Baby Pains

Poor 'Bella

I do not like seeing Isabella in pain.  I haven't since she has been born and it hasn't gotten any easier so far.  What is worse, however, is when I am the one inflicting the pain on her.  Today I put a nice big scratch on her foot while playing our usual game -- Kick Momma in the Face (I know it isn't a good habit to start but it is a funny game).  Her foot caught on my ring and she got scratched all the way across the foot and up the ankle.......

Following that, she banged her head not once, but twice.  Both were partially my fault.  It was not my best mommy day.  I observed how short pain was for her. One second, she was crying and the next, she was smiling.  Oh to be young and be able to get over things so easy.


My daughter is no stranger to the saying, "No pain, no gain".  I have never seen a baby with so much determination as this little one has.  She rolled over both ways when she was just a little over a week old.  By a month, she was putting weight on her legs, by two months she was pulling herself up to stand with minimal assistance.  She is just over three months and now pushes herself off of you to climb up your body, she holds her own bottle, vocalizes a lot of sounds (including "who" like an owl).  This week, when doing "tummy time" she started getting up on her knees and using her arms to pull herself across the floor.  While it isn't a full crawl yet, I'm sure it will only be a matter of time.  The whole time, she pushes herself.  She grunts and fusses and tries to push herself more.  When she gets too upset, we pick her up and she gets mad that we stopped her.  She wants to try and try again until she is able to succeed.  She's happiest when we are shaking, jiggling, and moving her all around.  She loves to be spun up and down.   Then today she was standing on our bed with me supporting her arms, she put her one foot up on my legs and climbed them like a step.  While I don't know how normal any of this is at three months, she definitely is a tough little lady who wants to keep going.  Jason's mom said that he was the same way and that he crawled fully by four months, then never stopped.....

Superhero strength

No matter what, I was thinking today about the character my daughter has.  We used to remark while she was in the womb at just how much personality she had.  She was alert right from birth and has had so much personality since.  Jason is so extraverted and makes friends easy due to his personality; I wonder if 'Bella will be the same way.  Her spunk and character is just amazing; she really pushes through the pain and frustration and wants to keep going.  If only we all could have that kind of ambition.  I joke with Jason that 'Bella is a superhero with super powers.  In all seriousness though, I know my daughter will do great things.  Jason and I dream and talk often about what things she will like and who she might become based on that huge personality in her tiny body.  Most of all, I hope she uses her super powers for good.  We hope that she loves Jesus and uses that enigmatic persona of hers to spread the love of Christ.  No matter how she decides to use these gifts from God, we hope that we provide the right channel to help her understand who gave her those abilities and the way to show others this.  This girl has determination and I hope it works for good.

~ Bella's Mommy