It All Started with a Little Skittle...

Gabrielle is now 11 months believe it or not!  As an 11 month old Gabby has changed from a baby to a kid in what seems like a blink of an eye. She believes she is a big girl because she has one tooth.  She no longer crawls as her main source of transportation; instead, she walks (although sometimes uncoordinated). Her vocabulary increases daily.  She has about a eight word vocabulary which includes: mama, dada, cat, hi, uh-oh, eye (while poking you in the eye of course), and in the last two days she added "wow" and "bye."  She spontaneously looks at books, turns the pages, and points to pictures in her books.  She can now put objects back in boxes or buckets as well as taking them out. She also has an obvious preference for objects and sometimes will cry if you do not give her what she wants.  She also will cry if you tell her "no" or sometimes when she knows better and wants to try to do something she knows she is not allowed to do....

It is only 9:30 and I am laying in bed with both of my loves sound asleep! At 9:00 when I realized they were both asleep I ran a very deep, very hot bath and relaxed, contemplating what I should do with the first "me" time it seems I have had in 10 months. First I thought about working on the chores needing to be accomplished around the house, but I quickly vetoed that thought. Then I thought about finishing one of my books, but then I realized they are like Pringles, "once you pop you just can't stop." I would be highly disappointed when I remembered how much I love reading and how much I miss having time to curl up with a good book.( I still haven't figured out how to be an awesome mom, wife, sleep, and an avid reader). Then I thought about giving myself a pedicure, but I am too tired to put in that kind of effort for something so trivial. So here I am laying in bed writing to you on my husband's I phone. It is nice to have a moment to myself to do as...

Today was Gabby's first Super Bowl party.  It was a small gathering, Gabby, Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, Papa, Nanny, Mr. Grand, and Mrs. Chelsea.  Before the party, first thing in the morning, Mommy and Daddy sat on the floor playing with Gabby.  To our surprise she took three steps from Daddy to Mommy, and then from Mommy to Daddy, and then a little to excited tried to run and fell down! We clapped and cheered for her long coming accomplishment (more than any cheering that went on during the Super Bowl).  Gabby wasn't shy about her new ability, she walked to everyone at the Super Bowl party that evening.  It was precious, she does great the first two times she walks a few steps, but then she gets too excited and tries to walk to fast with her head moving to far ahead of her body causing her to tumble.  By the end of the night Gabby was walking up to 8 steps at a time! I know I will quickly forget that the Green Bay Packers won the game, but I will never ...

Michael and I went out New Year's Eve and left Gabby with Grandma and Papa. She didn't have to worry about fireworks, enjoyed bringing in the New Year with her grandparents, and Mommy and Daddy were lucky enough to have a date night! The new year brought Gabrielle the desire to learn new things every week; I suppose that was her resolution (and so far she hasn't broken it).  She has learned to give high fives on demand, climb onto the couch, suck from a straw, crawl up stairs, take a step, stand while playing with objects, and how to listen on the phone.  She also has begun showing her sense of humor.  She is aware when we laugh or think something is funny and she will do it over again to make us laugh more. She also got her first tooth on her 10 month birthday!! Gabby also says "mama," "dada," and "cat."  I can't believe it's possible, but Gabby becomes more and more fun every day!  Here are some pictures of my favorite past time: ...