Adventures in Body Parts with the Polo Bunches

My right hand was hurting a few days ago. It was sore from clutching the NEW CAMERA we finally bought after saving for these past few months! It's amazing. I'm, by far, no expert so have enlisted myself in a self-taught crash course in photography 101, which, in a nutshell is me messing with all the manual settings and taking a load of pictures until I eventually get one or two that are decent enough to keep. Alex is much more knowledgeable. He's taken photography courses and knows all about aperture, speed, lighting... blah blah blah. He tries to give me quick mini lessons when he has a free minute, but that doesn't happen too often. I'm loving it, though, despite the hundreds of recycle bin bound shots and the hand and finger pain.

Ari is no longer the only mischevious little rascal. Bella has been promoted.

Besides my snap-happy fingers, other body parts in our family have noteworthy news. Arabella's legs (but mostly arms) have been working full-force this week. She has reached what some may refer to as the "crawling" stage. I see it more as "slithering." She's still not got the strength to be up on her knees, but that hasn't stopped her. She's already all over the place, and it's totally freakin' me out. I got up early this morning and "baby-proofed" the living room. Basically, I just rearranged the furniture so I could place our heater safely behind the liquor cabinet (so if it ever gets too chaotic, I'll have a warm, safe haven to drown out my sorrows. Just kidding!) and moved all the electronics back so she can't get her little fingers on all the buttons. She's obsessed with the computer mouse and seems to be gravitationally drawn to every cable in sight.

Alex's fingers also deserve honorable mention, particularly his ring finger. Last Saturday, after a busy night at The Bohemian, Alex was washing a glass that had been the happy home to the famous "Bohemian Cocktail" when it suddenly shattered in his hand. When he finally got home, several hours and three stitches later, he had a woeful story to tell me and an appointment for a tetanus booster shot. FUN TIMES!

Like a dutiful, snap-happy student, I didn't miss this opportunity

Lastly, this week's bodily adventures would not be complete if we failed to mention Bella's poor little gums. Just this morning I felt the ridges of her first tooth! It must have poked through last night. It's about time. I swear to god, she's been teething for the past four months. There's one more little bump where her next tooth should be pushing through within the next few days (I hope). I'm counting on that, at least, for some well-deserved relief, and maybe, if we're lucky, some longer sleep stretches!

Little Girls Don't Wear Black

And they apparently get their ears pierced two days after they're born. At least they do here.

God love the pink outfits. They are darling and dainty and delicate and I tend to find myself being drawn to them again, as if I were magically whisked back to my "pink passion" youth, but Heaven FORBID if I want to dress my little rascal up in something less typical. I mean, where's all the black?? It's not like I want to dress her up like a goth queen, or anything, but a little variation would be nice. When do little girls graduate to the full color spectrum in Valencia??

This outfit is A-Ok. She will be blessed with friends galore!

I have been studying Baby Fashion here, and these are my findings:
Pink is the norm. If you dress you're little girl in pink, she will be fully accepted and everyone will know she's a little girl. It's safe.

Sometimes you can find purple, but it's challenging. I've yet to find something in my beloved indigo.

Red is ok, and it even goes well with dark gray, which inches us closer to black. But that's where it ends. Chocolate brown? Nope. That's for boys. We have one pair of brown pants (see above pic) that were bought here, but they're decorated with rhinestones to feminize them.

Oh my! Stripes, dots and The Chili Peppers?? Guess we know who will be playing alone in the sandbox.

Dark blue? Only if it's paired with pink. Otherwise, if you have a little baldy who doesn't have her ears pierced, it'll be assumed she's a boy. (Seriously, many people have asked us if Arabella is a boy and when we say "no", they respond with, "oh well since she doesn't have earrings..." Weird, huh?)

As you all know from previous posts (and from being my friends for ages), I'm not one to follow a trend. I wear what I like whether it's "in" or not. But I have a lot of fun with clothes, and ask anyone who has a daughter, baby girls are so fun to dress up! Pink is feminine and fresh and freakin' ADORABLE but I'm missing the black!

The cute Babylegs that Grandma sent us, help expand Arabella's wardrobe!

Oh Seattle! Home of Grunge and dreary weather, just you wait until we get there!!! There is some heavy duty shopping to be done... homemade black t-shirts with those cool appliqued drawings ... dark blue crushed velvet pants... baby Birkenstocks ;-) ...

How Do You Like THEM Apples?

I'm going to take a stab in the dark and guess that she'd say, "NOT SO MUCH."

Happy One Year, Mi Amor!!

Monday, September 29th, Alex and I celebrated our one-year anniversary! Both of us had planned to do something special for the other, but the week before we decided that with the lack of funds and the stress of all these big changes taking place, we'd just do something simple and relaxing. We spent the day as a family and then after Arabella went to sleep, the two of us made a romantic dinner together. We opened a bottle of wine from our wedding and got drunk off of one glass! We are now officially lightweights.
After dinner we talked about our life and our dreams and then we danced like circus performers to "The Wine Song" by The Cat Empire. For a night completely improvised, it was spectacular!

Gooey Faced Arabella

Arabella had her first bite of rice cereal this week. She seems to like it, and knows what she's supposed to do, so on we go! Of course, the consistency was nearly liquid, and for the first feeding I used my finger, so it wasn't too hard to figure out! A few days later, I used a silicone spoon and she opened up wide when it came dripping towards her. I think we'll try either apples or bananas next. It's so fun to see the expressions she makes.Sorry, I don't have any of those pictures with the food all over her face. So far, she has proven to be quite the tidy eater.