Happy Birthday, Gabriela

These past two years have been incredibly transforming for Gabriela.

From two to three Gabriela stopped drinking from a bottle, was potty trained, started talking like you wouldn't believe, learned how to swing all by herself, started sleeping in a big girl bed, and made lots of new friends.  It was like she changed from a baby into a little girl.

Well this last year, Gabriela learned to ride her Skuut bike, and then a real pedal bike, she learned how to write her name, got her own library card, started preschool, had her first sleep over with a friend, and rode her first roller coaster.  She even had her first real haircut this year.  Such a big girl.

When she woke up on her birthday, she looked at me and asked several times if she was really 4 years old. "But Mom, really?  Am I really 4 years old now????"    

She is, and is so big!  A few nights ago, I had a mini melt down where I may or may not have cried my eyes out in disbelief at how my baby had grown so much into such a big kid, right before my eyes. I don't know how it happened.

 Gabriela chose sushi for her birthday lunch. After lunch we walked to Alameda Bicycle to pick up her birthday bike.  They have an awesome trade-in program where they give you a full credit for the purchase price of your bike when you are ready to get a bigger one. How can you say no to that?!? Gabriela proudly rode her new pink and purple bike home. 

 We arrived home just in time to meet her cousins Claire and Natalie for some birthday fun.  These cousins came all the way from Santa Barbara to celebrate with Gabriela.  We walked back up to Park Street for Tucker's Ice Cream.

 Gabriela insisted on ordering Bubble Gum ice cream. She was surprised to find some white gumballs in her cone and explained that she never had that color and maybe they were there today because it was her birthday.

 She also wanted to chew all her bubble gum at once.  Look at all that gum!  Don't worry, I made her spit it out before we left Tuckers.

 And then it was off to our next adventure - pedicures for 5 girls! Gabriela picked out pink and purple and had them alternate colors on her little toesies, thanks to a suggestion from big girl cousin, Natalie.

After that, we went home to find that Daddy had gotten Gabriela some special tassles and put them on her bike for her.  We all drove over to Oakland for pizza dinner and hours of cousin playtime with Chaney, Beau, Claire and Natalie.

Gabriela was exhausted when it was time to go.  We laid her down in the bed and told her how at that time 4 years ago, we were just holding her, looking at her, and thinking about how perfect she was.  Gabriela then asked in her sleepy angelic voice, "Mommy, did you always wish I would be like this??"  Of course we did, sweetheart. Of course we did.

It was so precious.  Even more precious, was that she just drifted off to sleep right after that. 

Happy birthday, Baby. 

Summer Fun Weekend: Sunday

Sunday we visited the Oakland Zoo with some friends of ours, and even ran into some old friends from Gilroy there!  The weather was gorgeous, and it was so nice to enjoy the zoo with Lane this time, since we normally go on week days.

 Our favorites this time were the Sun Bears. We never get to see them up this close!

 I love that we have a zoo membership - especially since we got it for half price with a groupon.  We go so often that Gabriela knows exactly which animals are where.  This time, she directed us to the yellow anaconda because she wanted to see the "big snake".

I had to remind her that we go to the zoo to see the animals and that the rides are just a fun extra thing we get to do there. Of course, that's what we took all the photos of.  Whoops.

 Gabriela and Walter with their daddies

 Gabriela is my little daredevil.  She was so excited that we could finally ride the roller coaster together at the zoo.  Before I was too pregnant, and then I couldn't because I always had Easton in the carrier, and well, Gabriela couldn't convince me to just leave him in the stroller while we ride on the roller coaster.  She tried.  So this was a big deal for us to ride together.  She told me she knew I would love it. And when we tilted over to one side on the ride she assured me, "don't worry. Mommy. You won't fall out".

 After we left the zoo, we stopped at Uncle Nate's to check out the garden Lane planted there.  It is going crazy! We harvested a couple squash and cucumbers, as well as some fresh herbs that were growing in the greenhouse.  Just look at these plants!  They are humungous!!!

 

As if this weren't enough excitement to our weekend, Lane's parents asked if they could stop by on their drive home from Paradise.  We decided to make them dinner and invited Nate and Meliss as well.  After our fresh pesto and salad, we enjoyed a peach crisp for dessert.  Gabriela showed everyone what a pro she is at her two wheel pedal bike, and everyone got in some good conversation and kid play time. 

We sure stayed busy this weekend, but we loved every moment of it!

Summer Fun Weekend: Saturday

Saturday morning we cleaned up our apartment because we were having visitors.  Uncle Noal and Elizabeth made plans to come play at the park with us and stay for dinner.

We always have a wonderful time visiting with them, and they are both so great with the kids.  Special time for everyone!  And it was a treat for me. I'm used to supervising Gabriela, wearing Easton in the carrier, hauling the bags all around, and I had a break!  Even better, Lane and Noal made dinner together, so I didn't even have to worry about that.

Here are some pics from their visit with us.

Somehow, whenever Lane is in charge of the camera there end up being pictures of my butt.  I joked that I should make him a photo book of all these butt pictures.  He didn't think I was joking.

 Elizabeth and Gabriela running through the park. Like Gabriela's "ninja outfit"?

 Daddy helping Gabriela into the big tree.  She immediately asked to be removed from the tree because it "smelled yucky in there"

 Daddy being silly

We sure love these two.  Thanks for the great visit, guys!

Summer Fun Weekend: Friday

Last Friday Gabriela and I got up, got ready, walked across the street, and took the bus to Oakland.  Taking the bus is on our summer fun list, you know.  She was thrilled.  We could have ridden the bus around town and gotten off back at our house, and she would have thought it was amazing.

I actually had a destination in mind.  I recently learned about this program through the library where you can print free passes to go to local museums and attractions, so we printed one out and headed to MOCHA, the Museum Of Children's Art.  While they do have children's art on display, the most fun happens at their studio where there are several different projects set up, tons of supplies, loads of glue, scissors, fabric, pipe cleaners, sequins, play dough, and painting stuff.  Gabriela made a couple of paper dolls - I should really take pictures for you.  And the best part for the parents is no clean up.  Yay!

Gabriela had just as much fun over lunch outside.  A bunch of older kids at camp were having their lunch, and this girl loves watching the big kids.  We ate and she inched her way over to me... hung out a little more, and then finally asked me if I would dance with her (in the courtyard to Michael Jackson that someone was blasting from their boom box)  OF COURSE!  So Gabriela and I totally got down with our bad selves, Easton too because he was in the carrier.  It was a blast.

There was a farmers market happening right outside the museum on Friday as well, so we walked through, sampled the goodies, and bought some kettle corn for family fun night.

That's right, Family Fun Night.

It started out as family movie night, but I changed it to family fun because that way you don't have to watch a movie. Especially in the summer!  We do have movie nights, but sometimes we have game nights, or sometimes, we'll just have dinner at the park and play there.  Last Friday we had plans to go to Crab Cove for a concert. This Eagles cover band called the Lyin' I's played.  We sat with Stephanie and Adam and cutie pie Thomas. They had to leave early, but right when they left, Heather, Serkan and Rowan arrived.  It was a great time. There were restaurant booths, face painting, and a clown making balloons for the kids.  Every one was picnicking and dancing.  We even ran into one of Gabriela's old friends from Music Together. The girls and their daddies danced and played chase.  It was a wonderful evening.

But it didn't stop there. Heather and Serkan invited us back to their place afterwards.  Serkan is the master snack maker. Gabriela even comments about how he has the best snacks. He just "threw together what they had" so we had a gorgeous platter of prosciutto wrapped figs, cheeses, hummus and fruit, along with some mojitos with fresh mint grown on their patio.  As always, we had a great time hanging out with them.  It was a wonderful start to a very busy weekend.

Eight Months Old

What a month this has been.  Although, I am starting to feel like a broken record.  Every month, Easton seems to grow way more than he should be allowed.

Just as I predicted, Easton started showing signs of really crawling days after he turned 7 months old.  The next thing I knew, he was rocking on all fours all the time.  Then he started slowly scooting towards items of interest on the floor.  About two weeks after he started moving around with purpose, Easton started picking up speed with his cute little army crawl, and he is sometimes even crawling on all fours, with his tummy in the air.

See all that drool?  Easton is so close to cutting two more top teeth, and maybe even two more on the bottom, but they still haven't poked through yet.

Easton went to a birthday party this month. It was so sweet to see him interacting with kids his own age.  Normally, Easton just comes along for the ride with Gabriela and her friends.  I was glad to see him playing with his own friends this time, and it reminded me that we need to make time to do this more often.

Over the last month, Easton has been spitting and blowing little bubbles of frustration to show us when he is angry about something.

He still adores bath time, and I am finally able to lay him down after he falls asleep - and he actually stays that way for most of his naps!  As much as I love carrying him around in the carrier close to me, I sometimes need a break from having him strapped to me.

And just yesterday, this little guy toughed it out and actually fell asleep (and stayed) in his crib for two naps!! Oh, how I hope this keeps up.

Easton is not very interested in eating pureed foods anymore.  We have been feeding him table food, and it's amazing to see what he is willing to eat, and what he actually can feed himself without problems.  Easton is eating regular oatmeal, rice, and has even enjoyed foods like black beans, salmon, and barbequed chicken livers.  He can pick food up and feed himself, but uses a closed fist to put the food up to and into his mouth.  Although he hasn't mastered his pincher grasp yet, he is really starting to use his pointer finger to inspect toys, foods, and things he finds around on his crawling adventures.


Last week, after Easton finished eating I asked him if he wanted me to pick him up, doing the up sign.  Easton immediately stuck out his pointer finger and excitedly raised it up a few times.  I think he did his first sign!!  I was so proud of him.

Around the same time, Easton started crawling to things, and pulling himself up onto his knees.  I took all of the following photos in one day. The same day he started testing out this fancy new skill.

Never mind the bunny I knitted that doesn't have any ears. I never finished that part.  Anyway, this has resulted in Easton losing his balance and falling over, and also smushing his sweet little fingers.  Easton finds knobs completely irresistible. So he opens the drawers and then closes them onto his little fingers.  Poor baby.  Pretty soon, he will pull himself up to standing. Then the cruising will start. Oh, how did my baby get so big??

 Sweet, sweet baby boy

Fourth of July

The night before the Fourth, we bundled up, packed some treats, and walked to the water, close to where we live to catch some fireworks.  The water is directly across from the Oakland Coliseum, so we caught the A's fireworks show after the night game. Gabriela wasn't nearly as petrified as she was the first time, but she still insisted on covering her ears.  The fireworks were pretty amazing. 

Even though they were very late, it was totally worth it.

Alameda has a giant 4th of July parade - they even say it's one of the biggest in the country.  So, we knew we couldn't miss it.  We packed up snacks and drinks, got sunscreened up, and walked downtown to find a spot to watch.  We arrived just in time for the beginning.

 Gabriela stood and watched for a little while, until Daddy got her chair out for her.  Don't you just love her dress??? Nana made it for her.

 Gabriela was very excited to see Santa ride by during the parade.  She excitedly waved at him.

 Lane liked seeing the World War II jeeps

Gabriela was also a fan of the mermaids

 Yay! The American Red Cross!  It was nice seeing them participate in the parade.

 

There was no shortage of unusual vehicles parading down Park Street.

 Yes, the Mexican flag in the 4th of July Parade.  These guys were pretty cool.  The horses were prancing and skipping and dancing. I'd never seen such fancy horse footwork before then.

 

These guys just added a horse to the front of their bike. There were a ton of bike riders in the parade.  Making me long for a little beach cruiser of my own.

 

If the whole bike and horse thing doesn't work out, you can always ride a bull.  

I've never seen THAT before!

  

Gabriela sat and watched the whole parade intently.  She was a little bummed because people kept passing out candy and other goodies, and they just kept skipping her. When she finally got something it was this enormous blue lollipop that mysteriously disappeared before she finished it.  

 Easton napped through much of the parade, but he woke up to catch some of it.  He even watched from the stroller - he never spends much time there.

See, I told you there were a bunch of strange "vehicles" in the parade!

 Pretty much anyone can be in the parade. This float was for the "Alameda Dance Party" and there was another float for people advertising their block, how awesome it was, and inviting everyone to come attend their block party later that afternoon.

  Um, how could you not have a float for Zombie Vixens From Hell?!?  Lane really wants to see this show now ;)

 

We met Adam and Stephanie at the parade.  Just check out how darling Thomas is, all dressed up for the Fourth!

 

After the parade, we joined Adam and Stephanie, as well as some other friends for a bbq potluck.  

There were other festivities that I thought we might check out later that afternoon, but here's what my lap looked like at 7pm that night. 

What a treat it was to have Lane home in the middle of the week with us. The weather was gorgeous and we had a wonderful time in our cute little town.