Bella Update Attempt

Last month Bella reached her Year And A Half mark. 18 Months. I can barely believe she is growing so fast. And now (last week) she turned 19 Months already. She is a bundle of kisses, laughter, constant cuddles, and thumbsucking expertise. We adore her. Even when her skills out rank Connor's mischeif.

Our unpredictable weather called for a windy walk and an attempt at pictures.
Since we live in Rexburg, ID the weather isn't exactly reliable. This week we sported our chilly weather ensembles. And Bella sported her boots for most likely the last time.

Doctor Report
18 Months
Weight: 20.25 lbs (3%)
Height: 29 inches (1%)
Head Circumference: 18.5 inches (61%)

Doctor confirmed she was doing great and developing perfect. No worries about thumbsucking. Considering dentists don't connect thumbsucking at this age to dental issues. At 3 yrs if she is still a thumbsucker then there are a few methods we can try. But for now we have been advised to ignore it, associate a doll/blanket with sleep, and encourage activities where she needs both hands.
One shot. Let me just say WOW I have never heard her scream so much so loud. But her thumb cured her soon enough. But the tears and red face sure gave people a lot to stare at.

Mover
Tippy toes. My favorite ;)
Running, to chase brother mostly. Not so balanced so running is pre falling.
Falling. Lots. Lets leave it at that.
Laying down. She loves to watch TV laying on the floor thumb in mouth and rolling around a bit.
Climbing. Back of the couch is her favorite. And the highchair, but that usually ends with the highchair on top of her in a fit of wails. Good thing it is light so she never even gets a bruise.


Mischief
Pinching. The most annoying and painful thing she does. It is mostly a comfort thing, right around thumb sucking or tired time. Who gets it the most? Me. Of course it is always Mom. Very excited to overcome this!
Emptying of cabinets, drawers and closet shelves. I HATE having clean laundry all over the floor. But in attempts to keep the peace the kids laundry enjoys being placed in Bella's floor piles, most of the time. (Our closet door just got fixed so I am happy to say I can finally close it, and rectify this clean laundry mischief.)
Bella loves picking on brother when hes not looking. Sleeping, praying, or even tv watching are perfect times for Bella to poke, pinch, or tackle. She is prone to this more if she gets tired.

Likes/Dislikes
Lately she is liking ...
Anything chocolate, or anything food mainly. Great Eater.
Music and dancing, especially when Mommy and Connor dance with her.
Climbing STAIRS!
Tickling and giving raspbarries.
Snuggling. She can't sleep without that constant warmth. And has started foot rubbing as at night and digging herself into any crevice she can find.
She loves getting in the bath. But never lasts long. She likes them short and fun . . . aka no water in eyes.
Coloring beside Connor, drawing beside Daddy. She still sneaks a taste if we don't watch her tho.
She likes her baby, giving hugs/kisses.
Running outside, no direction just sprint. Makes for an interesting chase. I am appreciating Connor's age of minor obedience all the more.
Drinking out of a real cup. She can't do it without spilling. But she loves it.

Lately she is disliking ...
Being told NO, no brainer, I know. But she is getting more and more independent and hearing it more and being more made then sad when she hears the dreaded NO word. I am just glad she hasn't started saying it ... yet.
Daddy leaving for work. She is becoming quite the Daddy's girl and nothing makes her world crumble more than having Daddy walk out the door without her. Makes for a lot of loud and teary filled mornings.
When the bottle is filled with anything other than milk she wont take it. I am not complaining considering I am excited to say we are easing off of the bottle days, and I can tell she is going to be SO much easier to wean from the bottle than Connor considering she isn't as obsessed. And doesn't have it every day even. She is happy with a sippy cup all the same. Bottles don't put her to sleep like they did Connor so she has never had the attachment issue we saw in Con.
She hates getting lotioned and changed after baths. She just gets so antsy!
She HATES sitting in the stroller when Connor gets to walk. She gets seriously jealous of her brother sometimes, especially with Mommy. (I worry a little about her for our next child, she is going to have quite the adventure in learning to share Mommy.)

Trying her best to not crack a smile.

Is she talking?
The most common phrase she says "I falled." Sometimes I am not quite sure what it is in reference to. And sometimes it is literally "I falled". Considering she is far from balanced, we hear this a lot!
She shakes her head no.
She moans a lot! It is so CUTE! She makes sad moans that mean she is dissapointed. The "huh" moan is common too. We also got a lot of sing-songy moans/hums.
She also uses things to express herself. For example, bring me connor's cup to tell me shes thirsty. Or bring me a bowl and moan for more.
"Get you" is a fun phrase she has started saying. Similar to the "I'm gonna get you" game Daddy plays with her.
"Let go" is a not so fun phrase that she has finally learned. Considering she is at mischeif learning phases, we have to pull her away from all sorts of messes in attempts to contain her. She isn't a fan of us spoiling her fun.

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On a Side Note:

On our walk Connor dragged his feet behind, being SO slow. I noticed he was writing on the sidewalk as we walked with a piece of chalk. I asked him what he was doing, his answer ...

"leaving my monster a trail ... so he can find me"

Outside our door







We've been itching to do some oustide exploring ever since this warm weathered sunshine hit.

 

So in the warmth we do lots of this . . .

 

Stroller Pushing

 

Sunny Squinting

Bubble Catching

 

Ball Bouncing

 

Grass Pulling and Dandelion Finding

 

Big Brother Chasing

 

Stair Practicing

 

 Again

 

And

 

 Again

 And Again

 

Life is just better in the sun. 

Wide Awake and Fast Asleep

Since it is summer time we are trying to find lots to do with our long summer days and our high energy duo.

 

So when they are wide awake it is playtime! Indoors or outdoors they are on the go. McDonalds has finally won their hearts and both are now courageous enough to attempt it, even when it is filled to the tip top.

 

Bella is a brave girl and can't help but get giddy at the sight of lots of little kids. She runs through them all and back to me with a big grin and eager eyes. We have been enjoying playtime at McDonalds while Daddy studies, or playtime when Grandpa and Grandma Stanger spoil us. And these little ones are lovin it.

 

 

What can we say it is love at first sight.
I can only hope she and I will have the same size
 one day, or one big closet :)

Guarding.
He loves the game of chase. Here he is waiting for them
 to come down the slide so he can get them!

 

I can't believe how long our days are. And with the sun going down past nine most nights I will admit that we are quite the late nighters. But oh the fun we have.

 

On the weekend we are taking advantage of the local drive-in. It is 5 mins from our house and has new releases for a sweet deal. We just got spoiled and got to see "Epic" with the kids. They almost stayed awake.  

 

 

This picture was taken it nightmode, so it is a little pixely.

 

Enjoy your summer days.

Confession

Warning : My Mother made me write this post.

Well it all started with a downright lazy day. You could say I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I refused to dress my children out of their pjs. I refused to shower. I was having a tv marathon on my phone while I let my kids watch too much tv. Connor was having an undressing day (considering were going through the I can dress/undress myself stage), well I ran with it and let him have a diaper day. Bella was on a mess spree, and instead of cleaning up the clean clothes she was spreading around her room or the dish towels that were being emptied from the drawer or the toys that were being abandoned all over the house, I decided to laugh and play with her. Not worrying about the state of my home. Then in the middle of an incredible diaper change, in the messiest sense of the word possible, the KNOCK from the door came. I ignored it thinking. NO. I am not answering. I am not dressed for guests and neither are my half naked children. Unfortuantley my two year old didn't get the NO memo. He ran proudly to the door. Screaming I might add. And proceeded to unlock the door. (Soooooo grateful for that new development. It is just fabulous now he can run out of the house even when it is deadbolted and he can open it to strangers and he can lock it on you when you run to the car to grab groceries.) Anyway, I left my clean but not diapered baby to throw myself against the door to block my son from opening it. I then told him to "Be quiet shhhh". We live in an apartment with not so sound proof walls, that being the reason why I wanted the quiet. Not to be rude. But I was SO not in the mood for guests. I didn't care who they were. And I am proud member of the "Call Before You Come" club. Well Connor along with the NO memo he didn't get the Quiet memo. So he loudly shouted "WHY ARE WE BEING QUIET MOMMY ?!?" Well you would think our "guests" would have gotten the point. Nope. They knocked harder. Well Connor knocked back.


Playing I SPY with his eyes closed.
He is talented.

By this time I was mortified and now stubbornly refusing to answer. No make up and crying baby being my justifications. Finally they left. We heard them walk down the stairs and in no time Connor was to the blinds lifting them up and banging on the window to get their attention. Yup this is happening. I grabbed him in time to get him a treat in the highchair. Only to find Bella at the window imitating her brother exactly. I felt like crawling under the covers. Instead I shrank into the couch and snuggled my traitors, while we played a game of "ISPY".

Still trying to repress memories of this event.

Well whoever our guests were. Sorry. And call before you come next time. So we can try to be dressed and not so moody.

Sunshine Play

Bella didn't quite get what all
Connor's excitement was about.

Well I know I just did a post about the park not too long ago, but I couldn't help but share these two and their cuteness with you.

 

Shea woke up and said we should go to the park! I was immediately like YES! So we ate and got ready and headed out! The kids were in heaven lovin it!

 

When we first drove up there was a big giant lawn mower Connor declared it a monster. And tightly grasped my hand and told me "Mommy hurry up. The monster gonna get you." Then he started shouting at the monster, "Get away from my mommy MONSTER! Get away. You not gonna get my Mommy. Not gonna get her, you Monster." Then he forcefully yanked me and shouted "HURRY Mommy!"

 

 

 


The monutain he fell off of is the red block
 thing you can barely see in this picture.

While we were there Shea had to do homework and I ended up watching the kids alone. It was a challenge and I failed! We had a few falls. First being Connor from pretty high, he had chased a little girl up to the top of the jungle gym and when she had started making her way down a little mountain climbing thing Connor followed but he has never tried that out before because it is so high and he always tells me it is "too much." Well suffice to say he fell off on his side and hit his head. I grabbed him and cuddled him and his scared cries were over soon enough and he had only a few scratches to show for it so he was off playing within seconds.

 



 

Pretty much right after Connor's fall Bella decided to attempt the jungle gym and not the little one. So as she climbed the stairs her feet got twisted and her bum went right through the gap in the railing and took the rest of her body with it and she ended up a heap in the bark. She landed on her lower half mostly so it wasn't too bad but man oh man she wailed. SO she visited Daddy for a while, who cured her with snuggles, a drink, and a cookie.

 

Then she held my hand and sucked her thumb for a while just observing working up the courage to start playing again. Soon after she was on some other stairs following another little girl up them, the girl was right around her age with no mother in sight, and that little girl saw Bella climbing and looked straight at her and kicked her in the mouth. More wails! I told that little girl that was not nice and that she hurt Bella. But she couldn't care less. Connor then came over and asked "Why you crying Bella. Why Bella crying?" And I loudly (hoping the little girls mother would hear) told him a little girl had kicked Bella in the mouth. Well connor wasn't having that and left to defend his sister's honor. And went to those stairs and the first girl he saw he started getting in her telling her she was "Not NICE. NOT Nice!" and telling her how "You don't hit Bellasister". There may have been a little fist waving too (not too excited to admit that). Well that wasnt the right little girl but I loved seeing our little protector. I reassured the girl that she was fine and to go on playing, she was a tad confused by Connor's accusal.

 

As you can tell she worked up her
sense of adventure again.

 

After awhile of playtime a few school buses full of middle schoolers took over the park and the playgrounds; I had to hold Bella from then on, fortunately our park time was almost done anyway (time to take daddy to school). Connor wasn't intimidated by big kids though and they inspired a little roughhousing in him too, he spit at them when they laughed at him and after one kicked him in the chest by accident causing him to fall down he dedcided kicking bark at them was all he could do. I was more than a tad frustrated at these rough big kids playground take over. Connor then started revving up like a little engine to barrel through them, arms up elbows pointed out.

Soon I just decided it would be better to go around collecting rocks instead. It was so funny watching him search, "this not a good one", "this one a purple one?", "this not a rock this a stick leg".

 

 After an afternoon of play time we set for home, after dropping Daddy off. Then it was lunch and a much needed rest.

 

They loved their park time and I can't say I didn't love it too and am excited to have many more park adventures this summer. I love having kiddos that can enjoy summer playin.