Busy Bella

Bella is in a short summer preschool program right now. They get to wear their swimsuits and go outside and get messy in the water and sand, then go to "creation station," and to do some fun art. She loves it!

She has also finished a two week session of evening swim classes. Until the last day, we just had to drop her off with one of the instructors, but we didn't get to see her lessons. It was a little scary for me to trust someone else with my baby girl around a pool. All we heard from her was "I went under water 2 times!" and "the girl in the bigger class had a CAREBEAR swimsuit!"

We were so proud of her at the observation class- not only because she did a great job beginning to swim, but because she was SO well behaved. Of course that's how I want and expect her to be, but I seeing her in a big group of kids, we saw that not all kids are.

Lucy went to Momo and Papa's house while we were there, so Bella got to eat with just Mommy and Daddy at the restaurant of her choice. She said she wanted to eat at Momo and Papa's and with Momo and Papa, but we talked her into her second choice- the pizza place. :)

We hope to do these "dates" with each daughter, so they get some alone time both with grandparents and with us.

Hummingbird

I got this shirt with a hummingbird on it for Lucy long before it would fit her. As it turns out, it is fitting her at just the right time! She is much like a little hummingbird, quickly going from one thing to another. On her first birthday, she was taking a couple of steps here and there, but now, one month later, she takes off like a little (waddling) race walker. Come on, Mom, onto the next thing!
The chair! She LOVES to climb up in this chair. The problem is, she hasn't quite figured out how to get down by herself. Sometimes she stands up and looks like she is about to walk off of the chair, which ever so slightly terrifies us! When I see her do this from across the room, I tell her, "sit on your bottom," and she looks at me and says, "ba ba? ba ba?" It's like she knows what I am telling her to do, but she is pretending she doesn't.

She is in this chair A LOT.

"I'm the Queen of the World!"

You know she is really happy when she does her scrunched up face smile. She's probably thinking about climbing up in the chair and scaring Mom and Dad.

A Great Daddy

Reading a book, being a human jungle gym, and kissing a sweet little head- just a few of the things this father does best!
I really couldn't ask for a better father for my girls!

Twirly Girl

For the past couple of months, Bella says she wants to wear a "twirly dress" (or skirt) every day. She is so excited to get dressed in the morning, but only if she does in fact get to put on a twirly dress. I can't just be any dress either- twirly is the key word, because some dresses don't qualify as twirly, as much as I try to convince her.

One for the Zoo

On Lucy's actual birthday, Brian took part of the afternoon off and we all went to the Zoo. We went there on Bella's first birthday too. If we do something once around here, it can quickly turn into a tradition! The girls had a lot of fun and it was a pretty day. I think May and October might just be the most beautiful months! :)





We ate at Spaghetti Warehouse for dinner, and Lucy loved her spaghetti.
She got a few more little gifts at home from our immediate family. I had taken Bella to pick out something for her to give Lucy. We went straight to the doll section at Toys R Us. She could spend a hour in there (and we almost did) just looking (and wanting for her birthday) at dolls. I finally helped her narrow down which one to get Lucy. She got her twin babies, because, of course Lucy would need extra help (from big sister) taking care of them! Perfect! She has since decided that the twin dressed in purple is her doll and the twin dressed in blue is Lucy's. Lucy does love her blue doll.
Finally, Lucy got to dig into a little more cake and ice cream and then straight into a bath!
Um, so this is a nice turtle, right?