Gabriela's Not the Baby Anymore!

At least on the Clower side of the family. Congratulations to Tim and Kristie and big sister Mina on the birth of sweet baby Caetlin Clower this morning at 10:03 PST. Caetlin was tiny compared to Mina at birth, weighing in at 7 lbs 2 oz and measuring 20 inches long. We are so excited for a new baby in the family. Kristie had a really long labor full of false starts. You did a great job, Kristie! We hope you can all get some rest now. Big Giant Hugs & Kisses from Auntie Elena, Uncle Lane and Gabriela.

Doesn't that smile just melt your heart?! What a proud big sister. Mina has been telling Caetlin to "come out" for days so she can paint her toe nails and other fabulous things. I know she's going to be an awesome and loving big sister.

Welcome Fall!

Last night we celebrated the arrival of fall with a delicious new recipe - Seared Pork Tenderloin with a Cocoa Spice Rub. I am totally making this again!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/michael-chiarello/seared-pork-tenderloin-with-cocoa-spice-rub-recipe/index.html

We served it along with a roasted butternut squash puree and quinoa pilaf with sage and dried cranberries.

In my excitement to scarf down our celebratory autumnal feast, I forgot to take photos. It was delish.

Tonight is take two at Cooks Illustrated Molasses Spice Cookies. We didn't have enough flour last night!

Family Picnic

Lane's work had a little family picnic today. We had a great time. Gabriela played and played. She was too busy to ask for milk the whole time.

She and Daddy tested out the bounce house. Even though Gabriela looked a little timid and not sure about what was going on while she was in the bounce house, she did the "more" sign as soon as they got out. Of course, Lane had to take her back for round 2.

Here she is playing with golf clubs. Shortly after this I had to try to convince her not to eat the little plastic golf balls. Never a dull moment, I tell you.

Gabriela wanted to make sure she didn't miss anything. Here she is peeking on the big kids.

Gabriela passed out as soon as we got in the car and slept for 2.5 hours!! She was so pooped. We enjoyed chatting, eating, and drinking with Lane's co-workers and their families. We even got to see some 4 DAY old twins. We were all amazed that the parents made it out with their brand new babies.

New Pics

uh-oh

Some reasons for Mommy to say uh-oh

Toes like these can only mean trouble

Gabriela finally said uh-oh for the first time yesterday. Although, it was more like uh......................oh.

At the library she was throwing a block on the floor as hard as she could with two hands and saying uh-oh. Yeah, right. Uh-oh. She said it all day.

This morning she woke up and instead of asking for a book or looking for cars out the window like she normally does, she did the sign for potty. As soon as she sat down, she did a little morning pee-pee. Yay, Gabriela. Bravo!

Weekend Report

Saturday morning Gabriela had plans for a play-date with her friend Francesca at the zoo. Unfortunately, we were running late and then ended up parking the parking lot furthest from the zoo entrance, so we arrived at our meeting place 30 minutes late. Of course, I didn't have Kristin's cell phone number to let her know we were running late. Luckily, we found each other shortly after that and had a fun day at the zoo together. I wish I had gotten some good pictures. Gabriela and Francesca gave each other kisses. Her favorite animals were the gorillas and lions. Gabriela waved to them like, "Hi, remember me??" It was so darling.

Sunday we had our friends Bill & Julie and Patti over for a fabulous carnitas burrito dinner. Fabulous, that is, until the smoke detector went off. All was going well when Gabriela did the potty sign. I took her to the bathroom and was sitting on the floor reading books with her. I took off her long dress and tossed it up on the bathroom counter from the floor. All of a sudden poor little Gabriela practically jumped out of her skin when the alarm started sounding. I grabbed her, poopy bottom and all, and ran to the other room where it was a little more quiet. The boys were trying to make the alarm stop, and when it did, we returned to the bathroom where Gabriela's dress was on fire. It was only a teeny fire, but nevertheless, on fire. So, while holding Gabriela, I put the dress in the sink and turned on the faucet to stop the flames. I didn't realize that Lane had lit a candle in the bathroom - what are the chances that I'd inadvertently place the dress directly on an open flame???

I was so sad that it was ruined and immediately threw the charred dress away. Only later did I think that maybe I could have salvaged at least part of it and turned it into a skirt or something, but alas, it was too late. Nothing like a little extra excitement at dinner time.

14 Months Old

This was a big month because Gabriela started trying out the potty. She has even started doing the sign for potty. She will sit there for a long time as we read stories, sing songs, and even give pedicures. She flashes a great big grin when she actually makes her little potty. Of course, she still has wet diapers, and we sometimes have to catch her in the act, but she's much farther along in this regard than I thought she'd be.

Gabriela understands so much more these days. She can identify lots of things in books that she can't quite say yet. Some of her new words include kitty kat "Ki-Kah", cracker "Kah-kah" and even though she said book before, she started adding the "k" sound to it. Although now, it's "boo-kah". Gabriela has started saying car, too. One of her most favorite new words this month is Bravo "ba-boh". We have also noticed her saying agua (water) and puerta (door). Gabriela is also starting to say a word for airplane and toothbrush.

We have a book that is actually a song. Sometimes Gabriela will bring us "This Old Man" and start dancing because she knows we sing a song every time we look at that book.

We haven't really been showing her more signs, we really need to get on that. But Gabriela has been doing the sign for bird a lot. She also made up a sign for toothbrush. She loves her toothbrush and does the sign and then signs please so we'll give it to her. However, she absolutely detests having her teeth brushed. She just wants to do it herself.

Gabriela now knows where her toes, knees, ears, hands, belly button and fingers are too. She is also starting to learn animal sounds. She can tell us what sound a lion, a horse, a dog, a cat, and a monkey make.

She pretends to drink tea from her tea set and loves to go outside. She will sometimes stand by the balcony and sign please and reach for the door. Gabriela is starting to understand about doorknobs. She reaches up high and can almost touch them.

Gabriela is learning so fast, we can't believe it. She is definitely not a baby anymore. She is such a big girl, but she'll always be OUR baby :-)

Videos of Gabriela

She's learning so fast now. Watch her identify her body parts.

Trying to feed Grover some breakfast.

Gabriela was being silly at the dinner table. I don't know where she gets it???

Dance, baby, dance!

Within the last few weeks, Gabriela has learned to say "Bravo!" That's what they say at daycare when they clap their hands instead of "yay". It was the sweetest thing when we first realized it. Now, if Gabriela does something she is proud of, or if we sing her a song, she'll clap and say Bravo. I admit it, sometimes it hurts if I finish a song and she doesn't applaud my amazing singing abilities.

A Personal Hygiene Lesson for Gabriela

Gabriela, THIS is a hair brush.

This is not.

I caught her trying so hard trying to brush her hair with this dusty ol' thing. I wanted to take a picture of her in the act, but wanted to get her away from the dusty brush more.

Cirque du Soleil Auditions

Gabriela loves this! She giggles and shrieks and does the sign for more every time!

Beach in Maryland

My colleague Kathleen had an engagement barbeque last Saturday. It was a nice cool day and Gabriela loved that there were tons of ducks around and birds and airplanes flying by. We even met some people who are on the waiting list at Gabriela's same daycare.

On the way to Kabob Palace.
We were planning to meet Sean & Jess and Alex and her friend Matt at Kabob Palace on Friday night. Good thing Gabriela and I stopped by to say hi to our favorite waiter and let him know we would be coming later. He said he'd set aside one of the private rooms for us and suggested Lane and I arrive early because (duh!) It's Ramadan and the people would be flooding in like crazy. Boy was he right. They had a special Ramadan buffet and greeted us with dates, which is the traditional way to break the fast. We were just happy that Kubideh was a part of the all you can eat buffet.

Weekend Park Trip

Saturday morning after breakfast we walked to a little park down the street from us. It *seriously* has this sign in front of it.

Now granted, it IS right next to a daycare center. But couldn't they just say it's closed Monday through Friday ALL DAY instead of that it's open to the public AT ALL TIMES??? Come on, people. Thank goodness it was Saturday and we were able to use the park.

Peek-a-Boo!

The park has an area for little kiddos like Gabriela and another bigger play structure. She can walk up the steps of the little one all by herself and goes right down the slide and then goes back for more. She's a little dare-devil. I have no idea where she gets this from ;) We have to remind her to sit down before she goes down the slide.

Live action footage! Check out her oxytocin molecule shirt :0)

Gabriela ran all over the park! She was thirsty after all that running around!

So tired, Daddy had to give her a shoulder ride home. Gabriela took a very long nap as soon as we got there! I'm surprised Lane is smiling here, because Gabriela was holding huge fists full of his hair as tightly as she possibly could.

Gabriela's Room

Tomorrow I'll get some better pictures of her room as a whole. But here are some highlights. Maybe this will inspire me to finish up other rooms of our new apartment and share them on the blog.

Little Fairy watching over Gabriela :)
Those birthday photo banners were too cute to not use again. One is in her room and the other is in my cubicle at work.

This is her little reading corner.

We have stacks of books all over for Gabriela since she likes to read so much!

This is my favorite part.

Check out her initials on the wall and family portrait :)

Most of the walls of the kitchen are tiled so we couldn't hang these herb pictures from my Nana. I decided to share with Gabriela.

Kitchen Time

What's cooking, Gabriela?
She doesn't like the blender on her counter when she pushes the button to make it go.

Delicious tea!

Since when did my baby become such a big girl?!?!

Can I help you, Mom?

Giving Some Love

Gabriela has started giving her Teddy from Auntie Adie, her Teddy from Nana and her Grover from Bill & Julie lots of love lately. She hugs them, rocks them, and pats them on the back. Just today she started giving them kisses. She even learned how to make a little kissy sound, see for yourself!!!

Our Big Girl

How do I look??

Check it out, No Hands!!!

Gabriela has gone pee pee on the potty about 5 times this week, and she even pooped on the potty. We are just trying to introduce her to the idea and catch her in the act so we can show her the sign. So far, so good. Although, we don't expect to have her potty trained anytime soon.

Weekend Pics

Cos I'm too lazy to try to incorporate them in the previous post.

Chilling on the Patio
This is how I got up on that chair all by myself.

Check out the view, guys!

Gabriela & Keady

Last Weekend

I'm barely getting around to blogging about last weekend and a new one is here already.

We started out our weekend by going across the street to McCormick & Schmick to enjoy their happy hour special. We got burgers and fries for $2.95!

Saturday Gabriela had a play date with her little friend Keady from day care. They went to a soft play place at the mall, and really played hard! Running around, crawling under stuff, exploring, playing with other kids. Gabriela was sound asleep before we even left the parking lot.

That night we went to our friend Eugenia's surprise birthday party where we enjoyed fabulous conversation with old friends, met some new ones, and sipped on delicious mojitos. (I only had one) Gabriela was a party animal. She stayed awake until like 11 pm, socializing the whole time. By the end of the night, she passed out in her Ergo Carrier. Even though she woke up for about 3o minutes around 8 am the next morning, she went right back to sleep and we didn't wake up again until after 11:30! We woke up to find that Daddy had fixed us breakfast. Is there any better way to wake up on Sunday morning?

Our totally aweome friends Sean & Jess came over on Sunday evening to watch Gabriela while Lane and I had a date night. We got dressed up and walked across the street to Morton's Steakhouse where we enjoyed red wine and filet mignon for dinner. We caught the tail end of restaurant week so we had a fabulous 3 course meal for a steal of a deal.

While we had our little date we overheard the guy in the booth next to us talking. It was your typical everyday conversation you know, "Sure, just as long as the helicopter is back in time to pick me up, that's fine". The guy knew all the servers by name and they joked about how money wasn't any issue to him. Okay, Mr. Fancy Pants, who are you anyway?!?! The server told us he was some guy way up on the ladder at Boeing. He said another time some guy came into the bar and said he'd had a really bad day because he just lost 3.5 million dollars. I guess we didn't really fit in there, but we still enjoyed our dinner.