147/365: Smile!

This image makes me giggle and all warm and fuzzy inside.  Nothing is more beautiful to a mom than seeing her child smile.  Bella, while a diva and manipulator, is pretty easy to please in many ways.  She is a girl's girl--you can give her clothes, shoes, or make up and she'll shine.  She also love just about anything that sparkles.  Oh!  And did I mention chocolate?  Yes, my little princess would do quite a lot for chocolate.  And she's not particular like her mother; she will eat ANY chocolate you let her have.  Today's treat is half of a trailmix bagel covered in Nutella.

One of my favorite Bella stories involving chocolate happened two Christmas' ago.  In an attempt to get the kids excited about Christmas and to understand when it was coming, I got them Advent calendar from Trader Joe's.  After a few days, Boo could have cared less.  He'd look at the shape of the chocolate and give it to his sister.  (He's picky like me.)  Bella would gladly accept and wolf down both pieces.  Christmas was still a few weeks away when we had our neighborhood party.  Uncle Jeffrey was kind enough to babysit that evening.  It was about 11 when we came home.  The kids were snuggled down for the night and as we stood in the kitchen I noticed the Advent calendars were up on top of the kitchen cabinets.  At bedtime, after Uncle Jeffrey had tucked Bella in and moved to Boo's room, Miss Bella snuck downstairs.  She climbed up on the kitchen stool (she was two at the time) and proceeded to open day after day after day on the calendars, gorging on the chocolate inside.  I think she got about ten pieces down by the time Uncle Jeffrey caught her.