17 months

Gabby continues to learn new words seemingly everyday!  I've stopped keeping track, because there are just too many, but I did want to highlight 3 of them that I think are hilarious.  A little under a month ago, we realized that she knew how to say "no" and "mine".  How did we realize this?  By her interacting with other kids, of course!  We went to her friend Kate's house for Kate's big sister's birthday party, and Gabby and Kate were trying to play with the same toy.  Out of nowhere (for me anyway), Gabby yells, "No!  Mine!" and walks off with the ball that they were playing with.  She did that repeatedly with anything that poor Kate was trying to play with.  The next day we went to her pal Phoebe's house, and she did the same thing there!  We're calling this little monster "Daycare Gabby", since I'm sure that's where she learned this (I mean it's not like she has to share her toys here)!  It's really funny, but, of course, we tell her that she has to share with other kids and take things away and give them back to their original owner!

Here is a video of her saying no.  She wanted to watch a video of herself, not make one!

This is cute right now, but I do realize that when she's older, it's going to be very annoying!

Her other cute word is Gabby.  I think I mentioned last time that she tends to replace consonant sounds with "b", so instead of saying Gabby, she says "Babby".  It actually took me a couple of days to realize that she was saying her name and not "baby".  She loves to look at pictures and videos of herself and say "Babby!".  She's also gotten really good at Mommy and Daddy, so she'll go around to the pictures in our house and name the people in them.  It's really fun. 

I should also mention that her baby signs have improved a great deal--to the point where she knows way more than I do!  I'm sure she's trying to carry on a conversation with me, and I have no idea.  She was signing something frantically for about half an hour before Brian found it online.  It was cookie.

In addition to her talking, she's getting much better with her motor skills.  She can now walk backwards (very funny), and she loves to run places now instead of just walking.  I didn't realize how fast she's getting until we went to Costco and we let her run around while Brian was waiting in line--I actually had to break into a jog to keep up with her!  She's getting to be a pretty good climber as well--she can make it onto the ottoman and the couch from the floor by herself.  She's still really timid, so she only does it if we're there, but I'm sure that will change and we'll have some bumps very soon.  She's working on using a spoon--right now only about 1 out of 20 bites actually makes it to her mouth, and she usually ends up holding the spoon in one hand and eating with the other, but I'm sure she'll get better.  She has gotten to the point where she refuses to eat unless she has a spoon!

She loves to play with puzzles, and is getting pretty good at putting them together.  The other night she was putting a pen into her sippy cup spout (and doing a darn good job!).  She's also gotten really good at putting her shoes on, although sometimes they end up on the wrong feet! 

We've had some fun summer adventures in the past month.  Gabby's friend Charlotte's birthday party was at a splash park, and Gabby had so much fun watching everyone splash.  She was really timid at first (unlike Phoebe who just ran right up to the water), but towards the end she'd get brave, run up to the water, get splashed, and then come back to me for a hug. 

Ready for splashing!

Pick me up! I tried to keep this hat on, but she kept pulling it off.  I eventually just gave up.

Brian wasn't there, so this is the only picture I have of the 2 of us.

Gabby loved  the cake, but not as much as Phoebe did!

So wet!

Water in the eye.

All brave off by herself (but still making sure I'm around).

Gabby and Phoebe, BFFs!

Another thing Gabby loves to do is to make us laugh.  If she does something that gets a chuckle from us, she'll immediately repeat it so that we laugh again.  This is her newest one:

For some reason, I find this absolutely hilarious!

Last thing on the Gabby front--we went to Charlotte and Phoebe's house for the 4th of July.  Good thing we did, because it was 108, and they have a pool that we could play in to beat the heat!  We all had a great time.

All ready to go in (so is Phoebe)!

Poor Charlotte waited so patiently for the little ones to wake up so we could all go swimming!

We bought her a floaty toy--it was a huge hit!

She loved playing peek-a-boo with me while I was snapping the cover on.  It was a bit counter-productive.

Eventually we got her in!

Charlotte didn't really need this noodle--she's been taking swim lessons and can swim all by herself!

Gabby decides the water is tasty.

Phoebe had the same floaty, just in a different pattern.

Floaty races!

The girls eventually got tired of the floaties and wanted to be held.  You can't tell here, but Judy is almost 9 months pregnant!  She loved being in the water as much as Charlotte did.

Gabby being shy.

Brian had fun, too!

It's so rare to have Brian in a picture, so I'll post 2!  I took them, so they're not very good :)

Gabby loved relaxing in Charlotte/Phoebe's chair poolside.

On my front, I'm already in the second half of my summer class.  It's intense--I'm basically on my feet for 6 straight hours 3 days a week, and 2 the fourth day.  My legs and back ache at the end of my long days, and I've taken to wearing sneakers to class to try and help that out.  I have a couple of really annoying students, but overall, it's a good class and I'm enjoying myself.  I'm waiting for a few of them to realize there's only 3 weeks left and start begging me for extra credit, but I think it's probably just going to sneak up on them and then they'll all ask me during the last week.  After this class is over I get a nice 3 week break before the fall semester starts.  I have no idea what I'm going to do with myself!

Brian remodeled our master bathroom, and he did a really great job!  Of course it took longer than anticipated, but he worked hard and managed to get it done.  Otherwise, he's been keeping busy with work and Gabby, just like I have!