Packing...or not

We tried to get some packing done yesterday for our trip and this is what happened. Gabriela played in the suitcase. It was so cute, so I watched. It got even cuter so I took pictures. I didn't want anyone else to miss it, so I blogged about it. Still have to finish packing.

Visit with the Sylvesters

My cousin Jen called to let me know her mom and nana were coming into town, so we had to make a special visit. Gabriela was delighted to find a mini-kid sized stroller. She pushed it around most of the time exclaiming "baby stroller!", but had to see if she could fit inside.

Jen had sugar cookies ready for the kids to decorate. Gabriela couldn't wait to get started. Who needs frosting? Uh, that is, until she tasted it.

Gabriela said it was good. She always does the thumbs up sign when she decides something tastes really good.

Michele

Jackson and his fancy easter egg cookie.

The gang

Chance

Gabriela's concentration is stunning. Must eat entire cookie.

Aunt Del! It was such a treat to visit with Aunt Del and introduce her to Gabriela. By the time we left, she was giving Aunt Del kisses and saying, "I love you, Auntie". I'm so mad at myself for not getting a picture of Gabriela and Aunt Del together.

JoAnn, Jen's mom and my cousin. It's always fun to visit with JoAnn.

Gabriela LOVED Michele. She even started saying her name. They giggled together and chased each other around. Here they are with the GINORMOUS Spider Man that Chance won from a carnival game.

The other kids were sweet enough to give Gabriela a chance to test the trampoline out all by herself. She loved it, and kept asking to jump after that. But she's too little to be on there with all the big kids.

Then we all headed to the park and the kids had a blast.

The supervisors :)

Gabriela thinks it's hilarious to pull her hat over her eyes and try walking around.

We had a great day full of fun and family, and since it was my family there was also a lot of eating. Gabriela only napped for 30 minutes that afternoon, so she was sound asleep within minutes of heading out on the road.

Confessions from a Hippie Mama

Hippie Mama here to report that I’ve finally started the process of weaning the wee one. Yes, already. At 20 months. Usually, Gabriela will have none of it if I offer her cow’s milk at home. I’m sure she’s drinking it during the day because that’s what I send in her bottles and they come back empty. Sometimes she will taste it, and immediately reject it and then say “Mama milk”, as if to ask, “what is this crap you’re trying to give me?!?!” This girl can’t be tricked. So, you can imagine how nervous I was about how the process would go, especially since I’ve never done it before.

A long time ago I decided I would only nurse Gabriela when she asked for milk. This is usually in the mornings when she wakes up, immediately upon getting in the car from daycare, when we come home from daycare - Meese (please), Mommy. Milk, couch- at bedtime, and then ALLL throughout the whole night, which is what was starting to get a little old. Gabriela was so excited to have unlimited milk at night because yes, she sleeps in our bed. (I told you I was Hippie Mama)

So, a long time ago I tried to eliminate the daycare-car feeding. I started bringing Gabriela a snack to munch on during our ride home. She soon became accustomed to this, and started asking for her snack in the car instead of milk. (“Meese, mommy, Lah-Lah, snack” sometimes accompanied by her fish sign for goldfish) Success!

Then I thought we’d just go for the gold and try to eliminate the nightly all you can drink nursing sessions. I have to say, Gabriela was not a fan the first night and boy did she let us know. The next night, in my sleepiness, I nursed her once. But, I didn’t nurse her the next night or the night after. Gabriela seems to be resting better, even though she still wakes up and asks for milk. I’ve been giving her cow’s milk in a bottle, because she won’t drink it from a sippie cup for me. And she hasn’t protested.

She still gets a little fussy after daycare when she wants to nurse. But I think she mostly wants cuddles instead of milk. I've been giving her cow's milk and cuddling and it seems to be working.

It’s been going quite well, so far. I’m proud of my big girl. Wish us luck over the next few days.

Gabriela - on waking up.

Gabriela opened her eyes this morning and the first words out of her mouth were "Mommy, Cuddle Mommy" I'm pretty sure my heart melted right then and there.

On Daylight Savings Sunday we had to wake Gabriela up from her nap because it was practically 5 pm. The first thing she did then was clap her hands and say "yay!"

I love our happy baby.

New Shoes

Gravelly Point Park

We walked a mile to this park right by the airport Sunday afternoon. The planes fly just over your heads, it's super loud, and perfect for a little girl who LOVES airplanes.

It got a little windy.

See how close the planes are?

AIRPLANE!

Clemyjontri Park - this time with friends

Saturday we returned to Clemyjontri Park with Gabriela's friend Keady. We told her on the way there that we were going to the park so she could play with Keady, and Gabriela was even telling people in the elevator ride down about Keady.

The weather was gorgeous and the girls were so excited. We brought some goodies for a picnic and Eric and Rhonda brought fresh strawberries and shortcake. Mmmm, delish!

The girls had a blast running around, checking out different areas in the park, and just spending time together.

20 Months Old!

Checking out the rain and trying to figure out how an umbrella works.

Getting ready for the X Games... in a tutu

She loves to play peek-a-boo and say "where Lah-Lah go?"

Sometimes when her hair gets a little crazy, we help get those curls back into shape.

Gabriela is talking more and more every day, and is starting to string her words together. One of her fancy sentences is, "Please, Mommy Lah-Lah snack" Yes, she still thinks her name is Lah-Lah.

Gabriela can say nearly all the names of her family members and identify them in her family book. She seems to add new words to her vocabulary every day. Some of the recent ones are help, rainbow, arcoiris - rainbow in Spanish, which sounds exactly the same as when she says Uncle Ian, squirrel, running, and cuddle. It instantly melts my heart when she says, "cuddle, mommy".

She loves music and requests different songs. Her current favorite is The Wheels on the Bus. Gabriela sings along, but apparently she thinks the people on the bus go apple-down.

One of her new loves in life is ice cream, which she says very clearly. The other night, she handed me her barely touched dinner on a plate, her spoon, her bib, and her cup. She asked to get down, and went straight for freezer. She tried so hard to open the door saying, "ice keeem!" Sorry, kiddo. Another night, she was even asking for it in her sleep, "mommy, ice keem??"

Gabriela is very observant and names nearly everything she sees as we drive in the car or go for walks. She names the cars, the colors of the cars, bicycles, birds, squirrels, motorcycles, baby strollers, dogs, running dogs, running (people), running cars, buses, airplanes, you name it! She really gets antsy when we walk past the metro station. She knows that's where the train is and even gets a little disappointed when we walk by without going for a ride.

National Building Museum

Unfortunately, they had a little event set up and most of the wide open spaces were taken up with tables and chairs.

The Building Zone

Sunday morning we got up early and went to the National Building Museum's Building Zone for kiddos. There were lots of children, and we had to wait a little while for our turn to go inside. There's a huge atrium that kids can just run around in. Gabriela interacted with some of the other children and ran around until it was our turn. She helped build a house.

She loved to play with the train set.

Gabriela played with tinker toys for the first time. See those toys the little girl is playing with in the background? They were magnetic blocks. Gabriela really thought those were cool!

And, of course, she was fascinated by the red cement truck, you know, the same toy she has at home.

There was a little house to play inside, and tons of different kinds of huge blocks and legos, puzzles, books, dress-up toys, and construction tools to play with.

Gabriela discovered one of her favorite things in life, STEPS!

At one point I was on the second floor just looking off into space, when I heard familiar sounding giggles, Gabriela had fun sneaking up on me :)

We had fun, it was a great rainy day activity. Next time, I look forward to checking out some of the exhibits too, and maybe bringing a picnic lunch.

Gabriela has a guest

Keady came over last night while her parents went out on a date. Gabriela was THRILLED when we opened the door to find Keady!

The girls fed each other dinner, got thirsty, had to share some kisses, and each one wanted to do what the other was doing.

They chased each other around, played musical instruments, explored with play-doh, read books, played in Gabriela's kitchen, jumped and danced around, played with tractors, and just had a blast.























Keady learned how to play the harmonica, but we found her true talent is in playing the drums. She was banging away on those things, and even did some fancy tricks flipping the drum sticks around in her hand. Very impressive, Keady!

Gabriela showed Keady how she wears bracelets on her toes. Keady was so excited to try it out, she pulled her socks right off. Gabriela shared her bracelets and even helped Keady put some on her toes.

I thought it would be so cute for the girls to lay down together in the crib and tell each other stories until they drifted off peacefully to sleep. It was off to a good start when Keady got in the crib, promptly laid her head down and snuggled with her stuffed animals. Gabriela, on the other hand, started screaming the moment we put her in the crib. I guess she wasn't done playing. I had to separate the girls before Gabriela convinced Keady to get upset also. In between sobs on the way to our room, Gabriela managed to say, "I Yuv You Keady!" They just love each other.

I had a blast seeing how excited the girls were to spend extra time together. Overall, it was a great success!