Happy Girl

Enjoying breakfast at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Corn on the cob

Belle enjoyed her first corn on the cob.  It was a hot and humid evening, so mostly-naked was the way to go for anyone who could get away with it :)

Belle straps baby in for breakfast

Belle loves her baby doll! This morning, she strapped "baby" into her
high chair.

Chinese dinner

We Tri-Ceps went out for an early dinner at a Chinese restaurant. Belle enjoyed.

Lawn chairs

Enjoying a lovely spring evening on our front porch.

"The Itsy Bitsy Spider" marathon

Today, Belle demanded (and by "demanded," I mean she said, "please") a participatory concert from Grammy.  She requested songs by gesture.  Belle put her fingers together to suggest "The Itsy Bitsy Spider."  Grammy sang "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" about a dozen times before Belle rolled her hands around each other and said "please," indicating that she wanted to hear "The Wheels on the Bus."  During that second ditty, Belle requested verses, as in "beep beep" for the verse that goes "the horn on the bus goes..."  Belle enjoyed Grammy's concert, and Grampy served the crucial role as spotter since Belle chose such a precarious listening location.

Enjoying the day with Nadia

Today's Outfit

1) Check out who's a big Mets fan.

2) Belle picked her own shoes out today. We gave her her first sartorial lesson today and told her she couldn't wear socks with her shoes. She was ok with that. I also brought sneakers to Nadia's because it was a little cold and the shoes are a little big.

Mother's Day 2012

We hosted Mother's Day yesterday. It was the Ceplers and Levinsons
for brunch. Fifteen people in all. One cousin; two parents; two
uncles; two aunts; four grandparents; and FOUR GREAT-GRANDPARENTS.
This was the first time that all Belle's ancestors were in the same
place as the same time. It was great watching the four of them watch
their great-granddaughter.

It was a great day for all involved. Belle loves her cousin Noah.
She plays differently with him than with anyone else. She has been
following him since she was crawling. Once she started walking, she
ran with him. She likes to take walks with him. She shares with very
little complaining (just like how her uncle Jeff used to share with
his brothers). I think the excitement of playing together all morning
was why neither took a nap while in their cribs during nap time.
Instead, both played for an hour.

Gardening

Belle helps Craig plant impatiens on Mother's Day.

Getting Ready for Mothers Day

Hugs!

Playing with Emma

Mowing the lawn is a family affair

2 Follow Ups

1) It was very funny to come home and see Belle sitting in a dining room chair at the head of the table eating. She looked so tiny.

2) The one time it snowed this winter, we tried to get Belle to put on boots so we could play. She screamed bloody murder, refused to go outside, and we couldn't play in the snow. Hopefully, today's shoes will foreshadow success next winter.

Snowboots in May

That's right: Belle IS wearing her snowboots in May. You see, her sneakers were too dirty to wear today after she went digging in the dirt with our nearly-five-year-old neighbor yesterday. 

Bye bye, highchair

The only way Belle would eat her dinner was in a regular dining room table.

Words words words

Belle has new words everyday. She's even putting words together, like "Mommy's shoes" and "Bye bye, Daddy." On Saturday, she string together her first full sentence: "More cookies, please." Currently, a cookie is a Korean-style rice cake. We're in trouble when Belle finds out what a real cookie is. Anyway, I am excited about her speaking.

My well-trained toddler

Today, Belle and I met a new neighbor (actually, we're the new neighbor; we met someone who lives near us whom we had not yet met.) He had a dog. He asked Belle if she wanted to pet the dog, and her "roof roof!" served a "yes, please." In order to make the dog calm and more accessible to Belle, the man said, "sit!"  Belle then sat down on the sidewalk. I was hysterical, and the neighbor complimented me on my well-trained toddler.