Typical week in the life of Belle...

A typical week for Belle is: Mon-Wed we go to Story Time at the library. Each library in the area hosts a story time for babies, so we hit up three different ones during the week. They dance to songs, hear a story, watch bubbles. Belle loves it. On Thursdays, we go to a music class at a nearby gymnastics gym. This is a little more crazy. There is lots of dancing and a lot of older kids. Belle is still getting used to this, but she started dancing after the first time we went, so I think she's getting something out of it. Usually one day during the week, we'll meet up with other babies and their moms for a playdate. We'll also go see Belle's grandma and grandpa about once a week. During the weekends, it's Daddy Time! James is on full Daddy duty, while I take a break. And by a take a break, I mean I'm usually doing stuff like clean the house, anything that's very hard during the week to do with an active baby. We also just spend family time together, whether we go for a walk or go to a playground or even just spend time together in the house. Belle loves spending time with her daddy. During the week, I'll usually sleep in until 7:30-8, while Belle and James spend a couple of hours together. It's a special time for all of us, especially since she only sees James very briefly when he gets home from work and I don't get a lot of sleep at night. Anyway, here are some pics of Belle's daily life...

Watching the bubbles at Story Time


Playdate with David and Michael


Belle and David looking out of the window.


I tried to get some good shots of Belle outside when the weather was nice. She was so curious about the grass and leaves though, that I couldn't get her to look up. These are the best ones I got. I'm going attempt again once the rain clears up, and the ground is dry.

Trip to the Aquarium

Last Wednesday, Belle and I met up with some of our friends and went to the Georgia Aquarium. Two of our friends had season tickets with guest passes, so we were all able to get in free of charge. We were so grateful for this, considering how ridiculously expensive it is there. Belle loved the tunnel of fish and the giant wall of fish the best. It was a great day! Below are some pictures and some videos of our aquatic adventure.


Holding hands with Michael while watching the fish!


Flirting with an older boy she met at the aquarium. This girl is trouble!!


Amy with David, Me with Belle, Michelle with Michael, and Anamaria with Brodie



Belle in amazement in the tunnel of fish.



David and Belle fighting over the wall of fish.

Family and Baby Updates -Steps, Sleep, and Teeth!

STEPS
This post is sort of a catch up for all the new stuff going on in the Charlesworth household. In Belle news, she has taken her first steps! I'm not sure if I should totally count it as walking or not though. She has yet to go from sitting to standing on her own, but she will stand on her own for about 30 seconds if I let her go. The other day, I let her go and she took two steps into my arms! I was so excited, but I think I might have done it too many times with her. Now if I let her go, she immediately sits. She will refuse to stand on her own. I'm not going to attempt it for a few days, and hopefully she'll do it again.

SLEEP
Isabella has also started sleeping better at night. We've been using the Ferber method, and now she will only wake up once during the night. It's usually at about 4:30 am, and she's usually hungry. I'm going to attempt to try to push this back to at least 6 am. I wanted to attempt this sooner, but she's just getting over a cold and I didn't want to try this while she was still sick. She's also been in a heap of teething pain, which leads us to the next bit of news: new teeth!

TEETH
Belle has gotten some new teeth! Her top two teeth have started to show, and the two next to them seem to be close behind. It's been torturous for her and me, and nursing has become a whole new challenge. Weaning is in our near future, and I'm counting down the days.

KIM NEWS
Since I've last written, I've decided that the daycare job I had wasn't working out very well for Belle or for me. Belle, wanting to play with the older kids, was coming home with cuts and bruises. There was also always small toys around, causing a choking hazard for her, despite my best efforts to get them out of her reach. As for me, the daycare facility itself was not the type of place I felt comfortable in. To put it nicely, that place was a lawsuit waiting to happen. James and I decided that quitting would probably be the best thing. I've since been able to focus entirely on our company, Print My Baby. Because of the guilt of not bringing in extra income anymore, I've attacked my work on the company with a newfound vigor. My efforts have begun to pay off, and the business is continuously growing. Of course, this business wouldn't be half of what it is without James superior SEO skills!!

Belle's First Snow

It's been a while since I've blogged, so I'm going to make a few different posts. During the writing of my last post, it began to snow. It was our first real snowfall since Belle's been born, and in March no less. I took a video of her reaction from inside the house, unfortunately I didn't record the short time we were outside in the snow. I also have a video of when I put her in her highchair, and she just kept turning her head,looking in each window like she couldn't believe what she was seeing. It was really cute. She also kept putting her hand up to her mouth in sideways position. I'm not sure why, but she did the same thing again later that week when she saw bubbles.



Belle's First Sight of Snow

Jackson's Birthday Party and Snow!!!

Yesterday, Belle's friend, Jackson, turned one. He celebrated by having a birthday party at the Coffee Park, which is a cute little coffee shop with a great play area for kids. Jackson's mom, Nicole, made baby cupcakes for the kids, which were made of carrot and raisin puree with cream cheese and applesauce frosting. Belle loved it! Below are some pictures and a video of some of the babies playing maracas together! It was so cute. I'm also posting a video of Belle that I took while she was playing one day. She realized I was filming her and then she really started hamming it up for the camera. I thought it was hilarious.

Oh, and in other news, I decided to chop about 9 inches off my hair yesterday. I also posted a pic of that.

One last thing, as I was writing this it began to snow! This is our first real snowfall in Atlanta this year, and it is Belle's first real snowfall ever! Right now she is still sleeping, but I'm excited to see her reaction to it.