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Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Who, me?!

I'm just going to pretend that I didn't just take a 6 month+ reprieve from blogging about my life for a minute and get right into the nitty gritty. But first I have to say: holy hell, what has blogger done with everything?! I can't figure out what's what anymore.

Ok great, onwards!

I've been super busy with the business and chasing around a toddler and house hunting and all that good stuff. We've just started dipping our toes into the water and it's a pretty terrible process - all of a sudden it's turned into a seller's market and there is NO inventory. Hello banks, release some more of those short sales you've got there in your shadow inventory, will ya!? Prices are starting to creep upwards and we're starting to break a sweat. You know, good things.

The reason I really logged in today is to put down on paper (well e-paper that is) all the amazing things Gabriella says. She talks ALL the time, puts together 3 word sentences, and is generally a hysterical character. We went through a period of time around 1 1/2 (omg now we can't really count by months anymore, can we?!) where she was beating me up a little and was a total daddy's girl. Now she is just the sweetest thing ever. She hasn't wacked me in months (score!) and loves spending time with both of us. She melts everyone's hearts around her when she arbitrarily goes up to someone in the family and grabs their hand to drag them to just where she wants them to stand. She pretends she's a puppy and jumps all over us, pretend licking us until our sides hurt from laughter. Anyway, as I have very little time to keep up with this old beloved blog of mine, I'd like to at least check in periodically to update on little anecdotes from our day to day lives, as well as favorite words and phrases of hers at the moment. I knew I'd regret not writing EVERYTHING down the last few months, but at least it's never too late to start!

This will be scattered (just as I am at the moment) so bare with me! I'm really only talking to myself since I doubt there are any readers left ;-)

Me (to Gabriella): What kind of animal is mommy?
Gabriella (with conviction): A cow!
*cue Adam laughing his head off*
Me (hopefully): What kind of animal is daddy?
Gabriella: Soup!

**quick pause for digression**
She is OBSESSED with Mickey. He, along with Minnie and the clubhouse gang are her world. (Her 2nd party is going to be Minnie themed, therefore). She's also just gotten into the Disney princesses. Ariel is her favorite, though she's taken to calling all of them Snow White. More specifically, white princess! (we should probably work on that).

We visited Disneyland a week ago and she had the time of her life. We ate at Ariel's grotto and she got to meet all the princesses (she gave Ariel the longest hug and would NOT let go! Luckily Ariel loved her.) She also met Minnie (!!) and we did a character breakfast as well at Goofy's Kitchen, which was so much fun for her. This was our first time staying overnight, and the Grand Californian hotel does not disappoint. Both Adam and I started tearing up when we saw her face when we rode the first ride at the park (Ariel's ride of course. I think it helped that we watched The Little Mermaid two days before we went. It's also the first movie that she's ever watched in its entirity.)

**resume randomness**

She loves french fries like her daddy (uh oh!). So anytime she sees a fast food bag, she starts asking excitedly for "Fwies!?" "Fwies?!" Mo fwies?!!!" All fast food is also called "Donalds!"

Milk is - meeeeeuuuk. Usually asked for with that loooong stretch of vowels. ;-) She's on non-fat milk now, per the pedi's suggestion. And still drinking from a straw like a champ of course.

Often when she wakes up from a nap the first word out of her mouth is MICKEY!

She has a wee bit of an accent. She kind of sounds like a little baby Borat. I bet she picked it up from my dad who watches her while I'm at work. :-)

She loves her booooks. (like boo with a k sound, not the bughk way most people say it. And yes, I'm clearly horrible at spelling things out phoenetically!)

She also loves Doc McStuffins on Disney Jr. She calls her "stuppens!"\

Not really that into Sesame Street though, and we haven't watched the Wiggles in months and months.

She sings bits of "tinkle star" to us. :-)

She can count to 18!

wan, tree, four, fie, six, seven, eight, nine, eleben, twelve, eighteen, *random babbles*

She totally refuses to acknowledge the number 2 or 10.

She saw a playing card and quickly exclaimed "queen!". My father just might be teaching her poker when I'm not around.

She loves the pool and has been doing great in her swimming lessons! Such a little fishy.
Her first sentence was "Wash your hands!" While playing at her play kitchen sink.

Her night habits haven't been the greatest as of late. She's been waking up in the middle of the night every couple of nights crying, so we bring her into bed with us. It's both awesome sleeping with her, and terrible because, well, she kicks and prefers to sleep perpendicular to us. Fair trade I guess ;-)

She calls every little kid she sees a baby, especially if they're bigger than her.

I haven't given potty training much thought but maybe I should? She always goes off to a corner to do her business and is downright indignant if you accuse her of pooping.

"Gigi are you poopi-"
(very quickly) "No!"

She has 16 teeth and they look glorious. She sometimes enjoys us brushing her teeth but she'd really much rather do it herself (chew on the brush that is).

She's in size 4T in some tops (that little pot belly needs covering!) and 3T in most everything else. Size 8 shoes and size 5 diapers (we tried a box of size 6 but they were just a wee bit too big). Growing like a weed!

Goes down easily for her nap, which is around 3 hours long on average, sometimes longer (the warmer weather must make her sleepy).

She tries to get into everything still, and is still trying to figure out how to escape her crib. I'd prefer to leave her in there until she's 8 but we may have to think about converting to a toddler bed in the coming months. Scary!

If Adam or I are not home, and she's asked where we are, the answer is "mommy's sleeping!" "daddy's sleeping!"

After waking up from a nap, if we go into her room too soon she requests for us to leave, ever so politely. "GO!"

Girl likes her "me" time I guess!

Whew! OK I'm spent. I'm sure I will think of many many more things to add, but for now I'm glad I got some updates written. She'll be 2 in a few weeks, so party planning is well underway!

Friday, January 27, 2012

19 months, eh?

Ugh 19 months? It sounds like it's starting to get silly counting the months. Will I ever stop? I don't wanna...

Gabriella is a talking machine now. She repeats everything we say and we really need to start watching our mouths. She runs around like a madwoman, loves to sing and dance (she can plie, and when we tell her to be a ballerina she puts her arms over her head and twirls), and is working on a couple incisors (I believe that's what they're called - the fang teeth?). She is such a joy and we adore her so so much.
I know I know, lame blog update. But the months are really starting to mush together in my head. Maybe I'm getting old. ;-)

Oh! And I am having a little giveaway over on my business page www.facebook.com/alexandrakellerphotography! If you're in the greater Los Angeles/Ventura county area you might just wanna check it out - you could win a free session! xoxo

Thursday, December 22, 2011

18 Months

I haven't posted since Gabriella's 17 month post?! Unreal. My bad :-) You can catch up with everything else I've been up to here: www.alexandrakellerphotography.com, www.facebook.com/alexandrakellerphotography and twitter.com/kellerphoto.

So this past month was the verbal boom we've been long awaiting. I'd say she now has about 25-30 words, whereas a month ago it was only a few. She's even put together a couple words to make little sentences, like go down, oh no, etc. It's so much fun hearing her talk and try to communicate what she wants. And it's super funny to hear her say cock for clock and shit for sit. Probably won't be as funny when she says it out in public, but what are ya gonna do? ;-)

 











Hanukkah is in full swing (we had a hanukkah/half birthday party last night!) and it's almost Christmas, so I think I can safely share what she's getting from Santa. I doubt she'll be checking the blog before then anyway.
To go with the theme, she's also getting pots and pans, a ton of wooden Melissa & Doug foods and of course this to tote them all in:
That's just the tip of the iceberg! She has so many gifts that I'm debating taking some out to reserve for Easter or her birthday. I can't wait to see her go nuts with all the presents this year. :-)

Monday, November 28, 2011

17 Months

Oh hai! Yes Gigi turned 17 months on the 21st and it's already the 28th and I haven't blogged about it yet! I'll be totally honest with y'all. I'm slacking, and it will probably be this way for a while. Maybe indefinitely. I've taken on a lot on my plate, and while I am super duper thrilled with all the fabulous happenings in my life, blogging here has taken a bit of a backseat. I do want to check in and keep track of all of my girl's milestones and whatnot, but for most day to day things, I'll probably be skimping out on them. I do appreciate all my loyal followers and hope that you don't all continue to drop like flies (I'm looking at you, #147!), but if you do, I get it. If you want to keep up with all the rest of what I'm up to, please go ahead and follow my business www.facebook.com/alexandrakellerphotography and www.alexandrakellerphotography.com :-)

Whew! Now that we got all that out of the way, let's get right back to G's 17 month old-edness. She is so spunky and full of life... and into eeeeeverything. She must be watched like a hawk because if you don't pay attention, you end up with oatmeal all over the family room or all of your bubble bath poured into the tub. But this stage is totally fun, as she keeps developing her little preferences (still daddy!). She's saying about 15 or so words, some all the time and some not too consistently. I think her language development may be a little slower because she is learning 2 languages at once. She dances all the time. She tries to hop. She is in LOVE with Santa. She prefers to feed herself with her fork or spoon. She loves cheese and bread (mama's girl here!) and is starting to become pickier with what she will eat (total mama's girl here unfortunately!). I just adore her so much and we are having so much fun with all the craziness she brings to this house (she loves to yell at us like a dictator if she sees fit). I believe it was rainy on the 21st so I snapped these on our bed as we lazed around enjoying a rousing episode of Sesame Street. :-)









Told ya she's spunky :-)

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Halloween 2011

Gabriella had a TOTAL blast on Halloween this year. We went trick or treating more out of formality, and I really didn't expect her to be that into it. Boy, was I wrong. She was grinning from ear to ear watching all the other kids in costumes and grabbing candy to add to her little pail. We made it to about a dozen houses before she started getting sluggish so we headed home to put her to bed (but not before examining our loot first!). She was the little lamb so we went as farmers :-)














That little smudge on her chin is her first taste of chocolate. She spit it right out. lol

Thursday, October 27, 2011

All About Fall

We took a second trip to the farm near our house to grab some pumpkins... and uhh take a ton of pictures of my babe of course. ;-) I still haven't shared pictures from our first trip to the patch (and hubby and I are actually IN those too!) so it only makes sense that I start backwards, right? Errr...

Found it!