More molars!!!

Bella's inner monster has really surfaced the past few days. I blame it on the new molar that just broke through yesterday. This was the third molar to surface and I know that the fourth is on its way. She has happy moments, but she's much more edgy than usual and can really lose her cool pretty quickly. Nap and bedtimes have become a little more traumatizing as well. We can usually lay Bella down and she will wave to us as we say goodnight. For the past few days, she immediately starts to cry as soon as we put her down. It is heartbreaking to walk out on a little one who is crying. She generally cries for less than a minute, but it still makes you feel like the meanest parent ever. One night, she woke up twice (and thankfully put herself back to sleep). Otherwise, the teething doesn't seem to be messing with her sleep too much, which we are pretty happy about.

Bella has learned two new signs these past couple of days: 'dog' and 'drink'. I noticed her doing the dog sign when we were watching a Baby Einstein video. Later, we were looking through a picture book, she saw a dog and did the sign again. Then, when I was changing her diaper I asked her to show me the sign for 'dog' and she did it. She also started doing the sign for 'drink' though with this one, I think she is more mimicking us than actually knowing what it means. Still, the fact that she is even doing it is encouraging. She hasn't caught on to 'all done' or 'more' yet which is surprising since we use those all the time and they are pretty easy.

Bella has also learned where her tongue is. We'll ask her, "Where's Bella's tongue" and she will stick it out for us! She'll also point to her hair when we ask and sometimes she'll point to our eyes.

Andy's heading back to Wisconsin tomorrow for a church conference in Appleton. So, it's going to be a girl's weekend for me and Bella. Andy will be coming back on Monday afternoon. I hope these teeth quit bothering Bella or it may shape up to be a long weekend.

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SEASON