13 months

The memorial service for my father-in-law was the weekend before last, and it was a very moving event.  We interred his ashes on Friday with just his immediate family, and then had the memorial on Saturday.  Gabby was an angel during the interment--she fell asleep as we were starting and stayed asleep until it was over.  She was also really good at the restaurant afterwards.  I thanked her multiple times for her behavior! 

Brian and Gabby at the grave site.  It's actually really pretty there, despite the power lines in this shot.

Gabby says the dirt tastes fine.

Fortunately, Brian's sister Jennifer included us with her babysitter for the Saturday event, and Gabby had a blast playing with her cousins Audrey and Olivia.  It was also really nice to visit with people without having a baby clinging to me!  I think Gabby may have sensed that something was wrong--she was VERY clingy while we were in LA, and while some of that is probably the new people and the strange places, it seemed to be more than that.  She's still totally a momma's girl, which is nice, but sometimes momma's arms get really tired of holding her!

After the memorial weekend, we took advantage of my spring break and went to San Diego.  Gabby had a blast!  She loved the shows at Sea World (especially the dolphin show), she loved seeing all of the animals at the Safari Park, and she loved having us all to herself! 

I know it looks like we're super close here, but we're actually in the very last row.  Brian got a new camera lens and loved playing with it.

Gabby loved the bird lady most of all.  Unfortunately, we have no reaction shots, since Brian's lens wouldn't let him shoot that close.

Again, we were really far away!

Blowing kisses to the butterflies. I have no idea why it's rotated.

Riding the Africa tram

Watching the animals roll by

She finally got to touch an animal!

It was so much fun for me to see her reaction--it was like I was seeing it for the very first time myself.  She was just so excited, clapping her hands, pointing and waving.  I admit that I got a little teary, and realized that this is why we have kids--so we can show them the world!  We got to meet one of my mommy Facebook friends and her daughter Olivia, and Gabby just loved seeing another baby her size (and with the same amount of hair!).  The only thing she didn't love was being in the bathroom (in a crib) overnight.  She woke up every night but one at 3:30 am, and was a pain to get back to sleep.  Other than the sleep deprivation, we all had a great time there!

What she didn't do at 3:30.

Gabby is now 13 months old, and well on her way to toddler-hood.  She still doesn't walk, but she can now stand up without having something to hold onto for support.  She can also take a few steps, but only if she has a clear goal in mind.  She'll walk from a table to me, but she won't just walk without thinking about it.  She also walks a lot more when she has an audience--we went to her friend Phoebe's first birthday party, and she definitely put on a show there with her walking. 

I can hold 2 of them!

We went back to the Berrys' for Easter yesterday, and Gabby had a great time playing with Phoebe and Charlotte.

In her Easter dress. Yes, she wore the same thing to the memorial.

Bouncing Charlotte's ball

Swinging with Chris

This is actually not Easter, but none of the Charlotte Easter pictures turned out!

"I love you, Phoebe"

"I hate you, Phoebe!"  She'd actually just dropped a toy.

Friends again at the ball popper

Otherwise on the milestone front, Gabby is really good at pointing.  I love this, since it makes it so much easier for her to tell me what she wants.  She also baby-signs all done, but tends to use it to mean "pick me up".  She's now blowing kisses (cutest thing ever!), and understands at least my tone when I give simple commands.  For example, I'll ask her if she wants to eat, and she'll drop what she's doing and come right over.  She also does this when she really doesn't want it--I asked her if she wanted a nap, and she came to me, but clearly wasn't tired.  I think she's like the cats and is just responding to the tone of voice and not the actual words yet. 

I've also started to see some frustration from her.  She'll try to do something like put a block in a hole, and if she can't get it in, she'll get really frustrated and start yelling.  I usually just tell her calmly "you can do it", and for the most part, she can.  It just takes her longer and makes her mad when she knows it's supposed to work.  I'm fighting my urge to just jump in and help--she needs to get frustrated so that she can learn to deal with it!

Gabby is just a constant joy, and I'm so glad to have her.  I can really see her personality developing, and I know she's going to be so much fun when she can communicate more.