Gabby is 1 Year Old Today!!!!

Gabriella Claire is 1 year old today! I can't believe how much this year has flown by.

Today we took Valentine's themed cupcakes & Teddy bears with lollipops (goody bags) to daycare for her "school" party. And she dressed up in a cute valentine's jumpsuit (Daycare is closed next week so she won't get to wear it on actual Valentine's Day)

We will be having a party for her Saturday at our house as well.

All About Gabby at 1 year old: Gabby has 3 new teeth peeking through on the top, so that brings her total to 5. She is wearing size 4 diapers and size 12-18 month clothes. (I will get her size measurements Monday at her doctor's appointment. Plus she has to get a bunch of shots - UGH)

She is crawling a lot and pulling herself up on furniture. She hasn't walked yet though, but if you help her walk she can do it grabbing just one finger on each hand. She has started to wear shoes to daycare but we pretty much keep her in socks or barefoot at home.

She is still doing 2 naps a day - 9-10am and 1-3:30pm.

She loves playing with and chewing on toys - especially Sofia's. She will grunt or yell at Sofia when she takes a toy away so we're trying to explain the sharing part. She loves taking baths with Sofia - they play with their toys and laugh a lot.

She knows a few signs in sign language - milk and more - but mostly just grunts. Between the 3 of us, she doesn't have to say a lot to get attention.

She tried real milk for the first time this week, had just a couple of sips, and she is learning how to use a sippy cup. We are going to transition her to all milk/all sippies next week. Bye bye expensive formula! In terms of food, she is eating more "real" food just chopped into pieces. She loves strawberries, cheese and eggs. Much like her sister. We are going to decrease the amount of purees and start giving her smaller cut up versions of whatever we are eating whenever possible. She does like puffs and yogurt melts a lot for snacks too.

She is a very happy baby and still the best sleeper. She loves her ducky pacifier and will go right to bed if we give it to her. (She actually has 2 and will sometimes hold them both to go to sleep)

Nelson likes to say she has total "mamitis" still - as soon as I get home from work she wants only me. She makes the best little scrunchy face smile when I get home. But she really loves her daddy - he can make her laugh like no one. And she loves when Sofia plays peekaboo with her.

She loves to be outside - in the stroller, push buggy or wagon.

She is still a crazy sock lady - always pulling her socks off and throwing them out of her car seat.

Whenever we put on music she bobs her head - it's the cutest thing. Both of our girls love music!

As you can probably tell we are so in love with this little angel!

Can't wait to see what this next year brings. Age 1-2 is such a huge time of growth especially in the language and movement departments.

Pics below are from this morning - as you can see Sofia's lip is getting much better. It's completely scabbed up, but the stitches haven't completely dissolved yet so they are basically holding the scab on. Sofi has been really good about not messing with it. I have managed to get her to let me put medicine on it several times a day (with a bribe of candy!)

Gabby's Last Day of Being "zero"

"I'm ready for my birthday mama!"

Monthly Collages - Gabby 11 mo / Sofia 33 mo

Gabby's 1st Birthday Photo Shoot

We took Gabby for her 1st birthday pictures at The Picture People today. She was a little fussy but you wouldn't know it by looking at the photos. And she went to town on her first cupcake - she was all about the frosting, didn't really care about the cake part at all.

Dinner at Papa Steve's

We had a fun dinner at Papa Steve & Grammy Sue's tonight. Papa Steve did our taxes (woohoo refund!) and Sofia ran around like a crazy woman - not even phased by her "boo boo" anymore. She brought her dress up dresses (Ariel & Belle) and changed in and out of them all night. Gabby crawled around everywhere - seems like she is so close to walking but not quite yet!

Sofia's Busted Lip

Well we had quite an "adventure" last night. Right around bedtime, I opened Sofia's bedroom door and smacked her right in the mouth with it. At first I thought it just knocked her over but I quickly saw that she was bleeding and she was screaming bloody murder. Then when we cleaned off some of the blood, we realized her lip was split deep enough that we needed to take her to the hospital. Grandma Sara came over quickly to watch Gabby. Sofia was actually fairly calm by this point. When we got to the ER, she was in good spirits. Of course they make you wait forever. She told everyone who would listen "my mommy hit me with the door" which only made me feel worse!
The doctor finally saw us and confirmed she'd need a few stitches. They had her put this numbing cream on her lip but we had to hold her down to get her to let it sit on her lip and do its job. She screamed non-stop for the full 5 minutes. Then - for the stitches - they wrapped her in a sheet and two nurses held her head while Nelson and I held her body. She was hysterical the entire time and it was heartbreaking! I don't even know how long it took - but 3 stitches later we were done, and all physically and emotionally exhausted. It was almost midnight by that point and she crashed as soon as we left the parking lot.
Below is a photo of what it looked like pre-stitches (can't really see how deep it was) and this morning - it's still a little swollen, but not as bad as before. She doesn't seem too bothered by it, though she doesn't like us to clean it (which we have to do after every meal/snack to keep the food out of it). These are the dissolvable stitches so we'll have to wait and see how long it will take to heal, and since it's right on the middle of the lip and 2 of the 3 stitches are on the lip (only 1 is above the lip line) hopefully it won't leave much of a scar.
I'm sure every parent who has had to take their child to the hospital for any reason can relate to how awful and helpless you feel - it was an experience I don't care to repeat!

Ready for a School Party

Just couldn't resist how cute the girls looked going to daycare today :) They both had little matching double ponytails on top. Today there is a birthday party at daycare (Eli's 2nd) so Sofia was especially excited! And I think Gabby looks a lot like Boo from Monster's Inc with her bangs and pigtails - what do you think??

One more week til Gabby Turns One!

It's exactly one week until Gabby turns 1! I can't believe how much this year has flown by, seems so much faster than Sofia's first year maybe because we are twice as busy. Gabby is definitely much more mobile these past couple of weeks, she is on the verge of taking her first unassisted steps. She loves music, dancing and peekaboo. Sofia is her biggest source of entertainment but she also has become more vocal - if Sofia takes a toy she screeches at her :) She has also just started wearing "real shoes" to daycare. She has been eating food with more texture even though she has only 2 teeth still. And this will be her final week on formula and breastmilk - 1 year olds can drink real milk! Her one year check-up in on February 13th. And shots (boo!)
Got some great pics today - especially love the ones with Nelson!

Gabby's New Bangs

Still getting used to how different Gabby looks with her new bangs - I think they are totally adorable, what does everyone else think??

Sofia's Sunday

We ran errands and shopped for Gabby's birthday party (while wearing her Kings jersey), bought and watched Beauty in the Beast while wearing her Belle costume, and she shared a Shakeology with mama and we got matching chocolate shake mustaches!

Gabby's First Haircut

Gabby's hair is straight, unlike Sofia's, so it's always in her face. We finally had to make an appointment to get her hair cut - since her birthday and 1 year old photos are coming up quick.
Well firstly, she hated it. As soon as they put the smock on her, she was like "WTF". She wanted no part of this strange lady and her scissors or the cute car they have the kids sit in. So I ended up holding her for the better part of the haircut (which since it was bangs only was about 5 minutes). But the bangs look super cute on her. I love to see more of that kissable face! Then Sofia who didn't need a haircut insisted on one, so she got some bangs too. Her hair is curly so bangs don't really work as well, but she was excited, got braids and glitter, and a lollipop. After we got home we took some cute pics on our "in home photo studio" with my little backdrop kit, and they really were not cooperating so I'm surprised I got so many good ones.
And lastly - gotta have the baby comparison shot - Sofia & Gabby's first haircuts side by side.