Belle's Birthday Extravaganza

On May 3rd, Isabella turned the big ONE! We celebrated by having a birthday party on Saturday, May 2nd, at our house with family and all of her little friends.  Here are some pics of Belle eating her cake and a video of the day:

Belle is walking very well now, and even has started making attempts at running.  Although she tends to fall face first into the ground more often than not during these attempts.  Her new thing now is to climb into everything, buckets, laundry baskets,etc.  She's also trying out lots of new words.   She can now say, Dada, Mama, Cat, Cracker (sounds more like Caca though), Dog, Bye Bye, Hi, Baby, and Shoe.  Those are the ones I can recall at the moment. Sometimes she'll say a word for one day, and then I'll never hear it again.  Her favorite word is still by far, Dada.  I'm just glad she's finally saying Mama, even if it's only when she's upset.  

Easter, April and Rabid Cats

Well, April started off with a bang when our cat Coaster escaped outside all night. The next morning she came home, but her tail looked really funny.  We brought her to the vet, and found out that she had been bitten by some kind of animal and her tail was really infected.  Since Coaster remains indoors (usually), she was not up to date on her rabies vaccination.  Since we didn't know what had bitten her, we now must quarantine her for 6 months to be sure that she didn't catch rabies.  She now has taken over our guest bedroom, and actually seems pretty content.  No signs of rabies so far, and we've come to the conclusion that most likely it was our neighbor's cat who did it. However, we're not taking any chances.  Here is a pic of Coaster with her Elizabethan collar on:


For Easter, we went to James' parents house where we had lunch. Then we went with Belle and her cousins to an Easter Egg hunt in the park.  This was right during Belle's nap time, so she got pretty cranky and we had to leave early.  All and all though, we had a great time. Here are some pics:

Belle telling Evan not to take her Easter basket.

Belle and I in the sandbox waiting for the Easter Egg Hunt to start.

Belle in the sandbox.

Vivian and her Easter basket.

Grandpa Tom, James, and Belle.

This is Belle on the way home.  She loves wearing my sunglasses. They're my secret weapon when she's getting cranky in the car. When I put them on her, I sing "Cool baby, cool baby" and she starts dancing. It is hilarious!!

Finally some proof!

Here is the video I promised of Belle walking. It's been almost a month since her first monumental steps, but I've finally captured it. She still prefers crawling, but each day she walks more and more. The new shoes I bought her have also hindered her process a little bit, but I'm trying to let her walk around barefoot more often now that's it's warmer. Anyway, enjoy!

Quick Update on the Bellster

The past few weeks, the whole family has been fighting the flu. Combine that with trying to get our taxes done, Easter, and planning Belle's birthday party, not much blog writing has happened. I still don't have much time to write, but just wanted to give a quick update.

Of most importance, Belle is walking!! Her first real walking experience was on March 28th. Daddy and Grandma Karen were also there to see it, which made it that much more special. One second she was holding on to the coffee table, the next she had let go and was off! She took about 4 steps before she crashed. It was wonderful. Now, she'll take about 10 steps at most so far. She will now go from sitting to standing and walk until her balance gives out or she gets scared, whichever comes first. I've yet to get a video of it for various reasons. Mainly I've been sick, and the camera is never around when I need it. Horrible, terrible excuses, but I will get one very soon.

Pictures of Easter and other things in April to be coming soon...

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!!