little California girl

As a gift to my grandparents, my aunt and my mom sent Drew, me and Bentley to Orange County to be "handyman/painter", "organizer/cleaner-outer", and "little ham-sandwich". I have finally uploaded all the videos, edited all the photos to now bring them to you via this blog. enjoy!

BEFORE


AFTER
The butterflies returned to their rightful place.

DURING
Drew donning Papa's work clothes and Nana's belt. Less to pack for us.


Bentley comes in for the assist...




I have fond memories growing up looking forward to our annual visits to my grandparents home and getting to pick oranges. My dear childhood friend Andrea and I even sold oranges at the end of the driveway one year. I painted a big wooden orange sign and we rigged an umbrella to stand up as our sun shade. I believe we scored about $60 to share. With this I am sure we went to the mall. It is a joy now to watch my daughter enjoying the same experience even at just 18 months old.




We even enjoyed a bit of home with the warm (thank goodness) rainy days.







My new camera came a few days prior to us visiting, so I made myself pack it so that I could practice before my first wedding of 2010 at the end of the month. I have also been teaching Drew a few things... enjoy his capturing the essence of our daughter, Bentley Brooke.




Each morning Bentley would walk down the hallway and ask for Nana and Papa by name. And she made sure to say "Doody" in response to Papa's morning greeting, "Howdy Doody!" As Papa would relax in his chair, she made sure to tell all of us, with her finger to her mouth, "Shhhh" since he was "sleeping" apparently. She acclimated to this new environment very well. Even to the nightly Jeopardy sessions that were a must-see as her bedtime neared.





We visited with Grandpa Hall for breakfast and got to see the boats that were right outside our restaurant near mission viejo. (I can't remember the name of the city we were actually in, dad!) Corrected! We had breakfast in Dana Point.



We nearly missed the Superbowl! Drew was ready to grill me because our tickets were booked to leave DURING the Superbowl. We ended up extending our stay which included homemade guacamole with authentic California avocados from Nana's friend, as well as several chip dips (Bentley doesn't yet understand that double-dipping is a serious social faux-pas), instead she would much rather dip the chip and suck the guacamole off and then dip again. The game ended with a raucous tackle of daddy by Bentley.





The ham-sandwich herself





Nana teaches Bentley the church and the steeple. I love experiencing things again for the first time through her eyes. I love even more that Bentley has had the opportunity to visit her namesakes at their home three times now.



And I can't forget to mention that we tried to see Andrea, J and the girls while we were down there, but alas, it did not work out. We are looking forward to their visit to Washington in April.

We did get to see my brother Matt and my sis-in-law Judy and my nieces and nephew. We went for our second annual breakfast at Dennys and then to this little farm near the swap meet. We saw LOTS of interesting animals. Then Judy and I got away with just the little ones to the Santa Ana Zoo that my Nana thought was just a park around the corner. It turned out that my Pt. Defiance Zoo membership got us all in for free! yippee! Unforntuately I was so paranoid about my new camera, I did not bring it on these excursions to take any photos. ugh. Judy has a few, perhaps she will share? (wink wink)

On our flight home, Bentley accidentally spilled water on her outfit, so we changed her into her PJs. While in transition and just in her diaper, she said "diaper dance" ("dipah da") and proceeded to hold the seat in front of her while she moved her hips wildly!

Bentley's Top Fifteen

1) Insists on her dancing shoes, I mean, "Boohts" At the sound of music, she says "Boohts", insisting that she wear her rainboots before breaking into dance. (In this captured moment, she is complete with her handheld blue block "microphone" and sporting her genie costume from our friend, Kathy.)


2) Concentration Tongue She has "concentration tongue." According to Drew, this trait is from daddy.


3) "Phones" She can turn anything into a phone. She says "hi" into the keys against her neck, "hi" into the remote, "hi" into a block, etc.

4) Cat M-Now! She LIKES cats. ugh. She says "M-Now!" instead of Meow when she spies the tomcat that likes to snooze in our flowerbed. (The same one that also like to pick cat fights on our deck to wake me up, mark his territory on our kitchen window and transform the area underneath our porch into a public bathroom.)

5) SHOES. We can't get enough shoes. We try the shoes on Bentley, on mommy, on monkey, on froggy, and we put them by the door with mommy's boots. Two recent outings have been to the children's area of Payless Shoe Source. We LOVE shoes. We also like to try on every one else's shoes. She liked Auntie Pam's heels.



6) Hello Everyone, and I mean everyone. She says hello to EVERYONE; the Target cashier, the lady putting her groceries in the car, the man WAY across the parking lot who just got out of his car, the girl sitting in the car waiting for her mom or dad to come out of the store, and the loiterer on the bench outside the store, every single teller at the bank the moment she walks in. She also gets pretty offended if the gesture is not returned. This is typically showcased by a more intense, higher octave "HI!!!!!" and frantic waving.

7) "I will try anything" well, except the first bite of food she has had before AND liked. She uses her Sit n' Spin while standing. She plays "equestrian" on top of her grocery cart (feet mounted on the absolute highest point and arms free - sorry no photo yet, I was preparing to come to her rescue, not hold a camera), and when she received her H1N1 shot, she simply grimaced and then pointed to her bandaid very matter-of-factly and said "Owie".

8) Push/Pick-up Stuff. She likes to pick up/push heavy things. She pushes the chairs all around the house. She tries to pick up her basket of books. She completely lifted up her rocket car today and was super proud of herself, I made sure to clap. She put her suitcase upright. She picks up her Sit 'n Spin and carries it to where she desires. She picked up one of my 'decorative' suitcases and carried it. She loves to push carts, whether it be her stroller or the shopping cart. If she tries and fails, I hear screaming. Then I calmly ask her if she is frustrated. If I know she can do it, I say "Try again, you can do it." If she can't, I say, "Can you say mommy, help please?"


9) That's Bentley-size! She will try to climb in anywhere or get in anywhere. She climbed in her suitcase, she climbed into her grocery cart and nearly fell over, she climbed into a bathroom cabinet. And if she can't do it, she will push something over to use to then get on or in something.


10) SURPRISE FACE Her "surprise face" is classic Bentley. This expression was never prompted, just rightly termed after she revealed it to us several times. We wanted to give it a name to see if we could ask for it on demand... and yes we can and yes we sometimes abuse this. How can you not? Enjoy the montage video below.



11) The kid who cried "Poop!" She is really good at informing me when she poops. She tells me "Poooohp" and points to her changing table. Then when I say, "You pooped?" she says "nuhnoooo" and shakes her head. But alas, I take her over to the changing table, and voila, poop.

12) Everything is better in a diaper. Bathtime is just not nearly as fun anymore as what happens after bathtime; DIAPERtime. Dancing is always better in just a diaper, running is better in a diaper, trying on shoes is better in a diaper, reading is better in a diaper and spinning on the Sit n' Spin is better in... what? a diaper.



13) I love belly buttons. We are now realizing that we will have to somehow keep her from lifting up her shirt all the time in her excitement.

14) I am intense Everything she does is intense, from taking her babydoll out of the stroller (which she named today, "Pasha" and since calls her that), to drinking from her cup like Napoleon Dynamite, everything must be done intensely.

15) I am a goofball She will start yelling "Up! Down!" for no particular reason and then proceed to do squats. She will be happily playing by herself and then suddenly run into you. Or she prefers to look at the world upside-down randomly. And with her surprise face, again, she can say "goofball" no better herself.

The Scrunch Face

Bentley has a signature scrunch face, she finally reveals it here for just a moment.

What will her first ringtone be...?

Bentley gets a phone for Christmas and Drew gives Bentley scissors.

Butterflies, Belly Buttons and Boots

Bentley got butterfly wings for Christmas and they were definitely a hit. She likes flying in front of the mirror.