Regression

As soon as Bea seems to learn something, she seems to stop saying it.  I don't think I've heard her say mama in the last couple weeks and now she only says dada and doesn't call for me anymore.  She also won't wave goodbye anymore and prefers to just blow kisses.  She still only says a few words, mostly animal sounds.  Has anyone had this happen to them?

Belated Halloween Post

Here's a photo of her in her flower suit.  I had ordered a peanut costume but it never arrived since I didn't get the million emails Amazon.com sent me about the card on our account being expired since they all went to Justin's Yahoo account which gets hundreds of emails every day,  most of which are spam.  Why do people even use yahoo mail anyway? Well, this is what we got instead courtesy of Nanna B.  If it weren't for her, she would have gone as a trash bag or or a sack of rice.

You will notice I could have fit two of her heads into the hood.  I ended up using a hair tie to tie a small ponytail on the hood so we could see her face which was covered by a constant stream of drool from her sucker.  I hardly got anyone saying how cute she was with the mess on her face and front.  haha.  They were more like, "oh, and you're a flower, nice".  Last year it was all coos and giggles with her mermaid costume. 

As you can see Bea didn't have enough sucker in her mouth and tried to steal cousin Matthew's sucker as well.  This was her first sucker.  I don't know where she would have put another one seeing her mouth was barely large enough to fit one.  I know it goes against everything I believe about the evils of sugar to let my kids eat Halloween candy, but I always LOVED Halloween, even more than Christmas and I can't deprive my children of that experience, and with that comes hoards of candy.  My philosophy is that my kids can eat whatever they want a couple weeks after Halloween and then eat the treats and sweets of the Holiday season but on January 1st, it's all over.  Candy gone, hidden, trashed, whatever. So far it's worked pretty well.  When Henry knows(or thinks) there's no candy in the entire house, he doesn't even ask for it.

Haircut

Not perfect...but much better.  Maybe I'll try to even it out next time. It's hard to cut hair while she's walking around!

Tomboy?

I'm sure Bea is influenced in a major way by Henry but I think she truly is a tomboy.  The first thing she goes for in the toy room are the cars which she brings to my feet and while she rolls them around the kitchen I make the car noises.  She also loves playing with a ball and can throw and chase it for hours. The best, though, his her animal sound effects, particularly the growling. 

Bea will find a dinosaur toy and walk around the house growling.  She even growls when nothing is going on.  I just assume she's practicing for when she finds something to play with.  Henry growls a lot while he's playing with toys so I can only assume she's copying him.  She loves playing in the dirt, splashing in puddles, getting really messy, and making animal sounds.  Today we went to the zoo and at every animal I made some sort of a sound she could copy and she loved hearing the real roar of the leopard.  She growled at almost every animal as we made the rounds.

As a greeting or a sign to show she likes you, she loves to bonk heads, so ironically as she was petting the sheep(rather hard, more like slapping them on top of the head) she was head butted by that sheep, which knocked her down and she hit her head pretty hard on the ground as she flew back.  I feel bad because I'm always saying, "look at the nice baby lamb" and "pet their soft wolly coat" while we read the animal books.  There was nothing nice or soft about this mean, dirty creature! Haha! Bea makes a funny "ruff" noise for a dog bark, says "baa" every time she sees a sheep, can say "meow" and peeps like a chick or bird. 

She is also picking up more signs for bird, airplane, fish and will finally do the sign for food after so much coaxing! She's pretty stubborn and only likes to do things her way and in her own time.  Reminds me of some sisters-in-law I know! She's such a sponge and I think she'll start saying a lot more words than mama, dada, uh-oh, woh and oh-yeah, which is actually really funny.  I like that one. 

I gave her a haircut since she has absolutely no curl and it was looking mighty scraggly.  Now it's short in the back and she has bangs in the front with long sideburns, like the long bangs people wear these days.  It's totally cute and looks a lot more kempt and a little punkish.  

Giggly Girl and drowning in the hot tub

Well, I hope all of you got to see Bea eating the snake on the post below because I just looked at it up close and it grossed me out all over again.  Bea spent the last week in Dallas visiting Nanna B and she was a total angel the entire trip.  Can I just say halleluja to the Lord for sending me a baby who sleeps through the night wherever we go? I can handle horrible plane rides, long layovers, giant messes at mealtime(Henry), small injuries, growling poodles, stair climbing, and giant poopy diapers as long as my babies sleep through the night.  Nanna B has the best setup at her house with a totally secluded and quiet room in the back corner of her house with a really loud humidifier to plug in right beside her.  Magic I tell you.  She made the trip so much easier! Yes she had some issues with the flights and I'm dreading the flight I have to take out to Reno in six days(I don't even want to see how long the Atlanta to Reno flight is). Mercy me.

Bea was such a joy to be around for the whole trip. She's at a stage where she thinks everything is funny and giggles non stop with a scrunched up face and huge smile wherever she goes.  The things she thinks are most funny were the poodles.  Just the thought of touching them made her laugh with excitement until she managed to pinch their hair and pull turning it into screams after they would growl and nip at her.  Most of the time she had a great time with the dogs.  Standing at the top of the steps makes her laugh for some reason.  She actually learned this week how to descend the steps backwards(something Henry never learned) and now I'm excited to soon be able to put the gate down for good! Can't stand that thing.

As for the hot tub.  Not as bad as your imagining.  So just as Henry had taken to submerging himself in the hot tub, Bea followed suit.  After a few days she decided to take the plunge and never looked back.  If I can describe it well enough...from standing on the seat, she would turn from the side, take a couple small steps towards the edge of the seat, close her eyes in a squint, smile really big, take a deep breath and let herself fall into the hot tub, completely under water.  While under for up to 5 seconds she would open her eyes, stick her tongue out and attempt to swim around.  I cannot tell you how Henry and I laughed at her little tongue sticking out at us while she looked at us from under the water.  After I would pick her up out of the water she would take a big breath, regroup and do it again.  Over and over again.  She is a little fish! The big difference I think is the warm water.  She is a whole different baby in warm water.  No wonder kids can't learn how to swim in the frigid waters of the community pool.  I'm taking my kids to the Bahamas to swim where it's warm like bathwater.  Henry is learning what the word "drown" means and he couldn't distinguish between what Bea was doing and what drowning was so he called her little stunt, drowning.  He would say, laughing, "I want to see Bea drown again. Lol, That was so funny mommy."

So the happy little toddler just parused the whole house, playing with toys, chasing the dogs and being hugged and kissed by Nanna B.  Also, just for posterity, Bea can eat an adult portion of any meal at mealtime.  She does not need any snacks because she eats so much at mealtime AND she eats with a fork and spoon.  You should see her pound down a giant bowl of oatmeal. It really is astounding.  Makes me wonder why she's still 18.5 lbs and can't turn around yet in a carseat.  Hmmmm.  What's up?

Eskimo Baby

We went camping last weekend in Blackwater Falls,West Virginia  with an excursion to Seneca Rocks  and since it's September we knew it would get pretty chilly at night so I thought I packed some really warm sleeping clothes for Bea but, as I found out later, I misplaced them and couldn't find her snuggly night one piece so I ended up layering her clothes, her robe, and a sweatshirt to keep her warm at night.  She also had to sleep like that.

The second night she screamed for quite a few hours, possibly all night.  I was so tired I couldn't remember how long it was.  She's usually such a great sleeper but I could tell she was trying to fall asleep but since she has to suck on her tongue with her blankie on her lips to fall asleep and with the cold she acquired, her nose was all stuffed up so she couldn't calm down and get comfortable.  Where's a snot sucker ball when you need one!!? That was pretty brutal but other than that, she had a fantastic time.

She really had fun exploring the campsite, eating moss, tasting snakes(click on photo below), playing in the river, running away from Henry, and doing her first rock climbing.

At the climbing site and up at the top of Seneca Rocks she was pretty hard core about manouvering around the tree roots, rocks and other obstacles.  She showed some very impressive problem solving skills that were pretty amazing to me.  She did fall and roll down a few small hills, but recovered quickly. 

One other thing is that she's saying her first word other than mama and dada.  And that, just like Henry, is Uh Oh.  I really love Uh Oh.  She says it when she drops anything or throws anything to the floor.  She usually looks up at me with a guilty look and says it under her breath.  Henry thinks it's hilarious, and so do I.  I love my little Uh Oh girl:)

                    This is right after one of her little spills.  I think she looks adorable with leaves in her hair:)

Teeter Toddler

I didn't jump to the computer, nor did I call my loved ones when Bea started walking like when Henry did.  Maybe it was because it was so gradual that it wasn't so amazing when she finally took a whole bunch of steps all together.  She basically took her first stable steps the week after her Birthday so it's been almost a month since then and she's still not as stable as Henry was right away.  One thing's for sure, she LOVES to walk and has completely abandoned crawling even when it gets tough and frustrating.  She's so wabbly that it's always entertaining to just watch her.  One thing I'm happy about is that she never wanders off too far and always comes back when I call her which is something totally new for me.  Henry used to just head in the opposite direction and never look back.  Bea, however, always looks back, gives me a scrunchy smile and a giggle and walks as fast as she can to hug me.

Bea had a friend come to visit last week named Eva.  She is exactly her age, has the same manorisms, walks about the same, talks the same but is about twice her size in height and weight.  This baby is so chubby and tall! I loved hugging her squishy little body. I doubt I'll ever have a super chubby and squishy baby:( Bea played with her in the warm pools out back, tried to teach her how to eat all her food, toddled around and tried to avoid being attacked by Henry.  The girls were on almost the exact opposite nap schedule, but it worked out for us to not have both wandering babies all over the house all day long. Bea tried to teach Eva how to climb up the slide, but a wet slide with naked babies going up and a big brother coming down does not add up to success.  Usually she can do it in a bout 5 seconds but got really frustrated when she kept slipping down.  I, however, didn't mind watching the whole spectacle:)

Little Peach

Peaches remind me of babies, like how mine are covered in a nice carpet of blonde fuzz when they're born, even on their ears. Bea had a really grand time picking peaches until she spotted something on the ground and got stung by a giant stinging bug, the likes of which I've never seen before.
Her middle finger swelled up until her skin was very taut and when it stopped hurting her, she enjoyed opening and closing her hand because her finger felt different. She screamed for a while, but good thing there were plenty of ripe peaches everywhere because that was the only thing she would stop crying for. And there were good.

If you click on the photo you'll see her swollen finger.

Bea also got to pet pigmy goats and baby ducks after we picked peaches.  Bea loved the animals and the goats especially liked her designer dress with buttons all over it.  I was ripping their little mouths from her outfit so they wouldn't eat it as their afternoon snack.  Looks like she takes after her mom, picking up bugs and loving farm animals.  I love you little one!

Eating Bugs

Today Bea ate a giant dead wolf spider that had died as a result of falling into a bin in the basement and was brought up with some toys. Henry found it and was playing with it and the next thing I know, Bea is chewing on it and there are legs everywhere on the ground. That's not the only time she's had a bug snack. I try to show her grasshoppers and Japanese Beetles outside and she picks them up, looks me straight in the eye and puts them in her mouth. Henry thinks it's hilarious. This might make you cringe, but I have always been interested in the prospect of eating bugs. Once I gave my dad a book called "Man Eating Bugs" that was of course about bugs that people eat around the world and people ate some pretty crazy things. I wouldn't hesitate to eat the roasted abdomen of a tarantula. They say it just tastes like a meatball. haha! There is also a dinner in New York where they serve mainly bugs and other strange delicacies from around the world to fancily dressed women and men who are out for an adventure. I would like to be a part of that crowd someday. Hey Justin if you're reading this, that would be an awesome Birthday present, wink, wink. The best story, however, was when I heard a the story of a church speaker talking to some Southeast Asian members about the cricket infestation in the early days of the pioneers and how it was a miracle sent from God that the seagulls came in to gobble them up. Well, I guess they eat crickets on a regular basis over there and didn't think it sounded like much of a miracle. They were all like, "well, why didn't you just eat them?" lol! I just think someday we might one day be in the jungle of Papua New Guinea with the Kombai tribe and will have to eat giant grubs for food or starve. Bea will have a head start on us for sure.

Happy Birthday Sweet Bea

It's Bea's Birthday today! I can't believe it's already been a year since she was born. This year went by way faster than Henry's first year and I feel like I haven't noticed things that I did with Henry because I was so focused on him. That kind of makes me sad, but I guess that's how it goes with more than one kid.

Here's a little letter from me to my beautiful daughter....


Dear Beatrice Isabella,

You were born on August 23rd, 2008 after a night of rocking out to a Maroon 5 concert. I was trying to put myself into labor and it worked. My water broke and a few hours later you were born with no epidural while I watched the Olympic diving on TV in-between contractions. With my exercise mix on my IPOD on full volume you came flying into this world in one push. You had dark auburn hair and looked nothing like me, but your presence in my life healed my sad and worried heart from losing your brother, George, and I am so grateful that you came into our family. You were the hungriest baby in the world and I just didn't have enough milk to satisfy your hunger so the first months were filled with sleepless nights since you wouldn't take a bottle. At 5 months you had your first taste of food and didn't look back. You ate like a little piglet and immediately started sleeping through the night which helped me be a better mom, which is also when I started exercising again (yea!). You didn't ever roll over and could barely sit up at 6 months of age, crawled at 9 months(only on your feet, no knees on the ground) and finally rolled over at 9 months and a few days. You still can't walk that well although you try really hard. Your posture is like that of a ballerina and you point your toes out when you walk and your arms are always out to the sides. You are perfectly content to play on the floor for hours with toys and enjoyed anything that made a crinkly sound. You are an absolute joy to be around. You are a little shy and get really cranky when you don't get your naps, especially at church when the Young Women want to hold you and it's 2 hours past your nap time. You are known as the "coy smiler" because you always try to hide your face when people smile at you, but then you look back at them and smile over your shoulder. Your eyes have become a brilliant blue and your hair has become a beautiful golden blond. You have a fantastic tan from being outside and on two beach vacations and with your naturally red pouty lips you are often compared to Shiloh Jolie-Pitt. Basically, you're a baby knock-out! You have four teeth on the bottom and two teeth on top with a slight under bite. You love to crawl up stairs, be chased by your brother, to be higher up than someone, and to swing outside while you pound down heirloom tomatoes. You can climb up the slide all by yourself and you are really good to not try to climb down anything you're not supposed to. You will eat just about anything and prefer really flavorful, gourmet foods. Your favorite meal is pasta with fresh tomatoes, basil and mozzarella and your favorite snack is blueberries or raspberries. You love whole wheat pancakes with home-made jam and you can eat an adult sized portion of any food in one sitting. You adore fish and shrimp but don't care much for chicken or beef, especially if it's overcooked. You will only drink out of a cup, no bottle or sippy yet and don't drink much in general, just like me. You are VERY messy when you eat and usually manage to get food all in your hair and down your back as well as all over your face and front. You hate being fed with a fork but think it's pretty cool when I let you hold it. You love playing the drums in the music room and you often go in there by yourself to play the drums and dance to your own music. When you talk, you usually sound like you're singing and you mostly say dada, mama, nana, and you just recently started playing with your lips to make noises and making blowing noises as well. Your nick-names are Bealicious and Bealee and I usually do a rapping tune that goes, "Bea Bea Bealicious, Bea Bea Bealee" that you dance to. You have started to throw little mini tantrums when you're annoyed by throwing your body backwards from a sitting position and hitting the ground. Most of the time you don't hurt yourself, but I think you're trying to hurt yourself so you can have an excuse to cry, I can't tell yet. You sleep through the night, sometimes 14 hours straight and take two two-hour naps every day if you can. You love your little soft and fuzzy snugly blankie and when I put you to bed, you don't want anything to do with me rocking or singing you to sleep. You dive into your crib, grab your blankie, press it to you face and suck your own tongue against it and fall asleep with no crying or protesting. You are also really easy to transfer from the car. You'll fall back to sleep anytime after being woken up which is a true blessing. You enjoy exploring nature and still love eating dirt and have chewed on a few bugs and even munched on a toad that mommy caught. You love crawling over to the raspberry bushes or tomato plants and picking your own tomatoes for a snack. You even think it's funny and giggle when I put raspberries on your fingers. You love the ocean and can splash and play in the water for hours. You've been on 16 flights and on 7 road trips(counting last weeks). You love your brother most of all and every time he's around, your eyes light up and you wiggle out of my arms to join him in all his wild adventures. You adore your daddy and often give him hugs and are always excited when he comes home from work. You are loved by so many people and have so many fun cousins close to your age and I know you'll have so much fun growing up in our adventurous family. I love you so much Bea. Your fantastic spirit and personality makes our home the best place to be. Happy Birthday daughter!

Love,
Mommy

First Sock photos

Here are some of the first photos of Bea wearing her darling socks. Don't you love the ones with the toes printed on? The funniest thing is that the skin color of the feet on the sock is supposed to match with a baby's skin color but since Bea's legs are as tan as a Mexican, they didn't blend so well. Isn't she darling? I think she really looks like her aunt Tracie in the ladybug flip flop socks. What do you think?

Sock Model

Bea had her first official modeling gig today modeling socks for a company called Jazzy Toes. She and about 10 other babes, including cousin Matthew Chou, got their photos taken by a professional photographer in a studio for the website, jazzytoes.com

I have to say that Bea was a perfect little angel. She did everything they wanted her to do, smiled the whole time, had a great attitude, and looked darling. She had to change four times, and miss her morning nap by two hours and still didn't cry once. The Jazzy Toes creator and the photographer called her "the model of the day". I'm so proud of my girl! Photos to come soon.

Birthday Invite

You are all invited to hang out at my house with a pool full of chubby and sandy babies!

 

Scary Clown Baby

I think the shadows on her face are a nice touch, don't you?

Long Lost Bahama Bea

I'm sorry I didn't post anything about Bea in the Bahamas! My Bahama Baby was so good! She most loved playing in the sand and surf. The first few days she ate sand regularly but then came to realize that it wasn't all that good to eat and stopped. She was very brave when she was splashed with sea water and was a happy, darling little traveler most of the time. What a good girl you are. Here are the best photos...