Bella Bella Bella!

Our little Bella, whose 3 year old birthday seems to be rapidly approaching (eek!), is becoming more of a little girl everyday. We often say Bella Bella Bella throughout the day because of the crazy and silly things she does and says. The girl definitely has some personality. :) 

Bella has been on a Tommy obsession again lately. She loves to give him hugs throughout the day, which he begrudgingly tolerates. I actually got her to agree to let me take some pictures of her sinceTommy was with her!

She's actually been on an all around kitty obsession. With our crazy January weather, we made several trips down to the barn to see the kittens. There were little baby ones born this fall, and Bella LOVES them. She now just picks them up on her won without any hesitation or fear and carries them all over. It is adorable! Whenever Tommy meets his end, I think Bella will definitely be wanting a little kitty in the house. :) She's a kitty lover like her mommy!

We had one last family Christmas in January, which was a very fun one for Bella. My Huyser family has LOTS of little girl grandchildren, so Bella had a blast playing with all the little girls. They were dancing, playing ring around the rosy... she loves little girls!

Bella has been very into drawing again. And she continues to progress with her drawing skills! She is starting to make "people-" which actually look somewhat like people! She draws a circle for the head, little circles for the eyes, a line for the mouth, a dot for the nose, and then squiggly lines for the crown. Because after all, all people wear crowns. :)

She LOVES dressing up dolls and Barbies.

Wooden paper dolls are another opportunity to dress up girls- and thankfully that's something she can do on her own! This picture also shows a little bit of Bella's OCD tendencies- she laid out all the dresses like this. I'm afraid Mommy's craziness may be running off on her...

Bella has also been slightly obsessed with playing games on my Iphone and Daddy's Ipad. She would play on there for hours if we would let her! I don't mind it though as I only have educational games for her. So she thinks she is getting to do something special when I know it's actually teaching her. :) Works great! She does have some Dora and Princess dress up games though... as I said, she loves to play dress up! 

(Yes, these pictures were actually taken outside in January in Iowa. It looks like it could be October!)

I have been working on letters with Bella this year as well. She knows quite a few random ones, but I decided to talk about one letter each week so she gets a good understanding of them. She occasionally gets annoyed when I start bugging her too much about them... :) but she generally does a great job! She's a smart little cookie. 

Working on her jumps. :) She actually gets some air time now! 

Bella is going to fit perfectly into her role as big sister. Lately, when playing, she has been "directing" us in what to do and say. For example, she will tell Derek or I, "Have the Mommy say get out of bed babies!" She wants us to be involved with her play, but she has to determine what is going on. :) Mommy does get to do some improvisation with the play, but Daddy however must stick to her script or there's trouble! So poor little Grace may be bossed around in play by Miss Bella someday. :) 

Another way Bella is a very typical oldest child is her EXTREME snoopiness. She wants to know what is going on at all times! If Derek and I are talking about something and she is in the room, she says, "What are you talking about? What'd you say to Daddy?" It doesn't matter that it is nothing of interest to her; she just has to be in the know. Needless to say, we don't have many conversations without Bella being a part of them. :) That's okay though; it's just her little personality! 

I think I mentioned that Bella has been extremely attached to her Mommy in recent months. We have been working on that, and getting involved in some new activities is helping her with that. But we learned some important info about Miss Bella and why she was so attached. She is not a child who likes change- she wants things to be the same, and if they are different, she wants to be prepared for them. She gets soooo nervous in new situations, which is why she attaches herself to Mommy. She also tells me "I love you Mommy" constantly when she is nervous, which is her way of reassuring herself when she's out of her comfort zone. This has been a good realization for Derek and I. We try not to just throw her into something new, but prep her for it and gradually ease into it. We still haven't gotten her to nursery on Sunday mornings, but maybe it'll happen again. :) 

Mommy and Bella shared a very special first this month- Bella's first movie! I took her to see Beauty and the Beast when it was in the theaters, which was perfect for Bella's first movie experience. She already knows the movie by heart, so it wasn't an issue for her to sit still. She had sooo much fun too- she was quoting all the lines and singing all the songs! I had to keep reminding her to use her quiet voice, even though it was pretty sweet. She got popcorn, pop, and M&M's to eat during the movie, so it was definitely a special treat for her! 

Bella also got to go to her first dance class this month with her friend Ella! Ella and Bella had their first playdate just a few weeks ago, and they hit it off. Bella talks about her new friend all the time, so she was extremely excited to go to dance class with her. I love how they are sitting alike in this picture. :) During the class, they would often be off doing their own thing- looks like I may have the naughty child that doesn't listen!

Doing a little jig in the line. We had planned on enrolling in Bella into dance after she turned 3, and this little class was definitely validation that she will LOVE it. She had a smile on her face the entire time!