Gaby's new words

Gaby's vocabulary is building by the day. The enunciation could still use some work. It's really amazing though how many words you can build off of the same one or two syllables. For example:

The sound:" Jue" is the way she says he word "Shoe", the word "Juice" and the word "Tutu", which is "JueJue".

"Fwoof Fwoof" is "woof woof", her word for dog, and "Foo-Fiye" is "butterfly".

Although the verbal communication is still light, she combined it quite effectively with body language to communicate her needs and positions incredibly clearly. It's obvious after interacting with her for only a few minutes that she completely understands everything.

Tonight for example she came walking into the room where Annabel and I were watching TV. She was carrying a roll that she apparently swiped from the dinner table. She climbed up on the couch, then laid on her back, unzipped her pajama top and ate the roll while lying down. This of course got crumbs all over her neck and chest which she completely ignored as she chewed and watched TV. After about five minutes of lying there, she turns her head toward me and says "Doe-Doe", which is her word for bottle.

I got up to get her one, and she turned her head back to the TV.
"You are lazy" I said.
She responds by gleefully giggling back at me.

Diapers & Then Some

Diapers & Then Some
Originally uploaded by Rgold.

Gaby's M.O. when it comes to new things is to take her cues from Annabel, then kick it up a notch or two.

Take underpants, for example. Gaby is still in diapers, so underparts don't really make sense for her yet. The problem is that she sees Annabel putting them on, so she wants to wear them too.

We generally put a pair on over her diaper and everyone is happy. That is until recently, when one pair just won't do. For the last few weeks, she's been demanding another pair on over her pants or pajamas as it were.

Last week Kristin told me that Gaby had on FOUR pairs before she was satisfied.

Gaby's Scared Face

gaby's scared face
Originally uploaded by Rgold.

In the run-up to Halloween, there have been a lot of Scary Stories told in the house. Annabel wears her fear on her face in the most dramatic way. She will often put on an exaggerated "fear" face and say:

"I scared Daddy, I scared."

Last week, I noticed that Gaby was making the same face at all the scary parts. I asked her if that was her "Scared" face and she said "Ya."

She will make the Scared face on demand. For this shot, I said simply held up the camera and said "Okay Gaby, make your Scared face."

She immediately launched into the scared face, and started walking toward the camera in her characteristic way.

Too funny.

Vocab at 17 Months

At 17 months Gabby is talking but communicates much more effectively non-verbally. She will take you by the hand to the pantry when she is hungry or point at a toy that we wants. She is incredibly easy to read and she uses her limited vocabulary to great effect.

Here are the top 10:

1. Mama
2. Dada
3. no no no no no no no
4. Shoe
5. Hi
6. Bye
7. Uh-Oh Spaghettios!
8. Tickle Tickle
9. Thank you
10. Try this

Cupcake!

 
Shirtless and wearing a necklace is a very luxurious way to eat a cupcake. 

Tahoe 4th of July

Gabby At The Stream

We spent the long weekend in lake Tahoe. It was our first time there. It was a very relaxing family weekend. We spent time swimming at the pool and fishing in the lake. We ate at home most nights. There was a grill there and I was excited to use it. We also went on a nature walk that actually accomodates strollers, which was key. It had a even had a cool feature which was to take you down below a stream outfitted with a glass panel so that you can see all the fish and plantlife. Gabby loved it.


We also went treasure hunting. There are websites where you can get the GPS coordinates of treasure stashes hidden in your neighborhood. It's a sport custom-designed for families with young kids. You bring a small toy with you and then swap it for one in the treasure chest. The kids really love it, and it's nice for the adults to get out into nature every now and then too. Here are a few pictures of us unearthing a treasure chest...

Treasure Chest!

Electric Toothbrush

 
In the morning, Gabby likes to do whatever Kristin does including brushing her teeth. Kristin goes to the bathroom. Gabby follows. Kristin picks up her toothbrush. Gabby points to her toothbrush. Kristin puts on toothpaste and Gabby puts on toothpaste.

Kristin's toothbrush is electric and makes a high pitch sound while Kristin brushes, so Gabby humms loudly while brushing with her regular old analog toothbrush. 

Monteray Aquarium

Dad and Gaby at the Aquarium
Originally uploaded by Rgold.

We went to Moneteray for the weekend. We swam at the hotel pool and went to the aquarium. One night away from home is the perfect amount of time when you have two children under 3.

Everyone had a great time.

Can not sit down to save her life

Charging the Camera
Originally uploaded by Rgold.

Gabs can not sit down to save her life.

We saw a huge metal boat mooring out on fisherman's wharf in Monetray and thought it might make for a nice photo. We tried to set Gabs up on it for a shot. Everytime we tried to sit her down she would leap up and run at the camera, shrieking with delight as she toddled towards it.

We spent about 5 minutes trying before we gave up. This is the best shot we could get.

Click on the picture to see some other attempts.

Gabby's mischief face

Gabby's mischief face
Originally uploaded by Rgold.

It is becoming increasingly clear that Gabby has a bit of a naughty streak in her. I think this photo captures the essence of it.

She has recently begun to take special note of the objects on which her older sister is focussed and she manages to find a way to get them. Yesterday, she held out a book that Annabel wanted and then when Annabel reaches out to take it, she pulled it back!

She took great delight in doing it too. This is roughly how her face looked (although without the jello).

Gaby turns one!

Gabrielle turned one year old today.

We had a party for her and her friends this last weekend at the Marin Children's Discovery museum. I'll post some pictures as soon as we download them off the camera. We had about 10 kids and 20 grown-ups running around the second floor party room.



Gaby was a great hostess. She spent most of the party walking around the room from table to table, grabbing things and putting them in her mouth or throwing them on the ground. She was very mobile, cruising all over the room.

Annabel had several of her friends there as well, and she spent most of her time painting with her Grandma. She was very happy to be at the party and she has been talking ever since about all the fun things she will do when its time for her party.

Kristin did a great job with the party planning. There wasn't a long face in the crowd.

At age one, Gaby is happy, cheerful and exuberant. She cackles and shrieks in the best way.

First Word: Dada

Gabby At The Beach
Originally uploaded by Rgold.

I think it is now official. Gabrielle's first word was Dada. For a while it could be argued that she was saying "danda" or "Datdat", but I think things have started to coalesce around "dada".

She will say it while she is supposed to be sleeping beside me on the bed and will then dig her fingernails into my nose so that its clear who she is talking about.

She sometimes makes a sound like a gentle lilting "eeehh" before so it almost likes like "Hi Dada"