Life of Laraia: Bella Rey

On March 21, 2015, Bella turned 11 months! Almost one year old! I cannot believe how fast Bells is growing. We love her so much, and can't help but smile all day long because of her. I feel like she has learned so much this past month. She learns quickly, and has become an expert communicator.

About our 11 month old Bella:

First off I forgot some things that Bella learned in her 10th month: If you laugh at Bella she will fake laugh back at you. It is fun to have a laugh party as we are driving in the car. Bella will also throw toys in front of her and chase after them. We call her our little puppy dog because of it, and because she likes to put things in her mouth (ie. washcloth) and crawl around. Bella is a ticklish little girl and I love her deep laugh filling the apartment with each tickle. Her armpits and thighpits are especially ticklish. She gets the hiccups when she laughs too hard. Bella loves when I flip my head over and tickle her face with my hair. While nursing, Bella will do a fake laugh/whimper until she is latched on, and then she flings her foot up on my chest and taps it while she nurses.
Bella loves to chase mom around the couch, and gets excited each time I pop up and scare her. She will jump a little and then giggle so loud. She will sprint back and forth holding on to the couch trying to catch me before I sneak up on her. She also loves to blow raspberries on my neck and giggle about it. When Mommy is cleaning, Bella likes to come grab the back of my legs and go for a "choo choo" ride. I shuffle my feet along while she holds on and I say "chugga chugga, chugga chugga, choo choo!" She loves the "choo choo" game and giggles every time. Bella recently started pretending to put lotion on when she sees Mommy putting on lotion. She will rub her hands together to copy Mom. Today as I put lotion on my legs, Bella came up and rubbed my leg then proceeded to rub the lotion into her hands. She is pro at being a girly girl already. (I have mentioned it in a previous post, but her feet are always crossed when she is sitting down, like a proper little lady.) Bella also loves to help Mommy work out. She climbs all over me and giggles.

Helping Mom make the bed.

Stealing the laundry basket and pushing it all over the living room.

Bella's version of working out. Except really she usually is climbing all over me!

Bella knows that the baby in the mirror is "Mommy's baby" so when I ask her where Mommy's baby is, she waves at the mirror baby.

Looking at Mommy's baby!

Bella has become very cuddly again. She will fall asleep on my chest while I help her get down for a nap. She loves to roll around on blankets and bury her face in pillows and peek up at us with a sweet, serene smile. She gives Daddy and Mommy wet slobbery kisses all the time, and we love it! When Pedro was in Chicago and I was in Idaho we Skyped, and Bella would give my tablet kisses when she saw Daddy on screen. She also gives the baby in the mirror lots of kisses. She will nuzzle her little face in my neck and twirl the back of my hair. When she gets sleepy she will pull my fingers or a blanket up to her nose and rub it back and forth. Her favorite way to fall asleep at night is with Mom spooning her. Bella will lay her head on my bicep, then pull my hand down between her legs and use me as a little body pillow. If I try to move my hand to rub her belly, she immediately snatches it back and puts it back between her legs. I chuckle every time.

Bella is a Mommy's girl. She loves to be with me, and gets sad if I go away. She has what I call "Mom-dar." She seems to always be able to find me no matter where I go. While in Idaho, she always knew exactly which room to go find me in, even though she didn't watch me go into it. We are good little buddies, and we enjoy spending our days together. I am so glad I have this little ray of sunshine to be my helper and little friend. Bella loves Daddy too. They have fun sharing gum. Pedro will stick his gum outside his mouth and Bella will come give him a kiss, bite into the gum and stretch it out. She gets so excited when Daddy comes in the door, and she loves to dance with Daddy to their favorite songs. However, most often she wants her Mommy.

Bella now initiates playing peek-a-boo by covering her eyes with her hands or pulling her shirt or a blanket up over her face. It is so cute to see her little eyes peeking out through her fingers, with a smile on her face, and waiting for us to say "peek-a-boo" to her.

peek-a-boo!

Bella loves to read her books. She can sit by her shelf for 30 minutes, surrounded by books flipping through each page of her favorite stories. We love story time before bed, where she cuddles on our laps, and listens patiently to the words. When she is sad in the car, she usually quiets down when I give her a book.

While Bella crawls she stomps her hands hard and with each stomp she makes a "nhh nhh nhh" sound. She went through a phase as well where she put her hands above her head and moved them backward and forward and would again say, "nhh nhh nhh." She taught herself how to pat her mouth while saying "ahhhhh" like a little indian. We have been teaching her to blow kisses, so that is her version of blowing kisses. When in the bath she loves to say "ahhhhh" and have me move my finger up and down in her mouth.

blowing kisses. Oh my poor photo taking skills!

Bella loves to play. She is so imaginative! She will make toys interact with each other, and she likes to whisper babble, or hum while she plays. Her little hums are so cute and quite impressively resemble a song. She also hums while she nuzzles into my neck. It's like she is singing a lullaby to me. My favorite part about watching Bella play is seeing her kneel with her little bum on her feet. It is so sweet. Bella plays soccer very well. She will hold our fingers and run after the ball and kick it with precision. Pedro, of course, is one proud papa! I have been teaching Bella to clean up after playing, and she has been a good helper. She will put a toy in the box if I show her how. Of course she will reach in and pull another toy out, but it is a start.

Just humming me a little song

Taking a break from playing to look out the window

Her new favorite toys.

playing with cousins!

kneeling to play!

As for mobility Bella can now get down from standing, like a pro. she is also standing without support, and walks without help between furniture and us. She doesn't have to be prompted. She will just let go and start walking. We are so proud, and by the look on her face, it is evident she is proud too. Her first steps were at 10.5 months, but she only took about 4-5 steps 3 times for Pedro. Then this week she has been doing what I mentioned above. Bella is becoming quite good at climbing now, and has a lot of confidence in herself. I, on the other hand, get nervous and hover over her like a bat. She has had a lot of bonks, but she is a lot better about not crying or whining on the smaller bonks. I think they don't scare her anymore. With all of this mobility, Bella is in to everything! She can open all the cupboards and drawers, so we have gone to the next step in baby proofing!

Bella is still a small girl. She wears mostly 6 month clothes, and some 9 month. Because she has chunked up, there are a few brands of clothes that she is 12 months in. Today I had two different ladies ask is Bella was 8 months old. She is small, but if you just watch her, it is obvious she is older because she is so smart.

just a little girl...

....with a big personality

awwww!

Bella waves at everyone now. She prefers to give high fives to say hi, but she still waves. She can be shy and will turn away with a grin on her face, and cover her eyes with her arm. I call it her little Dracula arm. Bella gets especially shy around men. When we were visiting my family, she would cover her face every time she saw Papa Mike. I love how social she is getting, and it is clear that Bella is a special little girl. So many people stop us at the store just to interact with Bella. She has the sweetest demeanor, and people cannot help but comment about how beautiful and sweet Bella is.

Just look at that sweet face.

and this is Bella's Gimli face!!!

Bella loves to hand things to us. Whatever she is holding she likes to share it, then take it back. She will stand there and hold it out to you until you take it. She then smiles, and snatches it back. She also points at things she wants by holding her hand out like she is saying stop. I tell everyone she is using the force, because that is exactly what it looks like. She is also our little Jedi because she has a long tuft of hair on one side of her head that looks like a "padawan tail" as Pedro calls it. Bella loves doors, and every chance she gets, she opens or closes them. She also loves to knock on doors when we tell her to. It is amazing how much she understands and how quickly she learns.
Bella's vocabulary consists of "papa", "mama", "dada", "up", "all done", and I think sometimes she says "go". Bella has learned to put her arms up into the bent questioning "w" when she wants to know where something has gone. She mostly does it to ask where Daddy is. She will put her arms up , and then say "Dada." This is also where I think she has said "go" because I will make the gesture and say, "where did it, she, he go?" whenever something is dropped or someone leaves. So if it isn't Daddy, she makes the gesture and says "gah-o" in a questioning tone. It is really cute! Whenever I change Bella's poopy diapers I tell her "poo stinky" as I wave my hand in front of my face. She now will wave her hand in front of her face too when I say "poo stinky." Just now I heard Bella grunting in the corner, so of course I knew she was pooping. Then she crawled over to me, crawled up my leg and waved her hand in front of her face to tell me she had pooped! "Clever girl!" (name that movie). As far as sign language, Bella can sign "all done" and "more." I am going to start teaching her "please" and "thank you" next.

signing "more"

asking where her cousins went.

Bella still has a hefty appetite, and while we were in Idaho everyone was surprised how much she eats. She eats all table food still, and has become quite the sweet hound. That is probably because I share too many treats with her. Tonight she went to the table where I have chocolates in a bowl on top of some books. She pulled the book toward her so that she could reach into the bowl and get some chocolate. I guess all chocolate must be locked away now! Bella has mastered using a sippy cup and loves to tote her sippy around with her. I think she also likes to have it just to chew on the silicone head. We started feeding Bella meat and she is in love with it! I shared a hamburger with her and I thought she was going to eat my entire patty. Her favorite fruits are blueberries, grapes, and oranges. She loves any pasta with oil or sauce on it. That is probably why she is chunking up so much, because she eats so much pasta. Her favorite breakfast foods are scrambled eggs with Parmesan cheese, and french toast with peanut butter on it. She does okay with vegetables, but always picks around them on her tray, and saves them for last (or tries to feed them to me). She refuses to wear a bib now, but has gotten better at not getting too messy, so I don't mind too much. Recently Bella started picking small little pieces off her food and putting them in her mouth. It reminds me of a little mouse. Bella is still nursing, but goes for longer stretches between each session. We still love our nursing time together and I am so glad it has worked out for us.

getting in to the chocolate

eating is hard work

Bella thinks food makes great hair gel!

Bella loves her milk!

Like I said before, Bella is a very clever girl. She cannot be tricked. If we take something away from her and hide it in our hand, put it under a pillow, or hide it behind our back, she immediately goes to get it. If you move the object she still somehow manages to find it. She won't stop looking until the object is found because she will not settle with the idea that it is really gone.
Last week Bella had her first airplane ride. She and I went up to Idaho while Pedro was gone for a conference in Chicago. She slept through take off on the way to Idaho, but on the way back she was awake. She loved it! She was throwing her hands in the air and giggling and clapping. She did pretty well on the plane, but the last half of the flight home she was grumpy and whiny because she was tired. I was so surprised how well she did with being away from home and constantly being around a bunch of family. She really stole everyone's heart. I will do a separate post just about our trip.

Killing time at the airport.

We love to go on walks every day, and when you live in such a beautiful place, why wouldn't you?! I am glad it is starting to get hot so we can spend every day at the pool!

Next month I will be writing about my one year old. That is just crazy! This past year has been so wonderful and I am so glad to be Bella's Mommy. She truly does bring so much joy to us, and to everyone she meets. I know that this little girl is going to grow up and do amazing things for other people. Sweet Bella, you are so loved, and we cannot wait to celebrate your first birthday with you!