PROOF OF SAID FANGS

Ok, you can't see her teeth in this one, but I had to show her her tie-dyed cuteness!
There they are!

This one just cracks me up! Look at those CHEEKS!

All the better to eat solid food with, my dear! (not yet, but soon!)

AN UNWANTED FIRST

Little dolly girl fell off the bed. Ugh. What a sickening feeling - for her AND us! She's ok. In fact, she is totally fine. We called the doctor and all that. Immediately after it happened, we did all the right things, and WILL do all the right things in the future like not letting her nap in our bed anymore, only having her sleep in her crib, etc.

She doesn't even have a knot on her head. Or an irratic, new twitch. Or crossed eyes. Or any other number of hideous scenarios floating around in my head. She truely is fine. Then why do I still feel sooooo heartbroken?

I waited 4 hours after it happened to call my mom. I needed to know that *I* had fallen off a bed at 5 months old and lived to tell about it because if it happened to ME, surely MY little girl will be ok. Logical? No. Comforting? DEFINITELY. Well, comforting if my mom answered the right way.....

She did! Yay! I fell off a bed when I was 5 months old too! (that explains a lot about me, doesn't it?)

My mom told me about my "incident" in great detail and even now, 35 years later, I could hear the emotion in her voice. Just knowing that she empathized with me was a real comfort. She also shared about a fall my sister took down some stairs when she was about 1 and a half. (Don't worry - she was ok. They were getting ready to take her to the hospital to get her checked out. She was screaming her head off and all of a sudden, she stopped screaming. My mom looked at her to see what was going on. Out of my sister's little mouth came the words: "That's MY hot dog! Want hot dog!" Apparently, one of the bystanders had a tubular treat that my sister wanted to get her mits on! Right then and there, my mom knew my sister would be ok.)

Before I got pregnant, and really DURING the pregnancy too, I told my nearest and dearest friends (you know, the ones who understand my narcissistic, sardonic ways) - "I do NOT want ANY advice about pregnancy, babies, the care of babies. Nothing. I want to experience this ON MY OWN. I want all the firsts."

After today, I realize the importance of not only getting, but more importantly, LISTENING to the advice and stories of those who have gone before.

Well, I'm taking a deep breath, counting my blessings, and looking forward to FUN firsts.

A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS

Lady Gaga's album, The Fame. Crass, strange, creative, addicting. Thanks, TJ & Joelf!
Fit Flops. Extremely comfy AND they give you a calf workout. Ok, they're mostly just comfy. Thanks, Kell!


photos courtesy Jen Steele

Peanut Butter Torte from Evil Cake Lady (oh. my. gosh. delish.) Thank you, Jen.

1st DAY AT THE BEACH!

Joelf, Greg, and I had the privelege of taking Bella to the beach for the first time yesterday. Here are some photos.

FANGS!

Ok, people. My not-quite-5-month-old has her first tooth!
Her first tooth!
I often let her chomp on my knuckle and last night, while she was chomping, I decided to feel around and see if there were any new developments. Sure enough - on the bottom center-ish, there's one little fang poking through. We're so excited! Yes, bring on the constant use of bibs and the crying and the medicine. That's all fine and good. We're just excited to go through these different phases with our sweet Bella!
Other cool things:

• she holds her pacifier and can put it in her mouth by herself (most of the time!).
• she grabs at our face and nose and loves to just study us as we talk.
• she rolls over like a banshi (sp??).
• she LOVES physical play.
• when she gets frustrated, she talks with a LOT of vowels and consonants. It's hard to comfort her right away because she sounds so darn cute!
• her exzema is diminishing.
• she still sleeps about 9 hours a night!

We just love our little girl and wanted to share some milestones with you!