Gabrielle's new skills

Ikea ball room, here I come

Brusha brusha brusha...

Part of Gabrielle's bedtime routine is a trip to the bathroom for a little toothbrushing. She really enjoys it and opens her mouth as soon as she sees me grab the brush. It's never too early to develop good oral hygiene habits, I say...

Tennessee rocks out at Music Together

Mark has been taking Gabrielle to rock star lessons I mean music enrichment sessions. Angie brings Logan and Peggy brings Devlin and Andie brings Callum and perhaps they'll all form a band some day. That's why we gave her the name Tennessee, after all.

I wonder if this is how Mick Jagger got his start.

Tennessee playing the sticks. Her warm up involves sucking them until they're just right.

Hiking in the Gats

Last winter, Angie and I vowed that we would hike in Gatineau Park once a week during the summer while we were on mat leave. Here we are on our inaugural hike on Thanksgiving Day. What can I say - it's been a busy summer.

Gabrielle is pretty happy to get into her backpack, although you wouldn't know it from all these photos of her with a furrowed brow.

And Darouk came too, because we needed someone to carry the big backpack full of dishes and cutlery. 

Prenatal reunion

A friend from prenatal class, Trina, invited Mark and Gabrielle over for a playdate last week. To see how they've all grown, see the photos in the April 7 posting, down below. Unfortunately, I can't say much about what happened at the playdate, as I wasn't there, but I'm guessing it was alot of, um, baby-type activities.

Hangin' at Safta's

The day after the wedding, Gabrielle showed off her walking skills with Safta providing balance and support. I love this photo - Gabrielle took giant steps and Safta was happy to run along behind her.

One of the attractions at Safta's is her amazing jewellery drawer. Gabrielle got hold of a big bag of pearls and suddenly it was Mardi Gras.

Gigi's first nuptials

We drove to Montreal this weekend to attend the wedding of my former colleague, Stefanie, and her new husband, Mark. Mapquest failed us by navigating us to Pierrefonds instead of Pointe Claire, so instead of arriving a half hour early as we had planned, we ended up sneaking into the church 20 paces behind the bride. Above, Mark pleads with Gabrielle to shut it.

Gabrielle *walked the pews* during the ceremony. Sorry 'bout that.

Given that we were with a squirming 9 month old, we were thrilled to find out that it was a mercifully short ceremony, clocking in at just about an hour. Gabrielle managed to sneak into this photo of the happy new couple.

Needless to say, Gigi was the sharpest dressed one in the *under 12 month* category.

Change of primary caregiver :-(

I'm back at work (I mean back at the office - I'm solidly convinced that taking care of your child is work) and Mark is home full-time with Gabrielle. I'm bummed. Until today, Gabrielle hasn't been too upset about it, but this morning she actually cried when I said goodbye in the morning. I think she's figured out that when I put on the fancy clothes, I won't be back for awhile. Mark said she stopped crying pretty soon after I left but it wasn't fun to walk away from her like that. 

Fun times at the park. Mark and Gabrielle modeling their father-daughter toques. Looking at this picture makes me glad that for Gabrielle's first Christmas, Mark won't have to wear a fake beard.

At the Children's Museum, Mark and Gabrielle share a ride on a scooter. I can't believe he would put her on anything but a Vespa.

At Music Together, with Angie and Logan and Andie and Callum. 

Thanks Angie for all these photos. Now that Mark's the primary caregiver, he's going to have to be responsible for documenting our child's life. Stay tuned.