Gabby's feet are pudgy...on the bottoms. Martin has a nice arch, Gabby has a pillow.
Gabby makes wonderful sleep sounds. Imagine heavy breathing coupled with coos. Awesome.
Gabby makes an adorable face when to blow at her. She shuts her mouth, squints her eyes and raises her eyebrows, all the while, she's also moving her head from side to side...scrumptious!
We made it. G was wonderful on the trip. She slept and ate and slept through the first flight, then slept through some of the layover...and finally made it to Austin with out any major issues. What a good little lady!
Then we headed over to Martin's house. Y'all might know him as Tiny D. I would say that he welcomed us with open arms, in fact I'm not sure he even noticed that we are here. His guardians welcomed G and the family, though.
It turns out that Tiny D is even cuter in real life. In fact, G was surprised to learn that D was larger than she. In weight and head! Go figure. G's just a dainty lil thing, I suppose.
So far we've had a number of firsts in G's development while here in Austin.
1- G's First Barrette installed by her Dad. I've succumbed to her cuteness. There's no stopping it.
2- G's First stroll in the Baby Bjorn while Facing Forward. For a while now I've tried to let G get accustomed to the bjorn according to "their rules." Bjorn-makers say that the baby can be rotated at 3 months...until then the baby must face daddy's hairy chest. G didn't agree. See had nothing to see when facing me. So we had a little chat. I said, "G - what's wrong?" To which she replied, "guurhshu." "Ah-ha," I said, "You want to face forward, in order to see the beautiful blue bonnets!" She drooled. So we tried it out. She's loved it ever since.
3- G met Wee Z and Tiny D in Person. Yep that's right. Until now she's only been exchanging blog postings and the occasional audioblog. They all hung out yesterday, and had a blast. They slept, had lunch, then fussed a bit. Much fun!
4- G also met Josh and Shira. These little tikes are being raised by some of G's parents friends. G wasn't rally in a playful mood, but Josh and Shira were. Good times!
5- G's First Visit to HEB Grocery Stores. G asked me - "Hey Dad, why are do Texans get Texas shaped tortilla chips, and Massachusetts folks don't?"
6- Gabby's First Skirt. Jodi gave Gabby her first skirt a few weeks ago...and yesterday she used it! She was soo cute. and yes - Girly! You'll see the pictures soon enough.
Pictures are here...
Well, the good news is that G has been sleeping very well the past 6 nights or so. The bad news is that Saturday is three days away. Now, when I say "bad news" I am speaking from the perspective of the other passengers...because we're going on a TRIP!!! Gabby is so excited. The 3 of us are heading to Austin from April 2 thru April 10. It's the southwest leg of G's first US tour. She's been training hard, and she's sure that this tour will please all who witness.
Today, as I walked home from the T, I started to think about Gabby. And the first thought that came to my head was an image of G crying. I mean really crying - with her eyes clenched and her nose scrunched and her mouth continuously open into an oval...and she's belting it out. I thought of this...and I laughed. I laughed out loud from the sheer joy that thinking of her brought me. Corny? Nah.
In other news, this weekend G was introduced to her naked arm. Normally she's got long sleeves on. Well, let me tell y'all, she and her arm got acquainted quickly...then started going for it. That's right. She's now the proud giver and receiver of her first hickey. ewwww.
Lastly, Gabby got her second round of shots on Tuesday morning. 4 shots. She was crying before the needles even stuck her...so the effect was less dramatic than her first round. The first time, B said that she went from happy to "what the bleep are you bleeping doing to me!" crying. B cried too. Hence, I was recruited for this and all future shots.
First off, let me confirm what y'all may have noticed. I don't have as much time or energy to post to this blog as I once had. Call it busy times at work, busier times at home, or less sleep on a much more consistent basis than I could have planned. Whatever the reason, accept it. Now let's move on. While the frequency of posting may have declined, I hope that the content will improve. I'll let you decide.
Today is Easter. B, G, and I are hanging with Gabby's extended family in Taunton for the holiday. I'm sure that pictures will follow. But until then, let me describe our little munchkin.
Today, I noticed that her chin has doubled. That is to say that she has a double-chin. And it nicely finishes off her round cheeks. Her whole face is rounding out for that matter.
B decided to girlify our sweet thing today. G's got a little pink barrette in place to accent her pink outfit. It's cute. But I'm a little wary of pushing Gabby into Girly girl world. I think we should treat her like a person, not a girl...and let her be herself. I know it's too early to worry about such things...but - whatever.
This morning, I had the pleasure of waking up for my darling at a little before 5 am. We chatted. I gave her a massage. Then I was able to express some gas, and some poop from her precious bum-hole. Ha. I changed her, played with her some more, and eventually rocked her to sleep in her sling. That was at 5:45. Sound early? It was. But I didn't mind, since I'd had some good sleep.
This whole week, I've been taking night shift while B gets a good rest. After I put G to sleep, I peep down in Gabby's room to be the one to calm her and relax her in the event that she wakes up during the night. Overall, it's a tough job, but I love it. I've become really good at understanding her sleep noises vs. wake-up fussing noises. Yay me.
So last night, we tried something different. B and I went down together with our trusty Sony (r) trademark BabyCall Monitor. There was a problem. Basia is not in tune with Gabby's sounds. So needless to say, Basia couldn't sleep. With every peep came the question, "Joe, is she ok?" To which I would respond, "Yes." Eventually, she just got up to sleep in G's room. I thought it would be good experience for B. It was, and I got rest.
Now, let's go back in time to Wednesday. Basia and I brought Gabby with us to Arc en Ciel, a daycare in JP, where we live. We met the director/founder and took a tour. They had an opening, and we liked the place. So...Friday morning, B and I went for a show-and-tell session at Basia's work. We visited all her co-workers, showed off our lil thing. It was great, and so was G. B also had a little chat with her boss. It went very well...long-story-short - Basia will be taking an extra couple of weeks off work, then returning on a part-time basis. The days she's at work will be daycare days. Thankfully, we created a solution that we think will work for us.
In other news, our friends Kendra and Matthew welcomed a new baby into the world. Gabby's new friend is William David. Congrats Kendra and Matthew!!! Welcome William David!!!
Saturday began with the realization that I don't know how to play with my girl. I see her every night when I get home from work, as I put her to bed - then I'm with her all night, while she's sleeping. And that's about it. I didn't really realize how out of touch I became until Basia went out Saturday morning to run some errands. I had Gabby, awake, and was perplexed. How do I play with her? When B returned, she let me watch her play with the Gabster. I caught on quick. Thanks Mommy!!
Saturday afternoon, Gabby met her "sort-of" cousins. Saba's girlfriend, Nancy's daughter, Tammy, her husband Doug, and their daughter Carissa welcomed a new addition six months ago, Abby. Gabby and Abby got along splendidly - pictures will be posted soon.
That's it for now...I think. Here are the last week's worth of pictures:
Click here!
Gabby's been a good girl lately. Who am I kidding? She's always a good girl. For now... What I'm getting at is she's been sucking down some good milk with determination, and she's been sleeping well at night. Now, don't get me wrong - that doesn't mean that se's acquired my ability to sleep through the night and anything else that comes a long, just that she's been sleeping more than she used to. It's a good thing.
Saturday, my mom, G's Bobie, came over in the afternoon for a stroll with us. Gabby, Bobie and I headed for Arnold Arboretum. It's a park nearby, with lots of hills, and trees. It took me a while to gather all the goods I thought we'd need, and all the goods the Basia thought we'd need, but alas we did get out of the house! I for one, was very excited. Since Gabby arrived, I haven't been able to go outside with G. I've been cooped up. Anyway, we went for a walk.
It appeared that we weren't the only ones excited about enjoying the nice day. There were lots of other babies and parents walking through the park...but there was a difference. Every other baby sat happily in their respective strollers. Gabby decided that she'd rather be close to her dad. So i trotted around the park with Gabby in the sling, while Bobie pushed around an empty stroller. Gabby wins again.
Later on Saturday, Babci, Basia's mom, came by to watch Gabby while B and I enjoyed a night in the suburbs. We had a great time seeing friends while celebrating Paul's 30th birthday. Happy b-day Paul.
One note: I tried posting some pictures to the blog bothe yesterday and today...but I couldn't get it done. Lousy internet! So you'll need to click on this link for the latest pictures.
Guess what? B took note this morning that G has retained yet another trait of her dear old dad. Apparently, she is not showing much of a neck. Hmm. I'm sure this will change in time, but for mow I take pride in my girl taking after her pops.
In other news, G has graduated from her newborn diapers....into SIZE 1!!! This is indeed quite an achievement. Not to mention, we'll be going through a lot more diaper pails!!!
This evening I was doing my good dad thing, and I was giving the little spiked hair smunchkin a hefty burping session, after her bottle. All of the sudden she started going bonkers. There I was holding her over my right shoulder and "shooshing" in her ear, as I gingerly padded her back to ward off the spit-up forces... She started to get frantic, then began using her hands and head to get right in my face as if to say..."Hey, Dad!!! I don't need burping!!! Something else is wrong!!!" But as she man-handled my head and glasses, all I could do was laugh and smile. I got tingles up the back of my neck, when I started to understand that my little girl was trying to communicate with me. Then I realized that she was still screaming her lungs out - in my face.
So I changed her diaper.
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