So…I had meant to update this info right after B’s 15 mo appt…but alot has happened since then. Some good (ie–an awesome family getaway to Santa Barbara and the central coast) and unfortunately quite a bit bad (whole family sick and Bella has her first two ear infections back to back…) – but we are all well now and gearing up for the holidays, so it is time for me to get back on track.

Stats for Bella as of 15 1/2 months…

Height: 33.5 in (above 97%)
Weight: 22 lb (25-50%)
Head: 47 in (90%)

And…Bella is OFFICIALLY weaned! (YEA for Mommy!! 🙂 ) As much as I’ll miss our snuggle time…it was time for her to move on – and although she still points and asks for it in the morning, we are going one week strong – I guess she is truly no longer a baby, and moving into toddlerdome.

As far as development, she is running and walking much steadier now (although she is still pretty clumsy…I have a feeling that might last through adulthood if she is anything like me…) She is also saying quite a few words: home, hi, bye-bye, mama, dada, apple, milk, open, up, down, ball… are some of the ones that I can think of off the top of my head. She is also really into buckles right now. She is still really into books as well. I’ve created her own little book case and she will pull every book out, and go through each page of each book. Creates quite the mess – but very cute and entertaining for her. She also loves to dance and humm twinkle, twinkle little star (she can do the whole song, and says “up above” for that one line – I find she sings it all day long. (We sing it to her before bed every night…guess it sticks in her head.)

Below are some pics that our friend Renee took of us at the beach. Will try to post some from our trip soon…Enjoy.

Well, I was just going through some old posts, and reminiscing…Bella turns 15 months next week. Tonight, we had such a nice family dinner (Bella’s first taste of crockpot ribs, and she quite enjoyed – kept doing the more sign over and over…she liked the sweet potato too, of course…) and I was looking over at B and I said, “I wonder what you are going to look like when you get a little bigger and have some more hair…” Jeremy looked at me, and said I was just thinking that same thing yesterday…I realized as I looked at her, she still just looks like my little baby girl, although she has definitely grown so much over the past year…to others she probably looks like a toddler…but not to me…I wonder if it will always feel that way?

Anyhow, I realized I haven’t been record keeping very well lately, and I don’t want to forget this stuff (because the last year already seems like a blur) so I am going to write it down now.

Bella is now RUNNING…albiet, like a drunkard with no sense whatsoever…She is hilarious, and loves to play chase (I’m gonna get you) with us. I’m hoping the clumsiness is due to the relatively short period she’s been moving on two feet, and not a hereditary trait she gained from my graceful genes. She is gaining about two new words per week, and learning to pronounce some of the words that she already knew a little better so that I can tell it REALLY is the word that I though it was. Even funnier, she is babbling like crazy when she plays or wants something. I swear earlier today she was cursing me out in her own funny baby language…she often does this when she wants me to do something until I figure it out (today, she wanted me off the phone and to put her on her rocking horse…go figure..) I have a hard time not laughing when she does this…but I really do try not to, I don’t want to be rude- she can’t help it that she can’t talk yet!

As she has grown, her routine has finally settled into what I am hoping will last for a couple more years.

Wakes about 6 am (nurses until 7…yes, I know…its ridiculous…but it gives me an extra hour of rest after I drag myself out of bed and get her – last feeding we need to ween)
Breakfast – 8am
Lunch – around 11:30-noon
Nap – 12:30 – 2:30 or 3
Dinner 6:30
Bedtime 8pm

Anyhow…enough record keeping for the night…I’m beat. I’ll have a true record keeping update next week after her 15 mo doc appt.

Bella goofing around a couple of weeks ago trying to get Daddy’s attention outside. Her inner ham is definitely shining through…

We’ve had a nice past couple of weeks… Grammy came for a visit over Labor Day weekend. We went to the beach, the zoo, and out to the Texas Exes Game Watching Party. It was a nice weekend (minus the quick trip to the ER when Bella fell and hit her head – no worries, she is just fine…I was just taking precautions since it was her first head bump…)

In other news, Bella now has 10 teeth…(she got a lower molar this week) and it looks like the top two “fangs” are on their way next…her favorite animal sound at the moment is BAAAAAAAA…like a sheep…hilarious.

As usual, the California Summer is a whirlwind of fun. It has been HOT here lately (ok – I know you Texans think I’m wimpy for sayin’ that, but imagine ninety degree heat without any air conditioning…:) Since it seems to actually be cooler outside of our house than inside, we’ve been spending tons of time at the park, the beach, and the backyard.

Bella loves water! It is great, because I can fill the baby pool and water table in our backyard and she will be amused for at least an hour (sometimes two!) – add our neighbor Owie into the mix, and it feels like a party (plus it is nice for MaMa to get to hang with Kirsten, too!)

Bella’s development still amazes me daily. Sine she started walking (about a month ago), she barely ever stops moving when she is awake. She understands SO much – I find myself asking her for different items throughout the day just to see if she will give them to me (and often she does!) She is still REALLY into animals – and loves to make their sounds. She has a special sound she makes for fish, ducks, birds, horses, cows and sheep. It is hilarious. She also LOVES to give kisses and snuggles to all her stuffed animals/dolls, and feed all of them with a play bottle she has. She also loves to blow kisses to anyone and everything. Sometimes, I will just be carrying her down the stairs, and she will lean in and give me the sweetest kiss. It absolutely melts my heart every time. She also loves cars (or really anything with wheels). She tries to make a vroom, vroom sound, and will roll them on the floor. And of course, ELMO?!?! I swear, what do they do to make kids go crazy for that little red creature – it is ridiculous. We still don’t watch much TV…maybe Sesame Street or Mickey Mouse here and there – but her attention span is too short to really get into it (and I’m not that keen on it anyway)…BUT she goes absolutely bonkers for this one Baby Einstein movie (numbers) that we have. If I even say, do you want to watch a movie (that’s what I call the Baby Einstein dvd) she gets this huge smile…and then she will literally be GLUED to it, until I turn it off…we don’t do it much, but I will admit, it comes in handy when I have something important I need to take care of. It’s so simple…I don’t really get it, but she absolutely LOVES it.

She’s also been exposed to has enjoyed interacting with some of our friends more recently. She, Kaelyn and Cliff recently enjoyed a nice long day at San O. And we even headed up to Simi Valley and hung out with the Spencer twins for a weekend. And of course, there’s always our sweet neighbor, Owen.

Well, I know it has been a while since I posted, and I’ve made a promise to myself to stay up with this, so I will try to post more soon. This weekend Grammy is coming for a visit. I know we’ll have a great time – so I’ll try to post the pictures from our visit next week.

She loves to splash!