Only two more months until Gia turns 1. She has 8 teeth already (4 on top/4 on bottom). She's a fast crawler and likes to stand. If Gabby is in the room you can usually find Gia following closely behind her. She loves music and has her own bouncy dance. She loves the swings. She laughs loudly if you play peekaboo with her or tickle her with kisses. She's our little ball of joy.
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I've been meaning to post this picture for a while now. It's one of my recent favorites. Gabby and I were on our way to a neighborhood park. The afternoon sun was out, but the cold still lingered. Gabby said, "it's too bright" and promptly put on her sized to perfection sunglasses. It was so perfect and so sweet. I love a child's imagination.
Gene is an unbelievable dad. Let me show you what I mean.
1. Gene helped Gabby build the world's tallest lego tower toilet. Yes, that is a lego toilet with a pink toilet seat that flips up or down. It's still in our living room. She's very proud of her creation and won't let us tear it down. (Dec 2011)
2. Gene dilligently followed Gabby around to capture on film her "nose trick." Not easy to see on camera, but if you look closely you'll see she's mastered the art of flaring her nostrils in and out. This is sure to make her very popular at school. (Dec 2011)
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3. Gene has endless patience as demonstrated here. He sits quietly holding up a "tent" while Gabby chatters on. (Nov 2011)
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We just recently discovered the Central Park Zoo and it's quickly become Gabby's new favorite place to visit. And despite my fear of getting too close to most animals I can put on my happy face for my kids. (Ok, so I try to avoid going into the "tropic zone" where birds fly around you and also only feed the goats if I really have to...) It's a small zoo, with the highlight being a daily feeding of the Sea Lions. Bravo to whoever designed the zoo because they created a built-in race track around the sea lion pool. Great for tiring out those toddler feet. We've taken Gia a few times and we're sure she'll enjoy it as much as Gabby one day. Gabby also loves the Children's Zoo, which has been re-named by Gabby as "the farm." Have you ever noticed how many children's books talk about farms and farm animals? Gabby has been asking us for months to take her to a farm and we've finally stumbled upon one right here in New York City. So here's a video of Gabby feeding goats for the first time. And a few silly pics from today of Gabby wearing my hat to stay warm during our spontaneous after school visit.
Merry Christmas friends and family! We hope you are all enjoying the holidays!
We shared a wonderful "1st Christmas as family of four" at home today. Here's some highlights. Including an attempted photo session of the girls in matching dresses. I thought I'd get some resistance from Gabby with the dress, but that was the easy part. It fell apart when Gabby got upset at Gene for telling her to share her toy with Gia. "But I was playing with it first," she said. The toy in question? A soft set of tools which Gabby had picked for Gia. She's smart enough to know that everything that is for Gia means she gets to use it. Or as she says, "this is for Gia but I will use it first, ok?" Gia on the other hand was unphased until a few minutes passed and she started to whine and cry. It was time for food. So we didn't get that picture perfect shot but sometimes it's the disasters that are most memorable...
We worked on building the whole Santa Claus story this year. We're not sure Gabby really cares. And she's already finding holes in our story. As she looked around this morning she said, "Why didn't Santa use the stockings?" Oops. "Because your gifts were too big."
By the end of the day the girls were best friends again. With Gia following Gabby around and Gabby reading her books before bedtime. They even shared their first bath together by squeezing into Gia's small tub.
Video of Gabby singing Jingle Bells in a taxi. She sang (yelled) for a good 10 minutes. At the end of the video you can hear the taxi driver asking, "do you know any other songs?"
Video of Gia laughing and crawling. She was chasing Gabby around. Gia is pulling herself up to stand these days. Crawling on all fours and sitting like a pro. She has 6 teeth (4 on the bottom and 2 on top) and just started pointing a few days ago which has been exciting as it allows her to communicate more.
A litle late, but here's some pics from Thanksgiving. Thank you Gene for being a great chef!
After her morning nap, Gia was in a very happy mood, so grabbed my camera and took a few pictures. As I was taking pictures she was holding onto the side of the crib and all of a sudden surprised us by pulling up to stand! She's a strong one, this Gia.
Here's a "person" Gabby made out of different puzzle shapes. She constantly surprises us by her creativity.
Gabby and I took our first horse carriage ride yesterday with some friends visiting from out west. Couldn't have picked a better day - sunny and warm! Gabby's also been enjoying stomping around in the Highline's big "water puddle" fountain. And finally, here's a video from dinner where Gabby had Gia laughing and laughing.
Gabby decided to be Elmo this year. Although Gabby's only seen Sesame Street a handful of times, Elmo has crept into our home by way of books and stuffed animals. She loves him. Gabby enjoyed her first trick-or-treat loot. A single lollipop. "Would you like any more?" "No thank you." She clearly does not have my candy eating gene. Not yet at least. Gia was not a fan of her Panda hat. She only stopped crying when we undid the velcro on her chin.
Oh, and we did not carve the pumpkins in these pictures. We'll save that for another year...
Gia is 7 months now. She's all smiles as long as she's well-rested and well-fed. Not unlike us adults.
Gia enjoyed her first ride in the swings at the park last week!
On Day 2, here she is wearing her sister's size 2 year old jacket and size 3 year old jeans. Not to mention the booties are different sizes because I can't find the pairs. The joys of being a baby sister.
Gabby still loves flying high in the air!
Here's Gabby waiting in the rain on the way to school
And perhaps my favorite, here is Gene jumping over Gabby at the park. Gabby loved it - laughing and saying, "Again, again..."
