She's got coy down pat

Lots of stuff has gone on the past couple weeks, but the cutest development is Bella May's newest greeting for strangers.

When a stranger approaches the child (and many do - each and every day), she tucks her head against her shoulder. If I'm holding her, she tucks her head against my shoulder. The whole time she's peeking at the strange person and usually grinning slightly. It's as if half of her wants to be bashful while the other half wants to smile and flirt with this new person.

In equally cute but much funnier news: Javier came home from school today stressed out about skin mites and tapeworms. His gym teacher takes issue with kids biting their nails or otherwise putting their fingers in their mouths. Enter Javi, who is constantly checking for loose teeth. You can imagine how irksome his teacher finds him.

So today she told him that there are microscopic bugs all over your body and that when you put your fingers in your mouth, those bugs get into your body. They travel all the way down to your stomach where they hatch a "make-a-worm" that's 26-inches long(!) and wraps around your body(!).

Can you imagine how Javi took this news? He was alternately fascinated and horrified. This evening after washing his hands for dinner he wanted to show me his newest loose tooth. As soon as his finger hit his mouth, he jerked it back down and yelled "No! No bugs and NO WORMS!" I guess his gym teacher will cut him some slack now.

I don't have time for more of a Bell-Bell update, but I have uploaded a ton of videos and photos - so go take a break from your day with my monkey. :)