February 2012
Gabriella turns 5!

I can't believe my little tiny little purple screaming 7lb bundle of cuteness is now 5 years old. Five is for real. She's completely a kid now. If her age wasn't telling me this, her behavior certainly would be. Along with her increasing independence, more sophisticated sense of humor, and expanding interests, she also has intermittent bouts of defiance (e.g., ignoring us parents, saying "no" or stomping off when we ask her to do something.) She has also begun to experience some fear (e.g. of the nighttime, of being alone, etc.) Her increasingly complex reasoning is hard to keep up with!

 Her current passions include animals and, um, animals. She loves those Schleich or Papo animal figures. She received some lions and dogs for Christmas and Hanukkah. They were, by far, her favorite presents.

She also loves chapter books. Stew reads to her every night. She is currently fascinated with the Vet Volunteer book series. She requests picture books on occasion, but prefers the chapter books for bed. We're amazed at her auditory comprehension. Once she's done with Vet Volunteers, she wants us to start the Warrior series. (Really?) I'm trying to convince her to let me read Little House in the Big Woods. I think I might win.

We also discovered that her toe-walking has shortened her Achilles tendon, such that she cannot squat with her feet facing forward. We took her to PT and try to do stretches with her. It's been helping (she doesn't seem to notice one way or the other!)

She loved her 5th birthday celebration. We started off with oatmeal (she requested this for breakfast at age 3, age 4, and now age 5.) She, of course, loves blowing out candles first thing in the morning!

Brianna and Gabriella admiring the delicious oatmeal with candle.

At dinner, Oma made a deluxe torte that took several days to make. We all loved it and felt lucky to have something this good on a work night for dessert! Thanks Mom!

One amazing torte!

This gift had to do with animals, can you tell? 

Her party took place at a local party place. She was talking about going here ALL YEAR. I was actually impressed with her tenacity - despite going to other great places in the past year, she never let up on going to Party Paradise. She was thrilled to see her cousin!

Gabriella, cousin Katelyn, and Brianna (who is apparently embarrassed of big sister!)

Rather than using the zip line, she chose to dive off the cliff. 

Notice the animal theme??

I wanted to shoot myself in the head at the party, but she and the kids seemed to have a good time! Ahh...so another year gone by. And then kindergarten next. How can I slow down this clock!!???