Spoiled Rotten

A great day at Grandma Cain's and a great night at the ball park. Too tired to share much but.....

Grandma Cain hadn't seen Baby Bella in a couple of weeks so she was anxious to get her hands on my little chunky monkey. (my new name for Baby Bella) And Baby Bella seemed to miss her as well - Grandma fed her, changed her diaper, talked to her (Bella talked back) and rocked her to sleep. It's a tough life for this little one, let me tell you - we should all have it so rough.

OUT!

This is a new routine for Baby Bella - falling asleep while we are trying for the last burp. She has mastered the art of leaning forward and resting her face on our hands so that she can fall asleep. It doesn't seem to matter how hard you pat her on the back, she just drifts off into a near coma condition.

Precious! Frustrating at times - but precious! (this word "precious" wasn't in my vocabulary for 45 years and then all of a sudden it pops into my consciousness. I realize now that I am dangerously close to being guilty of over use. What happened? Oh yeah, I had a baby girl - they do rock your world)

Finger Lickin' Good

Seems Baby Bella has a new favorite hobby - chewing on her fingers and knuckles. She has been in the process of discovering them for a couple of weeks. We believe she will ultimately be a thumb sucker when she figures out how to get it in her mouth. Right now, it is mainly the knuckles on her right hand that receive the most attention.

By the way, it does appear she will be right handed - still too early to determine definitively but you can say you heard it here first.

No More Pictures Please

I knew Baby Bella would one day achieve an age or maturity level where she would demand that I put down the camera and suspend the blog. Little did I know it would be the tender age of 10 weeks and 3 days.

Doesn't this picture just scream: "Dad! Really! Enough already! No More Pictures!"

Posting Comments

I have received several calls related to posting comments. Yes, Google has changed the ground rules since the inception of the Blog.

To post comments, you must first set up a Google Account. All you need to do is provide them with your email address and a password that you create. It is just that simple. You do not pass "GO" and you do not collect $200 dollars.

It is FREE. What do I mean by FREE? No charges, no spam, and no one knocks on your door. You will not be billed, phoned, or harassed.

So comment away! It may be your 1st Amendment right on the street corner but on the blog you need an email address and password.

Baby Bella loves you for it!

In this corner....

In this corner, weighing a whopping 11 lbs., wearing the pink robe......Bouncing Boxing Beauty Baby Bella!!!!!

She so looks like a prize fighter, ready to rumble, in her hooded towel. She didn't appreciate the hooded towels in her early days but has become a big fan of late. And unfortunately, she has become something of a fighter as well. She has started fighting sleep - especially if we are holding her.

Love Bug

Aw, a day filled with laughter. Baby Bella continues to amaze and humor us. Tonight she had me laughing almost to tears - she has started this thing where she smiles and then giggles when you smile back. Today she did it over and over again until Mommy and I were hysterical on the sofa. The more we laughed the more she entertained.

Kids - the form of entertainment you can have.

My Little Lady Bug

My Little Lady Bug slept in the morning, played/laughed in the afternoon, and cried/screamed her way through the evening. A well balanced day. This was the first day she seemed to spend more time awake than asleep.

She was soooo cute in her Lady Bug sandals......she is still too small for 90% of her shoes but Mommy just had to put them on her. It's a girl thing.

Funny Face

And on the 7th day the Cains rested. A very relaxing day with Baby Bella - the highlight of her day was a laugh fest she shared with big brother.

Green House Gases

Hold the phone! Quick - someone reach Al Gore. I have discovered the REAL cause of the hole in the ozone layer and the subsequent warming of the planet. Despite what you may have read or heard, it has nothing to do with industrial pollution or your precious SUV.

It is, I suspect, caused by the gases emanating from the green sludge being produced daily by millions of formula fed babies. Really, Baby Bella is contributing mightily, in her own grotesque way, to global warming.

This should come as no surprise. My brother Tim kept warning me about the green sludge diapers and the corresponding odor. "Just wait", he would say, "your world is about to change". Not that I didn't believe him but it has been 25 years since he had a little baby girl in his house. Things change. Technology improves. Right? Wrong!!!!

Baby Bella nursed exclusively for the first six weeks, and honestly, we didn't know if she had a dirty diaper unless we checked. There just wasn't an odor. Then came formula. First it was constipation and then came.....the green house gases and green sludge diapers. Now, no one has to question if she has a dirty diaper. Anyone within a six block radiance can tell you. A toxic cloud of vapors seems to have permanently settled over our residence.

This, this is my precious little Baby Bella. My gift from God. My promise child. Daddy's little princess. How? How can such vile atrocities come forth from her body? And how long does this phase last?

Part of me wants to cope my thinking this a God thing. Perhaps this is his way of testing us - maybe he is saying "Just how much do you love this little girl? OK, prove it". Honestly, if you voluntarily change more than one of these diapers then yes, you have unconditional love.

Love isn't always a beautiful process!

Hot Mama

Wow! Take of look at this blond bombshell. On a purely personal level, she's back!

Now Mommy will tell you she still has pounds to loose but come on. What is wrong with this picture? Mommy and Daddy have been on a postpartum diet - Mommy has lost 20 + pounds while Daddy has lost 12 pounds.

Pounds or no pounds, Mommy is smokin' hot. She commented the other day that we were starting to feel and act human again. Anyone who has had kids understands that comment. The first few weeks you walk around in a semi-aware state. Some call it the zombie zone.

To paraphrase a B.J. Thomas song: "I can see clearly now, the fog is gone." And Daddy like what he sees when he looks at Mommy!

Gym Membership

The family that plays together stay together. Baby Bella was kind enough to let the whole family join in on the fun as she played on her pink play gym for the first time. Daddy bought her this gym for Christmas - before she was actually born.

This was an awesome day - Baby Bella and Big Brother stayed with Daddy all day. Words don't describe how much you miss the little ones when they are away. Your heart aches for them. I slept in the rocker last evening with Baby Bella on my shoulder. Neither of us slept that much but it was great being close to her. Mommy was able to get some much deserved sleep.

Baby Bella is much easier to hang out with these days. The fussiness is on the decline, she interacts with sounds and smiles, she feeds and burps on cue....soon she will be graduating from college. If only she could change her own diaper!

Baby Bella Bottle

Baby Bella seems to be on a major growth spurt. We are now having to increase her bottle size from 4 ounces per feeding to 5 ounces. The final feeding before bedtime is a 6 ouncer laced with two teaspoons of cereal.

Yes, the Cain family is sleeping much better these days. Most nights, we only have to do one feeding during the night. She takes her last bottle at 10:00pm and usually sleeps to 4:00am. Gratefully, she immediately falls back to sleep - usually before the bottle is finished.

Mommy is still nursing some but those days seem to be numbered. Mommy and Baby Bella were awesome partners for the first six weeks but Baby Bella has gradually been telling us that the milk isn't enough for her. Now she seems to do much better with the formula so Mommy only nurses first thing in the morning and then again when she returns from work.

We are taking it day-by-day, letting Baby Bella tell us what she needs. We have learned that a full baby is a happy baby. Mommy has been great at nursing and I think she secretly hates to see that phase coming to an end.

Skyler did his first bottle and burp routine yesterday. Awesome! Mommy and Daddy tag teamed dinner while Big Brother fed Baby Bella on the stairs. Skyler was so proud, Baby Bella was so content, and dinner arrived early - it doesn't get much better than that.

We get a kick out of watching Skyler and Baby Bella stare at each other - they are developing such a bond and it does our hearts good. Skyler is very attentive and protective of his little sister. And we wouldn't have it any other way. We are blessed!

New Toes

The newness continues for Baby Bella.....Mommy polished her little precious toes for the first time. What is it about little feet like this? Everyone who meets her wants to play with her toes and kiss her feet. Sweet girl!

And a sad first for Baby Bella and the Cains. Today was the first day that we had to take Baby Bella to Ms. Vanessa - the work must go on. Everyone, including Baby Bella, not only survived but thrived. Ms. Vanessa is wonderful and Baby Bella was able to spend the whole day with BFF Ava Grace. (Ms. Vanessa is Ava Grace's Nana)

As tough as it was to leave her, it was comforting to know she was in good hands. I don't know that it will be any easier to leave her tomorrow but I know she will be fine - just look how well Ava Grace has turned out. (Yes, I know Mommy and Daddy deserved credit for that too - I'm just saying...).

Ms. Personality

Sometimes you just have to laugh! Mommy must have been doing something funny while getting Baby Bella dressed. Baby Bella has certainly been showing us her personality lately. We have concluded she is blessed with both the dry humor from the Cain side and the gallows humor from the Blythe side.

Oh my! Move over Whoopi, here comes my Baby Bella!

Workout

Baby Bella put in a good workout at the gym today. Upper body, lower body, abs - she did it all. She is continuing to lengthen her awake periods and increase her activities while awake. She is pretty good at smacking anything that hangs down low enough - she will even move your hand out of the way if you try to give her a pacifier when she isn't in the mood.

Tummy time push-ups are the latest addition to our workout. Baby Bella can't complete them just yet but she can lift herself enough to turn her head.

Great Grandma Blair

Baby Bella and Great Grandma Blair have become good buddies! Bella will lay in her lap for long periods - just looking, talking, and laughing. The two had a chance to visit today and apparently Great Grandma was telling one of her infamous funny stories. Hmmm.

What's in a Name?

Parents are funny creatures. They say "my child will never do that." and then their child does. They say "I will never do that when I'm a parent," and then they do.

Mommy and I decided two years before we conceived Baby Bella that if we were ever blessed with a little girl we would name her Isabella Reagan. We would never, we protested, call her Bella. Oh no, only the full regal name of Isabella would suit our offspring.

That declaration didn't even survive the pregnancy. Seven months in and we were already abbreviating her name to hang on the nursery wall. So what is in a name? Here are a list of things call Baby Bella on a routine basis:

Isabella

Bella

Baby Bella
Bella Boo

Boo Bear

Bella Rose

Poo Britches
Sweet Pea

Ms. Fussy Britches

A Dillard's Baby

Baby Bella made a return visit to the Dillard's Salon and Spa today. She enjoyed socializing with old friends and meeting new friends at Dillard's. Despite a little fussiness and a lot of reflux, her Dillard's friends seemed to enjoy her as well.