Lilypie
Not flesh of my flesh
nor bone of my bone
but still miraculously my own.

Never forget for a single minute
you didn't grow under my heart
but in it!


Sunday, February 28, 2010

"In A Minute"

Gabriella's language is increasing exponentially and as more words come out, I become more aware of the words that she is taking in! Her latest answer to many commands is, "Minute" meaning "In a minute!" For example, if I say, "Gabriella, please get your sneakers," her response is, "Minute." It strikes me funny each time she says it. I figured out that she picked this phrase up from me. I have become very observant of my language to figure out if it was, in fact, me who she picked it up from. Sure enough, when she asks me for something or to do something while I am preoccupied, I acknowledge her request by answering, "Ok, in a minute." Now, I have to teach her what a minute really is and that sometimes she doesn't have the option to delay her tasks for a minute!

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Ceramics

Gabriella and I went on a date this evening! We had a very nice dinner and then went to a ceramics shop to paint pottery.

Gabriella is a typical, energetic two year old and is in constant motion but, for the most part, she does very well in restaurants (she does get lots of practice, though, since we eat out a lot!). Gabriella is a very good eater. I ordered her the fish and I got prime rib (which was the best prime rib I think I have ever had!). Gabriella ate about half a piece of her fish, but she also at a good portion of my prime rib! I get nervous about choking with foods like steak, so I cut it up really small and she gobbled it up. She LOVED it! She ate rice, some salad, and some cheese as well, but on the way out she grabbed a piece of bread out of the bread basket and munched on it on the way out and on our ride to the ceramics shop! She didn't miss any meals today and, as a matter of fact, had a hearty breakfast out with my parents this morning! She just loves her food (just like mommy!)! She cracks me up and makes me so proud!

After dinner I took her to paint pottery. Gabriella enjoyed looking at all of the pottery choices. We chose a plate because I figured that would be a nice keepsake. She loves to paint and enjoyed painting...until she lost interest and was ready to move on to a new activity! I tried to get her to paint the plate some more with a sponge and then she got bored with that! I painted her hands so she could put her handprints on it. She liked that because it was nice and messy but then wanted to quickly wash her hands once we were done! Even though she was done with the plate, she still wanted to paint, so we chose a small magnet shaped like a moon. She painted that for a bit and then was bored again! We had a fun time and will have a cute keepsake, but I think this is an activity for when she is a bit older and when her attention span is a bit longer.

Muchi!

I am constantly telling Gabriella that I love her. I also often ask her, "Do you know how much mama loves you?" If she doesn't answer, I tell her that I love her to the moon and back. Lately, though, she has been answering my question. Her reply to, "How much does mama love you?" is now, "Muchi!" (pronounced "moo-chee"). "Mucho" means "A Lot" in Spanish, but we have never used that word (at least that I can remember) so I really have no idea where she got "Muchi!" She is very creative, though, and I certainly love her "MUCHI, MUCHI!"

On a Plane to Get a Baby

As we were leaving a restaurant this evening and getting into the car, we heard an airplane and Gabriella pointed it out by saying, "Oooh! Airplane!" I acknowledged it and then she asked, "I sit there?" I asked her if she wanted to sit in the airplane and ride on the airplane and she said, "Yes." I asked her where she wanted the airplane to take us and she replied, "Baby." I assumed I knew what she meant and, in order to clarify, I asked her, "You want to go on an airplane to get a baby?" and she answered, "Yes." It gave me goosebumps. I may have put words in her mouth, but I really think my assumption of what she was trying to communicate was correct. I have no idea what is in her mind or what she remembers about coming home to the United States on an airplane. From this short conversation, though, I think she knows that she came home as a baby on an airplane. She also LOVES babies and, from previous conversations with her, I know she would love a new baby sister or brother (I vote for sister!). Even though she knows that babies come from bellies, I think she also realizes that they come from airplanes too and wants to get a baby on an airplane! I would love to go on an airplane for a baby sister for Gabriella, but we will have to see what God has in store for us!

Friday, February 19, 2010

Gabriella's First Yoga Class

Gabriella's daycare is offering a Yoga class for the children and Gabriella attended her first Yoga class . While I was getting her ready this morning I was telling her that she was going to Yoga and she kept repeating, "Yogurt!." I explained to her that it wasn't yogurt like she eats, but Yoga class! These are some photos I took while I was peaking in:

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Disny on Ice

Today we got to see "Disney on Ice: Celebrations" again, this time at the Garden in Boston. We saw it for the first time five months ago, in September, in Providence. A local friend through adoption, Kathy, and her son John, were unfortunately sick today and we were the lucky recipients of their tickets. This was a much different experience for Gabriella than the first time we saw it, though, mainly because of our recent trip to Disney World. She recognized all of the characters this time and throughout the show she would say things like, "Where (did) Pluto go?" This was also a bit of a different experience for me. When I saw the black princess the first time, I remember thinking, "Now that I have a daughter, I have to get up-to-date on the princesses!" I also did not understand why there was a scene in the show set in New Orleans. Since September, Disney's "Princess and the Frog" was released and Gabriella and I saw it in the movie theatre (Gabriella's first movie in a movie theatre). I now recognized Princess Tiana (Disney's first black princess...Yay! It's about time, Disney!), Prince, Naveen, and understood the significance of the New Orleans setting.

Getting ready to go to the show:
We arrived early for the show. While we were heading to our seats, I noticed Minnie Mouse and Mickey Mouse through a set of glass doors. I pointed them out to Gabriella and we headed toward the doors so we could peak in. The doors were open and Gabriella started to walk in and I looked to the staff for approval. The staff was so enamored with Gabriella's cuteness that they let us enter! They were having a breakfast for special needs children and Minnie and Mickey were there for photos. Gabriella headed straight for Minnie Mouse and gave her a hug! This was such a nice bonus and totally happened by luck!
I wanted to take a photo of Gabriella with both Minnie and Mickey, but Gabriella was only interested in posing with Minnie!:
Striking another pose with Minnie and Mickey...:
...and another!:
I think Gabriella is the cutest child on this planet (she is, of course, her mother's daughter!). It always tickles me when people reaffirm this! It is not unusual for us to get stopped in public and for people to comment on how cute she is. Today, the compliments were endless. We even had a lady stop us to ask me if she could take a picture of Gabriella. At least she asked. There was a strange man in Disney World who I caught taking pictures of Gabriella which creeped me out.
I though this picture was so cute because it looks like Minnie Mouse was kissing Gabriella!:
Gabriella striking another pose in front of the ice before the show:
These are similar photos taken during our first Disney Ice show five months earlier. It is amazing how much Gabriella has changed in so little time:
Waiting for the show to begin:
Gabriella LOVES "cupon" (pronounced cup-on) aka popcorn so, of course, we had to have some while we were waiting for the show to begin!:
Since our trip to Disney World, specifically since our lunch with the princesses during our trip to Disney World, Gabriella DOES NOT like the princesses! On our ride in to see this show, Gabriella said, "No princesses." Of course, there were princesses, but Gabriella did okay since they were not too close.:
This is not a very good photo, but it shows how much Gabriella was enjoying the show.:
We had very good seats. They were a bit further back than our seats at our first show, but more centered. The only problem was that three adults were sitting in front of us, one of who had to have been over six feet tall, which slightly obstructed our view. During intermission we moved to an empty aisle seat behind some children. Gabriella is a "mover" so this was perfect for Gabriella because she was able to stand in the aisle and move and dance along.:
I typically do not buy souvenirs at these shows because they are way overpriced. For example, a t-shirt that you can currently buy at the Disney store for around $3 sells for about $20 at the show. Gabriella is typically satisfied with whatever themed items I bring with us from home. I do, however, buy the CD soundtrack if they offer one. Gabriella LOVES music and we always listen to children's music in the car, so I am always looking for new music for her. Plus, the CD's typically sell for around $15 which, I believe, is a reasonable price. When we saw this show the first time they did not have any CD's for sale. They did this time, though, so I bought it. The music was not the soundtrack from this show; it has songs from the past 25 years of Disney on Ice, so it included some older songs. We listed to the CD during our ride home. The CD had the song, "It's a Small World." I asked Gabriella if she remembered the song. She asked, "I sit there?" I asked her if she meant she wanted to sit on the ride again and she answered, "Yes." I told her we could ride "It's a Small World" again next time we go to Disney World. I was pleasantly surprised that she remembered the ride and that she correlated the song with the ride.

On our way home, we stopped for lunch. We shared a brownie sundae for dessert which was a highlight of the day for mommy! Another fun day with my little mouse!

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

My Little Troublemaker!

Gabriella surely keeps me on my toes! I have a small trash barrel in my bedroom. I was emptying it this evening into the kitchen trash and noticed that liquid started pouring out. I turned the barrel over to figure out what the liquid was and noticed there was a pool of URINE on the bottom of the barrel! It would be a physical impossibility for the dogs or cats to urinate in the barrel and it certainly wasn't me, so that leaves only one possible culprit! Gabriella is only left unsupervised for at most 5 minutes at a time, so she is a quick little bugger! It is not uncommon, though, for her to take all of her clothes off including her diaper making it easy for her to do such things!

No Interest in "Big Girl" Underwear

I am making every attempt to potty train Gabriella. Gabriella has (unsuccessfully) worn underwear in the past, but, of course, I keep trying. I took out her new Dora underwear and showed them to her. She yelled, "Aah" and jumped back as if she were afraid! We put them on and she kept admiring herself in them. I kept reminding her that if she had to go potty she had to tell me so that we could go on the potty and so she wouldn't wet her new "big girl" underwear. After questioning her many times, she said she had to go. I put her on the potty, but there was no output. Moments after she was off the potty, her new Dora underwear were wet. The diaper is back on and it is no big deal to her! I am thinking that when she is in the first grade I will have to volunteer with her class so that I can change her diaper!