Our sweet girl is already another month older! I can hardly believe that in 4 months Bella will be a year old already- it makes me sad! I have said that when she turns 1, I want her to just start over as a newborn so we can live the year again. :) She is such a fun baby and is soooooo good! We pray that our next kids will be just like her- if we're lucky! Here are some new pictures and updates of Miss Bella's life.
Our latest "monthly" picture- which gets harder and harder to take every month! Bella has a fascination with paper, so the second she sees the sign, she is all about grabbing it.
She also wants to go flying off the chair- lots of energy for this girl!
Bella has continued to be a very good eater. However, she lately has started a new trick when eating, which this picture shows the after effects of. She has discovered how to spit with her tongue, and that is more fun to do with food in your mouth for some reason! Mommy is not a very big fan of this.
As far as what Bella's eating schedule is, she has 4 bottles a day - morning, early afternoon, late afternoon, and before bed. I stopped nursing this month as my supply had been diminished after my surgery. I was okay with stopping though, and she is doing well with the formula. Bella also eats three meals a day- cereal in the AM (which she LOVES), a whole jar of fruit or veggies for lunch, and a jar and 1/2 of fruit/veggies at supper. She still prefers green veggies over anything for some strange reason. Bella also adores Gerber puffs- I actually don't know how we would survive in a restaurant or church without them! She has figured out how to get them in her mouth now, although they sometimes still get stuck in her little palm.
Here is a new sleeping ritual! Bella used to go to sleep against our chest, but lately that had just been making her ticked off because she knew what that position meant. So she now snuggles down like this and sucks on those little fingers (her best friend!). I like it because we actually get to cuddle. :) She still sleeps around 12 hours a night, typically from 9 to 9 (as I said, we're spoiled!). She is also taking 2-3 naps a day, depending on the length of the naps.
Bella loves her new ability to stand. She pulls up on absolutely everything! She still can't balance her weight without holding onto something though.
Bella also plays very well with her toys- she keeps quite busy messing with everything! She does like to have somebody sitting by her though. Her favorite toys are her little teaset, crinkly items, hard things that she can bang together, and balls. She has also really started to like looking at books, and she loves listening to the music her toys play.
She is also very into little games that we play with her- peek a boo, patty cake, this little piggy. Bella thinks those are quite amusing and gives us cute giggles! She also likes being tickled- her belly, neck, and feet are the most ticklish. She likes to examine our faces as well, even though she sometimes bangs on them and pulls Mommy's hair.
Bella is very snoopy and determined to get what she wants- unfortunately, this most of the time involves getting something she is not supposed to have. I gave her my old cell phone, but she still prefers to try and get ours. She is quite speedy with the crawling now, so we have to be watching her at all times!
I decided that we're ready for spring, even though the weather outside may not be listening to me! Here Bella is modeling her new sunglasses and hat, both of which stayed on for approximately 2 seconds.
And here is her pink swimsuit to go swimming at Grandpa Doug and Grandma Sheri's pool! (Hint hint, get the pool ready again this year. :) Those chubby little legs look pretty cute in a swimsuit!
A nice picture of those two bottom teeth. She will soon have another one arriving- we noticed that her top left tooth is just starting to come through!
She still likes to give us her "cheesy" smile. Bella also does a number of other tricks for us. She claps her hands, blows spit bubbles as I mentioned already, and clicks her tongue. She has also waved bye-bye occasionally, and is starting to do "so big." Bella gives big wet kisses as well, although she likes to be naughty and not give kisses to Daddy. :)
Bella hasn't started to say any actual words yet, which is the one development I actually want her to do! She does the syllables- bababa, dadada, mamama- and has said mama and dada. However, we don't think that she is actually saying those as words; it's more just jabbering. She does like to talk, and does so quite loudly! She also makes this high pitched squealing noise- the girl wants to be heard!
Here is Daddy with Miss Bella, illustrating another favorite activity of hers- being carried around. Even though she still doesn't like traveling in her carseat, it's easy to take her places because she loves being held and walking around. Thank goodness for portable DVD players in the car- Baby Einstein has rescued our car rides!
And here is Mommy with the little lady. Until next time!
She really likes taking things out of places, which includes removing all of her toys out of her toy chest!
And why do the books need to be on a shelf? They work much better on the floor!
Mommy's socks are also very fun to play with! Bella heads into our bedroom and in our closet about every day to go mess with these. I was picking them up daily... but now I don't bother! 
Bella also loves messing with the bottom of her high chair for some reason. It can no longer stand like this however because this little lady knocks it all the way over on the floor. 
It's much more fun to play underneath the jumperoo rather than in it!
She also likes to help Daddy when he's playing Wii. 
She also still enjoys chewing on Mommy's phone. Bella has her own to play with, but she somehow knows that one doesn't work! This picture also shows her new boyfriend jeans- so stylish already at 8 1/2 months! 
Bella loves standing by our sliding doors to the deck and looking outside. Or maybe she just likes smearing her little fingerprints on the glass? 
But who can resist that face? As you can see, Bella is STARTING to get enough hair for me to put in a bow. Thankfully her hair is dark, so you can actually see the little bit that she has.
Here is our little Valentine with Mommy and Daddy before we went out to eat!
Bella enjoyed examining the pretty flowers that Derek got for me. She really would've liked to tear them to shreds, but looking at them had to suffice. That reminds me of another new development of Bella... she is entering the stranger anxiety phase, but only with guys. When the deliveryman brought the flowers to the door, she was apparently terrified of him. She has started crying around guys she doesn't know several times since - apparently men are scary! It's funny though because she never does it around new women.
Bella has also been messing with her tongue a lot lately. One day she kept sticking it out like this - I think she's doing her clown lips. :)
Bella in her snow bunny outfit admiring the winter wonderland outside!
And just to show that Bella is not always an angelic happy baby.... this picture shows that she does have quite a little temper and is super stubborn! It's funny; I was just thinking the other day how relaxed and easygoing Bella was when she was a newborn. Not so much anymore- she may have inherited a bit of my temper. She gets so mad when she doesn't get something she wants or when she doesn't want to do something. Princess knows what she wants and what she doesn't want, that's for sure! 
But Bella is generally like this most of the time. :)
