Spending time with Grandma

May 30, 2008
Gabriella had a great time visiting Grandma in Seattle last week. She was in the backyard as much as anywhere. Grandma had her barefoot for most of the time we visited, so Gabriella is slowly getting over her "tactile discomfort." (She doesn't like the feel of weird things on her hands and feet... like fingerpaint, for example...)
She LOVED the elephants...and Grandma loved showing them to her... This was at the Woodland Park Zoo...

Miss you Dadeee!

I can't wait to come home!

Time for a bath.

A Picture Says a Thousand Words

Here are a few of the words:

1. Tired
2. Grumpy
3. Messy
   

Who knew drinking water could be so fun?

A very happy Mother's Day

May 11, 2008


For Mother's Day went took a trip to the Buffalo zoo. It was a pleasure to be able to spend time with the family and really absorb how much Gabriella has changed over the past year. I'm actually not a big fan of zoo trips, normally. They kinda make me sad. However, going with Gabriella is a whole new experience. Watching her look at all of the different animals was so much fun. She pretty much saw two different species in the zoo: DOGS and CATS. In the "doggy" category were: bears, llamas, wolves, reindeer, and gorillas. In the "kkkk" category were: lions, tigers, and lemurs. She doesn't know how to say "fish," but she was able to recognize that they were definitely NOT doggies, or Kitty cats.

One of her favorite exhibits was the Macaque.

At some of the exhibits, she was more interested n the humans next to her, than the actual animals. Not with the Sulawesi Crested Macaque exhibit.
Here she is smiling and pointing at one of the little guys... and then, before I knew it...

















It jumped up to say "hi" to her!

She was like, "Whoaa there. A little too close buddy." (Can she lean back any further here??)

















All in all it was a good day.
It was a really good day.

Butterfly Conservatory

May 10, 2008
Age 14.5 months (WOW!)

Today we went to the Butterfly Conservatory and Niagara on the Lake, in Ontario, Canada with my friend Beth and her son, James (age 20 months.) Gabriella had a great time relaxing in the stroller, eating new and wonderful foods (vanilla frozen yogurt with fresh bananas and mangos was the biggest crowd pleaser,) checking out the thousands of butterflys, and running through the tulip fields. Interspersed were a few minor tantrums and a couple of naps. All in all, a good day.

May 2, 2008
Age 14 months, 1 week

Since our camera isn't working, I haven't been nearly as good at posting here. Here is a snippet of some cute things from this past month:

1. I discovered that Gabriella's vocabulary is expanding quicker than I can keep up. Yesterday she said "broccoli," (sounded like, "baah- eee".)

She also knows the word, "Baby." She likes to point out babies to me. Silly girl, you're still a baby!
I watched the movie, Juno, the other night. At the end, during the scene with the newborn, I started crying. Gabriella looked at the television and said, "Baby!" - in a really cute voice. That's when I really started crying.

2. She likes to wake up in the middle of the night screaming, "DOGGGYYYY, DOOGGGGYYYY" like there is some big Dog Emergency in the house.

Stew and I went for a walk this evening. I heard the same exact panicked/excited scream when she saw a dog on the other side of the street. The screams were accompanied by pointing and jumping. I realized that when it's daylight, the screams have a much cuter appeal.

3. If we want to distract her, we can usually ask her to go and get a book. She'll then walk over to her book shelf and pick out one that she likes. Nine times out of 10, she'll pick, "Good Night Moon," which, of course, I can now read without looking at the pages.

4. Grandma Gabriella bought a little table and two chairs from Ikea for Gabriella. She LOVES to sit there to eat. In fact, she already has her own spot at the table. If, by chance, you sit in the chair at her spot, she may start crying.

5. We went to visit Grandpa the other day, at his Assisted Living. He was eating dinner when I arrived. Gabriella recognized him from across the room and started running towards him and pointing. At that point, my dad was the hero of all the other residents. (They LOVE attention from babies!- who doesn't?)