Two days

A lot can happen in just two days.  Yesterday we drove Clay to the ship and said goodbye to him for a few months, the ship is headed out on a "regularly scheduled deployment." It wasn't even 7am as we headed back into our tower for home and Gabby already was talking about Daddy.  He has left before and it is always hard, but this time just seemed like it might be even harder.  Each afternoon when Clay walks in the door Gabby lights up and gets excited.  She can be sound asleep and hears him come home only to perk right up and is ready to play.  Pictures will be a daily part of our routine, kissing them and talking about where dad is and how much we love him. Singing songs about Dad will be as well, we have changed the words to Elmo's world theme song so it is Gabby's world, and when we get to the part about who we love- Gabby always says she loves her "daddy."

Day two was a day filled with new excitement and fun.  We started parent child swim lessons.  The class consists of two boys who are both two, their parents and then us.  The pool is olympic sized and amazing. I have taken Gabby there once before just for fun, and at first she was a bit scared but then had a blast.  Today she was anxious to get in, and out of the three kids there was the only one who wasn't clinging to Mom, and didn't want to get out. It was a very fun time, and will help fill up our weeks. Another benefit, she was tuckered out from all the splashing.  Nap time was instant once we got home and had some milk, then at 6:45pm she was sound asleep for the night!  

Gabby Jean is ONE year old!

Our little girl is getting big  Gabby turned one year old, and in every way is growing out of being a baby and into being a kid!  She opened presents, her face showing the most excitement and joy you can imagine. Went to the Dr for her 12 month checkup.... she weighs in at 21 lbs, ranking in the 50% range, 31 inches tall which her dad has told everyone is in the 95%.  He's hoping she is tall and sometimes she shows the possibility of being a lefty (good for baseball in his dreams).  We celebrated with our neighbors and friends at a small party.  Waking up to snow that day meant Clay had to BBQ in his fur hooded parka on the balcony.  Having my baby turn one is amazing, I even got a little teary with her while she was laying on me starting to take her nap.  One thing that also happened with her turning one is attitude! This little girl has quite a bit of personality inside of her and always has, but the feisty little attitude is a bit new! Oh and another milestone we hit is 1 year of her nursing.  She nurses more than she needs to, but thats okay. I just remember how hard the first two months were and saying to my mom that I didn't think I was going to be able to do this whole thing for 6 months let alone an entire year!  We did it and even have lasted through her first 5 teeth coming in!

  

I figured I should write down everything she can do now and put it in her baby book so this is what I have so far:

  Walking like a pro, well she has been for a few months.  She even runs away with a grin directed at me.

American Sign Language signs she uses;

more, milk, drink, please, all done, ball, baby, eat, story, bath, play, friend.

Words she says that I can understand;

mom, dad, baby, ball, more, milk, Nene (grandma), Baba (grandpa), book, read, bird, cat, dog, eat, water, hi, bye bye, elmo, apple, banana, cheese, ice, up, noodle, night night, eye, teeth.  This list is getting hard b/c I feel like so many words I say she can repeat, seriously!

Animal sounds she can make;

cat, dog, pig (she moves her nose like she is oinking), cow (says boooo), owl, duck, chicken, sheep.  We are working on these, she did them with no help the other day but that isn't always the case.