My Sweet Belle

We are in the process of getting little sleep.  In other words, I decided it's time to night wean Annabelle.  Yes, my 15 month old still nurses in the night.  I hear these moms tell stories of their children magically sleeping through the night at the ripe old age of 3 months (or sooner!  WHAT?!?!) and I just don't understand.  I don't make children that do that.  I don't know why, but my children love their nighttime snacks.  And before your head starts analyzing what I'm doing wrong that causes this problem, save yourself the time.  She puts herself to sleep independently and has since 5 1/2 weeks old by her own choosing.  On the plus side, all this round the clock nursing leads to a rockstar milk supply (too much information perhaps?). 

Showing her sad face - Photo by Evelyn

 So last night was night was night #3 of this venture. 

Night 1 was not special.  The 2 of us were up for over an hour trying to get her calmed down and back to sleep without nursing.  She ended up nursing twice.  Fail.

Night 2 she slept from 8-5:15 and then wouldn't go back to sleep and I decided to be more firm in my resolve to not nurse her in the night.  So at 6 after she had been talking to herself for 45 minutes I just got her up and we started our day. 

Night 3 started ok.  She woke up make weird squeaking noises and coughing at 11:00.  I watched her on the video monitor (best invention for babies EVER) and she was just sitting up in bed for several minutes before laying down again and falling back asleep.  At 4:30 she woke up again and was crying a little bit.  I decided to give her a few minutes to see if she would just fall back asleep, but no luck.  I went in there to comfort her and when I opened her door I instantly knew what the issue was.  There is nothing quite like the smell of vomit in the middle of the night.  It makes me really thankful that she is still nursing though because right now food = puking, but nursing = happy, non-dehydrated baby. 

Photo by Evelyn

 I realized I talk a lot on here about Evelyn, and not quite as much about adventures with Belle.  It part it's because she's just plain easier that Evelyn.  And she doesn't say random hilarious things like Evelyn does yet. 

Showing off her teeth (she has 12 now!) - Photo by Evelyn

 Seriously though, she is such a fun kiddo.  She is sweet and lovey.  So easy going.  She does have this loud, high-pitched scream that is an all-purpose noise in her world.  It works equally if she's mad at Evelyn, wants something she can't get, is stuck, or is just plain happy.  Being in public means nothing to her in terms of whether or not the scream is appropriate to use at any given time. 

Running around the house then collapsing on the chair - Photo by Evelyn

 She's learning to be more vocal and use sign language.  She will sign more, please, and all done.  She mostly babbles, but can also say please, more, mommy, daddy, and dee (a sound always accompanied by pointing at something, not sure what the English translation is). 

Most days at some point she will bring me her shoes and/or coat wanting to go play outside.  She also gets excited whenever she sees footie pajamas and would wear hers all day if I let her (so much like her mom).  If she wakes up from her afternoon nap before Evelyn does, she will happily play alone while she waits for her.  As soon as she hears the stairs creek though she gets really excited, walks up to Evelyn, and gives her a hug. 

Rocking her hippie shirt.  Yes, there are flowers and peace signs on that puppy.

 Other favorite activities include watching things spin around in the microwave, refusing to eat real food but acting starved when she sees a bag of chips, running around the circle in our house while we say, "Go Bella, go!", and pushing things with wheels around the house.  True story.  We were at Costco a couple day ago and she walked up to a monster truck in the toy aisle and goes, "OOOOOOHHHH!"