Three great months

I can't believe I have been a mom for 3 whole months! Like everyone said it would, this time has, in a sense, flown by. I'm certainly not ready to head back to work tomorrow.

But at the same time, it feels like forever ago when we first came home from the hospital and spent weeks running on no more than 1-2 hours of consecutive sleep at a time! Neither of us is the same person we were 3 months ago!

Gabby is more fun now than ever. She's so aware of us these days, which makes leaving her at daycare even harder. Tonight, she commemorated my last day as a stay-at-home mom by doing two beautiful things:

She went to bed before 8:00, with no fussing at all- just some adorable bellows and jibber jabber.

But before bed, she did something I hope to always remember... She laid her head down on my chest, grabbed the neck of my shirt and started fiddling with my neck, and looking up at me while "talking". It was the cutest thing EVER. It sounded like she was just chilling with mom, gabbing and cooing about her day's events. I wanted to eat up this moment and never forget it!

Leaving for work tomorrow will be the hardest thing I have done so far as a mom. I just know it. Gabby has literally been a part of me for 12 months now. Even now, I still feel like she and I are one being instead of two. She's always been near me since the day she was created, and having her away from me for most of my day will be a huge adjustment.

A long time ago, I read a quote that touched me even though I was not yet a parent. It seems to be particularly relevant today, and I suppose it always will!

“Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.” ~ Elizabeth Stone

Gabby's Nursery

Here is a slide show of Gabby's nursery. We still have some artwork to make to go with the surfer girl theme... The surf board is going to be hung on the wall, where we can mark off her height as she grows older!

Gabby's ready for the beach

We're tired of winter! Gabby and all her fat rolls are patiently waiting for beach season... She's been trying on her beach gear for weeks now, and asking, "Mom, when is summer coming? Is summer tomorrow? What does the sand feel like? Mommy, do I know how to swim? Will you and Daddy make sand castles with me? Will you teach me to pick crabs?", and so on and so on...

Who does she resemble?

A quick and easy visual quiz... If you can't already see the resemblance in Gabby, I've posted Mike's and my baby photos so you can see for yourself... Who does Gabby look like?:

Will you be my Valentine?

Happy 1st Valentine's Day Gabby!!! Our little cherub starring in her first homemade Valentine...

~Valentine courtesy of Evelyn, a friend and fellow mommy!

http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/4217902#246647267

Prime Time!

Have you ever seen a baby love TV so much?! Gabby is mesmerized by the television... She has a particular love for classics, like the Godfather. She has also been known to tune into The Biggest Loser when Dad hogs the remote.

Play Time!

We bought Gabby an exersaucer and even though her feet did not quite touch the bottom, we placed her in it one day with the phone book below her feet! At first she just hung there, not sure what to do. After repeated attempts, she's moved on to spinning wheels, bopping buttons, and spinning in a circle! She's even managed to produce music from buttons that, so far, Mike and I have only been able to elicit farm animal sounds! Hahaha!

Bed Time!

One of the first times I read a book to Gabby, Mike found us like this- lying on the bed reading my personal favorite, Guess How Much I Love You. We both were so tickled by how interested she appeared! She was looking up at the pictures with such excitement! Mike said it looked like she understood every word I was saying! I love how enthralled she looks.

p.s. Yes, that is dinner sitting on the bedside table. Hey, a mom's gotta eat when a mom can eat.

Just Me & My Dad

I'm sooooo glad I took this photo. I think it was one of the last times she let herself fall asleep on one of our chests. She's growing up so fast and expressing her independence already. She doesn't seem to want us to help her go to sleep as much anymore. One could say a baby putting herself to sleep is a small victory for a parent, or a small loss... Either way, it is bittersweet!

Lucky Socks

One night, when getting her ready for "bed", and I use that term loosely because PJs go on at 7, sleep rarely comes before 11... And I told her that since she was fussing all evening these days, I was going to make her wear her CareBear socks with Grumpy Bear on them. Well, starting THAT NIGHT, she stopped fussing so much in the evenings! Not wanting to be superstitious, but at the same time not wanting to go through another night of screaming, I put them on the 2nd night. No fussing. Well, needless to say, we wear the lucky socks to bed just about every night now. Let's just hope she doesn't outgrow them any time soon!

Bath time!

GABBY. LOVES. BATH TIME.

She is like a fish thrown back into the water! SOOOO happy! The legs never stop kicking, and we usually end up equally as wet when it is all over. We're hoping this means that she is a water baby, as we're planning on signing her up for swim lessons this summer!

2 Months!

Our little girl is getting soooo big and grown up! Time seems to have flown by, but at the same time it feels like a thousand years ago that we first brought her home. I can't even remember what it feels like to wake up every 2-3 hours throughout the night. She's acting so grown up these days. She sleeps through the night, has not been fussing in the evenings (knocking on wood!), stares into our eyes and "talks" to us, and I think she even tried to laugh the other day!

At her 2 month appointment, she soared off the growth chart- weighing in at a hefty 15 lbs 12 oz, and measuring 24 inches in length! Doctor said she is eating an appropriate amount though, and is thriving, and could not be happier with her development. He even said he loved her fat rolls in her thighs and that she looked like a little tiny sumo wrestler!


Gabby can hold her head up so well now! This is her one afternoon in her crib, when she just woke up from a nap. Yes, we let her nap on her tummy (when we are nearby to keep an eye on her). Please do not alert the SIDS activists!


One morning we found Gabby at the bottom of her crib, two feet below where we left her the previous night... She was kicking her legs, bicycle style, so furiously that she accidentally turned on her Rainforest crib soother! Hahaha! She looks so proud, doesn't she?

8 Weeks

Every week has been fun in its own way, but this week has been especially cool. Gabby fusses less in the evenings (knock on wood) and smiles much more all day and night long. She gives us a big smile each morning when she recognizes us, which makes our hearts melt. She's also so much more alert and attentive. She follows us around the room a lot more and makes the occasional cooing sound, much to her surprise usually!

First Snow!

Ok, *technically* Gabby's 2nd snowfall... But her first was at 2 weeks and neither of us were up to bundling ourselves and heading outside with the camera! Gabby caught a couple of snowflakes on her face and did a lot of squinting, as it was pretty bright outside that day. She still looks like the cutest snowbunny I've ever seen though!

Mommy and Me

Gabby, Grandma Fifi, and I ventured outside for a Mommy and Me photo shoot on one unseasonably warm 70 degree day in the middle of January. Usually, I am the one behind the camera so we couldn't pass up this chance!