BellaBlog

Archive for June, 2008

Family Vacation to Brazil IN

Flight to the Lees have come and gone.  We’re back home and all is still safe and sound back at the tree house.  Bella had a great time seeing all her relatives on Paul’s side.  It was a surprise get together for Grandpa Lee’s 70th birthday.  We got him a toy RC boat for his lake and a new drill for all those home improvement projects he does. 

 Bella got to play around with her grandparents’ cat, who she would talk to from a distance in a high pitched voice like we talk to her (very cute and grown up).  We took several rides in their paddle boat on their lake-she loved sticking her feet and hands over the side and dangling and splashing them in the water.  However, she still hates actually getting in the pool and tub-mystery. 

She got to touch a large sheep at a small ‘old town’ in Brazil where they displayed some covered bridges.  She fed geese from her hand (with Mama’s help so she wouldn’t freak out when they tried to nibble a little on her hand).  She fell a few times and opened up her healing lip again but other my freaking out about the blood, she was fine both times.  She slept in the pack-n-play we borrowed from the hotel and each night, she slept just fine (other than the fact the bathroom light kept coming on mysteriously and bothering her).  She devoured everything we fed her from the breakfast bar at the hotel and made everyone at the hotel fall in love with her too.  We are so blessed to have such a beautiful, sweet, loving daughter all to ourselves-we do share her occasionally.

Picture of the Week – June 26, 2008

First Plane Ride-3rd tooth

Bella’s first plane ride was today.  We flew to see her Grandma and Grandpa Lee in Brazil, Indiana.  We had the sippy cup of water and snacks ready along with a book, toy and blanket in hopes that if the ride didn’t go well, we’d have something to aid us in her relief.  We used our points to fly first class since Bella would be a ‘lap child’ and we wanted to make sure it was a good experience for her first flight.  She loved all the attention at the gate, from the stewardess, from the other passengers around her.  She loved getting to look out the window at all the other planes.  By this time, she had gone thru most of the snacks (she loves to eat) and I was holding back on one or two for the take-off and landing.  When the plane was pulling away from the gate, everyone around her was already in love with her, she had given the stewardess and others several hi-5′s and she was settling down in my arms for her nap.  I sang to her for a minute or so and then when I knew we were about to take off, I started to rock her really fast like it was a game so she never even knew what was going on.  By the time the airplane leveled off and took up the landing gear, she was fast asleep-like we were going for a car ride and all was right as rain.

As I was singing to her and she was looking up at me as I cradled her, I noticed she was finally getting a 3rd tooth.  The tooth that was coming in was on the top to the immediate right of where the front right tooth would normally be.  If you recall the incident about her busting her lip, my mind started spinning with worry as I had heard that the front teeth always come in first and this was not normal.  But her lip was healing well and the other area of her gums looked normal so I had to forget what I had read on the internet and in books and so go with my gut that everything was alright (of course praying secretly that God wouldn’t let her have messed up teeth like me and her dad helped too).

The flight home was a little less pretty but only because she had already taken her nap for the morning and really didn’t want to go to sleep but we couldn’t let her down to roam the plane either.  The seeing-eye dog that was lying in the aisle half-way down the plane wasn’t helping matters either since that’s exactly where Bella wanted to be instead of in our laps but she eventually went to sleep.  She never gave us any indication that the altitude was causing her pain in the ear or otherwise-just the same ole issue we always have of her wanting to socialize with everyone.  And of course, everyone loves her everywhere we go-how could you not?

062208 – At her own table

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We let Bella sit on a chair at her table and eat a snack instead of in a high chair. Overall, she did really well – she only let one piece of peach escape her clutches.

Sugar-the silent body snatcher

I knew that Paul had an issue with sugar when he was a child so I could blame the past few nights on him OR I could take the blame of allowing Bella to have chocolate milk two nights in a row with her dinner and sweet tea on a third night.  Can you say tired?  Yes, we are-Momma and Dadda, and The Treasures (Aunt Misty and Aunt Vonnie who are here visiting this weekend).

I refer to sugar as the ‘body snatcher’ because when your child has experienced a high on sugar, it’s as if you’re watching an alien/maniac, wound up tighter than a music box, and wondering to yourself ‘who is this child and what did they do with my sweet baby?’.  Then the next day is a different kind of alien that’s attached at the hip and forgets how to be the independent, happy and loving child we all know and love. 

Note to self:  Sugar is okay sometimes in moderation but not right before bedtime-regardless of why you’re spoiling them-you’ll both pay for it later.

P. S. Our child has returned and we are all doing much better-thanks for asking:).

Picture of the Week – June 19, 2008

Busted Lip

I know it’s sad to talk about but I’m glad I didn’t take pictures because you would’ve cried to.  When Bella was playing outside, the teacher brought out the watercart so the kids could get a drink and as she walked over to the cart, she tripped and fell toward the cart.  Her upper lip got caught on the edge of the cart and as she fell, it pulled the lip upward and way back and it tore that little piece of skin that is on the inside of your upper lip that attaches it to your gums (not sure the technical term for it, can you tell? I should’ve just called it the thingy like I do when I’m telling to story face-to-face but it doesn’t translate well in writing for archive purposed).  The director Ms. Cindy came in and held her for a good while after the school nurse got the bleeding to stop and Ms. Cindy was amazed at how quickly Bella went back to normal play as if nothing had happened.  They did call Paul and he called me and relayed the horrific details but the school urged us not to worry as they had it under control-I was just on pens and needles until I went to pick her up that evening after work.  Days like today make me wish I didn’t work so far from her daycare-but most days are great so I have to look past this and know she is doing great here, closer to home.  The doctor said to just look out for infections and make sure I notice if the swelling is going down or not. 

When I saw Bella for the first time since it happened, it looked like she had an extreme Botox injection to achieve Angelina Jolie lips or something.  But of course, my heart went out to her thinking how much it also looked like it hurt too.  She acted as if everything was normal and it was another great day to be held by Mommy after a ‘hard day’ at school-gotta love our sweetie! 

Picture of the Week – June 12, 2008

1 year check-up

Bella went to the doctor for her one year appointment and some immunization shots.  Her head size was still small but it’s still not a concern for the doctor.  Paul and I had to fill out an assessment of her motor skills and communication abilities prior to the visit.  She did very well in most areas but communication was a little on the low side.  The doctor said shaking/nodding her head no/yes takes a while with most children and the fact that she doesn’t point to things she wants is okay too-both will happen in time.  The weighed 22.5 lbs. and her height was 30 inches tall.  Everything checked out fine.  Her left ear was a little red but the doctor wasn’t worried.  She only has 2 teeth but since she’s eating table foods just fine and her gums looked normal, nothing to worry about. 

 She had her shots which went well since I gave her Tylenol before we arrived and the nurse that gives the shots is great–quick, gentle and compassionate.  After that, Bella had to get her finger pricked to give blood for some reason and that’s when the Wicked Witch of the West came in.  She pricked Bella’s middle finger and began to squeeze.  Bella screamed and squirmed and hollared like I’d never heard before and the nurse acted as if it was a stroll in the park.  Then she expected me to hold a cotton ball on the finger to make the bleeding stop-how dare she make me an accessory to her crimes against my baby.  Bella continues to scream and squirm, the nurse finally decided to just put a bandaid on it-which Bella tore off immediately.  She put another one on, Bella tore it off immediately.  The Witch put another one on and I held Bella’s other hand in hopes of getting her to stop bleeding.  Bella took that one off with her mouth-that’s when I decided that I would just hold her and let her bleed all over me, her and the doctor’s office.  She finally calmed down after a few minutes of my cradling her and talking softly to her but by that time, the doctor had decided to come in to see how we were doing.  She knew Bella had never acted like that before and wanted to see if she could intervene.  I thanked her for the attempt and apologized for getting Bella’s blood all over the place.  She was not worried about that at all but was more concerned that Bella was going to be alright.  As we were leaving the office, the only thing Bella was concerned with is how much it hurt giving hi-5′s with her sore hand.  I had to switch her to my other hip so she could pamper that hand-then it was all better, as it if never happened. 

What we moms go thru to make our children happy-but poor babies when they have to endure so much medical trauma in one day.  At least she’s not sickly, I am thankful for that.  (Good news-all the blood came out of our clothes.)

Learning to help even more

I know I’ve mentioned how Bella helps me load the dryer and dishwasher but she’s getting better as the days go by.  Now she hands gathers a handfull of her spoons and takes them to the drawer and signals for me to pick her up so she can place them in the right spot in the utensil organizer (it helps that there are a few other spoons already in there but it’s genius nonetheless).  She also knows that her sippy cups belong in the drawer right next to the dishwasher and even though she has to sip out of each one as I hand them to her, she still puts them in the drawer all by herself. 

Today when we had finished putting away the clean ones and I had her convinced that she could not help with the dirty ones, she started plundering thru her drawer of cups/bottles right there next to me.  She found a green sport bottle and a blue sippy cup top that she laid on the top as if it fit and she walked around the house sipping out of the cup.  The fact that the lid kept falling off didn’t deter her in any way-she was too proud of her accomplishment as a big girl to care about something so trivial as a loose cap.  What a dear!