Isabella's First Day of Kindergarten

She's so excited! Fancy outfit, lots of running, twirling, and observing. Our sweet girl is so grown up!

Bella-a-Week Post 32

Here's a video of Isabella's first violin recital for your enjoyment on Bella-A-Week: http://bella-a-week.blogspot.com/. Before that is Isabella's pre-recital performance on stage before anyone arrived. Enjoy. We're kvelling.

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Bella learns she's going to have a new brother or sister in about six months.

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I took this at 11:45pm, after coming back from watching fireworks. Bella and her friends talk about things important to 4 and 6 year olds: candy and cookies.

Bella-a-Week Post 29

Enjoy!

Bella-a-Week Post 28

In this episode, B shows off her writing skills. She's been writing and reading up a storm. The other day, she read a whole sentence: "Bob is a big dog" or something like that. Very exciting.

Bella-a-Week Post 27

Valentine Dance from Scott Smith on Vimeo.
In this video, Bella dances to Hall & Oates.

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Hi there... long time no post. Here's a video from the past few weeks. Enjoy...

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Okay, okay, I know. Enjoy this video. It's several minutes, and only has Bella talking, but it shows where her mind's at now.

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We captured Isabella's 3rd birthday celebration at her School. Talie shared stories & pictures about her life. You'll see that she wore a crown the whole day in honor of her birthday. And Talie shared lunch with her and got to watch how she is in the classroom.

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In this installment, Bella sends her pacifiers away to her infant cousins, a brave act of sacrifice and maturity. Today she gives up pacis. Tomorrow she gives up us. Well, hopefully not for another 15-20 years.

Note: The note I write to the mail carrier says, "Dear Mailperson, please throw this envelope out when you get this: this is a ploy to get my daughter to stop using her pacifiers."

Watch the look on B's face as we leave the mailbox. It's like Dustin Hoffman's face at the end of The Graduate: What the hell did I just do?

Also, an update, if you care: She is completely off pacis.

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In this installment of Bella-a-Week, Bella:
1. dances to Rossini's The Barber of Seville;
2. makes fake phone calls;
3. opens some presents from Meema and Mindy for Valentine's Day...

Bella a Week Post 21

We, the management, realize that this has turned into more of a Bella-a-Month videocast, but life with this one is slightly nutty. Anyway, instead of apologies, here's a new video. Don't ask me to translate.

Bella a Week Post 20

After a hiatus of about a month, Bella a Week returns with a long, mostly unedited Bellapalooza.

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In this installment, we get a glimpse of Bella in her Halloween costume (she was a flower and the alphabet).

Then, Bella draws.

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In this video, Isabella:

1) Opens a box of toys from Mima, stuff we couldn't carry back on the plane;
2) Stays home sick from school and discusses it;
3) Hangs out with Daddy;
4) Visits the pumpkin patch with her class.

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I know, I know... no video in September. But here we are in October, and the rains have come, which means more time inside at the computer, making videos.

In this video:
1. Bella and her friend chase each other around a leaf pile.
2. We visit a pumpkin patch with Fin, Jessie, and Anouk and take a hay ride.
3. Bella asks the musical question, "Where's red?" and we talk about her sleeping habits.
4. Bella spins.
5. A post-prandial talk with Bella (she can see herself in the camera screen, so she's mugging). WARNING: This last clip is long, only for the truly dedicated, but it ends with Bella getting scared, and then being cute and pouty.

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In this video:

1. The alphabet, or part of it.
2. A reading session. In this case, Bella reads to us. We can understand isolated words, is all.
3. We head out to Mt. Tabor for the 2007 Soapbox Derby

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In this video, the three of us go to Pickathon, a roots music festival on a farm just outside of Portland. We had a great time. Bella dances, gets her face painted, dances, plays frisbee, dances, and dances.

Bella a Week Post 14

Once again, the title of this blog is betrayed after a hiatus of a few weeks. We, the management, do feel almost constant guilt, it should be noted, when the eighth day comes and we have not posted a video. There will be two this week, which should assuage our guilt.

In this video, Bella (1) draws a face, (2) dances at an outdoor concert near our house, and (3) paints inside while Daddy attempts (successfully, turns out) to make ice cream, and (4) paints outside in our front yard.