New House, New Skills

Gabriella has learned to do all sorts of new things now, in addition to smiling and her favorite "standing" trick. In the last week of June, after a month of rolling almost all the way over, she mastered rolling completely over back-to-front. (No, she doesn't have the front-to-back roll down yet, even though that's supposed to be easier. The problem is that she usually throws her hands out to the side in a Superman pose when she's on her tummy, so she can't use her arms as leverage to start rolling.)

She has noticed her hands and pulls them in front of her, and she loves to put her fingers in her mouth; sometimes she even tries to get them all in there at once. That's great for Mama, because now she can calm herself down when she's tired, hungry, or in pain from teething, just by chewing on her fingers. Last week, she learned to grab at objects in front of her and actually grasp them, so she's started putting other things in her mouth as well.

Here are some more pictures from over the past month:

Gabi did some people-watching at the Braves game. 6/25/05

Gabi loved watching the sparklers and fireworks on the 4th of July!

Gabi listens while Lolo plays the piano.

...and Gabi plays a bit, too. 6/24/05

Gabi learned to roll over back to front the last week in June.

Good morning! (7/2/05)

...so now she always rolls over to sleep on her stomach.

Good night! (7/2/05)

At first, it was a bit of a shock for Gabi to find herself on her stomach, especially if she rolled over in her sleep and awoke in a different position that how she previously slept. For a week or so, we had to go in and roll her back onto her back a couple times during the night so she could get back to sleep, but now she has gotten used to lying on her belly.


Gabi watches her new duckie serenade her with Singin' in the Rain.
7/13/05

Gabi likes to chew on her thumb... 7/16/05

and all her other fingers as well! 7/16/05

Gabi and her Papa lounging in their bathrobes. 7/4/05

Maig and Virgil visit Atlanta just to play with Gabi. 7/13/05

Post-Call Face Massage

I came home post-call on Saturday and I was treated to my own personal face massage, complete with soothing drool therapy:


"You look tired, Papa!"
Our little one has very recently discovered that other people have faces which are fun to touch (or at this stage, grab and pinch). She's definitely getting into this "grabbing stuff and putting it in my mouth" skill. She managed to get Mama's nose into her mouth at church last week. Anyway, as I'm on call again tomorrow, I really shouldn't stay on the computer and write you all a dissertation on how appropriate all this is to her development. So um... read about all the fun stuff she can do here. Gabi's learning to do all the things she's supposed to do. (But you know that from following her blog, right?)

Happy in Atlanta

For your enjoyment, here are some more pictures from the past few months.

Gabriella likes our new house. 5/31/05

Gabi smiles for diaper changes now. :) 6/16/05

Gabi and Mama -- What a team! 6/30/05	Gabi really enjoys sitting at the dinner table with us, but so far she just watches us and not the food. 7/2/05
Gabi visits Papa at work. 7/9/05	Gabi likes her Papa so much! 7/17/05

All Smiles

Since we haven't been able to update this in awhile, I'll just give you a taste of all the fun we've had watching Gabi over the past few months. These pictures are in chronological order, and on a few I've noted her age, so you can see how she's grown as well as adore all her smiles.

10 weeks old 5/5/05	2.3 months old 5/5/05	2.6 months old 5/18/05
"Just a taste!" 6/9/05	16 weeks old 6/16/05	3.75 months old 6/16/05
Cute & Cuddly 6/23/05	Shy Smile 6/24/05	4 months old 6/24/05
Playing Piano 6/24/05	Tasty Thumb 6/28/05	Little Princess 6/29/05
Rolling Back to Front! 6/29/05	"Yummy fingers!" 6/30/05	18 weeks old 7/1/05
4.25 months old 7/2/05	"Hook 'em Horns" 7/9/05	A Big Laugh 7/18/05