We went to a wedding this weekend and this was Belle's get up. Isn't she cute? It's so fun to have her wear girlie clothes, and we rarely do that. Her hair still isn't long enough for ponytails or to hold barettes, but the hat is the perfect feminine touch and she actually leaves it on when she's outside! I think she had a good time at the wedding and I know she loves having her picture taken. It's so hard to believe she's already in her second "wedding season".

Some fun in the sunshine.

This weekend I got to see Isabella in action with other kids for the first time. We do our share of volunteering in the nursery, we've just always ended up in another room than Belle. And we don't know anyone in Calgary with kids, so she just interacts with adults.

However, this weekend we went to Edmonton and she got to play with some kids. I was watching her to see which stereotype she would fit, hoping she wasn't the bully and also hoping she wasn't the pushover. I think I'd have to classify her as the "Wal-Mart Greeter". Each time someone entered the room she went over to say hi and reached out to touch them, (she hasn't quite gotten hugs yet). It was cute, although it seemed a bit scary to some. She ran around the room trying out each new toy and although she wasn't the loner in the corner, she was content to play with her own things next to another child. It was nice to see that she didn't cry when another child took the toy she was playing with, and that she didn't grab too much when someone was playing with a toy she wanted. And I was super impressed when I said "Can you help me clean up?" and she did! At home I just scoop up her toys before bed, but we will now start including her in the picking up cuz I know she gets it.

But perhaps the best part for me was how she treated the newborn in the room. She gently touched his hair and smiled. From a distance she would watch him with her hands under her chin, studying his every move while cooing "oooh, ahhh". Although at one point I sat her a bit too close and her hands got away from her and he got smacked with a toy, (so sorry by the way), she did very good visiting a baby. I hope she enjoys our new baby just as much!

It was nice to see her play with other kids, I hope we see a lot more of it!

The Sears Portraits.

Here are the pics of Belle. I put all of them cuz they sort of tell the story of the day. The way she's giggling in the first one is priceless. Hope you enjoy them as much as me.

The Cute Ones

The Naked Ones

Encouragement.

Whenever the dove commercials come on tv, the ones that are to the tune of "True Colors", Belle will stop whatever she is doing and stand up stare at the screen and sway.

It encourages me so much to think she's a clean slate in this area, that body image and self esteem are not issues for her.

I hope we can keep it that way forever.

The learning curve continues here in Alberta. Belle has started working with a spoon. I try to give her something once or twice a day that she can practice on and this meal it's yogurt. She starts off so great. Her spoon dips in and is very full, but for some reason her first taste is always just sticking her tongue in it to make sure she likes it-and then WHAM the whole spoon in her mouth! By the end of the meal though she gives up and just dips her fingers in the bowl and licks them! Too funny.


She has also started walking! Yep, just a few steps at a time but she's getting the hang of it. She was just standing there and I started saying "left, right, left, right" which is what I say when I hold her hands and she walks. And she smiled and picked up her left foot and then her right. We started applauding wildly and now she will take two steps, pause for applause, and then take more. Too cute. I think it will still be a while before she's tearing off on her own, so I think the grad ceremonies are safe!

As you may have read a few days ago I got some awesome pics of Belle done at Sears. I went to pick them up and they were all there-minus the CD. Shoot. I tried to scan one in and put it on here but the quality really goes downhill after the scan, so you'll have to wait, maybe up to a week to see the pics. I put a nice story below with pictures so you can hold on until then.

I am also putting the pictures in the mail this week, so if you don't have one in your hand in two weeks, and you want one, let me know.

Isabella is doing amazing things on a regular, and lately, daily basis. Yesterday I was making baked apples for dinner. One rolled out of the cupboard and across the floor. Belle picked it up and began eating it like I do. I never showed her how to do this, and she just started doing it on her own. She ate a quarter of the apple!

We do not have stairs in our home, however just outside our door where we do our laundry there are stairs to the entry of our building. She has often crawled over to them and used them to stand up, but never tried to get up them. We've never showed her how. Then yesterday a lady came to the door to take a census and I was filling out her paperwork, I glanced down and there Belle was standing on the second stair! Ohmigosh. I ran down and got her right away so she wouldn't fall backward. Hopefully I'll get a pic of that when Nick is home and can make sure all is safe.

Her laugh has evolved to include a snort at the end and sometimes she chooses just to snort.

She is walking while only holding one of our hands which is nice for my back, but not yet taking independant steps. Her only word is still hello. Which I'm sure is because she's around me all the time, and I don't talk much. I'm trying though, but as long as she's walking by the time the baby is here, I don't mind if she's not talking.

She does a lot of things it seems whenever she has the opportunity and I hope I can continue to give her new opportunities so she can continue to amaze us every day.

Oy.

This picture really has nothing to do with the story, but isn't she just so cute in just her socks waiting for the bath?! What this picture doesn't show is that she bounces up and down going "na na na" (which I think means now), over and over again until we turn the water off at which point she claps and then lifts up her arms so we put her in.

But the story I wanted to share has not to do with the bath, but the bum. Yesterday we went grocery shopping and little miss over here let one rip, as soon as she started she smiled and as soon as she was done she giggled. Then Nick let one rip and she giggled for that too.

Oh my gosh, what have we done! We've already taught her to laugh when someone farts. Watch out future bible study groups, our girl is the prayer disrupter!

Best Picture Day Ever!

On March 25 Isabella and I went to Sears for her one year photos. She woke up having a good day and I knew this had to be it, we must leave the house RIGHT NOW and hope for good pics. Our last trip was in November with Abby and Jen Dalsin, and it didn't go so smoothly. I now fear being peed on every time we venture to Sears.

We dressed her in a beautiful outfit that she will also wear to Nick's grad. It's a bit big now, but it was still cute. We went walk-in and were lucky enough to get a time only 45 minutes away. So we went to the food court for lunch. We shared a plate of Chinese food and watched kids play on the indoor carousel. Both of which Belle found very intriquing.

We've had this photographer many times and she gets the best smiles from Belle. She popped her head out of the room to say they were about 10 minutes behind and Belle immediately recognized her. She started beaming.

That beaming did not stop. The photographer had some great poses and props picked out and in seriously ten minutes we had 9 picture perfect poses of her. Three backgrounds, some of her standing, some lying, some sitting, and we even got the coveted NAKED picture done.

Now, at Sears I am very frugal with my photo money. I much prefer the candid shots for my scrapbook to the posed and so it takes a lot for me to spend more than my $7.99 coupon. But today was such a day. I am not joking. I spent a whopping $200.00, (giving up my April scrapbooking day in St. Albert), and I cannot wait for the pics.

Part of the expense was that I got a high resolution CD of the session with a copyright waiver. Meaning I can print as many of the photos as I want anywhere I want and it's legal. I'm so excited for what I will do with those for my scrapbook!

The pictures will be picked up on April 11 and I will post all the poses for you to see. Then I'll mail out the pics and if you don't get one, it's not because I don't like you, it's because I didn't know you wanted one! But now I can print pics until the cows come home, so let me know and I'll send you one. Or if I send you a pose and you'd like another, I can do that.

I love good picture days.

Once a month when I mail off our monthly payment on our leather furniture I wonder if it was worth it to purchase said furniture O.A.C.

Then we have days like yesterday. Isabella reached my glass of Ice Tea (aka the stickiest drink around), and poured in on the sofa before I caught her. Then she ate a cookie sitting like a good calm girl. Upon finishing the cookie with sufficient goop all over her hands and face she then decided to steam roll her way off the couch leaving a trail.

And then her tummy must have disagreed with the lasagna she ate because the Mount St. Helen's eruption that came from her diaper and up to my shoulders and down the side of the couch left quite the mess to clean up.

But each time I just grabbed my trusty rag and dish soap and wiped it down a few times. No stain removers, no making sure to dab instead of rub. None of the fuss of material.

And that's when I know it's worth it.

The Cake.

For Belle's first birthday I wanted to continue in the family tradition of 3-D cakes. Everyone who ate this cake was very impressed with it. It's true that it does have 3 dimensions and you can tell it's a bear.

It took a lot more work than I thought it would, and in my quest to do everything EXACTLY as the directions said to, I underfilled the pan a bit. Hence the droppyness. He kind of had to lean in a bit due to the empty spot right under his heavy head.

Belle loved the cake, especially the chocolate icing. So I think we can consider it a hit!

My little Mimic.

I have been puking a lot lately and I try to make sure that Isabella can't hear me or see me go to the bathroom to do it, but I do keep the door open so I can hear her should she pull a shelf onto herself or drown herself in water from the water cooler-again. I thought I was doing a good job, until today when she got into the bathroom and it took me a minute or two to get to her. I thought to myself "do I even have a clean shirt for her now that she's soaked to the elbows from playing in toilet water?" But when I got to the bathroom she wasn't playing in the water. Instead she was standing slightly bent over the bowl coughing into it. I guess she sees more than I think she does!

Belles New Smile.

What a delight this little face is. I realized just how long it's been since I put a blog entry about Belle and I tried to think of what I could say. She seems to have halted in her development for now, content instead to master the skills she's recently acquired. But she is developing a sense of humor, and a great one at that.

We now spend hours on the couch where she will crawl away from us towards the opposite end of the couch and we grab her ankles and pull her back while she squeals in delight. She has come to understand the game so that she squeals as soon as she reaches the end of the couch in anticipation of our grab. She has many games like that.

In the morning she may whine and whine at us to come and get her, (I confess I've started to leave her a few minutes longer than before in hopes she call for me), and although she is thuroughly upset that we didn't answer her beck and call immediately as soon as we open the door she melts into this smile.

She thinks that the sound you make when you blow your nose is hilarious.

This morning we were watching the Olympics and as the crowd burst into cheers her face broke into this grin and she dropped her cup so she could clap along. Clapping, she does that almost constantly, perhaps she has the gift of encouragement?

She now does high fives and knows how to make you chase her down the hall way. She is a funny girl, but it's hard to share that in typing. So you'll have to take my word for it, and her smile as proof.

Eating at our house is getting more and more adventurous. The other night we had hashbrown casserole which I gave Belle in her bowl because it sticks really well to the bowl and I wouldn't have to worry about it all over the floor. Good thing too. She has also become a true North American as last night she had her first Mickey D's. Tonight's adventure-spaghetti!

Well it's finally happened. Belle has started standing on her own. On Friday January 20 she started standing long enough for us to take pictures. And last night she got herself to stand long enough to clap in triumph! Yay. She has also cut her first tooth this week!

The Great Outdoors

Our first Owie

At Bible Study last night Isabella was a ball of energy. She was all over the place and ended up banging her head onto my chair which was metal. Today she is sporting this little "black ey" bruise dealy. Guy dig tough chicks, right?