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

Pirate Duckies!

This morning, while we were letting Mama catch up on her sleep...


Gabi watches her new pirate duckies swim around.
...we decided to try out Gabi's new pirate duckies! Papa is probably more excited about this new toy ("pirates are cool!") than is Gabi ("oh look, little yellow things"), but our little girl really liked watching them swim around this morning. In addition...


Gabi plays in the sink with her pirate duckies.
...the pirate ducks are helping little Gabi overcome her hydrophobia--up until a week or so ago, she really hated her baths, but she's been much more tolerant of them as of late. We spent a good 5-10 minutes splashing in the sink and watching our duckies swim. We sang some pirate songs, including "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" and "An Unserem Lagerfeuer"

Mama hasn't seen Gabi play with her pirate duckies yet, so this post is a good morning surprise for her. Good morning, Mama!

Standing

As Gabi's new favorite passtime is standing up, she really enjoys her stationary bouncer. She's still so small that we stuff a blanket around her to help support her, otherwise she wabbles a bunch. She enjoys watching the duck and batting at the other toys on the saucer, but she is startled if she punches the star (which makes it sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star) or spins the rattle cylinder full of colored beads (which makes a fair amount of noise). She can turn all the way around in the bouncer, although I'm not convinced that she intends to do so when she does. Gabi likes this toy that allows her to stand up so much that she'll play happily in it for quite a while, especially if she can see me the whole time.


Gabi playing in her bouncer.

Goodbye Little Rock

Gabi has been smiling at us for a while now, but every day she seems to share her smile more. Gabi has also started giggling, which she does to express how happy she is when Mama walks in the room, when we pick her up, and when I am preparing to feed her. She also giggles when we play peek-a-boo, a game she is now adores. Yesterday, we discovered that she is ticklish, too.

Gabriella is getting so big now! She loves to stand up, and she is quite strong even though she hasn't yet mastered the balance required to stand on her own. Sometimes she even prefers standing to being cuddled! Her favorite is standing in front of a mirror, as Gabi likes to watch her own reflection.

Gabi loves to stand and smile. 6/9/2005

Gramma requested a picture of our little baby yawning. She is quite cute when she wakes up, I must admit. Additionally, this picture illustrates how young Gabriella can curl her tongue -- a talent that her mother does not possess.


Gabi curling her tongue
6/9/05

Before moving to Atlanta, Gabi made the rounds to say goodbye to everyone in Little Rock. Unfortunately, Gabi won't have as many daily visitors now, but the rumor that "a new baby is moving into that house" has already spread around the neighborhood, and thus some of our neighbors have dropped by just to meet our little girl.

Goodbye to Ninong 6/9/05

Goodbye to Tita 6/10/05

SuperGabi!

Pictures of SuperGabi©, Baby of Steel!
(5/23/05)

So a few weeks ago, Gabi and I were letting Mama take a nap, when Gabi decided she needed a "new trick." These photos are the first recorded evidence of that new trick--flying. Lolo and Lola were so delighted with this trick (and the big smile it elicited--see the second picture) that they dubbed her "SuperGabi" (you know, because she flies like Superman). I was thinking of just calling it "flying" but "SuperGabi" seems to have stuck... mostly because Lola kept repeating it everytime I'd hoist her up.

At any rate, it's a totally fun game to play now, because it always gets a big smile (as well as a large amount of drool spillage if I attempt it unassisted). I'd attempted to introduce it about a month earlier, and the results were less than spectacular--Gabi hated it. Since then, she's developed her back muscles quite a bit, and she loves to show them off. I'm surprised that we have only these two pictures of SuperGabi, as often as we show off this ability, but then, I suppose that most of the pictures belong to those adoring fans who have witnessed her super powers in person.

By way of exposition (and so that you can complete your superhero collector cards), SuperGabi can not only fly, but also has the strength of many babies and can stand with minimal assistance. She fights crime with her uncanny bubble-making ability (of the saliva variety) and her mama sense.

Note: SuperGabi "fights crime" in that she "keeps her parents occupied so they don't get into mischief." Mama says she's not old enough to be a caped crusader or anything dangerous just yet. She's not even old enough to be a "terror that flaps in the night."

Of course, her greatest superpower is her super cuteness, which even now is captivating the lot of you, gentle citizens and evildoers alike.

So once again, the day is saved, thanks to the cutest superhero out there, SuperGabi.

White Sheet Pics

Peek-a-boo!

The other day, Gabi was hiding in Mama and Papa's bed. Papa took some pictures. Tita Chrissie likes the picture above, while Mama likes the pictures below. Not much else to say... except that our baby sure is cute!


Gabi and her Bunny


Gabi with her Bunny (with different lighting and a tasty hand)