All About Gabby (reactions to her gifts)

I gave her the Texas Longhorn Bear the night we arrived. It was her first night without Mommy & Daddy, she did so well (I think having Auntie Donna & Nino John as a distraction really helped). We all slept together on the airbed (which she enthusiastically jumped on for about 10 mins before crashing). The sweetest thing in the morning happened before she got up. With sleepy eyes, she rolled over, looked at me next to her and said, "Hi Auntie Donna" and promptly went back to sleep. It melted my heart.

The next morning, she got her hairbow tin - I think she liked the tin more than the hairbows,
but that was to be expected. Look how cute they look in her hair.


She liked the blocks for about 5 minutes. I'm sure when she gets older, they will hold more meaning, for now they were put in a shoebox with her crayons.

I did good with the socks - the girl LOVES them but she wasn't thrilled about trying them on. She showed them to her Gramma Ama the next day and said, 'beads on them' she loved those! One night she kept me up LATE going through her sock drawer, showing them all to me, naming them, the colors, etc. it was so funny! She even took out all her jewelry from the boxes too. Her mommy came in and said, "ooh, Nini (our other sister) is going to have a conniption) Auntie & Nino need to go to sleep, come on. and she said, "no, Momma - bye bye" and shooed her away. I totally didn't mind even though I was exhausted. I marveled in the fun she was having. When she was finally done, she helped me put them all away & said good night.

I think her favorite gift was The Dress Up Gabby frame & paper dolls (it was mine and her Nini's too - see below) She actually played with it 3 times that day! The funniest was when I told her there were magnets on there and she said, 'maggots on there' and continued saying that!

My favorite shot of Gabby - not a fake cheese.

She loves blowing bubbles! Nini taught her to put the wand in & take it out & tap, tap, tap on the side (so cute when she says that!) and blow the bubbles. I was holding the bubbles while she did it & bubbles collected on my arm. Out of the blue she says, "Auntie Donna making a mess" and proceeded to tell me it was because there were bubbles on my arm. FUNNY girl

Here is a picture of all us girls and Baby Joseph. Valarie (Val) is the Mommy in the middle (oldest) and Deana (Nini who watches Gabby)and I'm the youngest.

I had so much fun the night before we left once everyone left & it was just time for Gabby. I was sitting in a rocking chair & I reached out for her to grab her. She resisted at first but realized it was fun to be grabbed. So then as she got down from the chair she stopped close by turned around & said, "mas?" (spanish for more) and I said, "mas what?" and she said so sweetly, "mas git you" she new exactly what she wanted! This went on for about 6-7 times, all the while John was recording & took a picture at the end that I totally love (below). It captured a special few moments that will attempt to hold my heart together until the next time I hear her precious voice and get a 'squeeze' and kiss on the cheek from her. I am saddened to no end that I am not there to witness all the nuggets of sweetness she possesses on a daily basis.