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...