Yesterday Gabriela asked for something in particular for dinner for the first time ever.  What did she want?  PIZZA.  And she asked for it over and over and over again.  I promised her I would make her a little pizza, so then she started asking endlessly for a "little pizza".  Lucky for me, she was happy with some toast, pizza sauce, and cheese all cooked up cos I didn't have it in me to make dough last night.

After dinner, Gabriela announced it was NAKED TIME and that she wanted a bath.

When I was trying to put her to sleep, Lane came downstairs and Gabriela said, "I still awake. Mommy sleeping!" I had to set a good example for what she should have been doing. But why'd she have to rat me out like that??

I love that her little personality is coming out even more as her language takes off!

Staying Cool

It has been pretty warm here the past few days, and Gabriela has figured out a way to keep cool all by herself. 

 

After pouring water on her head, she comes to me yelling, "mommy! mommy!" which she usually says when she wants me to admire something she's done.

 

Checking out her handiwork

 

Going in for more.  And so serious!

 

Gabriela looks so mischievous in this one because she's gotten the brilliant idea that mommy needs to cool off too.  yikes.

 

So proud of herself!

And now it's time for a drink.

For at least three or four days we've had to set Gabriela's clothes outside to dry before coming back inside. I'm glad she's enjoying the summer weather!

Tilden Park, revisited

We sure missed Daddy when he was gone from Saturday to Tuesday helping Uncle Ian and family move into their new home. It was especially strange because Uncle Nate and his family were still gone on vacation.  Gabriela and I stayed busy with our visit from Auntie Theresa.

On Monday we returned to Tilden Park, but this time we didn't go to Little Farm.  We went to the Merry Go Round.  Gabriela got very excited when she saw it and exclaimed, "it's FUN!!!" just looking at it. So I bought us some tickets and we were the first ones on when it opened for the day. She handed the guy her ticket, all by herself, said hi, and we got onto adjoining horsies.

Unfortunately, Gabriela got very nervous once the ride got going.  I got off of my horse and stood next to her.  She was still saying, "no horsie, no horsie" until I hopped onto her horse with her.  Then she started clapping her hands and instructing me to hold on with two hands.

When the ride was over, she clapped some more and thanked the guy operating the ride as we exited.  I wish I had brought the camera to document the event.

We went for a long walk in Tilden Park, had a snack, followed some birds, and came back for one more trip on the merry go round.

Here's the story in Gabriela's words, "merry go round.  it fun! mee-mee (starts dancing), wave to people, and mommy. two hands! And thank you (does the Thank You sign).  Boy not listen to mommy.  no!  Baby! baby moving her toes"

She was happy about the music, she waved to people on the ride, and yes, she witnessed another boy getting in trouble for not listening to his mommy. She also walked over to a baby in her stroller to say hi, and was excited when the baby moved her little toes in delight.

Next time we go back to Tilden Park, we have to go for a train ride. 

The Oakland Zoo

 

Theresa and her family came to visit Gabriela and me over the weekend for a visit to the Oakland Zoo.  I was so happy to have them, especially since it's just been Gabriela and me the past few days.  

We saw so many different kinds of apes - gibbons, baboons, tamarins, chimpanzees, and more.  This was perfect because Gabriela is having a monkey birthday party next month. She just loves monkeys!

  

The zoo has a cute kids area that Andrew and Gabriela explored while we had snacks  Andrew pretended to be a giant tortoise, Gabriela sat on a frog, and then they went down tree slides together.

 

Gabriela and Auntie Theresa walking on the lily pads  

We just happened to get to the baboon area as they were prepping for their lunch.  After they all ran out to enjoy their mid-day feast, Gabriela started asking for "more monkeys out of the window".  

 

We were so excited to see giraffes.  There aren't any giraffes at the national zoo!  Gabriela loved them. She talked about their long necks and how her neck is short.  She also noticed two giraffes kissing. so sweet. 

 Then we saw Andrew's favorite, the meerkats.  This was obviously the best photo from the meerkat shoot.  I was amazed because we didn't make a big deal of them to Gabriela and we've never read books or watched movies about meerkats before.  But later that day, she randomly said "meerkat. Auntie Teesa, Andrew, Bobby running in the stroller. That my stroller!" And yes, we saw the meerkats with Auntie Theresa and Andrew, and we were sharing the stroller with cousin Andrew and Bobby was running with Andrew in the stroller, and Gabriela pointed out that it was her stroller. She's been telling us long stories for months. I'm so glad I can finally understand what she's saying!

Anyway, we skipped out on the rides and the train because it was hot and the kids were getting really tired. We'll just have to do that when we return to the zoo. I was thrilled to discover that it was FREE since we are members of the National Zoo.  Hurray! We will be coming back very often.

Grover gets a Time Out

Gabriela has been getting timeouts recently for not listening to us when we ask her to do (or not to do) certain things.  We have been telling her how important it is to listen to her mommy and daddy.  Apparently, Gabriela understands because she gave Grover a time-out yesterday.  She put him on time-out and then got down to his eye level and said very slowly and clearly, "Grover, Listen to Lah-Lah. Listen to Gabi-Lah-Lah"

Cousin Time

 

The kids all played outside yesterday while we prepared Fakesgiving dinner.  Check out all these cutie pies!

 

Baby Caetlin is such a big girl, she stands up all by herself.  Did I mention she's adorable?  

Christianne was so sweet with all the little kids. She played outside with them and they all had a blast! 

Andrew in the tunnel.

 

Nana had a great idea to give the kids all ice cream cones. I love how Mina's ice cream goes all the way to her elbow. It was sure hot and they really enjoyed the treat - see for yourself:

 

Andrew asked Christianne if she wanted to trade cones with him, when he saw hers was much bigger than his. At least he asked, Gabriela came up to me, gave me her cone, and took mine. She's a big fan of the ice cream cone.

A visit with Christianne

We're so lucky, Christianne came to California for a trip, and was able to spend a few days with our family!  She cried when she saw every one, so sweet.  All the kids adore Christianne.  Gabriela got a little confused and started calling her Auntie Kristie.  I can't believe Christianne is taller than me!!!

Since we were all together, we HAD to have Fakesgiving Dinner again.  Sorry, I was too busy to take pictures.  But we feasted on Parsley Sage Chicken Breasts, mashed potatoes, butternut squash risotto, fresh green bean casserole, stuffing, sweet potatoes, tossed green salad, and pumpkin cheesecake and brownies for dessert.

We can't wait to see Christianne again soon.