Mr. Roy's Influence

At daycare, Bella's teacher, Mr. Roy, leads the class in dance parties. She's learned some moves. Check out the video that Uncle John captured.

Road Trips from Houston - Trip 4

Bella reunited with Matteo! We drove to Dallas to visit with Ana and Matteo. The last time that they saw each other was the summer. We stayed at a hotel that was connected to the Galleria which was so convenient and fun! Not once did Matt have any anxiety about shopping or about being at a mall. Surprisingly, he asked to go look at clothes at Nordstrom just for fun! Amazing! I admit that it was nice to window shop and be so accessible to so much to see and do. There were a few early shoppers, but for the most part the mall was empty.

Besides mall-walking, we ventured out to see the Dallas Zoo. Bella identified monkeys by saying "oo oo ah" and lions by saying "roar!" The giraffe was a new animal that she was a bit unsure of. Mostly because Matt had her face to face with one, literally. She named and quacked at the ducks. We all had a great time. Ana gifted us with a book, "Zoo Poo" which is a toilet training book that Bella loves. How do animals doo-doo? Buy the book and find out!


More about the hotel. We haven't stayed at a fancy hotel with a child before now. Surprisingly, everyone was very accommodating and friendly. We went to a suite for coctails and Bella happily enjoyed all the cheese, crackers, olives and pickles. Others looked on and smiled and laughed at Bella. We even received a gift bag for kids with a little rubber ducky, night light and a couple of other baby supplies. The next morning we returned for breakfast where Bella enjoyed THREE plates of fresh blueberries, strawberries, watermelon and oranges. I ate croissants and the blueberries that Bella fed us. It was a treat!

Bella loved the metal curtain at the hotel and they didn't seem to mind that she walked around and through it many, many times.

Camping with Bella - Trip #3

We went to Inks Lake State Park last weekend with Jack, John and Ashley. It was a good time, but would have been better if "Dak", "Don" and "Ashey" weren't so snotty. It was a bummer that they all had a cold.

We ergo'd (used the Ergo baby carrier) and climbed some rocks. It was warm and gorgeous during the day. It became cool at night. I would consider it cold since it was 38 degrees, but Matt kept his t-shirt and shorts insisting that it wasn't cold.

Jack & Bella love hanging out in the car. We don't mind either since they are occupied pressing buttons and pretending to drive. Of course we keep the keys far way.

Chucky Cheese

We visited friends at Chucky Cheese. It was our first CC experience...and it was a bit cheesy. Bella enjoyed some rides like the merry-go-round and the horse. We need to wait until she's older so she can operate and play the games and rides they way they are supposed to be played.

Road Trips from Houston - Trip 4

Our road trip started out after a bar mitzvah. We went to East Texas to help out a friend. It turned out that we didn't to need help so the rest of the weekend became our own. We drove around Jacksonville and Rusk then ended up at Lake Livingston State Park. Yes, you guessed it, we got Bella's State Park Passport stamped. She actually got the "Piney Woods" sticker! Yeah!

We went to Lake Livingston State Park when Bella was in her teen months. We didn't camp, but just visited friends who were camping. It's not a fond memory. Hanging out with friends was a ton of fun, but at the end of the evening, for no apparent reason, Bella barfed. As I swung her around to avoid getting throw-up on me, the vomit sprayed across my face and mostly ended up in my hair. It was one of those moments when time slowed. My initial reaction was right on, I was avoiding the stream of barf, but as I moved, Bella moved and countered my move. Fortunately, this recent trip disassociated Lake Livingston with throw-up.

Above is a picture of Bella walking. She insisted on wearing those green shoes which are 2 sizes too big. She can still walk, but becomes pigeon-toed and clunky with the too big shoes.

Below is a picture of Matt and Bella crossing a crooked bridge.
Bella says, "I don't know" and motions with questioning hands. It's adorable and we mimic it all the time.
Swing, swing, swing. The girl likes to swing.
She also likes to climb. She is fearless. Her 'too big' shoes got stuck to the side (rubber soles don't slide on metal) so it was a one time ride.
All by herself, she climbs.

Halloween x 3

1. First Bella was a lion, but she absolutely hated that costume. We managed to get it on her once and that was all.
2. Fortunately we had a hand-me-down tiger costume that Bella wore to daycare.
3. For the real Halloween, Bella was a Chinese girl. Matt was an Indian (from India) and wore one of his native dresses from his travels. It really did look like a dress. People just thought he was a bald hairy Krishnah. If Matt was going to be from India, then Bella was going to be from China and I was going to pick a country to represent. It didn't really work out that well because I couldn't find a costume so I just went as a witch, but my hat wouldn't stay on so basically, I just looked festive. Next year, I've sworn off dressing up. It's a kid thing.

potty time - don't jinx us!

When Daddy was away, Bella tinkled in the potty! It was completely unexpected and such a great surprise! Before her bath, she practices sitting on the potty. It is part of the routine and she loves it. She sat on her potty top (Sesame Street seat that fits on top of an adult toilet), pushed toilet paper between her legs over and over. She doesn't actually wipe, but she knows that the paper goes down. She also toots, a lot. It's cute. She sits (plays) for a while then "makes bubbles" which means she wants to take a bath. Into the bath she went, lots of bubbles, lots of fun. Suddenly she stood and said "potty" with her hand pointed down. I lifted her and sat her on the potty. She tooted and then I heard tinkling!!! There was actual "water" trickling down into the toilet! YAY! I screamed, I high fived her, I encouraged her to flush since there was really pee-pee in the potty. I was so proud!

The next night we came home and she was fascinated with this portable potty. Up, down, moving it all around. It's been around for a while, but she didn't play with it as much as this night. I took advantage and made dinner and actually ate it all while she pottied. When it was "make bubbles" time (bath time) I picked her up and noticed that there was pee pee in the potty! Again! She did it all on her own! Two nights in a row must mean something. We are on our way to being potty trained and spending a whole lot of "diaper" money on something else.

Since then, she has refused to potty at all. When we ask, she consistently and adamantly says "no!" We're bummed, but I think we could get somewhere if we had some M&M's as motivation. Matt is concerned about the sugar in the candy so we agreed to get mini M&M's. We'll see how it goes. Fingers-crossed!

from Ms. Tiffany

Ms. Tiffany is one of Bella's teachers at daycare. She snapped these pictures from the summer and sent them to us. We love that Bella loves being a part of the Purple Room!

playgroups - how to break in?

Since all of our friends with babies have moved away (not really all of them, just the two that lived closest to us) Matt and I are seeking couples with kids that live nearby. I belong to an online parent group which I love. It's great for baby advice and buying & selling baby gear. They have organized playgroups which meet at parks on a regular basis, most of the time during daytime (working) hours. I decided to give a couple of the afternoon playgroups a try.

Friday afternoon I picked up Bella from daycare and drove straight to Spotts Park where our age playgroup announced they would be meeting from 4-6 pm. I have never gone to an 'event' nor have I ever emailed or spoken to a parent that belonged to the group. Bella and I arrived and smiled as we walked toward the play structures. No one rushed over to ask who we were and whether we were new or not. Of course I didn't expect this, but it would have made it easier. I made small chat (how old is yours? that's a cute outfit. isn't the weather great?), but no one remained engaged and I felt I couldn't keep asking questions. I wasn't even sure that these parents were part of the playgroup. Anyway, one by one, everyone left until it was just me and Bella. We played some more, then went on our way. Defeated.

Monday afternoon I picked up Bella from daycare again and drove straight to Proctor Plaza where an all aged playground meets regularly from 4-6 pm. Again, Bella and I arrived and smiled as we walked toward the play structures. No one approached us. No one moved. There was a group of parents circled around each other not too far from the playground. I was fairly certain that these were the moms that I wanted to meet. I could not figure out how to actually meet them. How are you supposed to do it? Walk over and say "hi" ? Then what? It was clear that they knew each other very well. How do I break into the clique? Bella still needs quite a bit of supervision on the playground. I couldn't just leave her to attempt to talk to the moms. Bella would not tolerate hanging out when there's a playground so close. I gave up. Bella and I played. After a while, we left. Defeated.

I'm going to keep going to these playgroups in hopes that someone will recognize me stalking them. Maybe one of the times, there will be fewer parents so I can get to know someone without trying to jump into an already established conversation and clique. Any other ideas are welcome! Really, what I would rather do is send Matt to these groups. He's much more outgoing and would just walk up and say "hi" without anticipating the next move. It might be awkward, but he'd get to know someone.

pre-picture

Jack and Bella were all dressed up for new pictures. Matt complained that Bella's sweater looked like a "grandma sweater." I'm not sure what he means, but I like the frilly top.