School is Cool!

It's official!  I received the news today.  Gabbi is registered for preschool and will begin class in September.
My little lady is growing up way too fast and I just can't believe it.

For the past couple of weeks she has been reminding me all of the time that she is growing up.  She thinks she is super tall and likes to stand and stretch way tall.  She also likes to tell me that she will be taller than me, well that won't take much.

She also likes to tell me what she will be able to do when she gets bigger.  So far she will be taller than me, drive my car, go to school, get a pet, have soda (umm? No), get a bigger bed, have coffee (ummm? No), and ride a school bus.  She is too cute.  I know that at some point she will get to do all of these things but for now mommy is just thinking about her going to school.

She will be attending the Darcy Read Memorial Coop Preschool.  This school allows there to be a great deal of attention to each individual student, a chance for Roy and I to be involved in her education, parent involvement in each class, small class size, and a chance to hang out with other little kiddos.  I am secretly very excited for her, but also kind of sad that she is growing up.  I like her being this age so much.  Of course I have said that every day.  I love her to pieces and I know that we still have a ton adventures ahead of us.  I can't wait!!!

Egg Decorating!

Gabbi and I took some time and decorated a few eggs this Sunday.  My camera is acting weird right now, so the pictures are not the best but they will have to do. Enjoy!

We finally got to use the princess dye kit I picked up last year.  I planned on waiting until we were closer to Easter, but Gabbi had found the kit and talked Mommy into decorating early.  It wasn't hard.  Gabbi loved the activity. The only downside was the dyed hands she and I both had after wards.  But it's the price we gladly paid.

She loved making the eggs change colors and decided right away that one dip just wasn't enough.  I think every egg ended up in two to three different bowls, but Gabbi loves the colors she made.  She kept asking if she could hatch the eggs, meaning break them open.  She was bummed when I told her she had to wait. Then when we were all done she told me to go buy some more eggs.  :-)

 

Happy Easter!!!

Whirligig!!

What a busy day.  Gabbi and I got going early in the day and visited a local pre-school.  That's right we are planning on Goo going to Darcy Read Memorial Co-op School!  It is a cozy school that allows Roy and I to be very involved and allows Gabbi to develop skills to prepare her for kindergarten.

Then we were off to Seattle Center for Whirligig!  Whirligig is an annual event that turns the Center House into a bouncy toy town.  We were joined by our friends, Kelli, Erin, & Dillon.  Gabbi was awesome.  She wanted to go big right away.  She decided to give the 24 foot slide a try.  She got up the ladder at a very slow pace, but once she was at the top she scooted her bottom to the very edge and just slide at record speed to the bottom.
Once she got on her feet again she told me, "That is dangerous."  I of course cracked up.

But she just kept going.  She tried a smaller slide but lost her courage at the top and mommy rescued her.  She tried an obstacle course but got cold feet half way through and came out.  She tried a small bouncy house, a.k.a. Gum Ball, but a kid accidentally pulled her hair. So...we took a break and ate some lunch.  Next thing I knew she wanted to try it again.

She loved it!!  There wasn't any thing stopping her now.  She didn't want to get out now.  She got the hang of bouncing in no time!  I was so proud.  We tested out a few other smaller toys but it was the gum ball machine bouncy toy that was her fav.  She "talked" mommy into some face painting. Hey it was cheaper than the cartoonist and balloon lady.  :-)

It was a great day.  I probably would not suggest taking any kiddos under the age of 5 to Whirligig.  The slides are pretty intense and there are much bigger kids on the rides too.  They did have a toddler section, but it was good for about a minute.
Either way it is on our list of things to do in the future.  Chalk it up to a fun adventure for us.

Baby Idol

On impulse, Gabbi's daddy signed her up for the annual Movin' 92.5fm Baby Idol.  There were over 2,900 babies entered and the first voting round is over.  Gabbi has advanced to the top 500, now it is on to the second round.  We have asked all of our friends to vote for her and we will just see how it goes.

We already know that she is the CUTEST kid ever.  She is super smart and a smarty pants.  Cracks us up all the time.  This weeks big accomplishment is spelling her name perfectly.  "Geeeeah- A for apple - B - B- I! Gabbi"

Be sure to vote.

Little Gym!!

Since Gabbi was 10 months old she has been in Little Gym classes.  She has gone from the "birds" class to the "super beasts" class.  Each week she gets to run around, practice gymnastics, play with friends, and just be cute.
She has had some great teachers and loves the one she has now, Mr. Diego!  He has been her teacher from the beginning and she loves him.  She is starting to learn how to listen to teacher when he is teaching the skill of the week and love to try the skill with his help.

Gabbi loves to spin in circles, walk on the balance beam, do rolls, and everything else that she can do.  Often Mr. Diego inflates the air track and she just jumps her way to the end.  Here she is perfecting jumping with her feet together and her hands up.  It's a lot harder on the air track then you may think.  She is doing great!

The bar is her least favorite activity but she tries.  It seems that she just doesn't like to go upside down.  She is getting better and does just fine when Mr. Diego helps.  In this shot Mr. Diego is showing her how to touch her nose to the bar and he is going to flip her feet over the bar.  She let me help do this too, as in the photo at the top.

The whole family loves little gym.  It has really been great to see her skills grow and expand over the last year plus.  She has been very lucky to have some great teachers and even share classes with the same kiddos.  We all look forward to our 45 minutes a week on the big red mat.  This summer Gabbi will begin new classes where parents don't get to play along, and I don't know if we are excited or sad.  Maybe both.

I love Little Gym!!!

Tacoma Children's Museum

Gabbi and I needed an adventure one day and I decided to check out the Children's Museum of Tacoma.  We had a great time!  Gabbi loved the art room the most, but was able to visit all the areas in record time to spend even more time in the art room.  I took the time to fill out their small survey and we received a coupon for a free admission next time we visit.  I suggest you check it out, but go when they open or during the week.  The space is not huge and can get crowded easily.  Pack light and take advantage of the little cubbies at the front to put your items.

Gabbi has been working so hard at cutting with scissors.
She was concentrating so hard at getting it just right.
I couldn't tell you what she was trying to make but I was so proud of her.

St. Patty's Day Adventure (3/13/10)

This is a bit late, but wanted to share Gabbi and my adventure to the Seattle St. Patrick's Day celebration.  I never knew that there was an Irish Festival in Seattle, or even a parade.  I knew of the St. Patty's Day run but not all of the other things.  I was thrilled to take Gabbi to everything.  Our plan was to head to Seattle via our favorite Light Rail, catch the parade, then take the monorail to the Seattle Center for the festival, i.e. Celtic Dancers!!

However, of course plans change, and it was great!  Mommy packed a picnic and we grabbed Nana and took the train to Seattle.  Gabbi was persistent in "calling" the train on the platform.  She stood at the line mom indicated and hollered "TRAIN" as loud as she could.  And wouldn't you know it...It came!

As soon as we got to Westlake shopping center we had our picnic lunch.  Then we grabbed some prime seats next to the grandstand and waited for the parade.  Gabbi was pretty excited.

Here are some shots from our parade seats...

Gabbi loved the pipe and drum groups.  I was nervous but she did great.

The pipe and drum bands just kept coming.  The parade started at 12:30pm, near the stadium and made it to us around 12:45pm.  When we left at 2pm, it was still coming and you couldn't see the end at all.



And of course, it wouldn't be a parade with out the Seafair Pirates.  We love these guys, but Gabbi can not stand the cannon on the ship.  We had to cover our ears, but the Pirates are wonderful!  They saw that she didn't like the noise and they gave her some stickers and a lolly pop.  She forgave them.

We had a great time!  We never made it to the Dancers at the Seattle Center, but we will try again next time.  I have a year to get some more green beads and festive gear.  Gabbi is going to rock the shamrock next year! 

Gabbi's first music video

Enjoy our first attempt.  She is just too cute, had to share.

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Rather then catching up on sleep I wasted my late night on making a video of Gabbi.  Well, 1) it wasn't a waste at all, and 2) a website made it.  I used a free program from www.animoto.com to make a short 30 second slide show set to music of Gabbi.  It was great...and FREE!  You just upload some pics, either put them in order or use the random setting, choose a song and done.  The site makes it for you and the show is set to the music tempo.  There were some gliches but in the end it is a great tool if you just want a short video.

Come on Spring!

Spring is just around the corner and this blog is in dire need of updating.

So my very late New Year's resolution is to keep it updated.

There is a lot that has gone on since Memorial Day 09 and there will be a ton more.

Gabbi is nearly 3! Spring is about to begin, and we have already hit up a parade (St. Patrick's Day Parade 2010)

So be sure to check in with us via blogspot and facebook. Many picks to come.

I promise. :-)