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?