vacation - breaking news

bela and i are going away for a long weekend with meghan and sebrina!! details to come later.

mad skills

bela is still working hard on mastering the art of jumping. it is too funny to watch her try though, sometimes she even squats down like a frog for some extra oomph. yesterday she actually did a somersault, it was awesome and then she kept trying to perfect it. a few times she flopped over, but she did get in a few good ones.

busy week

daddy started a new job on monday and has had a very busy week, but we are hoping that it will slow down and then we can all enjoy his 9-5 hours. wow, its been forever since he worked normal hours, no weekends. we are so gonna enjoy that!!

omas monster

my mom had bela for the day and curled her hair to tame her wild curls that we all know i love....

what a peanut

the haircut dilemna

so i thought it might be a good idea to take bela for her first
haircut. just to trim it up and even it out, nothing major. then i read
an article in parents magazine that made me think twice, the writer
said that if you cut off the "baby curls" they most likely will not
grow back. now, many of you know that my one stipulation while pregnant
with this little girl was that she had to have ringlets. on more than
one occasion i pointed out what was to be my "dream baby hair". so
imagine my horror when i read that they might not stick around and more so
might not make it out of the salon. what is a mama to do? take the
risk? let her hair grow for years and years under this facade of baby
curls? hope that they are in it for the long haul?
well to further this saga, i was at the play area in the mall (aka the
pit-o-germs) and got to talking to another woman. she was the mom of a 4
year old girl with poker straight hair halfway down her back, the bottom 3
inches beautiful ringlets. the little girl told me that she was having her very first
haircut that day. mom confessed that she couldnt bear cutting it earlier because she didnt want to lose the "baby curls" at the ends.
(yes, you see where i am going with this) and once she cut them off, they wouldnt grow back because obviously the rest of her hair was straight as could be.
sooooo... what do i do? i know this is so silly and not a big deal, but i would miss the curls. imagine my delight when they showed up in the first place! what would i
do without them? i guess just be content with the baby to which they are connected. hmph.

reading

as of about the past 2 weeks, bela is finally into book and actually
lets me read to her. you all know this is just about a dream come true
in my world. she actually sits on my lap at bedtime and listens.
glorious. today while daddy played video games,bela read me a book. it was called "the shoe book" and this is how it went.

bela: oh! baby, shoes, shoes. see! see! baby shoes shoes baby. oh, see! mama, mama, daddy. shoes. buh-bye.

just pics

out

on friday night i went out to see once. holy moly, it was friggin fantastic. i highly recommend it to anyone reading this blog. unless you dont like indie flicks, or the irish, or music, or good movies. then dont bother. otherwise, see it. as soon as i got home i downloaded the soundtrack and it hast left my cd player since. wow.

to all you non believers

(yes, jen this means you) i swear i will do some good posts this weekend, not just quick pointless ones but good ones. honestly, cuz i have something in the works about bela's hair... intriguing i know... stay tuned.

i dip therefore i am

bela has becoming a dipping addict. oma created this monster. she really likes having something to dip in, whether its ketchup, ranch or whatever. last night brett was sharing some wheat thins and dip with her. when he put away the dip and left her with just the crackers she started dipping her crackers in my club soda... whatever works i guess.

they grow up so fast...

wedding weekend

this past weekend i was bela-less from thursday night through sunday afternoon. brittany and i travelled to cinci to andy and caris wedding. we had a blast and as a bonus got to hang out with my sister and fam.
we had a great time, of course great food, and the wedding was beautiful. i just love those kids and i am so happy for them!!

bela was passed around and spoiled as usual. she surprisingly did not come home with anything extra, but i suspect the evidence may have been left behind. big thanks to oma, gunka, karen and karon for all pitching in to take care of bela! i know that they all took good care of her because she was only partially excited to see me on sunday.

i am looking forward to a calm and relaxing time this upcoming weekend.

rewind

back to the fourth of july! we decided to keep bela up for fireworks and to take her to our friends party at his country club. i was unsure how she would react to them, but thought it was worth a shot since she isnt usually bothered by loud noises. we got there right around seven, which is belas bedtime. she was very well behaved and spent most of the time wandering the grounds (party was outside) while either brett or i followed after her. at about 8:30 she was tired out and let me carry her around. there were plenty of other kids there too so she had a ball. when it came time for the fireworks we sat down in the grass for the show, which i might add is one of the best i have ever seen. bela was in my lap with a bowl of goldfish crackers (her fave)and boris. to my dismay, she wasnt even phased by the fireworks, she actually didnt even really pay attention to them. she was to busy snacking and people watching. every once in a while she would look up and point at the lights, but that was it. eh, maybe next year!

my camera is broken

so you get pictures of holly and franka instead!!

this had got to be a fluke...

... and i am about to jinx it.
for about the past month off and on, bela
has been giving me the hardest time putting her to bed. we read books,
or i attempt to while she grabs at it or flips the pages. we rock, then
in the crib, then fuss. at that point i ether make multiple trips back
up to her room for soothing or i let her "cry it out",which usually lasts no longer than 10 minutes.
so why was tonight so different?
tonight we sat in the rocker and she listened intently while i read four books, she pointed at the pictures and tried to repeat the words. after a bit of rocking,
i put her in the crib. she immediately sat up and looked at me. i said
"lie down and i will cover you up" and she did, and i did. then i
left.. that was that. unbelievable.
i am not gonna make a big deal over this (oops too late), but we will just have to wait and see how tomorrow goes.