Hawkeyes are Real!

(With apologies to Grandpa M and Uncle Jai.)

On Friday we had the Pack-n-Play out because a friend's baby (Cora) was spending the day.

This morning Gabriella was cuddling with mommy and asked, "Where did baby Cora's bed go?"

"We put it back in its bag and put it away in the closet," Lisa replied.

This really excited Gabriella (I dunno why) and she proclaimed, "I love baggies! Baggies are real! And I like Hawkeyes! Hawkeyes are real too!"

;)

Kitty Backpack

Tonight we were on the way out of town and stopped at Wal-mart to pick something up. When we arrived at our destination we realized that Gabriella's Hello Kitty backpack was no longer in the van and must have fallen out of the van in the parking lot. Kevin called Wal-Mart to ask if the backpack had been turned in, but no luck.

We called Uncle Tyler and he was kind enough to drive over and check the parking lot for us. He even checked at the courtesy counter again, but no luck.

I love that little backpack and so does Gabriella - it makes her feel very independent. She loves to help pack her backpack for the day and put it on her back herself - often upside down. I was already missing watching her run down the sidewalk with it bobbing up and down on her back. And how many backpacks have a special pocket small enough to fit just a tiny box of raisins?

When we returned to Ames this evening, we stopped by Wal-Mart to check the lost-and-found one more time... just in case. The guy behind the counter asked if we had called in earlier and told me that nothing had been turned in. Just as I started walking away, he happened to notice something pink behind the counter. There it was, still full of diapers and not a single smudge from laying in the parking lot.

Thank you to the kind man who brought the backpack inside to customer service. I think Gabriella might be almost as glad to see it as her sentimental mama!

Sandwich

I'd like to remember this...

Gabriella likes to put an arm around Lisa's neck and an arm around my neck and hug us both at the same time. As she pulls our heads close, G requests a sandwich - that is, a kiss on both cheeks at the same time from mommy and daddy.

She's full of it.

Yesterday Gabriella did something silly.
I said "Gabriella are you a turkey?"
"No," she replied. "I'm a silly goose!"

Monkeys in the Morning

Saturday dawned bright and beautiful. The birds were singing, the sun was shining, spring green and blossoms aplenty, and three adorable monkeys playing in the back yard :)

Melty moment

Today Gabriella and I took Ben to the orthodontist. When we picked him up outside his classroom she leaned over to have him carry her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder closing her eyes. She hugged him close like this as he carried her through the school and to the car. All the while she repeated "Hello my sweetie-pie, hello my sweetie pie." It was such a sweet moment between them and I was so thankful for their wonderful relationship.

The dentist

The kids had a great trip to the dentist today. Gabriella had been excited all day and couldn't wait to go show Dr. Debbie her teeth(and her foot, so there was some confusion). She laid still for cleaning and check up and did just what the dentist asked. I was thrilled.

When we got home she asked me to be her Dr. Debbie and to brush her teeth. Then she asked me to count her teeth. I counted them, 1-20. Then she said "No, say the letters." So I counted A-T. She didn't miss a thing.

Dragon bite

Last night Gabriella ran across the playroom and stepped right onto a tiny plastic dinosaur with spikes around his head. Two of the spikes went through the arch of her tiny foot. Ouch! Fortunately Grandma Millen was there to take care of the injury and Grandpa was there to rock her to sleep.
This morning Gabriella was really favoring her foot, asking me to carry her from room to room, move her from the rocking chair to the couch, etc. She even laid down on the couch for an entire episode of Caillou. A first!
Then Gabriella and I went to help with Mileage Club at school. She started out timidly, but then was off playing and running on her tippy toes with the big kids. She told the kids at school a dragon bit her foot, and showed them her Dora band-aid.
Afterward we started on our stroller ride home and she decided she wanted to run home. So my little injured girl ran half a mile home picking up sticks, leaves and rocks along the way asking "Can I take this home?" It was tempting to go onto other people's driveways and up their stairs, but I tried to keep her on the sidewalk. When we got to one especially tempting set of stairs I said that we needed to keep going. "Can I go up the stairs?" No, we will just look at them." "Can I look at them with my bottom? she asked while scooting up them backwards.
When we hit go to 24th street I lured her back into the stroller with a box of raisins. She was extra cuddly during book time and took a fabulous nap, falling asleep almost right away. What a blessing! Perhaps we need to do more running before nap time!

Picture of Josiah

If you have an Ames Parks and Rec Summer guide, Check out page 3. There is a sweet picture of Josiah with his buddy Jon and his fabulous swimming teacher from when he was three. It was fun to look through the catalog and find his little smiling face!

Super Gabriella and Super Joisah

Someday we may catch up the blog and add some pictures, but for now I want to be sure to just keep up with little moments.

Yesterday we came home in the rain and I asked Josiah to watch Gabriella for a few minutes while Ben helped me bring in the patio cushions. Sure he said. "Come on Ella," as he took her hand.

A few minutes I returned to find both of them with their matching backpacks on. (Gabriella's upside down and looking enormous on her little back). They had both filled them with stuffed animals, musical instruments and special papers for their mission. They each held two foam sticks in their hands from the megafort set. Josiah introduced them by saying "Super Josiah and this is my sidekick Super Gabriella and we are off to defeat the villain, Evil Pork Chop." "Yeah," Gabriella said with her hands on her hips working hard to keep the backpack on. I asked who Evil Pork Chop was and Josiah said it was the vacuum cleaner and asked if they could borrow it for a while. Then Josiah linked their megafort sticks together and turned it into a rotating lasso and captured the Evil Pork Chop and took it off to jail. Gabriella couldn't wait to be Super Gabriella again after nap time.