So I see in our last post I said I need to post more frequently so I don't have a zillion pictures to upload... Oops, guess that didn't happen! We have been keeping busy these past few weeks. Unfortunately, an illness had invaded our entire family, starting with Derek. He came down with a cold (on his birthday nonetheless!) and it was passed on to Bella and me. Bella's cold spread to her ears though, and she developed her first ear infection. Due to this, Derek and I also experienced our first night of no sleep! She just screamed every time we laid her in her crib, which is how we knew she likely had an ear infection. Thankfully, that only lasted the one night, and she has been back to her normal happy self!
Daddy and Bella on his birthday. He thinks he looks gross because he was sick, but we had to take a picture anyway. :)
For Derek's birthday, we had gone to Des Moines to do some shopping. We got Bella her jumperoo when we were there! She's a little small for it yet, but she is starting to like it more and more. She especially likes when Mommy and Daddy dance to the music that it plays!
Snuggling up before bedtime with Mommy! Nightime has been going awesome- Bella is now sleeping from 9 till 7 or 8 in the morning without waking up to eat at all. She then will even go back to sleep until 9 or 10! Naptime is still not too successful. She still likes to take little half hour cat naps every few hours, rather than just taking a couple longer naps. However, the past few days she has been taking longer naps, so maybe the tide is turning.
This was taken on Mommy's sick day- Bella was still happy, even though she was getting her cold!
Mmmmmm, Mommy's Butterfinger! She actually has been eating some new foods though- we kept trying to give her rice cereal, and she is now a big fan! I think it was more a matter of figuring out how to eat, rather than suck. So Bella has some every night before bedtime. She has also had some formula now. I have started to get lazy with pumping on the days that I work, so my giant milk supply was dwindling. So when I'm at work, she now gets a mix of breast milk and formula.
Bella's 4 month picture! She had her 4 month check-up today, and everything looked great. She now weighs 15 lbs 2 oz (95th %), is 25" long (60th %), and her head circumference is 16 3/4" (95th %). So she has pretty much developed at the same rate since her 2 month check-up.
Our little model. :)
Showing off that double chin and chubby cheeks!
Starting to roll over....
There I did it!
This is another new trick that Bella has developed! She can now sit up somewhat using her hands. She can actually stay this way for quite some time- such a strong little girl! At her appointment today, our doctor said that not many 4 months old can do this already. He thought that she would be crawling early, which Derek and I both think as well.
"Hi Daddy!"
Posing for more pictures- I'm sure she wonders why she sits in this chair all the time. :)
Another new thing that Bella has started doing- when she is laying on her stomach, she lifts up both her arms and legs and "flys." Derek says she is skydiving!
Notice that she actually has shoes on her feet in this picture! However, they didn't stay on for long. It might be kind of hard to tell in pictures, but Bella has TINY feet. We compared them to her footprints from when she was born, and they have barely grown! I don't even think she fits in newborn size shoes.
Speaking of her tiny feet, Bella has also found that she has them. :) They have become something fun to play with, but her hands are still her favorite!
Cheering on the Hawkeyes last Saturday !
These were both taken today- AFTER her appointment! She had to have boosters for all her immunizations, but obviously they have not bothered her too much because she has been super happy. It was funny when she got her shots too- when they first poked her, she didn't whimper at all, so I was like wow, she's not going to cry! But then 3 seconds later she let out a huge wail- delayed reaction. :) However, she just needed a little comfort and then she was fine.
Still as happy as ever! All dressed up for church like a pretty princess.
Her chubby legs look pretty cute in tights. :)
She is still absolutely loving her cereal. We are now giving it to her two times a day. She sometimes gets oatmeal cereal as well. The only problem with eating is that Bella tries to yank the spoon away from me, thus making the cereal go all over her face! I'm still nursing Bella as well, and thankfully we haven't had any more episodes of bottle refusal lately. I'm hoping those times are all past....
We also tried out a new food last night for the first time- sweet potatoes! As this picture shows, she wasn't too sure about it. She didn't spit it out, but she just made this weird face. However, we tried it again tonight, and she ate half the jar with no problem. Despite Daddy telling her that it's gross....
This is Bella's "cheerleading" outfit! She actually got to show her legs on a day that wasn't freezing- miracle!
I think I can stand all by myself! Bella still isn't any closer to crawling, thank goodness. However, she does have this new move where she can scoot herself around in a circle on her belly. So I know the crawling will be coming soon....
Still in love with her feet!
And still developing several rolls. :) Her belly looks pretty cute hanging over her diaper though!
This is Bella's new hat for winter! Since she doesn't have any hair on her head, we have to keep her warm in some way!
A little family picture of us. Another cute thing that Bella has been doing lately is giving us "kisses." She is VERY into our faces and grabbing at them. She will then open her mouth up wide and land it on our cheeks! It's pretty sweet. :) 
Posing with the pumpkins for Halloween! Thankfully I took these on a nice day, as the actual Halloween day was quite chilly. 
A pumpkin that is the right size for Bella. :) 
And here is the most adorable kitty ever! Yes, such a surprise to all who know me... I wanted Bella to be a kitty for her first Halloween. I'm afraid she might not have much of a choice in liking cats... But even Derek agreed that she made quite a cute kitty. 
Getting to open her very first present from Grandpa Doug and Grandma Sheri- well excluding all the presents from her birth. As to be figured, she was more interested in the tissue paper. And again, notice the kitty bag and kitty stuffed animal.... We're cat people. :) 
Looking at her fun new books! Reading is something I have been doing more with Bella lately, although she is maybe more interested in chewing on the books. She does sit on my lap though and look at the pictures. 
Showing off the cute kitty costume! She went trick-or-treating earlier in the day to Grandpa Doug and Grandma Sheri, Great-Grandpa and Grandma Zylstra, Uncle Shawn, Aunt ChyAnne and kids, and Grandpa Ralph, Grandma Luann, and Aunt Anna. Then tonight we gave out candy to kids in our neighborhood- next year we'll take her out! 
My two favorite kitties! They even match each other. This was the first time that Bella has really noticed Tommy. She was even petting him, and he surprisingly let her! I think Tommy knows that she comes from me- he doesn't hiss at her like he does to pretty much everybody other than my mom and I. :)
Our favorite kitty! Definitely a good first Halloween.
