A Trip to the Aquarium

Some pictures from our trip to the Norwalk Maritime Aquarium on Sunday, January 29, 2012. Belle especially enjoyed touching the rays, walking up and down the ramps, pointing to some of the fishes, and walking along the Long Island boardwalk.









The beloved boardwalk:


Belle must have walked back and forth on it at least 20 times.

Fascinated at the aquarium

Belle's Favorite Part of the Aquarium

The Long Island Sound Boardwalk. She wasn't as enamored by all the cool fish.

Copy cat

Like most babies, Belle is a it of a copy cat. There are two notable instances of copy catting worth noting:

1. When we visited Cousin Noah last week, the two toddlers played together beautifully. It is such a pleasure to see the cousins interact more and more as they get older. Anyway, I was tickling both cutie-pies. When I stopped, Noah said, "More!" (He also says "mas" since his nanny teachers him Espanol. In fact, Noah asks for "agua.") Belle tried to imitate her cousin; she said, "Mah! Mah!" Maybe Noah could teach her more words!

2. Belle is an exceptionally affectionate child, which is so rewarding. She gives spontaneous hugs, leans in to receive kisses (she has given me a few kisses, but she prefers to receive them), and takes our hand when she walks. She also loves to cuddle. When she is upset, I will pick her up to comfort her. I often rub her back to calm her down. Well, Belle now will rub my arm and shoulder right back. It is so sweet.

Belle is such a joy. Despite all her fussiness (she is currently on shoe strike; that is, she screams and throws a little fit when we try to put them on her), I feel like the luckiest mom in the world.

An Epic Struggle

Shopping cart v. Lip to kitchen. Lip is still winning, but Belle is trying to figure out how to beat it.

Feeding herself

Belle picked up her fork, pierced her dinner, and fed herself this evening:

Belle's Life in January 2012

It started with a trip to Washington D.C. to celebrate New Years. It continued with some visitors, including Great-Grandma Ann, and included a trip to the Celebrity Diner with Grandma Helene for grilled cheese and pickles.

If you click on the picture, you'll see all the pictures in the album.

A Morning Plank

The Granddaughter of a Travel Agent

She falls asleep in the car looking through a travel brochure.  Granted, it was Disney.

All better now

Belle was sick last week. Really sick.

Belle was not herself Monday night after our fun afternoon at the book store story time. We took her to her pediatrician on Wednesday, as she'd been consistently spiking high fevers (according to my lips on her forehead, since I don't like to bother taking a temperature using a thermometer) and she had been vomiting. At the doctor's office, Belle's fever was over 104, which surprised the doctor, who was rather unimpressed by my temperature-taking tactics (he suggested we should be taking her temperature using a thermometer, and that we should have come to see him sooner since her fever was so high; lesson learned). Anyway, the doc examined Belle and took samples of her blood and urine. The urine collection was a funny experience, as he attached a plastic bag to Belle, then put her diaper on and had her go wait in the waiting room. Wait we did! She snuggled into us, then played once the Advil kicked in and her fever went down. And we waited and waited and waited for her to pee into the plastic bag. It took well over 90 minutes.

Anyway, we left the doctor's office and head home. I has just pulled into the garage and Belle was still asleep in her car seat when the pediatrician called. The doc didn't like what he saw in the samples he took from Belle- her white blood cell count was super high and her urine indicated she was dehydrated. Coupled with the high fever, he instructed us to go directly to the ER.

And so we did. We spent 6 hours at the ER last Wednesday night. I drove Belle there while Craig walked from work. The ped had called ahead so when we arrived, we quickly moved into a room in the pediatric ER. There, Belle had a chest X-ray, had urine draw via catheter, and had an IV put in her arm. Through the IV, her blood was drawn, and then she was given fluids. Before we went home, Belle received a broad-spectrum antibiotic intravenously.

Belle returned to the pediatrician on Thursday and Friday. By Friday, the cultures from the Wednesday night returned- all negative- and Belle's fever was down.

So, the mystery of what made Belle so sick was never solved. More importantly, Belle is now nearly four days fever free. She slept for 12 hours last night, too. Belle is all better now. And we hope that Wednesday was our last visit to the ER. Ever.

A trip to the diner

For Belle's first Celebrity Diner grilled cheese sandwich.  She enjoyed the pickle too.

Physical fads Belle follows

Belle has taken to planking. She'll suddenly lie down on her back in front of the stairs or under a friend's dining room table or in her play room. Sometimes Belle choose this time to show me her belly button, or sometimes she just lies there.

She further demonstrated how hip to the physical fads she is when she Tebowed the other day. I was laughing to hard to get a shot of it, but she actually got down on just one knee and put her hand to her head (to push her hair out of the way).

Belle is so hip.

Plain Ordinary

Belle is introduced to a Plain Ordinary cookie. One of Grandma's and she refuses to share with Daddy.

Middle-aged at 29?!

A theater student submitted this when I asked for a description of the characters in her group's original play. Note that she clarifies "middle-aged" by noting that the woman is 29.

Man, I am old (past middle-aged)!

My little picker-upper

I took Belle to Story Time at the local Barnes and Noble. It is a wonderful event where a bookstore employee plays his guitar and leads the parents and babies in fun children's songs. He then reads two children's books, and follows up with more singing. Belle and I had a wonderful time! It was a large and diverse group of people, and we made some friends!

Story time winds down into coloring time: the singer/reader brings out a bucket of crayons and some papers with blank animals waiting to be colored. The older children grab fistfuls of crayons to color in their elephants and horses and pigs. Belle wasn't interested in coloring; she didn't take a piece of paper. Rather, Belle went around to the children with their piles of crayons and picked up the crayons to bring them back to the bucket. Yup, Belle was cleaning up. It really was quite funny; most children enjoyed making a mess, but Belle wanted to pick up the crayons and put them away.

We'll be at Story Time again. It was fun!

Incidentally, we followed-up Story Time with a visit to Daddy, since his office is so close to the book store. It was a brief but nice visit. After all that activity, Belle was pretty wiped out: she came home and passed out. In fact, as I write this, Belle's nap is nearing the hour-mark. She is fully dressed (minus her sneakers) and hasn't eaten dinner. I sure hope she wakes up soon, or I could be in for a funny night (and I don't mean "haha" funny)...

A perfectly suburban weekend

Yup, we really live in the 'burbs. But it was a really great, relaxing, social and productive weekend, so I can't complain.

We rested and socialized and took walks to take advantage of the beautiful and unseasonably warm weather. We enjoyed having friends and family over but reserved time to clean and catch up on phone calls.

I am ready for the week after this restful and productive weekend. I guess this is a sign that I am adjusting to life in Westchester.

Playing on Sunday

Daddy and Belle are coloring at Belle's table (Belle is showing us her ear):



Aunt Carol and Grandma Ann visited. Here, Belle shows Aunt Carol where her nose is:


Belle give Grandma Ann a hug:

Merry Go Round

After getting home this afternoon from a game of ultimate frisbee, Belle wanted to go for a walk.  So she grabbed my hand, and we walked around the house.  The inside of the house, around the stairs.  We made laps for more than 15 minutes.  It was nice to walk with Belle.  Maybe next time, we'll go somewhere a little more scenic.

Pause!

Where's the pause button? It must be here somewhere...

I know I've said this before (at every stage after those first few weeks?), but I would love to freeze time right here and keep Belle sixteen-and-a-half-months-old forever. She is sweet and affectionate, interested and curious, playful and full of smiles. Belle is truly a joy.

So, pause, please. No need to talk beyond "hi" ("hiya") and "up" ("uppy") or be potty-trained. Just stay the way you are today forever....or at least for a little while longer...

Saturday Night in the Burbs

Watching football

Sleep Champ

Belle didn't earn herself a reputation for being a great sleeper during her first year of life, but that has changed. Belle now goes down for bed and even for naps easily (she often waves goodnight after I lay her in her crib), and sleeps well. She now sleeps so late that I have to set my alarm clock, rather than using Belle as my wake-up call.

This morning, after I'd showered and gotten myself ready for work, I watched Belle in our video monitor. It was past 6:40 and Belle was awake, but not ready to get up (I know that feeling well). I watched her lay in her crib, playing with her pacifier and talking. Eventually (6:50 or so), she was ready for her morning cuddle before starting the day.

Belle sure is a great sleeper, and an adorable one, too.

Jumbo Love

Belle and Cooper hug goodbye:

Happy New Year

Tufts class of 2032?

After celebrating New Years with the Tufts crew, the kids played together on New Years Day. Alex's Cooper, Seren's Belle and Katie's Sam could be future Jumbos: