All Done! (clap clap clap)

Just a follow-up entry about Gabriella's growing communication skills. This evening she was happily occupied in the excersaucer as I cleaned up the kitchen and put away (some) of the leftovers. After a little while, G caught my attention and, looking straight at me, lifted her arms out in front of her and clapped her hands together. When I asked if she was all done, her face lit up and she reached up for me. Communication replaces frustrated cries. Ahhhhhh...

Baby signs and phonemes

Lisa just called to share a new Gabriella feat with me. This morning, when Gabriella was finished eating her morning meal, Lisa cleaned her up and removed her bib. Gabriella looked up at here and made the sounds, "Ah Duh!" (which I like to think of as primitive phonemes) and started hitting her arms with her hands (which is very similar to the hand sign we've been using with her to signify "ALL DONE!"

Later this morning, Lisa was cleaning and tidying up in Gabriella's room (in anticipation of her good friend's arrival today), and Gabriella was playing happily in her crib. After awhile, Ella apparently decided that she had entertained herself for long enough (a big help to mommy!) and used the same physical action and verbal queue to let Lisa know that she was "ALL DONE" playing in the crib.

Though these verbal and physical actions are definitely subject to parental bias and interpretive overlay, the coincidence of the two events in such close temporal succession is a pretty compelling reason to emit the Proud Parental Glow (PPG).

Hope this finds whoever is reading in great spirits on this fine, sunny, reasonably mild Monday before Thanksgiving.

God Bless,
-kevin

Dashing... Snowing

We've really got to keep a close eye on Ella -- she loves baths, loves to stand at the bathtub and dream of taking baths, loves the bath toys...

And, wow, can she rocket on all fours!



Meanwhile, Lisa spent some good time outside this evening as she, Ben and Josiah relished the day's accumulation of snow crystals by covering every inch of the backyard with sled tracks, imprinting snow angels, and building a "snow princess alien".

Earlier in the day, as soon as Ben saw the snow starting to stick on the ground he informed me, "Dad. We're goin' sledding!" A short time later Josiah announced that he would be making snow angels on Sunday morning.

Cheers to Lisa for making certain that this early season snow was not wasted.

Lastly, but definitely not leastly, we've made a start on some minor remodeling in the playroom thanks to Mom and Dad T's visit today. Dad helped me work out the details for the storage cupboard/platform reconstruction (ripped out most of the existing counter to give the basement drainage installers access to the walls and floor on the south end of the basement). Dad also put quite a bit of time and energy into getting the insulation measured, cut and installed. Lisa had a roast going in the crock pot, so we also enjoyed a very warm and tasty meal--perfect on a cold, snowy day!

Box girl

Gabriella's new car seat arrived yesterday, in its trademark step-shaped box. The boys spent the morning watching cartoons and transforming the box from a seat (it collapsed under Ben - no injuries) to a dog house to a slide...

Later I gave Gabriella her chance to play in it. Here's a photo from just before she decided it really wasn't that fun :) As you can see, the boys' activities transformed the box into an, um, bursting flower of cardboard delight!

Halloween, Reprise

Today we deliver to you, the viewer, a photo of Josiah's favorite ghostly pumpkin (courtesy of a friend's husband) from this past Halloween, the aforementioned astronaut pics, and some genuine Halloween photos of Gabriella in her Punkin' Fairy costume (as opposed to the one taken during her "fitting" session a week or two prior).

Here are the brothers Astronaut, decked out for trick-or-treating...



[rear/side view]


and, earlier in the week, at Josiah's preschool party.



Newsreel: Astronaut meets giant mouse and ninja

From Halloween Costumes and Parties 2008

And a bit more Gabriella Grace, genuine "Punkin'" for a day :)

Two Astronauts and a Little Pumpkin Fairy

Gabriella's First Halloween

Our little lady is almost eight months old and had her first Halloween trick-or-treat experience last night. She lasted the entire 2 hours, sleeping for about 45 minutes of the trek. The night was just beautiful, a-typical for Trick-or-Treat in Iowa, and a perfect evening for two precocious astronauts and a darling pumpkin fairy to make the rounds.

We ended the night with our small group, topping off a beautiful, safe, generally un-eventful Halloween night.

Here's a sneak peek from a week or so ago when G tried on her costume.