Hooooollllllld me, Mommy .

I guess it's been a couple months now. It's just slowly become more and more frequent. She's learned it and she loves to use it.

At first it's whine, whine, whine, "up", "up", "up" and then when she realizes I'm not paying attention to her she looks up a me with those big brown eyes, flashes her long lashes, and gives me a sly little smile and says "Hooooolld me, mommy."

That's it! Drop whatever you're doing. Nothing is more important at that time, no matter what it is, to not bend over and pick up that adorable, precious little girl. What can I say- she's good:)

Dance Class is a No-go!

Last wednesday and today Gaby and I took a trial dance class. They were opening up a time slot for 2 yr olds and were trying to see if there was enough interest to add the class. So last week we, along with four other 2 yrs olds, went to try it out. That day they made one very critical error- they sent the moms out immediately and made us sit out in the lobby, where we could watch what was going on inside from a couple of TV monitors. What's the best way to describe the situation in that room...... um.......let's see..... utter chaos.....that would be a good word! All the girls were screaming and crying and soooo not happy to be dancing. And as usual, it was sheer and utter torture for us moms. I also felt so bad for the instructor. The girls wanted nothing to do with her and what she was doing and you could see the total frustration on her face. So we went back this week to see if it would be different and, after convincing the instructor to let us moms in for the first few classes, we tried again. And there wasn't as much crying today but the girls still did not want to do anything the instructor was doing and pretty much would not leave our sides. So the instructor came to the conclusion that this probably wasn't a good idea and asked us to try again this summer. Too bad. I realllly wanted to see my sweet Gaby in a pink tutu and black tap shoes but it was obvious she's just not ready for this yet. Reinforces the fact that she still really is my little baby and not such a big girl afterall. Selfishly, that makes me feel good :) Oh well. Hopefully this summer she'll be willing to twirl, tap, and shake her booty :)

Mia's B-day Party

Our sweet little Mia Rose had her 2nd b-day party this weekend. We headed to Katy for the party festivities! Candie and Steven's new house is gorgeous including Mia's awesome playscape. There was a bouncy house that the girls could not get enough of! The weather was great and we had a lovely day celebrating with everyone.

The birthday girl!

Getting the hang of bouncing...

Party girls!

Aunt Can & Miss Mia

Happy Birthday to you!

Cake! Yum!

Sooo good!

Having fun with Daddy!
Gaby got in on the present opening action :)

All in all it was a great day!
The girls are finally starting to play together! The were playing with these little pink chairs that Mimi and Papa gave them for Valentine's Day and were having their own private discussions. So, so cute! We've been waiting for this for two whole years!

Big Girl Check-up

Gaby had her 2 yr doctor's appointment today. Everything went well. She's 27.9 lbs, 35 in, and her head circumfirence is 49.2 cm. That's 50%, 75%, and as usual a good ol 90% for her big noggin :) She cooperated some but was also a little defiant at times. She did have to get two (!) shots today. One for Hep A and the flu shot. I had kind of been avoiding the flu shot for some reason but apparently the flu season has just begun. So we went ahead an got it although, I don't like pumping my little girl with all sorts of nasty viruses. But on the flip side, a week of the flu sounds like absolutely NO fun for anyone! Anyway, she had a pretty bad hissy fit after the shots, but quickly got over it when she was promised a bouncy ball. The power of the bribe still amazes me a times. Next appointment isn't until 3yrs old. I guess that means she's really growing up!

Miss Manners

I have been plagued for the past two weeks with something they call "Cedar Fever". I've got the fever. Heehee. I just love saying that! Anyway, Cedar Fever is a very frustrating, unable to breathe, fatigue inducing allergic reaction to cedar pollen. Let me tell you, I've NEVER had allergies so bad in my life. I guess it's the price you pay for living in a beautiful, tree filled, green city like Austin. So by now you're probably wondering what the point of this post is.... Well, with allergies comes lots and lots of sneezing. And one super cute side affect of that is that my sweetie pie has learned how and when to say "bless you". Really it's more like "beth-sh you". For some reason, it's so heart-warming to get a "bless you" from your own kid. It's just so darn cute! She's also gotten really good at "gracias/thank you" and is pretty good at "please". We're still working on "excuse me". What a well mannered little lady :)

Grandparents Day at the Park

Last weekend, Gaby got the opportunity to go to the park with both sets of grandparents.

How fun!!

There was lots of swinging, of course :)

And rock climbing...

Not too shabby for 72 yrs old, huh??
My parents are just too cute, aren't they?
Thanks for taking me to the park Mimi, Papa, Pita & Pito!!

Puke, puke and more puke!

WARNING: Do not read any further if you get queasy hearing about puke, vomit, gastric juices etc etc....
Last night was tough. It's really the first time anything like that has ever happened to us. We're thinking it's more of a stomach virus than food poisoning but in any case poor little Gaby basically threw up ALL night long!! It started around 11pm and ended close to 3am. The first time it was full on stomach contents- ick! And it was all over her bed, her blankets, her bunny, her pjs, etc etc. So we cleaned her up, threw eveything in the wash, calmed her down and put her back to bed on clean sheets. 15 min later the same senario! And then again. And again. And again. And. Again. In the end, I believe I got up about 10 times and all the poor kid had left were gastric juices. And we went through practically every single blanket she owns. Needless to say, we were all exhausted this morning and Gaby didn't feel like eating too much today. Hopefully, she'll be back to normal tomorrow. It couldn't have been all the birthday goodies she's had this week, could it??

Happy Birthday, my sweet!

Today is Gaby's 2nd Birthday. It is so crazy to me that she is already two! Next thing you know I'll be writing about her 18th birthday. My little sweetie is such an angel! And occasionally at times a challenge :) She is a fiesty, intelligent, funny, happy, caring, adorable, gentle soul. It's so fun to hang out with her. I have been so priviledged to be able to spend as much time with her as I have and to be so much a part of her day to day life. It's so true that time goes by so quickly and as you can tell I've tried to capture every single moment so that we can always remember all the little things. That's why I love this blog. It's great to be able to share the moments of her day to day life with our family and friends but more importantly it will, hopefully, be something that she can look back on when she's older. So I'd like to list a few of the things that I love most about my beautiful daughter at this awesome age of 2....

-when she talks on her pretend phones with who knows who and actually laughs at whatever it is they are saying

-her precious little chicken dance

-her sweet little kisses when she thinks you are sad or hurt

-her contaigious explosion of giggles when you tickle her

-her total adoration of Rosko and always wanting to hug & kiss him

-her always wanting to take her shoes & socks off

-the thrill she gets from running around naked

-the way she plays with her babies, putting them to sleep and covering them with blankets

-how seriously she takes her cooking from her pretend kitchen

-the cute way she puckers her lips and blows on her food when it's hot

-the way she smacks her lips when she's really enjoying what she eating

-how she loves singing along to her favorite songs

-how she runs with absolute abandon!

-how it takes a little while for her to wake up in the morning (just like mommy)

-how she totally enjoys her baths

-her love of reading books (I hope it sticks!)

-how adorable she looks when she drinks out of a water bottle

-what a great roadtripper she is

-how like a true girlie girl she loves playing with purses and bags.
Of course I could go on and on but I wouldn't want to bore you:) Bottom line is that Gaby is a doll and we feel so blessed that she is a part of our lives. Happy Birthday, sweet baby! Your dad and I love you more than words could ever express!

Birthday Cupcakes!

Gaby's 2nd Bday Party

Elmo, Gymboree, Cake & Fun !!

We had Gaby's birthday party this weekend! Can you believe she'll be two in a couple of days? Her party was at Gymboree and turned out to be a really great time for the kids. The theme? Elmo- who has become one of Gaby's favorite characters. She wore a pretty red dress in honor of her main man. She looked so darn cute! Both of our families came in for the very special day. We also had so many of Gaby's friends show up to celebrate with her. It's neat how someone whose only two already has such a good group of friends. I think all the excitement and attention was a little too much for our sweetie b/c she was a bit shy during the festivities. At the beginning, she sat back and watched alot of the action. But then she really got into it and there was a little dancing, alot of jumping, and many, many laughs! Gaby received so many great gifts from everyone and is pretty much set for the rest of the year as far as toys go. Thanks to everyone for the wonderful presents! I know Gaby had so much fun running around with all her pals and family. Her second birthday party was definitely a hit!

Moving on..

Gaby finished her Super Waterbabies swimming class this week

and has moved on to Extreme Waterbabies.

Way to go, kiddo!!

What the...?!?!?

So we order Chinese take out often. Usually on Friday nights. It's a restaurant that has sushi (Byron's choice) and the regular stuff like fried rice, chicken lo mein, etc (me & Gaby's choice) which makes us all very happy. Anyway, Byron always eats his with chopsticks. So get this...tonight Gaby asks her dad for some chopsticks too and we just figured she was going to play around with them. Can you believe that that little munchkin took those chopsticks and proceeded to actually eat with them!!! It was absolutely incredible! How on earth did she mangage that? I promise you these pictures aren't staged....

Not yet...

A few days ago, Gaby started saying a new phrase- "Not yet". For some reason, it just seemed so funny to hear that from a such a little person. Usually, I'll ask a question like "Do you want to go home?" or "Are you ready to take your nap?" or "Can I change your diaper?" and the usual answer is "Si" or a very resounding "NO!". But now, all of a sudden, it's "Not yet!". In a very sweet and calm adult-like voice. Everytime she says it we just crack up! It really is just too funny :)

The Donut Shop

A fun thing we've been doing for the past couple of months is going to the donut shop after swimming lessons with Gaby's friend Tripp. Today, I finally remembered to bring my camera so here are a few cute pics.

Running to the shop- yipee!!

Picking out their drinks...

Donuts, yummy!!
Cutie Victoria joined us...
Gaby prefers the chocolate covered variety...
Yummy in my tummy :)

What's funny, for some reason, Gaby doesn't like the donut holes or the plain glazed donuts. She prefers the chocolate covered (which actually is MY favorite!) . But if you look at the third picture, see what's left of the donut on the table?? She only ate the part actually covered in chocolate and left the rest! That's my girl :)

First day back at school

Gaby went back to school today after being off for two weeks for Christmas break. I wasn't sure how she would react to going back but she was so happy to go see "los ninos" again. She was very excited during the car ride over there and was thrilled to see all her friends again. That makes me so happy :) It's so reassuring to see her enjoying herself with her new pals and wanting to learn new things.

More X-mas Pics (Marcie's Camera)

Well, Happy New Year to Ya !!

It's 2009! That sounds so crazy to me. I can't believe our sweet Gaby will be two in less than two weeks! So to finish off the holiday season, we headed to Houston for New Year's Eve and then spent the weekend just hanging out at my parent's house. We rang in the New Year with Byron's best friend from forever, Bryan Parker, and his lovely wife, Missy. We had an amazing meal at Pappa's Bros Steakhouse and then went back to their house for a little party and lots of champagne :)

Here are some of the fun things Gaby did this weekend.
Dancing w/ Pito...

Helping Tio Billy & Carlos put together a grill... Chilling with Carlos...
Walking around in Mommy's shoes...
Enjoying Pito's massage chair...
Learning about make-up...
And teaching Pita about make-up...
Then having deep conversations about make-up...
We headed back home on Sunday ready to get back into our regular routine. With the new year upon us we are looking forward to what's ahead and look back on what a very fun year we've had watching Gaby become such a fantastic little girl. It's indescribable what joy and happiness she's brought to our lives!