19, 20 and 21

At least the last one is a bit early?  I apologize for the silence--I've been really busy with work these past 2 months.  I had an online class in September/October, and then just as that was ending, I started subbing at AR for another prof who brought home his second baby.  It was nuts, and I barely had time to breath, much less post!  I'll try to make up for it with picture- and video-palooza!

First, some highlights of the past few months:

Gabby moved up to the "Toddler+" room in September (basically for 19 month-25 month kids as a transition to the Pre-K room).  She was nervous at first, but now loves her new room!

She's really starting to show fears--she doesn't like the dark at all, and when we were picking out her Halloween costume, she was very scared of the moving decorations.

She's getting better at 2 word sentences, but she tends to say them Yoda-style, with the verb first then the subject, or the noun then adjective.  So when she wants to say that I'm all done with something she'll say "all done mommy", or when she wants to say she has 2 of something she'll say "diaper two".  She's also started with 3 word sentences a bit (mostly "pumpkin mommy please" and the like, but it's progress!)

Here are some names of people she knows; she was so proud to show off!

She shows frustration when she can't get things to work the right way.  I notice it most with puzzles--if the pieces don't go in correctly right away, she'll get mad and throw them across the room.  Very not cool.

Her motor skills have improved hugely.  She eats her cereal with a spoon every morning, and is working on mastering a fork.  It's a huge improvement over the fingers!

She figured out how her light switch works in her room, and was turning it on when she'd wake up at 4 am.  We finally had to start using the pull chain on the fan instead of the switch.

She's changed from calling both cats "dubby" to calling both cats "oey" (Zoe).  This is probably why:

Dubby is lame compared to Zoe!

OK, now the fun part!  First of all, we went to St. Louis to visit my family at the end of August.  Gabby did a great job on the planes, and she really loved visiting with everyone.  We didn't take too many pictures, but here are some we did get:

We met our friends Lisa and Derek and their daughter Lia at Cahokia Mounds. We ate some lunch, and then walked around a bit.

Gabby and Lia insisted on holding each other's hands as well as their mommy's hands

We found a frog, which was so cool!

The 4 ladies walking the path

Of course, eventually they got tired!

These are at Lambert airport.  She loved rocking

But she loved escaping and running more!

Brian found a good deal on a 2T football jersey for Gabby to celebrate the beginning of football season.  You'll never guess which team she supports.

Reading about Biscuit

I've had at least 2 people have asked me if her name is Brady.  I guess not everyone follows football!

Go Pats!

I did another video of her saying words.  The funniest part is at the end (I do apologize for the length).

We had a baby shower for our good friend Christina who is due at the end of this month.  Our friends Justin and Karen came up from the Bay area to visit, and we all met at McKinley park for some fun with the kiddos.

She normally clings to me, but she was so excited to be at the park!

However, she didn't let me out of her sight

She loves the bouncy animals

And she's so brave to slide all by herself!

I stole Ellie for a while.  I'm pretty sure Judy didn't mind.

Phoebe enjoys a snack before playing

Charlotte, our model.

Hugs!

Phoebe is amazing!

Charlotte showing off her soccer skills.

I did eventually have to give Ellie back.  This time to Robbie.

"I love soccer in the park!"

Gabby says volleyball is more her speed.

Although she did get a bit confused.

And just start kicking the ball.  We'll teach her the rules before she actually plays!

Checking out the ducks

This is the only picture we have of mom-to-be Christina!

And some more videos to end!

I let her feed the ducks one day.  Huge hit.

Lastly, she's learning so many songs at daycare:

She also knows ABC's, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Wheels on the Bus.  It's so cute to hear her sing them with us!

I think I'll end this post here, and make another post with all of the Halloween pictures we have.  This is what happens when I don't post for a few months :)