No Barriers

A few days ago, Gabby discovered a new game: closing doors. First, she tried our bedroom closet. Too dark. Cries sounded from within. Second, she tried the bathroom. Too cold. Cries sounded from within. Third, she tried the laundry room, while Mommy was there to keep her company. Just right. She was up for the challenge. She reached for the door handle while on the tips of her toes and used the very tips of her fingers until she could pull the handle down better and get a grip. The rest was easy. Gabby now opens doors.

Photo Madness Part 2

Our family photo retakes were today and unlike previously, everything went smoothly leading up to the photo shoot. The problem is, it turns out that Gabby does not like to pose with her parents. I do not know what she has against us. After the first picture, she was finished and she let us know. She began screaming and refused to even let us hold her. This is generally not a good thing for family pictures. The photographer brought in someone to try to get Gabby to smile and they put in an amazing effort, just not a very successful one. By some miracle, we managed to squeak a few shots out. They may not be magazine worthy, but we are not about to go through that again, no matter how free.

Of course, after we gave up and let her roam free, she was as happy as could be. How in the world will we manage when we have more than one child??

Photo Madness Part 1

With Gabby's first birthday behind us, we decided that it was time to get our first family photos taken (and when I say "we decided", I mean "I decided"). All was prepared - Gabby's cute outfit, a 10AM appointment so Gabby would be in a good mood, and of course, flawless visions of poses I would request, props included. Here is how things really happened:

• Friday, 11:00 PM: I choose outfits for Jason and I that work well together with Gabby's dress while he falls asleep, confused at why the colors and mood of our sweaters are so important to me. After much pondering, different but warm complimenting colors are selected and I go to sleep in peace.
• Saturday, 7:00 AM: Wake up on time. I get in the shower. Jason goes for a run.
• 7:10 AM: I get out of the shower to Gabby crying. Nervous for her big day, she woke up an hour earlier than she has in the last several months.
• 9:15 AM: Having recovered from Gabby's early rising, we are set to leave as scheduled in 5 minutes. Hooray!
• 9:16 AM: Jason starts to get dressed and informs me that his outfit will not work. (The dress shirt + sweater combo will not fit at the same time.) Since he only owns one sweater (he is a warm-blooded kind of guy), our outfit plans go out the window.
• 9:17 AM: I freak out trying to quickly come up with a new plan with limited resources.
• 9:40 AM: We leave 20 minutes late (each in uncoordinated outfits) and forgo the cupcake pickup. (One of my random plans was to get pictures of Gabby with a birthday cupcake.)
• 10:05 AM: Arrive at our appointment.
• 10:07 AM: They call us back. As Gabby is walking to the studio, she trips and bumps her head pretty hard on the metal part of a stool. The fall doesn't phase her, but leaves a nice red mark on her forehead. Fabulous.
• 10:08 AM: Gabby suddenly turns hyper as we enter the studio and will not stay in one place for any of her solo photos. My plans for poses and personal props are forgotten.
• 10:14 AM: The photographer takes only a few family shots before Gabby has had enough and exhibits uncharacteristic fussiness. And the shoot is over.

All in all, Gabby had some cute solo pictures, but we don't especially like any of our family shots, at least not enough to hang up as an 8x10 in our living room. So we get to go back and try again on the family shots (thanks to Picture People's 100% satisfaction garantee). Jason is ecstatic. He loves posing for photos.

Not that you wanted to know all of this information about how weird I am about pictures, but I have never been good at omitting details. Alas, here are some samples....

Removing the bow that did not make many photo appearances,

due to her need to hand us what was on her head.

Party Time!

Gabby's first birthday party took place on Halloween. We followed the basic traditions - cake, ice cream, gift-opening and included toddler-friendly activities like making clay hand prints and grooving to Halloween tunes. It was a lot of fun!

Below is a video clip of Gabby's birthday cupcake and the process of her eating her first real sugar. She was so delicate about it, that it did not make for the most interesting of videos, but it is a requirement from the grandparents, so here it is. Later she dove into it a little more and ended up eating the entire thing!

We had "Icy Witch" ice cream cones. Somehow, the witch turned out looking more like a clown (especially since I couldn't find Oreo cones anywhere). Luckily, the kids were not too picky about the results.

Gabby had quite the party guest list - Dracula, Dumbo, Ladybug Fairy, Winnie the Pooh and Harry Potter (he has his invisible cape on in this photo). Apparently Gabby has only boy friends. We are going to need to have a talk about this.

Preparing for the lady bug hand print process...

Our lady bug at the end of her big bash. (The only time we could get her to keep her antennae on for a split-second.)

And then there was the after-party.... (Excuse the shaking camera. I was either laughing or very nervous.)