Little Miss Manners

Last night at dinner, all by herself, Gabriela signed the following, "More - Water - Please"

She is so polite!! We are so proud of Gabriela- not only for her good manners, but also for her ability to put together so many signs to tell us what she wants!!

As soon as I find our video camera, I'll try to catch her in the act. The actual sign for please is a flat hand moved in circular motion on your chest. Gabriela puts her hand on her chest and then shimmies her shoulders back and forth. It almost looks like a dance move. Too cute.

Our Weekend Minus the ER Visit

The rest of our weekend was actually quite fun! We had dinner on Friday with our friends Bill & Julie, who we haven't seen in a long time. We went to our new apartment to take measurements and ran some errands. We ordered new bedroom furniture. Yippee!!! Torin & Greg stopped by to hang out on Saturday evening. Sunday we tested mattresses at Macys and then had a lovely dinner with our friends Adam and Becky.

We saw so many of our friends we couldn't believe it. It was almost like a pre-baby weekend (minus the ER visit).

1 Year Dr. Visit and more...

Gabriela had her one year vaccinations on Thursday. She weighed in at 19.3 lbs. and is 30.5 inches long. Gabriela continues to be very tall and very skinny. She did pretty well for her shots.
But the next morning, we noticed a few red welts on her back. We weren't really sure what it was, but considering that she'd just gotten her shots Lane took her to the doctor that morning. They said she was having an allergic reaction and advised us to give her some over the counter allergy medicine to help out.

Now, after a whole day of giving medicine would you imagine that Gabriela would get better or worse? Imagine how we felt waking up to THIS baby:

The rash had spread all over her entire body. It was bright red and the skin was swollen like little welts. Off to the emergency room we went. Our very first time! We decided to go to the Children's National Medical Center in DC. We were there forever, but we came prepared with lots of books and baby snacks.

One thing we were grateful for was that Gabriela was her normal happy self. She was giggling and playing and didn't seem to be bothered by the rash. When the doctor finally saw us, she said that Gabriela was definitely having a reaction, however there really isn't a way to pinpoint what it is in response to. Usually rashes that happen in relation to vaccines don't appear until a week later and hers came the very next day. Gabriela was recently taking amoxicillin, so it is possible that she reacted to that, but it's also possible she could be responding to something totally different. When she's older, she can go to an allergist to be tested, but for now, we need to tell the doctor that it is possible that she may be allergic to amoxicillin.

The good thing is that Gabriela didn't have anything else going on. The doctor told us it was a great sign that she's happy, playful and has her appetite. Sometimes kids can get sores in their mouth and have problems with their joints, and Gabriela doesn't have any of these symptoms. She just advised us to continue giving the allergy medicine, to keep her out of the sun or anything else that could further irritate her skin, and also said that the rash could last as long as a week. Thank goodness she confirmed that it isn't anything contagious either.

Unfortunately, we missed Francesca's birthday party to hang out in the ER all day. We are glad that it isn't anything serious though, and also that we had this adventure this weekend instead of next Saturday when we will be moving!!!

Mina the Birthday Girl

Mina, our sweet little niece, turned 2 yesterday. We love you so much Mina, and wish we could have been there to help you celebrate!

Auntie Theresa told me what Mina requested for her special birthday dinner, and I was so confused. MOLLIES. What the heck?!?!? She then explained to me that meant tamales!!! Seriously, what two year old requests tamales for their birthday dinner?!? My cool Mexican niece, that's who!

So cute. We are proud of you Mina. We miss you bunches. We hope you like the special birthday song we sang you yesterday over the phone :)

To Commemorate Her Birth Day...

Gabriela decided to take some steps. On July 19th, she couldn't be bothered to try stepping somewhere if she couldn't hold on to any furniture. On her actual birthday, she started taking a mini-step here and there.

But yesterday, Gabriela took like 4 steps in a row! Of course, she didn't do it anymore that evening so there isn't any video footage. I can't believe how she went from showing no interest to taking a series of steps in two days. I'm afraid this little munchkin just might be unstoppable once she gets the hang of it.

Gabriela's Actual Birthday

Today Lane and I stayed home with Gabriela on her special day. Nana and Papa were also in town for the party and the big day. We strolled around Old Town, took a boat trip on the Potomac from Old Town Alexandria to Georgetown and back and then feasted on Afghan food together. We are so lucky Nana and Papa were in town to share our special day with us.

More Birthday Pics

This is actually my mother's day present. But I thought I'd post a picture since it's so pretty and has the birthday girl's name on it.

Birthday flowers

Here is one of the desserts from Gabriela's party. It's a chocolate cake with different sized M&Ms. We also had carrot cake cupcakes with orange ginger cream cheese frosting, and of course, Lane's favorite Special Dessert. This was the dessert we gave Gabriela, since it is her Daddy's favorite b-day dessert.