Georgia Aquarium

Thanksgiving week, the brand new Georgia Aquarium opened, and we have already visited twice. (We would have gone more, but it was so crowded over the holidays.) Come to Atlanta, and we'll take you to see the Beluga whales, sea lions, penguins, whale sharks and other sharks, sting rays, starfish, and all the other marine life. It is fantastic! More pictures are sure to come after future visits.

Lolo and Lola visit the new Georgia Aquarium with us.
11/25/05


Lola and Gabi check out the Leafy Sea Dragons.
11/25/05


Gabi and Mama with the Beluga whales.
11/25/05


Mama and Gabi in the penguin tunnel.
12/5/05


Gabi watches the Amazon River fish.
12/5/05

Kindermusik

Gabi took a Kindermusik class at Callanwolde Fine Art Center during the Fall semester. As these pictures show, she was able to explore many different percussion instruments and the noises that they make. Her favorite was the drum (pictures are in the post when Gramma Jane and Grampa came to visit a class and when we attended a Kindermusik at the Atlanta Symphony Celebration).


Gabi explores a rainstick.
Sierra, Nathan, and Gabi -- 10/6/05


So many noisemakers!
Ava and Gabi -- 10/10/05


Shake, rattle, and roll.
Nathan, Archer, Sam, Ava, and Gabi -- 10/20/05


Gabi can make the bells jingle by shaking her arm.
Gabi and Archer -- 10/27/05

Gabi tells Mama that the chime ball makes noise. 10/27/05

Gabi and Papa dance the Cha-Cha-Cha. 11/11/05

We also danced to different types of songs, using movements that helped the babies feel the different rhythms, tempos, and styles of music. Gabi especially liked a jazz song called Hop to It, which has a smooth swing section where we sway back and forth alternating with a bouncy syncopated section where we hop from one side to another. She also enjoyed the Mockingbird Dance, which had one verse legato and the next staccato and more variations in subsequent verses. She loved the changes in the feel of the music and movements. This dance picture is from the day that Papa was able to come by class. More pictures with Papa at Kindermusik are on the crawling post.

Gabi watches the water fountain at Callanwolde. 11/11/05 (click on the picture to see a larger version)

So Big!

We apologize for the long delay in posting new pictures. Gabi is growing so fast! She is 9 months old now; she'll be 10 months on Christmas Day. She can crawl, wave hello, feed herself Cheerios and Veggie Puffs, climb stairs (slowly, and under supervision, of course), drink from a glass (with assistance), pull up, cruise (walk while holding onto furniture), watch where things fall when she drops them (Papa's friend Tim from work calls it the make-grown-ups-pick-things-up-off-the-floor game), and find trouble wherever she goes.

Gabriella really interacts with other people more these days. Every day when Papa comes home from work, Gabi smiles so big and waves hello to him, which is certainly a wonderful welcome home gift for him after a stressful day. Gabi loves to wave at us and see us wave back. She does the backwards wave, where she's really waving to herself--except when she waves to the mirror, and then she figures out that she needs to turn her hand around. She's so smart! At playgroup, Gabi tries to pass toys back and forth with the other babies... or sometimes just take whatever toy she sees someone else playing with. She is even starting to sign, putting her fingers in her mouth for "eat" (so it isn't exactly what we have been modeling, but it's close) and touching her fingertips together for "more," although she still throws her Cheerios on the floor to signal "all done." She laughs and giggles the most when she sees little girls, any age from walking up to 5 years old. For some reason she is entranced by these little people who are close to her size but can run and jump and twirl around and pay all sorts of attention to Gabi. I think Gabi's greatest desire at this point is to be a three-year-old girl some day.

Here are a few pictures from the past month. In the first one, she is enjoying the "So Big" game where Papa asks "How big is Gabi?" and then raises her arms and answers "So big!" She had just been crawling on the kitchen floor and found Papa's shoes, which she thought would be a fun toy.


Gabriella is so big, she's wearing Papa's shoes!


Gabi is so proud of herself for pulling up on the couch.


Gabi smiles at Mama in the morning sunlight.


At Lola's request, Gabi models her "My First Christmas" outfit.


Gabi, in her Christmas dress, dances to the music as Mr. Snowman sings.
Did you notice the new fabric on our couches? Gramma Jane reupholstered them for us! We are very excited.

Crawling

Little Gabi learned how to crawl last week. This is simultaneously exciting and frightening--exciting because it's a new skill, but frightening because she's suddenly extremely mobile. She's bonked her head a great deal more often, and she also gets into things she shouldn't... and then gets mad when we take them away.

But enough talking... you're here for the pictures, yeah?

This is Gabi crawling after her favorite ball. Crawling after this little bit of blue plastic has quickly become one of Gabi's most treasured activities. She crawls after the ball, catches it, and then it gets away from her so she can chase it again. Amazing how amusing these simple baby games can be.

Here is Gabi at Kindermusik, crawling and reaching for some more simple bits of plastic, except that these are red, egg-shaped, and make noise if you shake them. Grampa says that the first thing Gabi does when she grabs something is to shake it to see if it makes noise, and if it doesn't make noise, then it's no good. While that doesn't always hold true (her favorite ball doesn't do anything but roll), it's pretty accurate most of the time. You can also see that Gabi has gotten the hang of reaching while crawling.


A different day at Kindermusik with different noise-making toys to explore. This ball chimes if you roll it, and was interesting enough for one crawl. But it was nowhere near as exciting as her own ball, which rolls much better and is easier to grab.

Here are some pictures of Gabi crawling in the living room. Gabi is so proud of herself when she's able to get to point B from point A. Below you can see her smiling as she sits back up by the rocking chair after a successful crawl.


And now for something completely different...


First, another cute picture of Gabi pulling up on her Papa.

Our friend Cynthia came to visit and became Notre Dame friend #6 to play with Baby Gabi. Cynthia came bearing gifts, which Gabi took immediate interest in. Below, Gabi pouts up at Cynthia because she doesn't really know what to do with a Baby Art Show DVD. ("Is it for crawling after? No? Is it for shaking? No? Is it for eating? No? Then what good is it?") Gabi only gets to watch 3-4 hours of TV a week, all on Saturday afternoon, watching a certain football team. She really likes watching Notre Dame football. Go Irish!

Unicoi State Park

Papa had a work retreat, and Mama and Gabi got to tag along. While Papa was participating in sessions with his coworkers, Mama and Gabi went exploring. Papa had some time off to hike with us, too.

Gabi on a bench by Frog Pond.


Gabi sitting on a swing along Frog Pond Trail.

We all hiked up to Anna Ruby Falls.

Gabi looking at a horse in Helen, GA.

Gabi by the fireplace at the lodge.

All this hiking made little Gabi exhausted.

Happy Halloween!

Gabi visited two pumpkin patches for Halloween pictures.
Can you find our little pumpkin?

Trick or Treat?!

It's a pumpkin drum!

I've got a squash!

Screaming with delight.

Eating Veggie Puffs on Halloween. Gabi likes to feed herself.

Papa and Gabi at Kate and Luke's Halloween party.

Gabi found a bag of Skittles!

Gabi "eating" candy.

Sharing with Papa.

Mama and Gabriella waiting for trick-or-treaters.

Check out the DeKalb Playgroup blog for more Halloween pictures. All the babies dressed up last week for a Halloween playgroup, and we visited Arbor Terrace Assisted Living in costume today.

Gabi at Halloween Playgroup last Tuesday.

This Arbor Terrace resident showed Gabriella her shiny watch.