If Only I Had These Photography Skills

My friend Connie is an aspiring photographer who was looking for a new subject to build her portfolio (and I was more than willing to oblige), so she took some pictures of Gabriella on a playdate we had this week. I just love how they came out and was amazed considering how crazy-busy Gabriella was the whole time in the park.

And my favorite one.... Oh, those eyes.

Gabriella Meets Shamu

Gabriella and I went with Sarah and Mark to Sea World today. I was really nervous about how she was going to do. With her sensory-seeking issues, she literally can't sit still and won't sit in your lap for more than a few seconds without fighting to get down. I figured the shows were going to be a wrestling match ending with me taking her out. Much to my surprise, the stimulation of the music and action was enough to have her sit through them and love it! She sat through 3 shows that were 20-30 minutes each!!!!! We were there from 9-5 and she was so good the whole day, including during lunch. She napped in her stroller(another rareity these days) for about 30 minutes and went to sleep tonight as soon as her head hit the bed.

At breakfast before leaving.

Clyde or Seamore(not sure which)

Awwwww, don't they make a cute family???

Daddy couldn't come because he had to work. Gabriella took advantage of Mark filling in.

She sat up on the table and ate almost an entire container of Goldfish crackers. This again, was just an awe-inspiring thing for me. She normally would be clamoring to get down and for some reason, she just sat there entertained for probably 30 minutes.

Wiped out.

Sarah and Mark took more pics with their cameras and hopefully I can get some emailed to me and post some more.

The Pool Is Open

Sarah and Mark are in town and we officially started summer by opening the pool!!! Gabriella LOVED it! And mommy loved it because she didn't want to go in(still too cold for my wimpy self at 85 degrees!). Sorry Mark, I'm not buying that it was really 86(which I claimed was my minimum :-) Apparently 90 is more like it!

I wasn't sure how she'd react since she hadn't been in since last Fall, but she was loving life.

As Sarah said, "Elton John, eat your heart out".

She loved tilting her head back into the waterfall and taking a "showah".

She had such a fun day and after she got up from her nap and they left, she kept saying "pool", "pool". I can see where we'll be spending lots of time this summer! I better look into those swimming lessons! Speaking of which, anybody have recommendations? At two, should she do the infant swim survival/Safe Start or something else? I really don't like the idea of every day for like 10 minutes. But, if that's the best program.......

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

I took these pics on Monday at the park. Gabriella is a slide fanatic and says 'weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee' every time we drive past a playground. Sometimes she even says it when she just sees a fenced in area somewhere. When you drive up the street to our house, her playset is visible as you get close and she always sees it and says 'weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee'.

And here she is giving Kera some loving.

I know this one is out of focus, but I thought her expression was too cute anyway.

She now knows all three cats by name, though she doesn't get them right 100% of the time, except for Apple.

Weekend Fun

This weekend was such nice weather. So, on Saturday, Gabriella and I went to an art festival.


Here she is on the way. Miss G just loves riding in the car(weird I know!). She now sometimes asks to go in the car. I guess she's giving me hints that she is bored in the house.


















Checking out the quack quacks.





She loves getting out my hair dryer and brush and "drying" her hair. She makes the sound effects and everything. This morning, she even had to wear my shoes.







Today, we went to a birthday party at Monkey Joe's for one of our Guatetot friends Hannah, who turned four. Out of the blue lately, she keeps saying "pizza", "cake" over and over. So, she was quite happy today to have pizza and cake!


I didn't get any pics of Gabriella jumping or sliding since it was just me and she is nearly impossible to keep in check. So, here she is modeling her new sunglasses she got in her goody bag. Boy, was she thrilled to see those!