New Hair Cut

Once I found out that I was going to have a girl, I thought, "Man, I really hope she has hair". It didn't have to be a lot of hair. I just didn't want to have a bald baby and have to tell strangers the sex of my baby. So when Bella was born with so much hair it seemed like a blessing. What I didn't realize was how difficult it would be to take care of baby fine hair that keeps growing while more baby fine hair keeps growing in. So, I started putting Bella's hair in barrettes, and oh didn't she look cute, and then when her hair got longer, I put it in ponytails, and that was really cute. And then Bella decided to have an opinion about what was put in her hair, and she started pulling everything I'd put in her hair out. Barrettes would come out of her hair and into her mouth. She was left looking wild and free (see above). Cute, yes. Conducive to seeing - no. And after all, she has so many new things to see. So, then I began agonizing about whether to cut her hair, and if I cut her hair do I cut bangs. Yesterday, I finally threw in the proverbial towel, and got her hair cut. Below is an after shot.

Oh, yea and did I mention, she has started walking, climbing up and down the stairs, and climbing into laundry baskets. I'll post about that once we get the video downloaded.

Home alone

Todd and I reached a historic and important first last night - we left Bella at home with a babysitter. Not a relative, but a babysitter. But not just any babysitter. We've known Lee and his family for several years and know Lee to be a responsible and caring young man. What we didn't know was how Bella would behave. Apparently, she behaved beautifully. She played well all night. Had her diaper changed with minumal fuss, and went to bed without saying a peep.

I've heard people say that their favorite stage is between 9 and 18 mos. I don't know what the future holds, but we are having a blast with Bella right now. She just smiles at everyone, and it really makes their day. Store cashiers, strangers at restaurants, fellow shoppers - it doesn't matter; she smiles at them all. My mom says several woman have stopped her while they were shopping at said they thought Bella was a little doll. Literally a doll because she was so quite and cute. Bella is a great shopper so long as there is a shopping cart - there is plenty for her to see and it gives her an opportunity to make eye contact with people. And she loves seeing other children. She is fascinated by older children and wants to talk and touch babies her own age and younger. When I was working in the church nursery last week, Bella wanted to kiss one of the babies in there. Although, the word on the street today was she nearly clawed a little boy to death for trying to kiss her. Hum. I guess she prefers to be the aggressor. Bella enjoys kissing her stuffed animals, her "little people", and of course mommy and daddy (she kisses mommy the most). But she can still be very unsteady in landing those kissing, so in the evenings when she is tired and acting silly those kisses can be dangerous. You can see her trying to give George a kiss.

Giving Thanks

We started this year off receiving the biggest and best gift we'd ever received - a baby, and for every day she has been here, she has been a blessing. So this year we give thanks for Bella. She brings joy to everyone - whether it is to her family or grumpy old men at restaurants - everyone enjoys her smile.

She didn't wind up eating much turkey or much of anything for that matter, but she did love the crescent rolls, and well, who doesn't? We had a fun time watching her try the different foods. And then on Black Friday, her father took her out in the cold at 7:00 a.m. without a hat, jacket or shoes. Her hair wasn't combed, her clothes didn't match and her socks didn't fit. The nightmare! Anyway, that was our Thanksgiving weekend - hope yours was great, too.

Happy Thanksgiving

This picture was taken at the Dallas Arboredum a few weeks ago. Bella was still afraid of pumpkins, so we had to improvise. Bella would like to wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving. She is looking forward to mashed pototoes, pumpkin pie and fruit salad. OH, and GO COWBOYS!

When Sugar Plums turn into lady bugs

Bella was a lady bug for her first halloween. She participated in the Pumpkin Parade at Penney, and then later that night she went tricker treating with her daddy. I think she had fun, and she really didn't mind the costume. But of course she was not able to partake of any of the candy she collected.

Fly me to the MI

Despite being persona non grata on the UofM campus, Bella was allowed in to the sacred “Big House”. She enjoyed her time in Michigan, although pumpkins are apparently an intimidating sight to this nine month old (good thing no one told her there was a pumpkin on her shirt or socks). She did much better on the plane than I expected, but of course she did have her own seat, courtesy of all those air travelers that aren’t flying to Detroit anymore. We got to visit Oak – who truly is just an acorn at this time, but a cute little acorn. It was great to finally meet Oak and to visit with the Carters. Nothing seemed to have changed, well, except we both have babies now and carry around diaper bags and have to worry about nap time.

Apples & Ham

Catherine has been away on business for the past 2 days, and Bella and Daddy are having a great time! Tonight's menu: Apples & Ham; Bella's new favorite meal. She downed the jar in a matter of minutes. She liked it so much, she was trying to suck on her lower lip to make sure she didn't leave any. She still has some work left to perfect that one as you can tell. She would even hold on to the spoon and bite it to keep the spoon in her mouth. The last picture was taken yesterday. Mommy requested I take a picture of her each day and post it. I was able to party comply with that request :)