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.