A Bella Update

Bella is at such an interesting stage developmentally. It's equal parts hilarious, endearing, charming, and frustrating.

Words to describe her lately: honest, demanding, perceptive, comedienne, mischievous, smart, rational, logical, impersonator, technological... I could probably go on but my pregnant brain is on duty - permanently.

Tonight as she was having quiet time in her room, playing with her play dough I could hear her singing Christmas carols.

She has quiet time and plays by herself. In her room. For great lengths of time.

I can leave her in the tub for short amounts of time during her bath to do some other chores nearby. (I remember thinking I'd never do that...)

She will find my iPhone, hide somewhere, unlock it, scroll through videos and pictures or find her games. If she hears me coming, she tells me, "Mommy, can you go wash the dishes?" or "Did you want to go upstairs?" to buy herself more time with my phone.

She tells me more about her day at school. I'll ask, "What did you do today at school, Bella?" And she used to just say, "Play with my friends." Now, however, she'll tell me entire stories about how they played and what they did. Today it sounded like they enacted a scene from Toy Story.

If she says something with a demanding tone, I'll say, "Bella, be nice. It's not nice to tell, you have to ask." She'll say, "I was being nice. I was just talking."

She is quite skilled at games of memory... possibly even better than me. She always wins!

She likes to "blow kisses" backwards. As I leave her room we exchange blow kisses properly (i.e. kiss hand and blow kiss). As I back out and exit the doorway, we do a few backwards (i.e. blow and then kissy noise). If I do it the proper way, she tells me, "No backwards mama!" So, I do, and then she says "Good night!"

Tonight, as I put her to bed, she asked me to stay (which is typical as well). I usually respond that I have to go downstairs, but that I'll check on her in a little bit. Tonight, however, I made the mistake of saying that my tummy hurt and that I couldn't lay down. She then asked me if I would just sit at the end of her bed. I told her I couldn't and reiterated that Daddy and I would look in on her later. She pondered this and then said, "I want Daddy to take care of your tummy."

So many wonderful stories and memories with my Bella girl.

I don't quite know how to express what I'm about to type...so I'll just ramble. So, it's not that I'm sad about having the baby -- that goes without saying. Obviously, we can't wait and we love this little baby. But, there's a sadness for Bella that I have... she'll probably never remember being the only child...which isn't a good or bad thing... but I'll remember because of all those firsts... and all the time and attention we were able to give her...and at the same time, I'm sad that this baby and the others we'll have won't ever get that undivided attention we were able to give Bella... and not that any of the kids will ever know the difference... and I just want to make sure that all of our kids feel equally loved and special and important... k. I said it.