A Trip to Gonzaga

Hello again! I'm still being cute!
(5/5/05)
Our (extremely cute) little baby has been travelling all over the country as of late. You've seen pictures from her road trip out to Brenham, Texas for a wedding, as well as two trips out to Atlanta to go house-hunting with her parents. Most recently, she traveled with her parents and much of Papa's family up to Gonzaga to watch Tita Chrissie graduate... and to meet Tita Chrissie for the first time. We had such a fun time in Spokane playing with all our family.

First off, we have some pictures with the rightful star of the weekend, who probably had some of her deserved attention stolen by our little one. I don't think she really minded, mostly because our baby was being so sweet to her only aunt. We're all super proud of Tita Chrissie for graduating from college. Go Zags!

Gabi meets Tita Chrissie (5/5/05)

Gabi with Papa and Tita Chrissie (5/8/05)

During this trip, Gabi and her parents stayed in a hotel room which adjoined Lolo and Lola's room. This meant that her adoring grandparents got to spend a large amount of time holding and playing with their only granddaughter. There were some (such as Lola Gigit) who warned that she'd get spoiled with all this attention. But really, you can't spoil babies this age with too much attention. At any rate, she certainly enjoyed all the extra holding-time. Here are some cute examples of Lolo's extended time holding Gabi.

Gabi on Lolo's shoulder (5/6/05)

Gabi napping on Lolo (5/6/05)

In addition to all the extra holding, there was extra playtime, during which Gabi showed off all her tricks (tracking, talking, and occasionally smiling). She also showed everyone how strong she is by kicking her legs and wiggling her arms. She can even stand for a little while if you support her--she has the strength, but not the balance or the stamina. See?


Gabi standing up for Mama and her audience
(5/6/05)
We would be remiss if we didn't mention who made up this audience of admirers. Making the trip up from San Mateo were Lola Gigit and Lolo Ruben. Also, we saw a great deal of Tita Chrissie's beau, Jordan, and his family who drove in from Yakima and Prosser for the graduation. And also traveling out of Little Rock were Ninong Edward, Ninang Sylvia, and Cousin Steven, who are always more than happy to spend time with little Gabi.


Gabi with Ninang and Steven
(5/6/05)
Finally, in a twist of fate which probably interests Mama and Papa more than it did Gabi, we ran into an old friend from Notre Dame, the lovely and talented Danielle Rose (nee Skorich). Danielle's younger brother was graduating as well. Tita Chrissie assures us that Notre Dame-Gonzaga connections are highly common, but it was still uncanny to run into the young lady who lived next door to Mama in her dorm back at ND.


Gabi with her parents and Danielle Rose Skorich
(5/7/05)

More Baptismal Pictures

Gabriella Christine's baptism was such a momentous event, we figure that more photos are appropriate. Unfortunately, as you will see in some of these pictures, Gabi did not particularly enjoy her baptism ceremony because she was hungry at the time and did not appreciate the delay in being fed. The priest gave a fantastic homily, though, and Gabi did stop crying during the actual pouring of the water on her head (I think because she was confused as to what was going on).

Gabi borrowed Steven's gorgeous Filipino baptismal gown.

The priest annoints Gabi just as Samuel annointed David.

Gabriella pauses from her "I'm hungry" cry to watch the priest.

Gabriella is called to be a light for the world.

Monsignor Hebert, Ninong Edward, Mama, Papa, and Ninang Sylvia with the newly-baptized Gabriella.

Gabriella (still hungry) with her parents and grandparents after her baptism.

Claimed for Christ

Gabriella Christine was baptized on Saturday, April 23, 2005. Due to some camera difficulties, we were unable to obtain pictures until now. We are very happy to welcome our little Gabi into the Church, as we promise to raise her in the faith so that she may grow to know and love the Lord.


Ninong (Godfather) Edward, Ninang (Godmother) Sylvia,
Mama, Papa, and Monsignor Hebert
celebrate Gabriella's baptism.


Gabriella Christine,
baptized in the name of the Father,
of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.


Grampa holding the newly-baptized
Gabriella Christine
(4/23/05)

Many thanks to Grampa for the fabulous pictures of this special occasion in our daughter's life.

Vaccinations

Gabriella had three shots today at the Pediatrician's office, which included five immunizations: Prevnar, DTaP, eIPV, Hib, and Hep B. The Pediarix shot includes the DTaP, eIPV, and HepB vaccinations, which helped cut down on the number of shots Gabi received. Gabi has definitely needed extra love and cuddles today, as well as a little Infant Tylenol.

Today, Gabriella weighed an even 12 pounds (a gain of 1 lb 11 oz in the past month) and measured up to 23 inches (2 inches longer than one month ago). She is such a big girl now! She is also impressivly good at holding up her head, which now has a circumference of 15 and 7/8 inches (7/8 of an inch more than last time). It is so fun to watch our Gabriella grow.


Gabriella is such a big girl! (5/1/05)


Gabi holds her head up. (5/2/05)

A hint of Gabi's smile (4/22/05)

Gabi sits up and watches her Papa. (5/3/05)

Visiting Atlanta

In the past few weeks, Gabriella traveled to Atlanta twice, meeting many new friends as Mama and Papa found a house. Everyone loved the opportunity to play with our sweet baby. Gabi spent a great deal of time with Peggy Tim, who accompanied Mama on many house-hunting explorations during the first trip since Papa was back in Little Rock.

While Mama and Gabi were staying with the Tims, Gabriella talked herself to sleep for the first time. It is nice that Gabi can now lie down in her crib and talk to herself until she falls asleep on her own, because even fun activities (such as walking around holding a baby until she falls asleep) can be exhausting in the middle of the night. It is also incredibly cute to listen to Gabi talking happily until she is too tired to stay awake. Gabriella repeated this nighttime activity on the second trip, when we stayed with the Cowdens. Gabi sure does like her little travel play pen!

Gabi meets Dr. Mike Tim (4/19/05)

Gabi smiles at Peggy Tim (4/20/05)

Tom Apker holding Gabriella (4/21/05)

Papa and John Cowden pretend Gabi is playing the drums (4/28/05)

Gabriella visits Stone Mountain with her family (4/30/05)

Gabriella plays with Lisa Cowden (5/2/05)

I must say that the picture of Gabi and Lisa is exceptionally adorable. Gabi was being so cute that day, just talking and laughing! I was glad to have the time to pay attention to her as well, since traveling and house-hunting was probably very boring for our little girl. Gabi does travel well, though, which made the trips easier for us.

Tracking

Gabi watching her new toy.

Papa had his birthday last week. Gabi got her first present-on-someone-else's-birthday on that occasion. We're looking forward to a lifetime of being ignored as people pay attention to our captivatingly cute little girl. A few days ago, Lola got her some new outfits while she was out shopping for Gabi's cousin's birthday present.

More interesting from a developmental standpoint is that Gabi really seems to have mastered the art of tracking objects. Okay, so she hasn't completely mastered it just yet, but she's getting there. As you can see in this picture, she will stare for a good while at interesting things. She'll even follow them for a while until they go out of her field of view. Some of her favorite things to track are her Mama, the flashing musical star on her play gym, and the little animal friends on her crib mobile.

I know you might be thinking, "that's not such a big deal... tracking objects is pretty simple... I do it all the time without thinking about it." Well, it's not all that simple, apparently. For example, if you wanted to program a robot to track objects, you'd have to do something like this. I just find it amazing that her little brain is figuring out all that. I suppose I ought to also find it amazing that my larger brain can do that and then some, but I'm not a cute little baby.

Gabi is so smart.

Growing Up

Gabi went to her one-month check-up when she was five and a half weeks old. The doctor weighed her in at 10 pounds 5 ounces (gain of 3 pounds, 12 ounces) and measured her to be 21 inches long (growth of 2 inches). She is so big already! When I compare Gabi to our friends' newborns (a one-week-old and a two-week-old), I can't remember when Gabi was ever that small, even though she is only seven weeks old now. It's amazing how quickly infants grow.


Gabi sitting on the rocking chair all by herself! (4/11/05)

The pediatrician was also impressed with how well Gabi can already hold her head up and control her neck muscles. She is quite strong! It's fun to watch Gabi develop. Over the past two weeks, she has learned some new skills. She is starting to smile and giggle when she is happy and when she sees me. She can track objects with her eyes, somewhat. If I walk across the room, she will turn her head to watch me. Gabriella is also starting to talk to us, mostly using vowel sounds at this point. She is also learning to control her muscle movements a little, and she bats at her favorite toys now--especially the ones that reward her with music or flashing lights.

Little Rock family

Gabi enjoys all the attention she receives from her family here in Little Rock.

Gabi snuggles with Lolo as she sleeps. (4/5/05)

Gabi and Lola dance around our living room. (4/5/05)

Gabi stomps on Steven's head while he watches TV. (4/8/05)

Gabi talking to Aunt Sylvia -- soon-to-be "Ninang." (4/8/05) Gabriella's baptism will be on April 23.

Gabi and Mama chatting in their night gowns before bed. (4/6/05)

Lolo watches Gabi sleep and stretch. (4/5/05)

Where's Mama?

Gabi smiling

We've gotten so many fun presents for Gabi. She has a lot of outfits she hasn't yet grown into, and we promise to post cute pictures of her wearing those when she's big enough. But here's a brand new outfit from Gabi's friends. It's a shirt-and-skort outfit with pretty flowers on the front.

It's super cute, especially on our Gabi... especially when she's smiling. By the way, you get 3 Gabi-points if you can guess where Mama was when this picture was taken. I don't know what Gabi-points are for yet, but it will be something cool. Maybe Gabi-fanclub stuff.

Also pictured here is Gabi's new musical bouncer. To our dismay, we discovered that we only have 2 size C batteries of the 3 required, so it looks like Papa will be making a trip to Wal-mart in the near future. The bouncer is pretty comfy, and Gabi seems to really like it.

Papa and Gabi

Papa was rubbing noses with Gabi, and a certain anonymous relative, whose posterior is providing the background for this photo (and yes, we saved the original for blackmailing purposes), insisted that Mama needed to capture this profile. The end result was this very cute portrait of father and daughter. So thank you, anonymous relative who shall rename unnamed for his/her protection, not only for your artistic vision, but also for your artistic backside. :)

Texas Bluebonnets

As a child, I took many pictures in the bluebonnet patches along the Texas highways. The bluebonnets are the state flower of Texas, and I am quite proud of my Texas heritage. Besides, these blue and white flowers make a beautiful backdrop and/or foreground for pictures with young children. Michael's family had a similar Springtime tradition with the daffodils on Wye Mountain, and since we missed the daffodil photo opportunity, we seized the chance to capture our lovely daughter in flowers while we were in Texas this past weekend.


Papa and Gabi with the Bluebonnets
in Brenham, Texas (3/2/2005)


Mama and Gabi in the
Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrushes
(3/2/2005)

Texas Trip

This weekend we drove to Texas for Mama's cousin Darren's wedding. First, we stopped in Dallas, where Gabriella was able to meet more of the Geppert clan (Grampa's family) and her loyal fan Sydney who has taken up the hobby of collecting Gabi Trivia from this blog. :) Gabi also attended the Lamar High School Band's brisket bash to hear her Uncle Brian perform in the percussion ensemble.

Aunt Karen and Cindy came to see little Gabi.
Sydney (Mama's friend) holds Gabriella.	Jennifer, Benjamin, and Jonathan meet Gabriella.

Aunt Joy talks with Gabriella.

Then we drove to Brenham, Texas, where Blue Bell Ice Cream (the best ice cream in the country) is made. Brenham also happens to be where Darren's wedding took place. Here, Gabriella met many more relatives, this time from Gramma's side of the family.

Aunt Lou Ann investigates Gabi's immitation abilities.

Ashley and Patrick see Gabi in the hotel before the wedding.

Gabi finally meets Uncle Scott.

Bath(tub)time!

As promised, bathtime photos!


Gabi's bathtub, ready for its inaugural bathing

Since our little one's umbilical cord fell off a little while ago, she's now allowed to have a real bath in her fun little bathtub, pictured above. She got her first bath a week ago, on Easter Sunday. She didn't enjoy it so much...


Gabi, less than thrilled with her bath

...but she's never been all that fond of baths in general. Still, we've had a better track record with this so far. Her subsequent bath was nearly atraumatic, until the water got cold.

Also pictured is our little hippo bath spray, which has these color-changing cheeks that tell us if the water's too hot. I'd just finished testing that feature in the first picture -- thus, the white cheeks. I find that the sprayer is more convenient and warmer than the dousing with a cupful of water that we had hitherto used, although I think that Mama still prefers the cup. I suppose that the pouring sensation will get little Gabriella ready for her baptism later this month.

Finally, here's another cute "snuggled-up in my towel" picture:


Gabi in yet another cute hooded towel!

I must say that hooded towels are perhaps my favorite baby item. I love giving them at baby showers, and I love having lots of them for our little girl. They're just so dang cute. This particular towel was actually sewn together by some of Mama's creative relatives in Colorado.