It's Christmas!

My little curious cat is in heaven at the Myer Centre in Brisbane with her good friends. A big part of me wanted to let her loose to jump in those sparkling baskets and cause mayhem. I settled for letting her play around with a sparkly purple star. A bunch of mothers and their munchkins all went to the Santa train at the Myer Centre but not all were brave enough to have a turn. Gabriella was very intrigued but needs another year before she'll be heading on by herself. It was a great day had by all nonetheless.

The little bubble playing in the bubbles

My how she's grown!

Grown hasn't she! I know I know, I've missed loads of moments I swore I'd never forget since my last blog. But rather than wallow in guilt over what I've missed, I thought I'd get a mosy on with what I can document.

This photo is now a few weeks old but I think it tells a lot about how much little Gabby's personality is emerging. She does this face a lot. It's sort of her concentration face. She looked up for this photo but she was still focused on working out how to best navigate this slide. This is now very typical of her behaviour, she gets totally lost in the moment. Reminds me a lot of her daddy. The only things to break the spell, is a song. Especially, "Gabriella's here today, Gabriella's here today, lets all clap our hands...Gabriella's here today.. She sings this at least twice a week at swimming lessons and Tumbletastics.. and has been for the past six or so months. It's only now that she starts walking around the house singing versus of it. Gab er t-day, is how she sings it. It's the most beautiful sound Josh and I have ever heard. And, as you can see she's so grown up now. My little chubby onsie wearer has long gone, replaced by, as Josh calls her, "the little human". It's now as if she's a minature version of her adult self. So strange, exciting and a tad sad. Thank goodness for photos.

Getting arty at GOMA Brisbane

Gabriella seemed to really take to the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane. They had this very funky, kid and adult friendly exhibition on Surrealism, which meant loads of cutting and pasting, playing with computers, walking through small tunnels and great opportunities to run off down vast corridoors. We had a blast. What a grown up she is now.

Peek a boo.

Pictures tell a thousand words.

From the mouths of babes..

Gabby said three new words today. Her vocabulary was kinda at a standstill for a while so it was quite a shock when three words emerged in one day. She'll be seventeen months on the fifth of August so according to baby experts etc, it's normal for them to have a bit of a vocab explosion around this time.. I can't wait for the next exciting installment. So for posterity the words she spoke today were.... drumroll.."toe", after flipping through a cook book type book extolling the virtues of vinegar, one of which includes making ones toes nice, with pictures as proof. I pointed to said toe, and low and behold, "tow" dropped from Gabby's little mouth. Josh and I applauding with such enthusiasm the poor child thought we wanted her to clap, which she did with great excitement.

Next word was... "teddy". I was pointing to the teddy on her quilt in an attempt to distract her from her routine of trying to flip over during nappy change time. I must have sounded pretty excited by these teddy's because the next thing I know, she casually let out a perfectly annunciated, "teddy". "Fluke", I thought, until she did it again two seconds later. I was totally flabbergasted.

Then she attempted to say "amen" after our dinner time prayer..It came out as "men".

So proud of the little talker..

the little mumma

Gabriella has suddenly become interested in babies. One minute she's casually plonking her soft toys and baby dolls aside in preference for her blocks, the next she's gone all mummy on me. It's adorable and somehow slightly disarming.

It all started when we visited a friend and her new three week old baby. I didn't think Gabby was overly interested when were at said friends house, yet upon arriving home, she made a bee-line for the once forgotten toy-baby. The next thing I know, she's cradling it, kissing it's head and holding it up to me proudly declaring,"baybee,baybee" in a decidedly French accent, "Must see what we can do to provide little Gabby with a sibling", I thought, "what a caring, devoted sister she'll be", I beamed with pride.. as I stared into the dishwater. Upon looking up however, little Gabby was balancing on the deck chair with toy baby hanging from her left hand, it's poor head dragging on the ground. The next moment, it's was tossed to the deck floor with carless abandon, Forgotten in favour of a visiting grass-hopper.I decided I needn't rush out and buy and extra car seat just yet..

If the shoe fits

Lately Gabriella has really taken to shoes. I was concerned she was not going to emulate her mother's shoe fetish in the early days when bare feet were her favourite fashion statement. Miraculously that has all changed and now it's all about feet. Feet in shoes, (the shiner the better) feet in buckets, feet in any container big enough. She especially loves to wear her daddy's shoes. I seem to recall doing this when I was about four, not 15 months. Should I be concerned, because I'm not, at all..

On another note.. We went to the library the other day..I'm fast discovering this is a mother's best friend.. Free stuff + loads of stimulation for baby = happy time together. Anyway Gabby was in sorting heaven! Her other favourite thing right now. There were three green buckets filled with kiddy books. So G was busy putting all the Mr Men books into the container with the kiddy DVD's and all the DVD's into the container with all the bed-time books. It would have driven any librarian bonkers. I was quick to re-sort before we exited however. (becoming a pro and quick re-sorts). Anyway, I had to capture G expression before we left. It was a mix of cheeky-catch-me-if-you-can plus I'm-in-heaven-and-don't-care-who-sees. Now where can I get me some green buckets?? See below for priceless expression.

A world of discovery.

She is now 15 months old. She seems to understand everything I say to her yet she currently reserves the right to limit her vocab to bwoof-bwoof, (dog and any animal) boo (as in peek-a-boo), mum, da (for dadda), bebe (for baby), ta, no, (with perfect clarity), hewoo, hiyee (hello), ohh, (oh), and today it seemed she as walking around the house saying Bec (my name). Her baby vocab however is extensive and fasinating. Infact I wish a country existed with their language resembling her babble. I would move there. Sad to think this infant language will soon disappear into the vortex never to be heard again. I savour every word as I can feel it disappear each day.

Right now she sleeps in the middle of the King size bed with pillows all around her. She rules the bed, the home, and our hearts. Life has never been so sweet.

Here's some recent pics of her enjoying each new discovery.

Heart to heart

Josh loved nothing more than to come home from work and sit with his new daughter. She loved falling asleep on his chest. How could someone so small make us feel so big.

My love affair with capturing Gabby on film really comes into play here. Those first few days at home with Gabby were so precious. I wanted nothing but to sit and study her all day, nothing's really changed since then.

Her first bath at home..

It was frightening to leave the clean, safe hospital and enter a muggy, germ filled world outside. I felt so connected with the hospital after having the most intense experience of my life I almost resented home and the outside world and feared what it would do to my perfect little human. Thankfully I quickly adjusted and my perfect human just became even more wonderful. I did miss having everything done more me though.

Gabby's first trip to the markets. She seems so small here and quite worried, but at the time it seemed she was so old. I love the way she fits so comfortably on my lap here.

Gabriellas first year in pictures

Above. This is just a sweet shot of the little angel. Her eyes look so huge here. I miss my little 4 month old, just a little.
Above: Some of my family come to visit for her baby blessing. She is bringing us together again. Natalie is holding Gabby, she is my eldest sister. Paris, her eldest daughter, stands in front. Tony my eldest brother stands on the right. I couldn't have been happier to see them here. Wish it lasted forever!
Above: She is three months old. It's winter now. She's adorable in her winter woollies. She lies on a new bed in a new house. All because of her.
First few days at the hospital. This heavenly creature enters our lives, and we are instantly changed forever!

Well, the first year of my child's life has come and gone. I didn't quite manage to post every week, or even every month as I'd planned in my head. What I did manage to do was...survive. Don't get me wrong, it was the best year of my life, as well as the most sleep deprived, hence the lack of normal functioning.

What I did manage to do was take photos, everyday, for a year. Ahhh, photos, so quick, easy and fun. So, here is a photo journal of Gabriella's first year. Most of them are firsts. Since she tends to do something new everyday, there are quite a few firsts..

Hope you enjoy.

Bec x