Bella Rey - 5 Months

On August 21, 2014 Bella turned 5 months old. I cannot believe we are coming on a half a year with our little princess! She is getting so big and developing her little personality faster than I ever imagined! Little Miss Bella is absolutely amazing and we love her more and more every day.

About our 5 month old Bella:

• Bella is teething and she chews on everything! She is like a little piranha. She especially loves chewing on my and Pedro's hands. I hope to see a tooth pop through soon because it keeps waking her up at night! I got her some Mam binkies that are specifically designed for teething so hopefully that will help. (P.S. Mam binkies are the absolute best!)
• Bella still loves her bath time! I have started sitting her up in the bath and she loves splashing around! Now that she is teething she will steal the wash cloth and chew on it and get mad if I take it away. 

• Bella loves playing peek-a-boo. She and I have a game we play every morning called "Where's my Bella." When I am making the bed I will throw the sheets over her head and walk around saying, "Where's my Bella? Where is she?" Bella will grab the sheets and kick and pull them off as quick as possible so she can turn and smile at me. I love it so much that I have pulled the sheets down after the bed is made just to put her under them. Yesterday she put her burp cloth over her face and just laid there. I was confused and was thinking what an odd child I have, when I decided to start saying "Where's Bella?" Immediately she pulled the cloth off smiling. She has been doing it today too. Such a smart, cute girl. 

• Bella's napping and night time sleeping has gotten better. I have been very consistent in putting her down at the same time every day and soothing her the same way each time. Today she took a 1 hour morning nap and a 3 hour afternoon nap. Then she went down for the night on time without too much fuss. It was so nice not to fight with her to get her to sleep! For the last few nights Bella has been wanting me to lay by her in our bed until she falls asleep (I think she is more cuddly now because she is teething). I LOVE it! I will take all the snuggles I can get from this sweet girl. 
• Like I mentioned, Bella is more cuddly now, and I about die every time she lays her head on my chest and nuzzles in to me. When she was about 2 months old she stopped cuddling me, and I am so glad she is back to it! 
• Bella reached for me the other day. I just sat and kissed her over and over after that. So sweet. 
• Bella likes to reach up and touch our faces and just stare at us. It is just precious. She has discovered eyes now though, so she will try and scratch at them. Pedro has nicknamed her the enucleator. She will also reach up to pet or pull our hair. She loves hair! When I nurse her she will reach up and gently twirl my hair around. It is such a special time. I really don't think this girl can get any sweeter. 
• Bella is still a noisy scream talker. It is pretty cute! She is even starting to talk out in public. Most often she just likes to listen to everything around her in new places, but when we go to the store or a friends house, she has started to babble more. 
• Bella can now efficiently put her binky back in her mouth. She is always pulling her binky out to look at or chew on, but when she is ready to suck on it again, she has no problem getting it back in the right way. This is especially helpful in the car, and when she is able to find it in bed, she will put it back in.
• Bella is getting really good at sitting now. She will sit up straighter and is more confident about reaching out for toys. We have a game called "crash" that she loves! We will sit her on our bed and wait for her to fall over and we will yell "crash!" She smiles every time. 

• We took Bella swimming a few weeks back and she was actually okay with the cold water. I guess the water is more fun with Daddy!

• So Bella has found another left obsession... her left foot. I don't know what it is about her left side, but if she is not looking at her left hand, she is looking at or eating her left foot. Now that she knows she has feet they are often up by her mouth. The other day I videoed her sucking on her toes because she was going to town!

• Bella is still a skinny mini, but her thighs are chunking up a bit and I love to squeeze, tickle, and kiss them.
• A couple of weeks ago Bella started locking her legs more when we would stand her up on our laps. Today she was holding most of her weight as I held on to her arms. I love her little leg dimples as she stands. She loves to jump, jump, jump and pants like a puppy because she gets so excited.
• I started giving Bella solids shortly after she turned 4 months. She was loving it! But when I started doing veggies, I could tell her belly was hurting at night and she would be up every 1.5-2 hours crying in pain. So I stopped giving her solids after about 3 weeks. Her belly has been doing fine now, but I can tell she is still really interested in eating.

• Last week I told a friend that Bella was becoming lazy and hardly ever rolled over anymore. Well, Bella must have been listening, because ever since that day she has been rolling over on to her belly non stop. I was even finding her on her belly in her crib after she woke up from naps, and for a few nights each time she would wake up in the middle of the night. She will now scoot around while on her belly, but she will only scoot backward. often she ends up straddling the poles on her play mat and gets mad because she can't scoot back anymore.
• Bella is such a smiley girl. We love going in to her room when she wakes up, sneaking up on her in her crib, and seeing the slow motion smile curl up her cheeks as she sees us for the first time in the morning. We also love to hear her smile sound effect. It is like a hissing sound, I can't explain it, but I want to remember it. 

• Bella started doing a huffy face when she was getting mad, but it only lasted a few weeks. She would pucker up her lips and breathe in and out of her nose rapidly. When I was little, I would do that too when I threw a fit. 

• Most of all, Bella gets cuter, funnier, smarter, sassier, and happier every day. 

Bella's first pony

rolling round and round

More and more sassy every day.

She has the sweetest face.

Daddy's little friend.

Waking up from a nap and realizing she slept in my arms.

Seriously though, that face...

...It kills me.

rolling over to help with laundry.

Loving the car.

Forts with our favorite Daddy!

First time to the park and she LOVED it!

Sending kisses to Daddy while he is at work!

We love you tiny girl. I especially love nursing you, cuddling you, staring at you, tickling you, giving you baths, making you laugh, and I love knowing that you love me. It melts my heart to look into your eyes, you reaching up to touch my cheek with the sweetest smile on your face, and just knowing without a doubt that you love me. Always stay small and innocent little one. You have taught me so much about humility, and pure love. I am not perfect, and I definitely have many flaws, but yet you still love me unconditionally. I hope that I can work harder to be a better example to you as you grow and the world starts to seep into your life. I love our time together Bella, and I love being your mommy.