Sick Again

The big story in the Kilps household this week is that our little girl is sick again. During the Super Bowl last week, we noticed that her nose was starting to drip a little. What started as a little drip has turned into an icky, nasty cold complete with a painful sounding hacking cough, a constantly running nose that is getting raw from all the wiping, and interrupted naps/bedtimes. I'm going to try to get her in to the doctor tomorrow. This is the longest, most severe cold that she has ever had and I want to make sure she isn't developing bronchitis. Here she is working on a puzzle. She likes to take one piece out and fit in back in again. Then she proudly says, "Good job!" While I was working on some crafts, I let Bella play with my stamps. I tried this a few months ago and she didn't really get the concept. Now she does it really well!Because she hasn't been feeling well, we've laid pretty low this week. Lots of laying on the couch and watching Baby Einstein or VeggieTales.My bad mommy moment of the week: Andy took our star down from the front porch and put it in the living room. I left the room for a minute and came back to find that Bella had unplugged the outlet cover and then plugged the star in. She gave herself another "Good job!" Note to self: put something in front of that outlet.Whenever I'm at the sink for anything, Bella will push a chair over and then get up so that she can "wash dishes". I'll just fill a little bit of soap and water in the sink and give her a plate or bowl to work on and she just loves it! At the time of the picture, I was making some banana bread. I was going to let her be my little helper by stirring the batter, but she was more interested in the dishes. *I made this apron out of a dish towel. Got the idea from familyfun.com!

Bella has been going through an independent streak lately. For example, I'll go to put her shoes on and she'll get all upset and cry "No! Bella do it." So I let her try and then she gets all frustrated because she can't do it and ends up throwing her shoes and starting a tantrum. There's been a lot of drama/tantrums this week - no doubt most of it is because she hasn't been feeling good. Still, it's not fun for any of us.

Another area where she's showing her independence is at bedtime. Bella has a little pink chair in her room and, at nighttime, I sit in the chair with her on my lap and we read books together. Lately she has decided that Mommy sits on the floor and Bella sits on the chair. I guess I've been demoted.

I'll end this on a positive note: Bella went to the nursery at church all by herself and she didn't cry at all! This is a first and a great step in the right direction!