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!