Sneek Preview

Tubby time continues to be girls time around the house. Mommy and Baby Bella have commandeered the master bath for a nightly ritual they both treasure. Daddy caught the girls in a little post-tubby hug.

Rather than sticking her head in the sand, Baby Bella elected to stick her head in the pitcher we use for watering plants. Looking deep into the pitcher to find meaning - all she found was the water that dripped on her head.

Spooning

Mommy has started introducing utensils to the dinner routine. Baby Bella doesn't actually feed herself with the spoon but she loves to hold it and chop at her food.

She was all smiles when she figured out how to put one cup into the other.

Dinner ends with a good washing in the kitchen sink - feet and all. Baby Bella has started trying to scoop up water with her hands and get it to her mouth. She has yet to be successful at the effort but she has a blast trying.

And of course, we have a blast watching.

You Had a Bad Day...

"You stand in line just to hit a new low, you're faking the smile with your coffee to go. You tell me your life has been way off line. You're falling to pieces every time...because you had a bad day..."

What a Daniel Powter kind of day.

Skyler has pink eye, Baby Bella had bronchitis, the doctor was an hour late to see Skyler, I had to endure a morning and afternoon doctor appointment for the munchkins, $70 in co-pays, no sleep last night, spent $160 on a ladder to change the bulbs on the eve of the house, Bella fell and hit her cheek bone.....life happened today. Over and over again.

And then my young wife says: "at least we have each other." Whoever said they don't make 'em like they used to - was wrong. Thanks, Baby Doll.

Sign of the Times

Finishing up some things down stairs, I hear Mommy laughing hysterically upstairs. For those true blue followers of the Baby Bella Blog, you know that isn't a good sign. Mommy inherited Papa's gallows humor - it stands to reason that if she's laughing that hard, something bad just happened to someone.

That someone was me.

I go upstairs to find that Baby Bella has gotten her hands on my hair brush and has thrown it into the toilet. Talk about a bad hair day...

Enough is enough. We have been chasing Bouncing Baby Bella Britches from bathroom to bathroom, from cabinet to cabinet, from drawer to drawer. It's was time to Bella proof the house.

I'll admit, there was a certain amount of "HA,HA! Nana, Nana, Boo, Boo" satisfaction to the process. But I'll be adult about the whole thing - "take that, take that you dirty rat."

Labor Day Sale

Mommy took the kids for some much needed shopping while Daddy worked in the yard. (the poor yard has been neglected in the last fifteen months.)

Baby Bella discovered this keyboard and wouldn't hear of putting it back on the shelf. Mommy, being an ole' softy like Daddy, let her bring it home. Bella so loved it that she played herself to sleep in the car.

Talk about a toy worth it's weight in gold. Any toy that puts child to sleep is a true find.

Summer - Last Call

Baby Bella and fam made their final pilgrimage of the year to Nashville Shores. With BFFs in tow, it was a wonderful way to spend day two of a three day weekend.

I must admit, the day didn't have a promising start. The family attempted to enjoy brunch at a favorite Nashville restaurant. (The name will be withheld to protect the guilty.)

As usual, Baby Bella stood up to peer over the back of the booth at kids behind us. When she turned around she had something black on her chin and hands. I pick her up to inspect and then realized that the black was all over my white shirt.

Turns out the restaurant had varnished their furniture over night and it wasn't dry yet. Mommy rushed Baby Bella to the bathroom to do some scrubbing. If you've ever worked with varnish you know it doesn't come off easy.

The Manager politely moved us to a table close by - I reached down to pull out my chair and realized that the chair was sticky and now I had varnish on my hand. (Not making this up.)

When we left Baby Bella still had varnish on one arm from her wrist up to her elbow. I had varnish all over my white T-shirt and on my left hand. The Manager offered to dry clean my T-shirt but not once offered to pick-up the tab for brunch.

All is well that ends well...the chlorine in the pool worked magic on Bella's arm and my hand. We left the water park varnish free.

The moral of the story? Always plan pool time after any varnishing project. And don't eat brunch at the Nashville restaurant whose name is a compound word that is an animal and the mascot of the Texas football team.

Cain Family Reunion

Baby Bella enjoyed her first ever Cain family reunion. She once again proved her pick-pocket skills. I have to say, she has the system down - walk up to an unsuspecting man, raise her arms up to be picked up, and once up proceed to acquire everything in his pocket.

I am going to avoid the obvious comparison to male to female relationships. :-D

It was truly nice to see everyone again - safe travels on your way home.

Side note: uncharacteristic of Daddy but I found myself visiting more than documenting with the camera. The Baby Bella Blog is somewhat incomplete of pictures from today.

Cheetos

Baby Bella had her very first experience with Cheetos at the Cain family reunion. Don't believe me? Just ask her. She will gladly open her mouth and show you.

You just gotta love kids.

Shipping Department

Baby Bella decided to join the family business in the shipping department. You might say she wanted to start at the ground level and learn the business from the bottom up.

She's a good worker but requires a lot of supervision. Not bad for third generation interest.

Dryer Play

Baby Bella has developed a new fascination with the washer and dryer. She loves to throw things into them and then pretend it's a surprise to find them again.

This morning she threw her golf ball in the dryer, looked at me as if to say "who me?" and then proceeded to close the door.

We are finding it more and more difficult to keep an eye on this little adventurer. She is finding all sorts of mischief in all sorts of places.

Hey, Dad

Daddy made a surprise visit to the Academy on his way out of town. Baby Bella was all excited to see me but really sad to see me go. Me too, little girl.

Daddy will be back tomorrow night.