Little Miss Independent

I'm an Aunt... x2!

Well, the biggest news I have to report is that I'm now an aunt again, two times over! I have three nieces on Daniel's side and I'm "Aunt Leslie" to some of my friends' kiddos, but now I'm an aunt on the Squires side. Both of my sisters had their babies and both little guys are happy and healthy!

Traci and Matt had a little boy, Malcolm Arkady, on September 11th. I haven't gotten to meet him yet, but Daniel, Gabby, and I will be traveling to Seattle on October 22nd to finally meet him. Jen and Kevin also had a little boy, North Matthew, on September 20th. I was there for the birth and Jen did great. Gabby calls him "Baby" and pats him and gives him kisses.

Gabby is doing great. She is all toddler, all the time. Here is a quick list of some of the things she's been up to, in no particular order:

1. Running
2. Eating with a spoon and fork
3. Drinking from a Camelback
4. Getting her canine teeth in
5. Playing hide and seek and peek-a-boo
6. Feeding and kissing her dolls
7. Talking like crazy - the other day, out of nowhere, she pointed at a tree in her book and said "tee."
8. Hugging and kissing mommy and daddy
9. Saying "mama," finally!!

She has very recently become horrified by pet hair. Strange and random, I know. Considering that we have two long-haired dogs and one long-haired cat, all with dark hair, and light-colored carpet, this could be a big problem. Seriously, the carpet looks like it hasn't been vacuumed in two weeks within one day of a thorough vacuuming. Whenever Gabby sees a clump of hair, she freezes, points at it, and makes this frantic, panicked sound. The same thing happens if she finds a hair on her doll, sippy cup, etc. Today she actually swung her stuffed puppy at a clump of hair. I think she must think they're bugs. So as not to turn this into a big, lasting thing, we try a) not to laugh and b) not to make a big deal of it. I have started saying "Gabby, it's just hair from one of the dogs. Can you please go put it in the trash for mommy?" The upshot is that our carpet is cleaner than it would otherwise be AND I've got Gabby trained to put things in the trash for me.

She is also starting to test limits more and more. The naughtiest thing she's been doing is climbing on to these chairs that we have in the office/playroom and standing and jumping on them. That would be bad enough on a stationary chair, but these rock AND recline! We try to avoid the behavior altogether by re-directing her when we see her heading for the chairs, but we don't always catch her in time (she's a quick little bugger). As soon as she sees us coming or hears the word "no," she just gets wild and silly and tries to get as far as she can before we get to her. And no matter how sternly we say "no" and how serious we are when we explain that she could get hurt, she just laughs at us. Oy...

Needless to say, each day with Gabby is an adventure! We just adore her and love to see how much she is learning, growing, and blossoming. What a precious, beautiful gift she is!

Much love,
Leslie, Daniel, & Gabriela

Odds and Ends

Hi there! We don't have anything in particular to report, but thought an update was in order. Gabby continues to amaze and amuse us.

We're pretty sure we have a little genius on our hands. Sure, we're a little biased, but Grandma and Grandpa think she's a smart little cookie too, and there's no way they're biased. Here is a list of the amazing things she can do:

1. She can point to her belly button, nose, ears, and head when asked in english or spanish.
2. She can identify several objects in her books, including balls, cows, monkeys, birds, airplanes, snakes, sheep, horses, cats, dogs, the sun, the moon, ducks, trees... there are a few more but they don't come to mind right now. Oh, and she can identify most of these things in english or spanish.
3. She can follow a command like "please bring that to mommy" or "please put that back" in spanish or english.

And there you have it! Indisputable evidence that she is simply unmatched in intelligence! She is also hilarious. A couple of funny things that she likes to do right now are roar like a lion and look at people sideways (she'll lay her head on the table or her high chair tray, look at the people around her, and crack up).

Last weekend, we went to have our first professional photos taken as a family. Gabby did not crack a smile once. In fact, she was downright sullen. We assured the photographer that she really is a cute and happy little girl, but I don't think she believed us. As soon as we walked out of the studio, Gabby ran between us laughing and squealing in delight. Figures.

In non-Gabby news, we saw a tornado last weekend. It was the first tornado I can remember seeing and I've lived in Colorado my whole life. The tornado made it as far as about 4 miles south of us before it finally dissipated. It was exciting but scary! We were at a BBQ and the first thing the hostess said when she saw it was "great, my basement's a mess," which was totally classic and probably the first thing I would have thought of too. I'm going to post a couple of pictures below.

In other non-Gabby news, both of my sisters will be giving birth at any time now! Unfortunately, Traci lives in Seattle so I won't get to meet her little one right away, but I will be at Jen's delivery and I am going to catch the baby! Okay, maybe the midwife will catch the baby, but I will be close by! Best of luck to Traci and Jen - I love you guys! Gabby can't wait to meet her cousins!

Well, that's it for now. Enjoy some photos!

Much love,
Leslie, Daniel, and Gabriela

Last Weekend's Tornado

Photos of Gabby

Helping mommy in the kitchen

Enjoying an ice-cold beverage

Watching the big kids play

I wasn't expecting that!

Relaxing with Mommy

Our Travels

As I mentioned in my last post, Gabby and I traveled to Seattle last weekend to visit Tia Traci and Tio Matt. While we were there, we were also able to see my Aunt Sheri and another family that we met online, Monica and Michael and their daughter Isabel. Monica and Michael adopted Isabel from Bogota and she is just six weeks older than Gabby! We've been talking via e-mail for the last few months, and Monica's extensive packing list came in very handy for our trip to Colombia. The girls were very cute together and I hope that we will stay in touch.

Let me start by saying that traveling with a 14 1/2-month old is challenging in and of itself. And maybe it was being away from home and daddy, the four molars that were coming in, the time change, the hectic schedule, a combination of any and all of the above, or something else entirely, but this trip was especially trying. The good people of Seattle got the version of Gabby that we call "Crabby Gabby" and the version of mommy that we call "Frazzled, Exhausted, On-the-Verge Mommy."

On the plane ride to Seattle, we had an empty seat next to us. That was a very good thing because Gabby was pretty wound up and climbed around like a monkey for the entire flight. I had several new books, juice, milk, Cheerios, blueberries, and dried apples in the diaper bag, which held her interest for approximately 8 minutes. Needless to say, it was a long flight. We resorted to playing with the vomit bag and in-flight magazine and taking trips to the restroom for entertainment. It was exhausting. However, there were only a few minutes of fussing, whining, and/or crying, so I don't think it was too bad for the rest of the passengers. The flight home was entirely full and we were seated in the window seat next to a very large man that took up all of his seat and about 1/4 of ours. I believe we both muttered a few choice words under our breath when we saw each other. However, Gabby slept for the first hour and a half of the flight and then sat pretty quietly until we landed.

Toddler challenges aside, we had a good time and it was great to spend time with family and friends. We were able to spend an afternoon with Aunt Sheri, enjoy the Tour de Fat at Gasworks Park, meet up with Michael, Monica, and Isabel on Lake Washington and then again for dinner, attend one of Traci's baby showers, and go swimming with Matt, all in just three days!

Here are some photos from our trip - enjoy!

Leslie, Daniel, & Gabriela

Isabel & Gabby's first meeting

Monica, Isabel, Gabby, and I at Tutta Bella

Gabby's first swim lesson with Tio Matt

Helping Aunt Traci open presents

Gabby and I with Aunt Sheri

Just strollin'...