Swimming and Playing

Gabriella had another great swimming lesson today. I cannot believe how much more comfortable she is in the water now. When we went to the Dominican Republic in May, she didn't even want to go near the pool. She is growing in so many ways.

She let me hold her under her armpits and she kicked her legs and moved her arms.:

She also "jumped" into the water several times:

After swim lessons, Aunt Kathy and Ava came over to play. Gabriella and Ava enjoyed a snack of blueberries in the fort of the swing set.:

Then we all had lunch:

Gabriella and Ava had a great time playing. Gabriella and Ava seem to have a new fascination with their tongues! You will see lots of tongues in these pictures!:

By the end of the playdate, Gabriella was exhausted. I kept asking her if she wanted to go inside to lay down for a nap and, of course, she kept saying "No." She was getting very sleepy while riding on the glider, so Aunt Kathy stood real close to her. She was already sleepy but the swinging was lulling her into relaxation..:

...and then she actually FELL ASLEEP on the glider!: It was HYSTERICAL. I was laughing so hard I was crying! She is so precious!:We went inside shortly thereafter so that she could take her much needed nap!

We had another great day with great friends!

"Happy Happy"

This is Gabriella's newest phrase. "Happy Happy!" She said it for the first time this evening while we were out at dinner, more specifically when she saw the food being brought to the table! She kept repeating it very happily and it cracked me up. I have no idea where she learned it. I love that she is happy and is proudly sharing the fact!

Gabriella's Second Day of College...

...as a research participant. Today we had our second visit of two visits for a research study being conducted by certified speech-language pathologists and audiologists at Worcester State College in Massachusetts. Our first visit was on Saturday, January 10th. The researchers are studying English language development in internationally adopted child between the ages of one and five years who had been adopted within six months of the first visit. Today's visit was to compare how far she's progressed in the last six months from the baseline. The study is examining predictors of success/difficulty in learning English in internationally adopted children. It is fun for Gabriella because she got to play with new toys and new people and it hopefully contributed valuable data to the study at the same time.

She was the cutest girl on campus today!:

The Elmo Infatuation Continues!

Gabriella woke up this morning and the first thing she did was look at me, randomly point, and say "Elmo!" Then she persistently woke Ken up by loudly saying "Da" until he acknowledged her! When he opened his eyes, he said, "Good Morning" and she randomly pointed again and said "Elmo!" I am assuming she dreamt of Elmo last night especially since we watched "Elmo's World: Pets" right before she went to bed. The next thing she did was get the DVD remote, hand it to Ken, and say "Elmo" because she wanted him to turn on an Elmo DVD. Ken said "No" because it was very early. So, she turned to me, handed me the remote, and said "Elmo!" Little stinker! She is completely infatuated with Elmo and the infatuation was sent into high gear after we visited Sesame Place. If we would let her, she would watch "Elmo's World" DVD's twenty four hours a day! It is so funny to see her so passionate about something.

Gabriella's New Swing Set

For Gabriella's 2nd Birthday, Mama, Dada, Grammy, and Grampy bought Gabriella a new swing set (early birthday present). Building the swing set was the most generous gift because it took Ken tons of hours to complete. Thanks so much, Ken, for all of your hard work! Building the swing set seemed to be the never-ending summer project, but Ken finally put the finishing touches on it today. It is a monstrosity of a set and seems like it takes up most of our little backyard, but she should have years of fun with it, so it is worth it!

Ken sealing the swing set boards, the boards came stained, but not sealed:

Grampy lifting up the grass where the swing set will be, Ken had previously cut it with a Sod Cutter: Gabriella "helping"!:Isabella (Bella) and Gabriella watching the work:
Construction:

"Wow! Is this swing set really for me?!:

Progress!:The finished product!:

Gabriella enjoying her new swing set. She especially loves her "shlide!":

Getting fancy!:

A very weird looking bug with a very unlucky bug also enjoying the new swing set!:

Many, many thanks to Ken for all of his hard work in building the swing set!