed immediately following.
Bella and Amelia, who's four years old, had a great time running from a stool in one corner of the room to the large beanbag in the other corner. They kept this up for nearly half an hour, laughing the entire time!
On Saturday morning, she sported an '80s look and took Purplepotamus for a ride on Plastic Lion.
Later on Saturday morning, Bella took her parents to her school friend, Simone's, two-year-old birthday party at the Decatur Recreation Center's social room. It took Bella a while to get accustomed to the party atmosphere and all the people, but once she warmed up she danced and played instruments and pulled down decoration with the best of them!
All of the kids at the party got name tag stickers to wear, and then enjoyed singing and dancing with a woman named Doris.
To close out the birthday party, everyone got cupcakes. Bella had her first one and thoroughly enjoyed it while wearing a red Elmo party hat. her mommy held her in her lap while the cupcake carnage took place. Bella ran around for a while afterward, then got in the car and fell asleep for her afternoon nap.
After a good nap, Bella got ready to go to a baby shower for her parents' friends, Michael & Amy. She had a great time playing with some of the other children who showed up, though she was the youngest. At the baby shower, Bella set a new personal best record by eating three slices of watermelon in one sitting. Needless to say, her shirt was soaked and she got changed immediately following.
Bella and Amelia, who's four years old, had a great time running from a stool in one corner of the room to the large beanbag in the other corner. They kept this up for nearly half an hour, laughing the entire time!
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