cook-cook

Bella is 16 months old now. She seems huge – she’s so long stretched out in bed. Thank goodness she generally likes her crib and we’re not having toes and elbows in our faces all night long. She weighs 22lb now, which doesn’t seem like that much. But she’s just gotten bigger. Next to a small helpless baby, I’d think her a monster :)

My mind is a jumble with travel. I am off to SF this weekend. Not to excite any people who fit within the Venn Diagram of burglers and people who read this blog, as my parents and the kids will be home all weekend. And there is nothing like planning 3 nights away from you children to make your heart all ooey-gooey for them.

Bella is 16 months old. She is walking, running, climbing, singing, babbling, yelling, pointing, tattling, crying, stepping, and moving all the time. She is trying to open the kitchen cabinets, the living rooms cabinets, the drawer with the DS stuff, the keyboard tray, the computer printer all the time. She loves the remote controls, telephones, cell phones, toy phones, calculators, the DS, her doll, her doll’s stroller, and pulling blankets from the bedroom to the living room. She copies her big sister and lays on her tummy on the floor in front of the TV. She rarely angles her head correctly to see the TV while she does this.  She bangs on the refrigerator door for her milk. She thinks the pantry is her playground. She will pick up a toy or a remote control and run around the house. If you chase her, she runs faster. If you get close, she throws the item to the floor. She has dimples and a smile on her face most of the time.  When she gets into everything, without joy, but with a picking, angry purpose, then she is very tired. She will resist sleep. But she needs it.

Pigtails

Her hair is longer. Her bangs are in her eyes, but they are still baby bangs. We have been putting them into a pony tail nearly every day. One day I tried pigtails. She seems to like having her hair up. When it isn’t up, she pokes at it. She likes to rub her hair with mashed potatoes or other soft foods. She likes baths and hair washing, to a point. She hopped in the shower with me and did not like the spray.

She talks, a little. She says Mama. Grandma and Gr’pa, and M’Randa, and Enry and Papa. And baba and dada as all purpose words. She says cook-cook in a very breathy way for cookie. She loves cookies. One in each hand is best. She likes to tickle with sharp little finger nails. She laughs a lot. She wants to go bu-bye and gets her coat when anyone else gets to go away. She likes wearing shoes and boots. She like to try on bigger people’s shoes. She can take off her shirt. She can take off her diaper if she has no pants. Taking off her pants is hard.

She might get red skin after eating tomatoes or chocolate. It isn’t really clear. Her cheeks will get red or sometimes her bottom. We have tried to separate and/ or cut back on chocolate and tomatoes until we can figure it out.  She loves to eat. She will eat with as many people as have meals separately – so if I eat lunch, then Grandma and then Grandpa, Bella would prefer having 3 meals.

She takes 1 nap, usually in the afternoon. 1-2 hours long. She sleeps from 7:30 to 7, waking up once if at all. Or stirring at 5 and then cuddling in a warm bed until she warms up and goes back to sleep. The most exciting time of day is when the bus brings her big kids home. All is better in the world when the big kids and Mama and Grandma are home.

Tomorrow, Miranda and Henry, maybe in 2 posts?