Our little lady has turned 6 months old already! I thought it would be interesting to see how much she has grown and changed over the past few months... Derek and I have been talking about how she looks different for some reason. She still looks like her wee little baby pictures, but she has a new look to her. She is just getting more grown-up looking I suppose!
One month (the time I forgot the sign, oops)
So it was a little difficult to take her picture this time around! Bella has become a VERY snoopy little girl, and she was more interested in grabbing the paper and trying to climb off the chair than take her picture.
Here are some quick updates regarding the world of Bella:
Likes:
- Bouncing in her jumperoo (as later pictures will show)
- Babbling very loud (she has learned ba ba ba)
- Trying to grab at everything in sight
- Being tickled on her neck and belly
- Kissing Mommy's face and pulling her hair
- Messing with Daddy's hair (not enough to pull!)
- Playing peek-a-boo
- Kicking off her socks
- Sucking on her hands and feet
- Food: rice or oat cereal, squash, carrots, green beans, peas, sweet potatoes, pears
- Nursing
Dislikes:
- Riding in the car seat (although I did take her by myself on a shopping trip, and she slept the whole way!)
- Being put to sleep when she is not ready to- hello temper tantrum! That's definitely a trait from Derek... right? :)
- Mommy leaving the room
- Most fruit- crazy girl!
Obviously, far more things make her happy than sad! Bella has quite the personality already, and it is very fun to see how she is developing and changing each month. It's crazy to think that 6 months from now she will be a year already!
One other momentous event that occurred recently is that Derek had his first "Daddy day." I went shopping the day after Thanksgiving with my mom, and I left my little girl for the first time other than going to work- and for work I'm never gone for more than a 4 hour stretch. Yes, I know it was perhaps time since Bella is now 6 months, but I'm pretty attached and so is she. :) However, they had a very fun day together, although she wanted to be a bit of a stinker about drinking her bottle. Now our next big upcoming event will be me and Derek's first date night without Bella- yep, haven't done that yet either. :)
We recently did a "photo-shoot" for our Christmas cards this year. These are some of the pictures! Again, these were difficult to take because Bella was fascinated by the shiny paper on the presents!
And this is how Princess Bella let us know that she did not wish to do this anymore. :) Maybe this one should go on the card?
We also got Bella's 6 month pictures taken yesterday (this picture was one of her outfits), along with our first family pictures. Well I suppose we did have a church picture taken, but as that was done 2 weeks after Bella was born, I'm not a big fan of the picture. The 6 month pictures turned out sooo adorable- I'm not sure how we will pick! Here is a a link to the pictures: http://www.designerimagesphotography.com/Gallery/LDehaan
Bella is getting very close to crawling! She can get up on her knees, as this picture shows, and then she tries bouncing forward. She just hasn't figured out how to use those arms. It will be good when she does learn how, as she becomes somewhat frustrated when she can't do it!
As I mentioned, Bella has become a HUGE fan of her jumperoo! Now that she is tall enough to jump, she does it constantly! I videotaped her jumping wildly one day... it's pretty funny!
Oh, the fun that a diapers box can provide ! Who needs toys? 
Bella is still full of smiles for her Mommy and Daddy. :) 
Bella has some pretty crazy sleeping positions! This is how we found her one night- all sprawled out on her kitty. She also likes to sleep on her side, and face down. 
This is how we enjoyed last week's big snowstorm- watching it from inside. :) This picture also shows one of Bella's favorite things- sucking on her bottom lip! I'm not sure if it feels good on her teeth, but she is pretty much sucking on it constantly. 
Such a pretty little face! Or rather, chubby face. :) 
Here was our view! And this was actually BEFORE the brunt of the storm. 
Bella also had her 6 month appointment this past week. Everything was fine, which was good to hear! She now weighs in at 17 pounds, is 26.5" long, and her head is 17"- and she was in the 75th percentile for everything! So she must be perfectly proportional. :) She also got the next round of vaccinations, which was not a pleasant experience for Bella OR Mommy. For some reason, after our doctor saw her, we had to wait in the room for 20 minutes before the nurse came in to give her the shots. Well, at that point, Miss Bella was already sick of being there and was quite ready for a nap. So she was crying prior to being poked with a needle, which didn't help when she actually got the shots!
Here is our little lady's pretty Christmas dress! These pictures however did not work out so well... she wasn't too interested in cooperating for us. I'll try again later!
Other exciting news... Bella is starting to become mobile! She is half scooting/half propelling herself to get to where she wants to go. Everyday she becomes a little bit better at doing it, so it won't be long until she is crawling around quickly. It's pretty funny because she catapults herself off her back legs to move herself forward. Whatever works!
We did take Bella out to see the snow on a warmer day, but I don't really think she noticed too much. :) 
Hee hee, tiny baby amongst a ton of snow!
She is probably thinking, why in the world did they stick me out here?
Bathtime has also started to become even more fun! I moved her into the "big tub" this past week, and she is starting to really play with her stuff (or chew on it, whatever!). Bella also learned that she can splash water all over the place and even get Mommy wet by doing so! Such fun. :)
