Belle and Cooper

My good friend from Tufts Alex had her first baby- little Cooper David- two weeks before Belle came along. Though Cooper and his parents (both Jumbos) live in Virginia, Alex and I have remained close, as we're experiencing similar parenting ups and downs.

When Cooper and Alex were at his grandparents' house in New Jersey, Belle and visited! Here, the two future-Jumbos play:



I had visited Alex at her in-laws in NJ last July when we were both hugely pregnant. We swam together then, enjoying the relief from the heat and the weightlessness while immersed in water. Just over a year later, when we reunited; this time, the babies were not in our bellies but out and playing together! Here, Cooper and Belle splash and play in a whale-shaped kiddie pool next to the adult pool, in which they later played.

A late-afternoon visit to the park

Walking in the fountain with Daddy.

Standing

Saturday afternoon, we were walking in Central Park from visiting our friends' new apartment on the East Side. As we passed the Great Lawn, we saw our friends and their daughter Katie, so we stopped to say hi. Belle and Katie played in the grass for a few seconds before Belle showed off a new skill for the first time. She was seated in the grass and stood right up. She wasn't holding anything and wasn't supported by anything. She then proceeded to climb Katie's stroller going from grass to foot pedal to seat without any help. Unfortunately for Belle, it wasn't her stroller and she had to get down. Belle's stroller doesn't have a foot pedal so she isn't ready yet to climb into it.

Belle is 11 months old today!

Where does the time go?!

Belle as Charlie Chaplin

Tonight Belle enjoyed prunes for dessert. She missed her mouth at one point, which looked to me as if Belle were doing a Charlie Chaplin imitation (see prune as mustache below).





Additionally, while the break in the heat wave felt lovely, the rain prevented us from getting out this afternoon. Stir crazy and tired of staring at the four walls of our apartment, I called our awesome neighbor Dawn to see if she was up for a walk. She counter-offered and invited us up for a play date with the twins and their first cousins- lovely (and helpful!) five- and seven-year-old little girls. Here the oldest cousin plays with Charlie and Belle:



And here, the younger cousin "read" to Marielle and her father:

Belle laughs and spits :)

Spitting is so funny to Belle:

Daddy-daughter time

Craig plays with Belle most early mornings so I can sleep a bit more.  This Sunday morning, he took Belle for a walk along the Hudson River.  I packed her breakfast so he could feed her and they could spend some quality time together.  Here's Belle walking with Craig along the path next to the River.

Precious cargo

We did this on our way home from Florida in January. I don't think it's a "Parent Fail."

Staying cool on a hot day

In the interest of the super hot weather, a few of us moms met earlier than usual and in Riverside Park, where it's shadier and there's a breeze from the Hudson River, for a walk.

Post-walk, Belle, Marielle, Charlie, Sawyer and Gemma (only pictured in the second photo) enjoyed a visit to the River Run Park in Riverside Park where we stripped the babies down to their diapers and sat them in the shade in the cool water.

Moms took off their walking sneakers to cool down, too:

Nice try

Belle and I were playing and laughing this afternoon when she suddenly turned very serious. She looked at me with great intent and then reached out and grabbed my nose stud. In fact, she pulled it right out of my nose! She had never before paid it any mind but today pulled it out of nose. I suspect someone (my mother or father-in-law) had something to do with it. But don't worry, Mom and Richard, I put the nose stud back in easily. Nice try, though putting your granddaughter up to the task is pretty sneaky.

No more excersaucer

It's now an "activity center" she can walk around. And this little Mets fan (see her t-shirt) loves it!

Post-music class play date with Katie and Lucy

Story time with Lucy, Kate and Belle:

Snack time, of course with Belle, Katie and Lucy

Four generations: a serendipitous video

I accidentally left the camera on video mode when I asked my father to take a four generation picture last weekend. The result is a beautiful four generation video. The highlights are me telling my father what to do (what a bossy daughter I am!), Belle getting Grammy's attention, and the four us preparing and posing for a photo. How lucky we are to spend time together!

Belle plays with Grammy

From Peek-a-Boo to mint-box-as-rattle to "If you're happy and you know it," Belle enjoys playing with Grammy.



This video captures the essence of Belle's playtime.

"It's just a phase"

Remember how much Belle enjoyed her bath? That is no more. She suddenly one day hated bath time. She screams in the tub, and even tries to climb out of it (which feels quite dangerous). I tried a few tricks to see if I could help Belle remember how much fun bath time is. I bathed her earlier, thinking she was perhaps too tried- overtired- which made it hard for her to enjoy the bath. Nope- she still screamed as if I were trying to cook her in the tub. I made the water cooler figuring that she likes the swimming pool so maybe she'd like a pool-like bath. She screamed so loud, I worried the neighbors would call the Department of Children and Family Services.

I finally called Belle's pediatrician to get some new ideas and was comforted to hear that this anti-bath protest is "just a phase," meaning it's not so uncommon and it will end. The doc gave me a few new tips, one of which I tried last night. I bathed her while holding her in the shower. She screamed, of course, and I learned that babies are quite slippery when wet. The doc suggested just giving her a sponge bath, but Belle's hair is so long and gets so dirty with sweat and food that a sponge bath seems inadequate.

I guess I'll continue to patiently and carefully bathe her while wait out this phase. Thank goodness it is just a phase.

Belle discovered gravity

Belle is a just like Sir Isaac Newton: she has discovered gravity. She enjoys dropping items and then looking down to note that they've fallen. Yes, Belle, that's gravity!

In the booster seat while eating, it's fun for Belle to toss food and the burp cloth onto the floor. She peers over her booster seat tray to see where everything lands after she's dropped them. When I hold her and when she's in the stroller, she gets a kick out of dropping her toys and watching them drop to the ground.

Belle discovered gravity, I get a workout picking up what's dropped.

Happy birthday, Grampy!

How did Grampy want to celebrate his birthday? With his granddaughter, of course! Here Grampy holds Belle while she enjoys her lunch outside of Joe on Columbus Ave.

Take-your-daughter-to-work Day II

Part I in Bridgeport.

Today in White Plains:

Belle and Great-Grandma Maxine

Foxon Park White Birth Beer: a delicious taste of Connecticut!

Belle's nearly walking

Belle is on the verge of taking her first few steps. Friday morning, we visited a friend who has a 22-month-old daughter and 3-week-old twin sons. Belle was excited to see the babies and crawl and play! Well, she crawled over to this shopping cart-like toy, pulled herself up to stand, and started pushing it to walk around.

Later, at my parents' home in Connecticut, Belle was excited to get her hands (and walking feet) on this baby doll stroller intended for 2-year-olds. With only a little bit of help from her Grammy, Belle walked laps around the family room. She wore herself (and her Grammy) out big time with this new interest in assisted walking!

Belle is now able to pull herself to standing and stand holding onto to nothing for a few seconds. She walked well with assistance, and appears to be eager to take a few unassisted steps soon.

Not so fast, little girl...

Date Night, summer-in-New-York-style

Craig and I enjoyed a very New York date. I "won" free tickets to the Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park production of All's well that Ends Well. I entered the virtual ticket waiting line,which is just a lottery, and learned just after 1pm that I had two tickets for that evening's performance. Evidence of my new mom priorities, I called the babysitter and made sure she was available before I even told Craig about our date.

I had to pick up the tickets between 5 and 7pm or our seats for the 8pm performance would be given away. If we didn't live a quick walk from Central Park, how else could I have made it work? Anyway, Belle and I walked to the Delacorte Theater at the southwestern end of the Great Lawn to pick up the tickets. Then we went home and I fed Belle and put her to bed. Craig and the babysitter arrived so Craig and I could go to Central Park and enjoy a delicious picnic Greek dinner before the play began.

It was a wonderful evening, made possible only because we live in Manhattan. SO glad we could enjoy while we still have a New York City address.

The Delacorte Stage pre-show

Lunch time!

Belle used her hands to eat tilapia (fish), fresh corn, and toasted O cereal.  She and I shared a peach for dessert,  She is a good and healthy eater!

Feeding time

Our neighbor Dawn took out a bowl of Cherrios anf the three babies flocked to her as it were feeding time at the zoo. The three crawled on her lap and opened their mouths waiting for a delicious deposit of the cereal. How adorably pigeon-like.

Playing with Charlie outside our building

The trouble with a late nap

Belle's schedule is changing. It's just as I was warned: as soon as I became comfortable and confident in her sleep schedule, it changed. That's fine, but we are still working out the kinks in this new sleep schedule. Most notably, she is still working out a schedule. She has consistently started her morning nap close to 9am (instead of 7:30am), which is great. It makes sense for her morning nap to start later, and makes for better late morning and afternoon play times.

But her afternoon nap has not yet settled into a routine. She napped at 3pm on Sunday and then 3:30pm on Monday. Today, primarily because we had an impromptu and wonderfully fun afternoon playdate, Belle did not settle down and nap until after 4pm. She woke up after 50 min nap so I snuggled her back to sleep (a new highlight of my day, since Belle and I no longer snuggle-sleep during her morning nap since it is so much later). Trouble is, it's 6:50pm and she is still asleep. I am sure she is zonked from playing with her friend Lucy for 3 hours, and also from playing outside with her other friends Charlie, Marielle and Gemma before that. Maybe she'll sleep 8pm-7am tonight (a mom can dream).

Anyway, we are working on a new schedule... In the meantime, I am enjoying Belle's babbling, crawling, standing, assisted walking, and smiles.

Holding hands

I took a walk with a friend this afternoon. Belle likes my friend's daughter, apparently. The two reached out to grab each other's hand while we walked and actually giggled while they held hands as my friend and I struggled to push our strollers such that the girls could continue holding hands.

Belle's favorite toy

A cup, of course :)

Center of the circle in music class

Belle and I ducked into a "musical playdate" today to take a break from the heat.  Belle and I make so many friends at music class and out and about because Belle is now mobile and extremely friendly.  Belle will crawl into the center of the circle and crawl out from time to time to say hello to a baby and caregiver sitting on the circle's perimeter.  "Saying hello" usually involves smiling, waving, petting, reach for a water bottle or shoe or something else to eat, or just crawling to sit near for a few minutes.  I run around the outside of the circle and meet her on the perimeter when she pays another baby a visit.  This is when I make friends, chatting with Belle's new friends' parents or babysitters.  I hope Belle remains friendly as she grows.  Anyway, between the other people in the room and the music, and the chance to crawl and crawl and crawl, Belle and I had a wonderful time in music class today!

Belle and her boyfriend

Now that Belle can crawl, that's all she wants to do. She is unhappy sitting in the stroller for too long because she gets antsy and wants to move. I was on a mission to find a dress for an upcoming special event and I knew I needed assistance for the shopping trip. So, Belle's boyfriend (the one-year-old whom she "kissed") and his mother Lauren joined us on our trip to Loehmann's. While I sifted through dresses, Lauren had the brilliant idea to put the babies near a mirror facing each other. That offered such entertainment that I was able to find a few fun items to try on!


(Yes, the babies have the same stroller in different colors)

Later, at another store where I found a skirt for Belle, we let Belle and her boyfriend out of the strollers. He can walk and walked right over to where Belle was crawling and leaned over to give Belle a hug. She played hard-to-get and squirmed out of his hug. One day perhaps she'll learn not to push away cute boys.



So excited to be out of the stroller and moving, the two cutie pies played together. Belle learned that, though she was not interested in her boyfriend's hugs, his fingers are delicious:



The two babies played together adorably. I was so appreciative of my friend's presence and help, as I could not have gone shopping without her!

104

Belle enjoys saying hello to our neighbor who is over 100 years old. Perhaps the combined age in this picture is 104.

The Destroyer

If Belle were a wrestler, her name would be The Destroyer because she is at that "make-a-mess" phase. A fun game, apparently, is to crawl up the laundry basket and remove articles of clothing one by one. Yup, she just tosses them about. The game is fished when the laundry basket is empty and surrounded by clothes strewn about. Another fun game: emptying the recycling basket bit by bit. This is actually a game, though, because I put the magazines and pieces of paper back in the basket nearly as quickly as she removes them, which confuses her and then makes her giggle. Food items neatly stacked on a low shelf? That's no match for The Destroyer. Faster than you can spell "Belle Shoshanna," Belle has the cereal and pasta boxes, chip bags, fruit cups and even soda cans tossed aside. Her job is done when the shelf is empty. Yogurt on the bottom shelf in the fridge? Not if Belle has anything to do with it. Tissues neatly in the box in which they came? Not anymore thanks to Belle.

Yes, I watch her at all times. Yes, she is safe and well-supervised. Yes, I clean up after her. No, I can't wait until she is able to put items away as well as she makes a mess.

Jeans (sort of)

Belle is wearing Huggies "denim" diapers (they are regular disposable diapers with a jeans-like pattern, complete with pockets on the bum):

Applause please

Belle loves to clap as of late. When she is proud of herself or when I clap or when she is happy (which is almost all of the time), she claps. Here, she is applauding herself for finishing her lunch (she is clapping so fast, her hands look like blurs):

July 4 in NYC

Craig's on our building roof taking pictures of the Macy's Fourth of July Spectacular along the Hudson while I watch them on TV. Very cool that I can hear the BOOM of the fireworks that I am watching live on NBC.

Happy Fourth of July :)

Go Cornell

Belle shows her Cornell spirit and her patriotism (red, white and blue).
Happy fourth of July!

My, how you've grown!

Sept. 25, 2010:

Belle is less than four weeks old. Her first cousin Noah is about 2.5 months old. We propped up the babies up against pillows to take this very first "cousins" picture.

July 2, 2011:

Noah is one year old and Belle is just over ten months old. Now the babies can crawl and stand and interact. Their personalities are emerging as they smile and laugh at one another and are starting to actually play together.

As someone with not one single first cousin, I am thrilled that my daughter already has a cousin less than two months older than she is. What a joy that these first cousins are growing up together.

Happy first birthday, Cousin Noah!