A photo essay of the last month...

My people...

I have failed many of y'all during this joyous holiday season. For this, please accept my apologies. I will not attempt to win your favor with empty promises about being better at posting regular updates. Instead I will leave you with a photo essay of our exploits o'er the last month or so...

Let's begin!
We dress G in a nice outfit for our holiday card photo shoot. It went as well as can be expected for a little girl that has decided that no more pistures shall be had. Here's an outtake from the shoot.

Gabby! We're doing a holiday card photo shoot. Please lower your dress. It is uncalled for an unappreciated. (but it is cute.)

We had a great time at WeeZ's 2 yr birthday party. After a fun ride on the zilker zephyr, Gabby and Tiny D decided they were ready for seconds...

Gabby has had the pleasure of sharing some one-on-one time with Elise. They were having a ball.

Bobie came down for a visit. Gabby was sure to show off her playground and the feats of adventure, as she walked the wall.

Yaneev, Rae, and Bobie joined us for the first 4 nights of Chanukah. Gabby loved the candles, dreidels and the PRESENTS! We had a great time.

Here Gabby is telling me, "No Dadda, No! No Pictures!" Seriously. She's somehow become camera shy.

One afternoon, we were treated to an after noon of frolicking in Rudy's backyard. Uncle Jay is in management at the 360 location, and we even got a tour of the kitchen. In the picture above, Gabby is luring Luke onto her changing pad. And I quote, "Come here, Luke. Change diaper. It's fun." Seriously.

Gabby loves her green chair with Pooh and Piglet. Here she's reading me a book, or at least telling me how it should be read.

If I can't be a rockstar, who says Gabby ain't. She gets it from my genepool. Rock on, lil' G.

For Christas, Babci and Papa returned for a nice restful weekend. "Get up, Papa."

By the time we got through chanukah and christmas, Gabby was a pro at opening gifts. This of course is an essential skill. She's going to rock at pre-school one day.

If we don't see y'all, G, B, and I want to wish you a very happy new year.

A fellow father and blogger

Hey everyone. I was just checking around the blogs of Gabby's friends and came across a post on Lily's blog about her friend. If you've got a few minutes read about the incredible things Quinn has been dealing with and say a prayer...here's Quinn's blog.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving 2006

Click on the picture to see our little album from Thanksgiving. We spent the holiday with Auntie Sally, Uncle Shaun, Uncly Jay, Auntie Marta, Devin, Papa, Babci, Mr. Ken, Mrs. Jakki, Nikki, and Lexi. Gabby had a great time playing with Lexi. They're about two weeks apart and got along great. Check out this video clip...

We also had a little game of pigskin. Here're the photos...

Thanksgiving Pigskin - 2006

At the end of the day, everyone was tired. Gabby put Papa to bed. Night, night Papa...

I can see you...

 

Hello y'all. I just wanted to take a moment to thank y'all for reading our blog and sharing in the fun. On the map the the left, the orange dots indicate those of you that have checked out our blog since August... The bigger the dot the more times you've read the blog. Can you find yourself?

Thank you for all the encouragement and support. Happy Thanksgiving. 

24 weeks...Yikes!

I got this graphic from AllRefer.com. According to them:

At 24 weeks the fetus:
- has fully devloped eyes
- has a hand and startle reflex
- is forming footprints and fingerprints
- is forming alveoli in lungs

I guess it's about time we started thinking about names...

Ramblings About G

I wanted to pipe in a few thoughts I've been having lately about my lil G before the moment escapes...

A few weeks back, we were playing around after her bath. She was stomping around the room in her green and white pajamas, while B and I laughed at her antics. I couldn't help but think...one day she's not going to do this. She is so fun and funny right now. One day, she'll be super serious, or too old to just play. One day she won't be a little girl anymore. And when that day comes...I'll need to remember moments like this.

I've been having those thoughts a lot lately. I'm not sure if it's because she's better everyday, and I wonder how great can she get. Or maybe somewhere in my head, I'm a little afraid of how our relationship will change when the next cohen kid comes along. Whatever it is, I need to cherish every moment.

Speaking of moments...

Gabby loves to go to the supermarket. HEB in particular. When we pull onto the road near the place, she shouts from the backseat, "Super Market!" It's pretty crazy. Then she begins her planning... "Man, please buddy buck." "Lady, please buddy buck." Over and over... You need to understand that HEB gives a "Buddy Buck" to every child that wants one at the checkout line. Then you use the "Buddy Buck" in a crane game to get a sticker with points on it...that you collect for prizes. Anyway - Gabby loves this. After all that practice, she gets to the checkout line and the checkout person says hello. Gabby responds, "I Gabby." Then she goes shy. I mean, she literally tilts her head, tucks it into her chest and looks away. I say, "Gabby, is there something you wanted to ask for?" Nothing. Then, I ask for the "Buddy Buck." As soon as I get it, I lift her from the cart, and she goes crazy. From afar, you'd swear she was salivating. Her legs shake, her face lights up, and she screams, "Buddy Buck!" I place her on the floor, and frantically follow her as she runs to the machine. Usually she requires some help to get the machine to accept the "Buddy Buck," but she knows where to put it and how to orient the bill. With the bill absorbed into the machine, she focuses her concentration on moving the joystick (above her head, mind you) and then pressing the red button, to activate the "Claw." Once the machine delivers the promised prize, she takes off towards the register to ask for another "Buddy Buck." It's awesome.


Last weekend, we were ate the playground, again. On a side note, I am so happy that we moved here. It's mid-november and I'm able to take G outside to play. This is awesome. Not to mention that on colder days there is plenty of space in the house for us to play and run around! Back to my story... so we were at the playground and I overheard someone say that 13 months was a great age. It's before they start negotiating and saying no. I took exception, as anyone who knows me would expect. Now, I know they meant nothing by it - on a conscious level - but I think that one needs to cherish every age and every phase for all the nuances that they bring. If a certain age is better than the current - does that mean that you consciously enjoy your child less because he/she is not the aforementioned age? I know it's probably to philosophical for this blog, but I put it out there.

Gabby likes superman. I don't know why she has this affinity but she does. I pointed out a superman balloon at HEB a month ago, among all the other balloons I showed her, and that was it. Afterwards, we'd walk by a superman popcorn tin at blockbuster (among all the others) ad she'd tell me, "Superman!" Or she sees him on the toys in Target, "Superman!" She got a boo-boo on her palm recently, and got her choice of countless kids band-aids at HEB...guess what. Her palm is now adorned with a superman bandage... dig it.

Last bit... A few weeks ago I needed to work from home in the afternoon. Just me a Gabby. I had a deliverable and a deadline, and a dying laptop battery... Bad scenario. Gabby was less than thrilled. She grabbed my glasses and broke the arms, by accident. I've got new glasses now. I consider myself warned.

Happy Halloween!!!

I've got some more pictures for y'all. The first few are from last weekend. We spent the day at Aunt Sally and Uncle Shaun's carving some nifty pumpkins...do you like them?

We also learned that Gabby not only still fits in her pumpkin suit for last year (sized for 6-9 months), but she loves it. She repeatedly says, "Pumpkin Suit!" Tonight we took her out for a trick or treating adventure around the neighborhood. Highlights included a very scared Gabby declaring her standard, "No boy!" coupled with a new one... "No Fooky! Translated, "No spooky!" She refers to skeletons as spooky, because one day we saw a skeleton and told Gabby that it was spooky. So she said, "Hi spooky." And that was that. Another highlight: Gabby was a little bashful for the first few homes, but eventually started running from house to house, and approaching the doors on her own. She even knocked on the doors of a few homes.

Anyway...here are the pictures...click on the picture to access the album!

Halloween 2006

Note: No candy was consumed in the making of these pictures...

Ultrasound Update

So...we had our 20 week ultrasound last Tuesday. Unfortunately, BabyCenter no longer gives us vegetables as a fun size guideline, but as of the ultrasound, the fetus was estimated to weigh about 13 oz according to measurements, and according to BabyCenter, as of this Wednesday, when we hit 22 weeks, the fetus is estimated to be about 10.9 inches long!

Everything looked great in the ultrasound, and we even got to see some jaw-movement that looked like talking, some kicking and stretching, and some waving. We also got about 10 minutes of the ultrasound on video! We told the ultrasound tech that we didn't want to know the gender, so at the end, she asked us to close our eyes for a minute, while she looked in that area. She said everything looked good, but she didn't reveal the secret; however, she forgot to shut of the VCR, so we do have some video of the gender review. She said it wasn't a good angle, and it's not obvious even if we did see it, but so far we've held out and have only been slightly tempted to watch that last minute of the video! It's strange having that temptation in the house!

A fun romp around the house

I've got one more thing to share with y'all. Last weekend, Gabby was upstairs and had her milk and sunglasses. She asked us to go up there and help her down. She confuses some pronouns, and when she wants to be carried, she says, "I carry you." It is so cute. Anyway, we told her to go ahead and come down by herself, and be careful. We didn't think she'd be able to carry both the milk and the shades with her, as she desceneded the stairs. Let me tell you, I was more than overcome with laughter when she came down the stairs looking like she did. It's the first picture in the web album below.

Later that day, I was tasked with getting her dressed for the playground (a favorite destination). Halfway through, I decided that she was ready to go...to the barnyard that is. That's the rest of the pictures.

Gabby 1022

Click on the picture to open the photo album. Enjoy!

Mmmm, Ribs

Hey y'all

It's been a beautiful weekend down here in Austin. The weather was a treat, and so was my lil G. Before I get into all that, let me share a video with y'all. The little slideshow below was captured last weekend at Myer's in Elgin. We didn't plan on this happenning, but sometimes when you're introducing new foods all the time, you occasionally hit a home run. and with no further delay...I present to y'all...Gabby:

That was awesome. No? She devoured that rib. Cleaned the bone like her Daddy. She also takes after me with condiments. As her local aunts and uncles can atest, she indubitably enjoys a little dip dip... She dips her bread in her soup, eggs in ketchup, lettuce in salad dressing, and fingers in everything. As the saying goes, food is good, but it's better with a condiment.

Let's switch gears. This morning, we spent at least 2 hours at the playground. The weather was spectacular, and I was so thankful that we were able to move down here. Gabby is so happy when she's running around outside, and that was something, that we couldn't give her back in Boston. Anyway, she got a call from her Sabah, and then from her Bobie. It was during her Bobie's call, that I started laughing. She asked to hold the phone herself, then proceeded to walk around the playground, while climbing, sliding, and scaling a wall - all while holding the phone to her head. My Gabby's a gabber.

That's all for now. I've got more pictures, but those will come later. For now enjoy this nice shot of our Oompa-Loompa.

Pumpkins!

Today we went to Elgin to check out Evergreen Christmas Tree Farm's Pumpkin Days. Gabby had fun picking out some pumpkins in the pumpkin patch.







In this picture she's showing us how she "lets go" of Daddy's head. (She's getting very good at understanding opposites, and for 5 minutes, alternated between "hold on" and "let go."













Gabby hung out with Auntie Marta while we escaped from the mosquitos in the pavilion.














Then, not to be shown up by her buddies Luke and Martin, Gabby did a little dance for us.




After that, she visited with some goats and a donkey.












Then we all took a tractor-pull ride to the tree area for a "Pumpkin Hunt" where kids (and some of us grown-ups) picked mini pumpkins that are hidden in the Christmas trees. In this picture, Gabby's riding with Uncle Shaun, Auntie Sally, and Gayla.

Swimmingly

Hello out there, loyal readers. I just wanted to drop y'all a quick note about our doctor visit today. B had the 20 week ultrasound and everything is a-ok. The baby was kicking and stretching and even waved hello. Seriously. When you visit our new pad we'll show you the video, it's only 40 minutes long. Seriously.

Also, G's starting school tomorrow. We thought it would be a good idea to reacquaint her with the finer art of classroom experience even though B is still job-hunting. She'll go 2-3 days a week for now, and we'll see how things go from there. Later!

Here come the ABCs

See Luke and Gabby Play

Gabby rules the house

Unfortunately, we haven't been able to talk to all y'all personally, but let me tell you a few things Gabby's taught me about our new house.

1 - A toddler can get lost in there. It's freaking huge!
Shortly after moving in, we learned that in a large home, Gabby will go everywhere she can. We quickly lost track of our little munchkin, and actions needed to be taken. "Marco!" "Polo!" She learned quick, and now we can find her, if she lets us...

2 - Gabby can open and close doors with handles.
Within minutes of entering the house with Gabby for the first time, she went to a door, pulled the handle down, entered the room, and closed the door behind her. Yikes! She's got control over unlocked doors. That means Gabby-proofing every room in the house, pretty much. BUT THAT'S NOT ALL!!! Twice in the first few days, Gabby went to an undeadbolted front door, opened it, and walked right out. That's a problem. Don't worry, I've since installed some nifty auto locking handle thingees.

3 - When given the opportunity to run laps, Gabby will.
From the kitchen to the dining room to the entryway to the living room to the kitchen, etc.
or
From Gabby's room to the bathroom to the baby's room to the game room to Gabby's room, etc.
or
Round and round the couch and ottoman.

4 - Gabby wants to go potty, sometimes.
About a month or two ago, Gabby started asking to go to the bathroom to pee or poop. Now, we thought it was cute and all, but didn't really take her seriously. One day, I dropped her pants and her diaper, and placed her on the toilet. I looked away and sure enough, she fruitlessly went for it. Well she's come a long way since then. (one day she's kill me for writing about all this...if she finds it...Gabby, remember that Daddy loves you :)) She now has two potty adapters and sits on the toilet solo. When she wants to go, she asks us to bring her, and then instructs us to leave her in there alone. We wait outside until she declares, "All done." She can't get onto or off of the seat herself, nor can she drop or lift her pants. It time...

5 - With full access to a carpeted staircase, Gabby will ascend and descend the stairs at will...
We've installed a gate at the top of the stairs, but it hardly seems necessary.

6 - Gabby prefers to eat at the table to using her tray.
We've been pushing her booster seat to the table and having her eat with us on the table, sans tray. She seems to dig it.

That's all I've got for now...it's late. Night night.

No Way Daddy!

This will hopefully begin to catch y'all up on Gabby's exploits over the last month. Her vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds. I've noticed that our little one will pick up words and phrases when you least expect it...

For instance, B apparently says, "No way!," when she really means "No." I've never noticed it, but lo' and behold, Gabby has. A few weeks ago, Gabby has been exercising her will with me by declaring (in the cutest little voice), "No way, Daddy!" It's really so adorable. Let me give you a scenario...Gabby has a dirty diaper. I ask her, "Gabby, do you have a clean diaper or a dirty one?" To which she responds, "Dirty diaper." So I naturally say, "Okay honey, let's go change your diaper." With sudden concern, Gabby shakes her head and says, "No. No," and continues doing whatever she was doing. I say, "Come on Gabby, let's get you a clean diaper. Your dirty diaper is yucky." That's when I'm pushed too far. "No way, Daddy!" And she runs away. Precious, no. (FYI - I chase her down and scoop her up. My little G shouldn't be running around with a dirty diaper.

Some Gabby photos from this weekend!!!

Here're some photos from our weekend!
Click on this picture, or the small link below it, to view the entire album!

From Gabby's Weeke...

Details of the move...

For anyone who's interested in why we've been in absentia for the past month...in a nutshell, here's what we've been up to lately. For those of you not interested, feel free to skip this post...More Gabby updates to follow soon, we promise.

Over Labor Day weekend, Gabby's Bobie came to stay with us, and Joe and I began packing and moving. William and his parents came to help on Sunday, and over the weekend we packed and moved about 85% of our belongings into our garage. Realtor photos were taken on Tuesday and the condo went on the market later that week.

That weekend some of our friends threw us a little going away party and Gabby got to have one last hurrah with her friends James, William, and Paige, while Mommy and Daddy hung out and had dinner with all of their parents, and Alicia and Dave, after the munchkins went to sleep. The next day our friend Abby was kind enough to let Gabby come over to nap and play at her place while we had our first open house at our condo.

Over the next week, I worked hard to keep the condo clean at all times in case of showings, (easier said than done with a toddler running around), while Joe traveled to Austin for the week, for his first week at his new job. The next weekend, the Randolph crowd threw us a little surprise going away dinner, while Babci babysat. Thanks guys! For those of you who were sadly unable to make it, we hope you're doing well, and hope you'll come to visit us all in Austin sometime soon. On Saturday, we went to Taunton, and Gabby played with Babci and Papa (and chased Thursday, the cat). Babci babysat that eveniing so that we could have a night out at the movies. On Sunday, Gabby had all her grandparents over to Taunton to visit her for one last Massachusetts hurrah. We were all very pleased to see our surprise guest, "Auntie Rae," (who has since become engaged, by the way. Mazel Tov Rae and Yaneev)!

On Wednesday, 9/20, Gabby spent the morning with all her Strollerfit Friends (special thanks to Diane, Regan, Celia, Stephanie, and Anna for helping us out) while Joe and I picked up the Penske truck. After some minor setbacks (ask Joe for the stories), the truck finally made it to our condo. Saba came to visit Gabby that afternoon, and we also made a trip to the airport to pick up Uncle Jay who very graciously volunteered to fly up to Boston to drive the truck down to Austin with Joe. Babci and Papa came up that night to say goodbye to Gabby, and we worked for hours loading the truck and cleaning up the condo. (Thanks Babci for sticking around to help)!

On Thursday, Joe drove Gabby and me to the airport in the wee hours of the morning, and we embarked on our 4.5 hour flight. Although Gabby demanded LOTS of Mommy attention, she was a real trooper on the flight. We went through a bag of fun new toys, stickers, and snacks in the first 2 hours of the flight, walked up and down the aisle for a while, watched a little TV, and somehow got through the 4.5 hours. When we finally landed in Austin, Gabby was very excited to see Uncle Shaun waiting for us at baggage claim.

Gabby and I stayed with Auntie Sally and Uncle Shaun (and Auntie Marta, who's also temporarily living there) while Daddy and Uncle Jay drove cross-country. Joe and Jay arrived on Saturday night, and we had a low-key day on Sunday before closing on our new house on Monday morning!

On Monday and Tuesday night we had lots of helpers over to help paint our living room and unload the truck, and on Tuesday night, we spent our first night in our new home. Since then, we've been slowly unpacking and trying to get settled.

In that first week, we also made it the OB, and the littlest Cohen appears to be developing nicely. According to Babycenter.com, it's now about the size of a large sweet potato, about 5.5 inches from crown to rump. I'm feeling fine and am starting to feel the baby flutter in my tummy. We're scheduled for a routing ultrasound next week, (but no, we are not finding out the gender of the baby)!

Joe went back to work that Friday, and so far is excited about the job. We've really enjoyed reconnecting with our old Austin friends, and hope to continue to do so in the coming weeks.

Special thanks to Sara, Shaun, Marta, and Jay for all your generous help and babysitting during that crazy week! Thanks also to Erin and Arthur for help with cleaning, painting, and unpacking, and to Erin and Meredith for your babysitting assistance in our times of need!

So...that's why we've been out of the loop. We're looking forward to things settling down, now that we're getting settled in, and hope to get you more regular Gabby updates going forward!

More to come...

Here's a little picture of G.

We've been very consumed with the move and settling in, and apologize for not tending to y'all out there in the blogosphere. Hopefully we will be forgiven. Heck, we didn't even unpack the camera until yesterday!

Enough said. We've got lots to tell, and not enough time to tell it right now. So here's another picture of G. She's great!


Oh - and the other one is coming along fine. It's a large sweet potato now!

Here's to Martin!!!

As some of y'all know, Gabby is a huge fan of Martin, Luke, and Zack's blogs. Yesterday morning, we were enjoying Martin's Texas cheering, and Gabby decided to join in.



She's such a little longhorn.

a happy Gabby video

Courtesy of the Good Rabbi...

Click here!!

Or copy and paste this link into your address bar:
http://www.rottenrabbi.com/blog/archives/2006/08/happiness.html

Gabby's great!

the Jumbo Shrimp has a heartbeat

According to Babycenter.com, our little Lime has reached the Jumbo Shrimp stage of development.

We stopped my the doctor's office this morning to check on things, and the heartbeat sounded good. So, I'm happy to report that all is well.

We're going to be a bit busy over the next few weeks with moving, etc. so wish us luck!

A photo essay

I'm moooooving to Longhorn Land!!!

This is the only way Gabby will sit in her swing. Maybe the next kid will use it.

Julie was trying so hard to understand Gabby's story...

Mama!!! Mama!!! That flower is so intriguing.

G just loved the chickens!! Bok Bok Bok!!

Baaaa. G digs sheep.

Gabby peers at us...and threatens to take off...she always comes back...so far.

Look how big she's getting!!

Videos from Drumlin Farm

Ok, y'all. These videos are a few weeks old, but I'm having a very difficult time posting photos...so I hope this will satisfy y'all...

By the way, we're moving to Texas.

See Gabby Run

Watch Gabby Talk

The Littlest one is now a Fig!!!

Pictures - courtesy of the Good Rabbi

Here's the album...

The Kidney Bean is now a Kumquat

check it...

Ya, yah. Whatev, Dad.

You can clearly see how excited Gabby was about the news. Well, we're excited, and hopefully y'all are too.

Also, please take notice that in honor of the kidney bean we've changed the web address of this blog.

Spin Cycle

Gabby has been dancing up a storm lately...



Additionally, she did a somersalt today. By herself. No prompting at all. Wicked cool.

My Little Angel...

Hello. Welcome to my blog.

Beware of my big stick...or...I think the treasure is that way!

Apples and nature. That's life in Boston.

What does the busy baby say? "Uh-oh."

1 1/2 years old. What a big girl I am!

Okay. That's enough. I'm outta here, and onto other things!

Come closer. Closer... Wanna kiss?

Matzah? Matzah? Yeah, I like Matzah.

There is nothing like playing with a good set of bubbles.

I think I saw a camel. I did. I did see a camel! I saw three camels!

I've got my bags, and I'm ready to GO!!!

Now leave. I've had my bath, and I'm going night night.