(I can't figure out how to properly format these picture sfor the life of me...so this is just going to be one ugly blog.)
This past Saturday Bella got to go to her first Twins game, courtesy of my brother Andy. I’ll admit that I didn’t really ever think I’d bring a 2 yr old to a game, but she did really well and had a blast. When we got there, we took some time for photo ops.
Then we met up with my brother and Dad and took more pictures and got Bella’s face painted. She loved this Mickey Mouse statue. She had to see it 3 times when we were there.
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After I signed up for the ‘Good Sport’ program (sign up as a designated driver and wear a wrist band so no one serves you beer to get a free soda and entered into a drawing) we found our seats. We were in section 327 row 13. We were 2nd to the last row in the stadium but the view was still pretty good. The seats were perfect for Bella since we were on the end and no one was behind us. The group in front of us enjoyed Bella and didn’t care that there was an overly enthusiastic 2 yr old behind them.
Bella had to sit in Seat #2 because 2 is her favorite number at the time She cheered “hit the ball!” and “Go Twins!” as loud as she could. She got to eat a pretzel with cheese, chicken fingers and share ice cream (From a mini Twins hat) with Mama.
Uncle Andy had a nice surprise for Bella as well – her name on the big screen!
nu=4:39>349>257>WSNRCG=32<442<388348nu0mrj"> About the 6th inning my dad took Bella for a walk/to see Mickey again but they were back in time for the 7th inning stretch. Even though she’ll sing “take me out to the ball game” all the time at home, she seemed confused and wouldn’t sing along.
The Twins won. We had to make a stop at Mickey one more time on our way out. We all had a good time and are looking forward to next time!
This has been in my inbox for a while (I’ll sometimes type things up at work and then e-mail myself to post later) and for some reason never made it into my blog. I figured I’d post as is even though I’ve probably mentioned a few of these already in recent posts.
Bella cracks me up. I know part of it is being 2 years old and having no reservations, but I hope her goofy-ness continues on and she’ll always be this silly and fun.
Below are some random things that Bella is doing these days -
She states that she LOVES everything. “I LOVE the color pink” “ I LOVE to put my own shirt on” ….but it is funniest when it’s the most random thing that she loves. For example, this morning her spoon fell on the floor so I picked it up and rinsed it. She demanded that I dry it off because “ I LOVE it when things are dry”. I’m blanking on other examples, but at she is very passionate about things I guess.
Her and Dada somehow started a random game that makes no sense called “Bubbly Bubbly”. They take turns naming objects and starting by saying bubbly bubbly…for example “Bubbly bubbly shoe” “Bubbly bubbly door” etc. Bella could sit and play this game forever and it cracks her up.
Bella decided that all her spoons and forks are named “Dr Amy” (after her pediatrician) and after meal times she insists that Jeremy sit with her so “Dr Amy Fork” can come out and talk to him. She even does a different voice for Dr Amy Fork and will talk about how she loves to feed Bella food.
Another game of pretend involves playing kitties. Bella turns into a baby cat and speaks in yet another voice (higher pitched) and talks like this “Meow Meow I’m baby kitty meow meow”. I’ll be Mama Kitty and Jeremy is Dada Kitty. Many nights, our entire bedtime routine is spent with Bella as a baby kitty – from brushing teeth, to putting on Pajamas to reading book she’ll stay in character the entire time. It’s hilarious. Or if we are just playing then she’ll want to play like a cat. Or she’ll get Leinie’s toys and want US to play like cats. While I know that playing pretend is common for toddlers, it’s the voice she uses as a baby cat that cracks me up. I’ll have to try to get it on video soon.
Similar to above, she also loves to pretend she’s a baby bird. This started because if JT or I sit cross-legged on the floor it becomes her ‘nest’. So if she’s not pretending to be a kitty, she’s pretending to be a baby bird.
My mom has started doing a lot of crafts and activities with her which has been fun to see. She has a bunch of the Kumon-like books that she’s been working with Bella on so now Bella is a pro at matching, finding what’s different, tracing, finding words that start with the same letter, etc. She’s started cutting and pasting as well. The crafts that my mom does with Bella are cute to see as well and Bella loves to pick out colors or different items to paste on things. I’ve decided to just save everything in a box because I don’t have the heart to throw anything away!
Bella is doing really well at spelling simple words – her name, Mama, Dada, and Cat are the ones that she is best at. But she’s started to get the hang of figuring out what letters start with by sounding it out. So sometimes we’ll just be talking normally and all the sudden she’ll repeat a word by saying “f-f-flower! Starts with f!”. She’s not perfect at this…she insisted that Gorilla starts with ‘B’ the other day but it’s cute to listen to her try.
“Where does that come from?” is the big question in our house these days. No, not in regards to babies (yet) but almost everything else she’ll ask where it came from. This leads to some interesting discussions – for example, the milk discussion I posted on Facebook not long ago. She asked were Milk comes from and I told her cows and she wouldn’t believe me. She insisted that milk was made from string cheese. You put the string cheese in the milk jug and stir it around and it becomes milk. Which, in a way, makes sense since milk and string cheese are at least the same colors. JT and I still aren’t sure how to answer when she asks where the chicken she is eating for dinner comes from… so far we’ve been honest with her and it hasn’t freaked her out yet. Also, how do you explain to a 2 yr old were numbers and letters come from?
I don’t think I’ve mentioned in my blog much about pregnancy #2. It’s still been mostly all about Bella…which is fine for now but all that will be changing (it won't be all about Bella soon!) so I figure a Baby T #2 update is due.
Overall I have felt OK during this pregnancy, not great, but OK. All the things I “missed out” on the first time around have made an appearance. I’m definitely feeling VERY PREGNANT, tired, sore and miserable all the time. Ok, so that might be a bit of an exaggeration…but only a bit. With Bella I felt great. I could have been pregnant for 3 more months and been perfectly happy. Not so lucky this time.
Right around the 6.5/7 month mark I feel like both myself and baby grew to the point where it’s uncomfortable to sleep, take stairs, walk, breathe, you name it. I don’t THINK I have sciatica, but something like it where the lower left of my back HURTS more than just back pain. It’s nerve pain and causes me to be unable to move at times. I always find a creative way to get out of whatever position I’m in, but sometimes it takes awhile and, well, hurts. Wah wah.
I know the fact that I have a 2 year old contributes to me feeling more run down and sore. She wants me to carry her everywhere – up and down the stairs are the worst. I do it because how can you resist a cute little toddler looking up at you saying “mama, pick me up!” or “Mama, I’m too liiiiiiiittle to do it by myself” (meaning go up/down the stairs…which is totally untrue as she’ll take them easily if I’m not around or she doesn’t want to wait for me). Also, pregnancy isn’t new anymore. I’ve done this once before and am not as intrigued by it. I just want this baby now! Nothing against Bella, but I’m more anxious to meet this one than I was Bella. I think there were too many unknowns the first time and I was more nervous than anything. Now I’m more confident and just want to see what this little person will look like and act like.
Here’s how pregnancy #2 has been different than pregnancy #1 so far…
Morning sickness – I had it. All day long. It wasn’t so bad that I was puking my guts out, but I was nauseas almost all the time for my first trimester. It never really stopped me from eating – I thin it would take a lot do that – but was annoying and made me feel crappy.
General pain and cramping – got to the point where I called a nurse because I did not remember having pain like I was experiencing the first time around. Since it accompanied some bleeding, I ended up having an unscheduled ultrasound at 17 weeks. They found a blood clot which contributed to the bleeding and said the cramping/pain was normal pregnancy pains. Well, news to me. But I was happy all was fine
Going to pre-natal appts alone – JT attended ALL of my pre-natal appts the first time. This time he went to the first couple and since then I’ve been going solo. I’m fine with this and prefer it since they really are non-eventful. I get weighed and my blood pressure measured, Dr Kern comes in and we chat for about 1 minute about how I don’t have questions and feel fine, she checks the baby’s heartbeat and measurements and I’m done.
No real cravings – my “craving” for sweets is back but I’m convinced it’s not really a craving and just me allowing myself treats that I wouldn’t have normally. Pregnant or not, once you are used to having something sweet after every meal you come to expect it (for example, I may or may not have just had 2 monster cookies after my lunch…). I didn’t really have strong cravings my first time either, but I remember a fondness for OJ and apple cider. I just haven’t had those same kind of feelings this time around.
No food aversions - last time, I wasn’t able to eat eggs or chew gum. It grossed me out thanks to a few dreams I had. Nothing like that this time!
Less naps – I don’t get to come home from work and nap for an hour while JT makes dinner. Boo.
Braxon Hicks contractions – If I had them with Bella, I didn’t notice them. I notice them now. Sometimes they hurt, but most of the time it’s just the noticeable contraction/tightening of my belly and uncomfortable. I find myself having to breath really heavily to get through them and wonder if other people notice.
I’m hoping that a different pregnancy means a different delivery as well….an easier and faster one. I’d prefer not to be induced again…or if I am for it not to take 32 hours w/ 3 hours of pushing for the baby to come.
Yesterday, we took Bella to the allergist referred to us by her pediatrician. There were no additional tests, but he gave us some good information and helped us understand what happens next.
When her pediatrician ran blood tests, she tested positive for peanut allergies but not tree nuts. However, the allergist recommended avoiding tree nuts anyway. Not only will we never really know if the tree nut (almonds, pecans, cashews, etc) was in a factory with peanuts but it’ll just make it easier. No nuts, period. She’ll get re-tested again at 4 yrs old. There is a 1 in 5 chance the allergy will go away. But, that’s a 4 in 5 chance it won’t so we aren’t getting our hopes up.
We have Epi pens to use in case of a reaction, however Benadryl can be used for minor reactions.
Baby #2 has a 7% chance of having peanut allergies vs 2% chance the rest of the population would have… meaning a slight increase due to the fact that as sibling has an allergy.
JT seems to think that we gave her peanut products too early at 2 yrs. However, based on the fact that there are no other food allergies in our family it’s totally normal for pediatricians to give the go ahead for peanuts at 2 yrs. In fact, by the time we hit Bella’s 2 yr appt her Doctor basically said they aren’t sure about any of the research anymore and it’s probably fine to give them peanut products earlier. However, now with the increased risk for #2 we’ll for sure wait until 3 yrs old. We are clearing all peanut products out of our house. No more peanut butter for me …but the allergist recommend Sun Butter which is made out of sunflower seeds as an alternative. My parents and in-laws are also recommended to do the same since she is over there so much. I’m now going to be a strict label reading parent.
No Asian restaurants, ice cream parlors or bakeries for Bella. These are the top 3 high risk areas. The good news is that we’ve been able to go out to eat and stick with Mac & Cheese or hamburgers and she’s been fine. Tonight we enjoyed tacos at El Loro – so she isn’t totally missing out!
Other than all that, life continues on as normal. At first I was really bummed out about the peanut allergy – I don’t want Bella to miss out on anything – but really it’s not that big of a deal. At least it’s only peanuts and not wheat, gluten and dairy as well. As long as we can be stringent about reminding people not to just feed her whatever, I’m hoping we can avoid any episodes!
This past Saturday, we took Bella to the MN State Fair. We took her in 2008 when she was only 4 months old, but didn’t take her last year. So it was kind of her first experience there. She got to experience the record breaking attendance day. Between all the people, Bella in a stroller and myself waddling around we took 6 hours to get around the fair once. I was exhausted and Bella fell asleep with about an hour to go.
She LOVED the animal barns. Our first stop was the Miracle of Birth Center. We got there earlier, before it was too crowded to move. So Bella got to pet a baby lamb and see piglets. A calf named Pronto gave her a “kiss” (a lick on the hands). She also got to pet baby chicks.
On our way out, we noticed a lady giving out free tattoos to kids. Turns out it was a tattoo of a pig and said “if lost, please call…” and you wrote your phone number. The funny thing was on the way to the fair, JT made the comment that we should have put our cell number on her somewhere…and here was a way to do it! He was mostly kidding, but we got the tattoo and wrote our number anyway because Bella wanted it. That thing is still on her arm as clear as day 4 days and 2 baths later.
The pig barn proved to be most exciting. We saw the 1450 lb pig which was pretty impressive. Then, as we were walking through the isles of pigs, one got loose! I don’t know if they meant to take it out or what, but all the sudden a grown pig ran by us and a guy was chasing him. Bella was cracking up and it’s one of the first stories she’ll tell you about the fair. We also stood in front of an angry pig who was snorting and squealing pretty loudly because Bella found that amusing as well.
Of course the cows, sheep, horses and chickens were fun as well. But just not as action packed as the pig barn.
After the animals we started walking around. JT and I got a Ruben pretzel from the new French Meadow stand. Bella didn’t like it and ate goldfish instead. We walked through the horticulture building and showed Bella the bees – but it was too busy to really look at anything else. For the 5th year in a row we forgot to bring an apple from the tree in our backyard to figure out what they were.
Then we were on a mission for more food. It was JT’s turn to pick (and nothing else really stuck out to me – weird, I know) so of course it was quite the process. Along our way we passed the kiddie midway and found a ride Bella could ride. Most of the rides she either wasn’t tall enough for or didn’t want to ride. She ended up on a whale that went around in circles and had the time of her life. She was in the front and another girl was in the back who she promptly decided was a “new friend”. I saw her talking to the girl and telling her that they had “5 more minutes” to wait until the ride started…not true, but for some reason she kept saying that. Then the ride did start and she was as happy as could be.
After the ride, JT finally decided on a footlong pronto pup that we shared. Bella was not a fan of the mustard he put on and mostly ate the hot dog part. This was at the same time that we took advantage of the FM107 booth’s kid area. They had slides, puzzles, and other toys to keep kids occupied. While we were playing, Auntie Lissa and Clay Clay showed up! Turns out they had just gotten to the fair and happened to run into us. Bella didn’t seem surprised at all to see them…like she just assumed everyone was at the fair and it was normal to run into them.
After chatting w/ Auntie Lissa and Clay Clay for a bit we kept moving. I got my new favorite – a ginormous beef stick from Smokin’ Joes Smokehouse. We made our way to the dog building…not sure what it’s called…but it was way too packed to see anything.
All throughout the fair Bella had been asking for Ice Cream. I kept telling her “maybe later” since we hadn’t really eaten much for lunch yet. So after the failed attempt at seeing dogs, I told her that if she shut her eyes and took a nap in her stroller for a bit when she woke up we’d get ice cream. It was near her nap time and I could tell she was tired and I was thinking we had a while to go yet, so I wanted to make sure she got some shut eye. She promptly squeezed her eyes shut and I let her cuddle with my sweatshirt…within 2 minutes she was out for real and didn’t wake up at all. I felt kind of bad leaving the fair without giving her ice cream, but I didn’t want to wake her up just for that either. It was nice to have her keep napping in the car on the way home.
But before we left, I got a cream puff which JT didn’t want anything to do with. It went perfectly w/ cold milk. Then we decided we had enough and left.
It was a great family day, but next year we’ll probably leave Bella at home and let her get her fix at the Anoka County Fair. It was just too busy to navigate the stroller, plus next year I’m thinking she won’t want to stay in the stroller and I don’t want to worry about her running off. Nor will I be using a kid leash (although I totally see the benefits of them).
Lately, Bella has bee figuring out what words start with by sounding them out. Randomly, she'll bust out with "b-b-Bella! Bella starts with b!" or "n-n-nose! Nose starts with n!". At first, I figured this came from books or songs that try to teach toddlers how to spell out the sounds of words but tonight she amazed me by doing this not only continuously for about 10 minutes but by figuring out words that are less common. "Garbage" or "Fridge" for example. We were in the kitchen finishing dinner, so most of the words were kitchen or food related - fork, light, plate, milk, etc. She got them all right, too! The only one she didn't get right was phone... "ph-ph-phone! Phone starts with F!" Almost! I really need to have the video camera handy at all times because this would have been ideal to record - she was so happy and proud each time she figured one out!
I know what has helped a lot with this is the "schoolwork" my mom has started doing with her. All this means is doing activities from Kumon-like workbooks - matching, figuring out what doesn't belong, putting items by the letter they start with, etc. but she loves it all and loves to show off what she's done. She does a lot of cutting and pasting as well, which just makes her seem too big. The other day she told me "one and one makes two!!!" - my god, math! Slow down, girl!
Normally, I pick Bella up after work but yesterday Jeremy had pick up duty. I was at home getting dinner ready when I got a call from Jeremy’s phone. Here’s roughly how the conversation went.
Me: Hello?
Bella: HI Mama! It’s Bella!
Me: Hi Bella!
Bella: Don’t worry Mama, we are coming home now.
Me: Oh good, I missed you.
Bella: I missed you too Mama
Bella: I’M STARVING!
Me: good! I’m getting dinner ready
Me: Is Dada with you?
Bella: Yes. Dada’s driving. Don’t worry I’m safe.
And it continued on from there for another minute or so. I was sure that Jeremy was prompting her with this conversation but he swears he wasn’t. he was driving and handed her his cell phone after he dialed our number! He thought *I* was prompting her somehow but I wasn’t. She’s talked about being starving before, but how she came up with “don’t worry” and “I’m safe” I have no idea. Even though it’s totally common I am still blown away by having a full on conversation with her, let alone over the phone. I love hearing her updates on her day from Bella…even though sometimes she stretches the truth (like telling me she ate shoes for lunch or that her and Mara went to visit a sheep next door…) she can normally recap her day pretty well for me.
I just had to capture what I can remember of that conversation because it both made me laugh and amazed me.
I'm a working suburban mom and wife. This is a space for me to document memories for my family, ramble about my life, and share my DIY attempts.
If I had more time and patience I would love to be a: foodie, (real) runner, crafter, writer, neatfreak, wine snob, photographer...
