Gaby - my friendly little munchkin!

the cheerful little Gabsta

I am back at university for semester two - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday Gaby has preschool, but they couldn't give me the hours for Thursday. I posted an ad on the treasures forum & a lady replied, saying she was a PORSE (in home care) Educator, off on maternity leave - and she lives really close by, and that she'd be more than happy to take Gaby.

She has a 15 month old son - Ashton - and is currently pregnant & due on August 25th with a little girl. I was a little concerned that this would mean there would be weeks she couldn't care for Gaby - but the legend that she is, she has said the only chance of disruption is if she's in labour on a Thursday - and if that's the case her Mum will be having Ashton - & she doesn't mind having Gaby too!!! I am happy with the arrangement - more than happy, because Gaby gets one-on-one contact with another child, a similar age, she will become more adaptable to other people watching her - and she's also going to get to experience having a newborn around!!!!! Obviously a little brother or sister isn't in Gaby's near future, so I'm glad she's going to have interaction with a little little bubba!

Today she had her first 2 hours with Kylie & Ashton - and it went really well! She did get scratched by the cat, but I'm sure the cat was more than entitled to do that... Sounds like she enjoyed playing with Ashton - when I got back he was in bed, Kylie said Gaby had tired him out... sounds about right to me!

Cutest thing happened after I'd picked her up - we went to The Naked Baker so I could get some lunch, and there was a little girl - maybe 3?, she walked over to Gaby & said hello - and then they started holding hands! Cutest cutest thing ever. They walked around the bakery together - and even had a little kiss! Ahhhhh so sweet. Obviously if she was older it'd be a bit of a worry, but it was a safe environment (well as safe as it can be when strangers are involved!). Gaby had a smile on her face the whole time, so I know that she didn't mind one bit!

I can't remember if I mentioned last time, about Gaby's EXPLOSION of words? Every day there are new words which blow me away - last night she was talking about the stars for instance! Other new words: orange, yogurt (yogot), Jim (ie my Grandad Jim!) - ummm, there are lots more too, but they are the first that come to mind. She's also started stringing more words together, which is really exciting - she can say "it's stuck", "more please" - once again there are more, but they are the ones that come to mind first!

It's really amazing - and a little overwhelming, how much she is developing right now. Every aspect of her development seems to be taking off!!! Her behaviour is also changing, which I suppose is normal when other facets of her development are changing - and I am finding it a little hard at times to cope with it, and to not let it get to me. I have to remember that when he is 'naughty' she isn't being 'naughty' just for the sake of it - it's all about testing limits & becoming more independant - and I have to try to allow that to happen, but at the same time, give her some sense of what is appropriate & what ISN'T appropriate....

Top it!!!!!!!!

Uh oh...

On Saturday Gaby was bugging Nan, who told her to "Stop it". Gaby looks at Nan, points her finger & says "TOP IT" to Nan. Uh oh. The talking back has begun!

Gaby seems to be okay with her big girl bed now, especially since I put the bed rail up - the last couple of mornings she's woken after 7am, which is all good in my books! I wondered if being a 'big kid' might go to her head, but it doesn't seem to have - unless you count the talking back thing LOL.

Incase anyone is wondering, the Crayola Washable markers ARE washable! How do I know that? Because Nan bought Gaby some, and she has drawn on the wall & herself in the past two days. Not a mark is left though, thanks to the good folk at Crayola. I'm not sure why she's finding it so much fun to draw on the walls/herself with these markers - she never did it with the highlighters or pencils or crayons! She got blue on her face & it looked like I'd been punching her or something - thank goodness they came off!

This week Gaby is having a go at trampolining, as part of the KidsFest program. I kind of lied about her age - it was for ages 2+ - she isn't THAT far off 2! I hope she has fun - she certainly enjoys bouncing on my bed enough!!!!!

my little girl is in a big girl bed!

On Wednesday I decided (for some reason) that it'd be a good idea to convert Gaby's cot into a toddler bed! So all by myself I took down the cot (took only half an hour to figure out how to get the slidey side out!!!), then put it back up, minus the sides! The end result looked a little something like this:the first night in her big girl bed went FINE! She woke up at 7am - around 45 minutes earlier than usual, but as Mum said to me, she's probably waking up at that time anyway, but in her cot she'd go back to sleep. The first day of naps were a different story. I had to sit with her to get her to sleep for the first nap, and the second nap - well, it was a battle of the wills, and Gaby won. Yesterday I got her a bed rail - and her nap yesterday afternoon went fine - straight to sleep, so we'll see how her naps are today! Hopefully the bed rail makes her feel a little more secure & less like getting out!

She seems to be getting sick again, which is a bit of a bother - the cough is coming back, as is the snotty nose. I think she's teething though, so that probably doesn't help at all! We'll keep up with the cough medicine & Pamol this weekend, but if she's getting worse by Monday, I'll defiantely be taking her to the doctor! I guess being at preschool she is a lot more susceptible to all the little bugs going around, so it's probably to be expected that she'll get sick. Heck, it IS winter as well - everyone gets sick!

What else is new in Gaby-land? Not much REALLY... She's plodding along, making me laugh & testing my patience all in the space of 2 minutes. The terrible twos are certainly here - or very much on there way (I hope it doesn't get worse, but I think it will!!!!). She's now 20 months, 1 week & 2 days old - getting closer & closer to that big 24 month mark! I'm starting to think about her birthday present, I think I might get her some Duplo or Mega Blocks, but then, there are just so many cute toys around, she'll probably end up with a few things!

Gaby was lucky enough to get a box of clothing from Aunty Terri yesterday! She got new pants, sweatshirts, pyjamas, socks, shoes & a gorgeous purple jacket! In the box was also a video of Gaby as a little bub!!!! I made it for Grandma, but when it came time to put it on a video, we realised the cord we needed wasn't there! But Terri's flatmates have the right cord, so FINALLY it is on video! I plan on getting it made into a DVD soon, and then giving others a copy! It was weird watching it, thinking that she started out as a couple of cells - and that the first time I saw her (ultrasound) she was 6.3cm long! Even weirder to think she lived in my belly for 42 weeks!!!! & now she's this big, boistrous, adorable, sweet, cheeky toddler!

12w5d ultrasound

39w6d pregnant, 2w1d before Gaby arrived20 months, 1 week old!