Big girl you are beautiful

She is growing up too fast! We had an emergency trip to the vet yesterday with our female turquoisine parrot, Mrs Tweet Tweet. Bella sat in the vets telling the vet all about what the animals say. We so far have a roar of a lion and hippo, woof woof, meow, quack quack, baaaaaa, moo, neigh, bzzzzzzz for the bee, snort for the pig and a clap clap for the chicken...clap clap as in cluck cluck! The vet was very impressed by her repertoire and just loved Bella. She's an exotic pet vet so got a tortoise out for Bella to "explore" then took her out the back to the nursing area to see an enormous iguana, a ferret, some more birds and a few other critters. Bella was so excited by her visit she meowed all the way home in the car.

This afternoon we popped to the local shopping mall and while Daddy (yes Daddy!) was looking in the shops, I was chasing our little lady up and down the length of the place. She sat in every toy car she could find, waved to all the other children she passed on the way, befriended numerous sales staff as she bobbed in and out of the shops. She managed to collect a balloon, a pencil and an inflatable coca cola thing willingly given to her by adoring staff. We stopped off for a quick bite to eat before leaving and Bella decided she wanted to drink from a cup and not of the sippy cup variety. She was doing such a good job that I had to comment what a big girl she is now, only for her to upturn the entire contents all over my legs. Famous last words huh?!

Ooh, Mrs Tweet Tweet is due to hatch her eggs any day now, maybe tomorrow. She's sitting on 3 of them so I will update if we have any teeny tiny chicklets tomorrow!

Whatever floats your boat!

We had a gorgeous sunny day out yesterday. It started via the shopping mall to get some bits in the pet shop and a look at the fishes and birds and then to grab some bread as were off to feed the ducks. While in the mall we decided to buy a potty with a view to getting Bella acquainted with it over the summer when she has nappy off time outside. So far it seems to be something to pick up and put on her head, stand in or use as a skateboard!

We left the mall, fed the ducks and drove down to Puerto Banus for a stroll around the port and a look at the amazing yachts there. Bella decided it was nap time to we put her in the Bug with the sunblock cover over and set off. It seems the Bugaboo is the stroller of choice amongst the Marbella/Banus crowd. Just as common as seeing Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Rolls Royce! We stopped by our favourite Start Rite shoe shop to pick up something summery only to find it was closed for renovations. So a quick dash into Zara baby found us a gorgeous little pair of canvas shoes. After an afternoon of walking, playing and eating grapes and strawberries in the fresh air, we all slept well last night.

New shoes!

Midday at the Oasis

I took Bella round to a local holiday resort this morning knowing it was a short walk and not a drive and that it's Easter holiday so thought there would be little kids a plenty for her to play with, and we weren't disappointed! We started out by testing the new wheels...a Bugaboo Chameleon. Why oh why did I not buy one of these from the start? Probably because of the extortionate price tag, but quality does pay. We bought our one 2nd hand for half the price and we both love it! A dream to steer and Bella bounced her way effortlessly over gravel and stones with a "wheeeeeeee". Now we just need to change from the orange fabric to a luscious rich red.

For Petra, so you can see why we're changing colour!

Upon arrival at the kids park Bella ran across the grass towards a tiny little boy. Turns out he's actually 8 months older than her, but was overshadowed by the tall lovely Bella with her head of wild curls. She got to practise her finest spanish with him and his mummy. Bella doesn't say any words in spanish yet, but does seem to enjoy the language and listens intently. She enjoyed a good hour in the sunshine running around with him and swapping balls, shuttlecocks and breadsticks while the mummies laid on the grass in the sun for a natter. She has made a date with him for same time tomorrow. Will it be a crush on the little Filipe? No! Once he'd gone she quickly moved on to another little boy, Hugo, who was just a bit too small for Bella really. He seemed to gaze up at her in awe, especially as she clung on tight to the see-saw and bounced herself up and down for a good while.

After a couple of gorgeous hours in the sunshine (which has been sadly lacking lately) she climbed back in to the Bug for a ride home, exhausted. Same again tomorrow then!

I hate driving in my car...

Well I don't but apparently Little Miss does! Since blogging last new emotions are springing up all over the place. A now confident toddler Bella is desperate to talk. She has a large repertoire of words and animal sounds and a desire to be totally independent and free. Try and restrain her in a stroller or car seat and be prepared for a fight. She does the total straight and rigid move making it impossible to fold her in to either. We had to abandon a much needed trip to the shops today as total meltdown ensued. I have advice from several mummy friends to try the bribery/distraction method. Tomorrow I will try again armed with some much loved but prohibited keys for her and maybe even a piece of chocolate. Never did I think I'd have to resort to such tactics with my little girl, but hey, that was before I became a mother!

I've uploaded a video of her latest interest.

It's about time blogging is resumed!

I've been guilty of being consumed in so many other things that I've totally abandoned Bellas blog. It was never my intention to stop but when you've had too much time away it becomes difficult to restart. But what's 15 minutes each night to keep everyone updated and create a blog of Bellas life for her to look back on when she's older...so we're back at it!

Happy 1st Birthday Baby Bella!!!!!!!!

What a milestone...1 year old today. I have absolutely no idea where that year has gone, but it was definitely a lot quicker than the pregnancy! As I sit here typing this blog post, I'm thinking back to this time last year when I was coming to the end of a 36 hour labour and was in the pushing stages. Unfortunately Bella was stuck in the birth canal and they'd cut off my epidural to help me push. Only half an hour away from an episiotomy and Bella being dragged out via ventouse. And then the most perfect little baby girl was delivered on to my tummy and our lives changed forever. She is my little miracle. I'm completely besotted with her and completely in love and amazed and in awe of her every day. She was the missing part of our lives.

I have some lovely photos and video of her birthday party to post and also some photos of her day today which was spent with her mommy and daddy and her english grandparents. We did manage a skype with her american grandparents too.

Here is a slide show of some of her highlights over her birthday period.

December is here...party time!!!

This is the month I've eagerly been awaiting, so I can prep the best 1st birthday party going! Tomorrow is Party Central and we have a collection of lovely friends and family coming for the big event. I've spent today decorating her cake, a real labour of love. We've collected the helium balloons, banner, have all the party table pieces ready to go, party bags made up for all Bellas little friends and a wonderful friend coming over tomorrow morning to whip up her fabulous authentic homemade falafel...a party with a difference. Our little lady is cutting her molars at the moment and a little clingy and prone to outbursts of crying so I'm just hoping she'll get through the party without incident and enjoy it. But, it's her party...and she'll cry if she wants too. I think I may too as it's a bit of a momentous occasion.