The Blessing We Call Bella: February 2011

Friday, 25 February 2011

Bella's Bio

I thought it would be fun to do a bio about Bella every so often so that when I publish these into books I can compare them as she grows and see how her interests change. When she looks back on these I know she will get a kick out of them, too.

Nicknames: Bella Boo, Bell, Bellster, Pumpkin, Belly

Age: 28 months

Height: 34.5 inches

Weight: 27.5 pounds

Favorite color: red

Favorite books: Dr. Seuss ABC, Dr. Seuss Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb, Dr. Suess Ten Apples up on Top, Dr. Seuss I'll Teach My Dog Lots of Words, Dr. Suess One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street?, Dr. Seuss Hop on Pop, Dr. Seuss Oh Say Can You Say?

Favorite sayings:"Mommy (daddy), whatcha doing?" "Mommy, how you doing? I'm doing great!" "It's sooooooooo good (or tasty, or delicious)!" "I love you very much!" "You guys...." "Uh-oh, what happened?" "Oh.....my....goodness!"

Favorite toys: Tricycle, balls, puzzles, cars, Elefun, MP3 player, books

Favorite pastimes: Dancing, singing, doing puzzles, acting silly, racing around the house, jumping, playing, riding her trike around the house

Latest obsessions: Reading non-stop, giving a running commentary of everything going on (mommy is out of the shower now, she is all clean; we are going to school in mommy's car and I am going to listen to Elmo on the way there.), doing everything independently, falling backwards on the bed, jumping on EVERYTHING, grunting instead of saying "no", laughing for no reason, putting everything and everyone "to bed" with blankets, fruit snacks, vitamins.

Favorite stuffed animals: Big pink bear

Favorite foods: SAUCES (ketchup, hummous, italian dressing, ranch), Macaroni and Cheese, Applesauce, Chicken, Cucumbers, Fries

Latest Accomplishment- Learning all the beginning letter sounds (mastered 2 months ago),

Counting to 30

Biggest Challenges: Using the potty; pedaling her trike and bike

Current hairstyle: Natural curl with bow or flower, two pigtails or one ponytail

Favorite songs: The Monkey Song, The ABC Song, Elmo's Song, Elmo's ABC Rap, Blessed Be the Name, Thy Word

Favorite movies/DVDs: Madagascar, Veggietales Jonah, Pistachio (Veggietales), Word World, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Jesus Loves Me, Curious George

Currently learning: To say yes when asked to do something, rhymes, phonetic awareness, mathematic one to one correspondence and quantity, how to use the potty!!!

Elefun

Our friends, The Becks, told us to buy this game, Elefun, awhile ago and I finally picked it up. Basically, the elephant shoots butterflies from his trunk and you are suppose to catch them with a net. Well, I am happy to report that it is a huge success. Bella loves catching butterflies. I hear, "Mommy, I want to catch some butterflies" everyday. The funny thing is though she can't catch any. She just lets them hit her in the head and/or fall to the ground and then tries to scoop them off the carpet into her net. She's so proud when she does that, though. Regardless, the girl loves her some butterfly catching and it's pretty comical to watch.

So, she starts out fierce with her eye on the prize.

Then, all of the butterflies start coming out so fast that Bella loses all concentration and goes nutty.

So, she resorts to picking them up off the floor and shouting "I did it!" I guess we should change the rules to "scooping butterflies" instead of "catching butterflies.

Saturday, 19 February 2011

To Wii or not to Wii??

So, Curtis approached me this last Christmas and said, "Ya know, I think I want an Xbox 360 for Christmas." I was a little surprised because I vowed never to bring video games into my house and I thought he knew this. But, my husband never asks for anything so I started to entertain the idea in an effort to get him something he wanted. I asked him when he would play it because we are already stretched for time as it is and he replied, "when you and Bella go to sleep." Yet, in the same breath he said, "But, Bella and I can play together, too." So, I set out to browse the video game consoles; a subject in which was very foreign to me. The only background I had on the subject was the nonstop jabber I hear from my students which I tend to redirect into something more productive.

Anyway, with my brother along to help, I started to look. Although the Xbox had the new Kinect sensor system, I was pretty disgusted with the game selection. The majority of the games were violent or adult oriented...so that quickly helped me decide against it. (I came to find out that Curtis only really wanted it to play online Madden against his friends) So, then I started researching about the Wii and saw all of the family oriented games and decided that we'd give it a try.

The first time we opened it up (well after Christmas), Curtis and I bowled. And let me tell you....I kicked his butt. I LOVE virtual bowling. I don't think I've ever beat Curtis at bowling in "real life" so the Wii got it's first brownie points from me straight away!

Next, I had a couple of friends over for a girls' night and they introduced me to Just Dance II. Okay, so I have two left feet and they killed me...however, what a workout and a total riot! That game got me hooked. Curtis and I have had some fierce dance-offs.

Since then, Bella has discovered Elmo's ABC (which has taught her about rhyming), Just Dance for Kids (which she loves, loves, loves) and Nickelodeon fit (which keeps her blood pumping).

Curtis and I have also had some friendly competition with Wheel of Fortune, Family Game Show, Family Fued and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? We've also brought those out when guests have come over.

So, overall it has brought good fun, knowledge, and excercise to the Briggs' household.

I keep teasing that it will probably be the only video game Bella gets in her life because we try not to jump on every technological "new thing". (I still have a 1999 cellphone) So, when she brings it in to Kindergarten for show -n- tell, it will be vintage and the kids will ooh and ahh over it while trying to figure out what it is.

Check out her moves. Bella will watch the song over and over to "study" the moves first before embarking. It's funny.

Daddy versus Bella

Round 1 against Mommy

The robot....he's hot!

Breaking it out with company!

Another play date! Bella's friend was really good and Bella was taking note!

(Although she was 4 years old so she has a slight advantage)

Then, there'a Nickelodeon Fit for kids. Bella loves to be Dora and bounce on the pogo stick although she is still figuring out how to jump OVER the bushes instead of IN them. It's all about timing. It gives her an opportunity to get a bit more excercise when its too cold to go outside.

The last of AZ!

This is the final post of our Christmas trip! On our last day with PaPa in Pheonix, there was a cold front. It was so chilly. But, we managed to make a quick outing to the park. It was a really neat park with old train cars, but Bella was only interested in two things----yep, swings and slides.

Then, we just hung out back in the warmth of the hotel until we had to go catch our flight!

Bella with PaPa

Sunday, 6 February 2011

Phoenix with Papa

For our last two days we said goodbye to Nana and went up to Phoenix to meet Papa who traveled a little ways to meet us. Ironically, Phoenix had the coldest weather for the last two days...it even rained...so our big plans to go to some outdoor things got cancelled and we had to just hang out here and there. But, Papa didn't mind, he just loved seeing his sweet baby.

On day one we went to a big mall to find indoor adventure. There was a carousel and a sea life aquarium. But, by the time we walked around, ate some lunch and rode the carousel a few times, Bella wasn't too interested in the Sea Life Centre, so we went back to the hotel to play.

She had to show off her reading skills to Papa!

And she made PaPa read silently, too. This is a favorite thing she does. She wants everyone to read!

Taking it to the Streets

Yes, I am STILL blogging about our trip to AZ. ALMOST finished.....

Bella had to take her new bike outside, of course. She doesn't get the whole pedaling part (even on her trike at home), plus she couldn't reach them, so daddy pushed. We left this bike at Nana's so when Bella returns to Nana's, it will be just the right size!