The family that sleeps together...

Mornings vary at our house, with Gabrielle waking up anytime between 5 and 8am. This was one of the early wake-ups, where she woke up and played with me on the bed for an hour or so until I got up to take my shower. When I returned to the bedroom, Gabrielle had leaned back onto Mark and had fallen back to sleep in that position. Although it looks like a peaceful pose, Mark was awake and sweating under there, trying to figure out how to extricate himself without waking her up.

Getting the hang of it

(and no, that's not blood - it's blackberries...)

Introducing: Meaghan!

Here is Gabrielle's first meeting with her new nanny, Meaghan. It was a mutual admiration society, with Gabrielle loving Meaghan's smile and Meaghan loving Gabrielle's baby blues. Although Gabrielle is generally shy with strangers, it only took her about 10 minutes to jump into Meaghan's lap and start fingering her jewellery. Mark and I are hugely relieved that we found this awesome woman to take care of Gabrielle full time starting January 5th. Of course, we're both miserable that we can't be home with our daughter and see her development as it happens. In Meaghan's contract, we asked her to take photos of Gabrielle on a regular basis and post them with commentary on the blog. No joke. 21st century problems call for 21st century solutions.

Turns out walking wasn't so far behind

Here she is with a walker she received from Peggy. It only took her a couple of days to master walking behind it without it getting away from her. But what's really cool is how she starts on cue, puts on a big smile, and even sings a little walking song.

But don't you wonder what she would look like from the front pushing one of these walkers? Well wonder no longer...

There's a whole lotta standing going on

Here's Gabrielle's latest trick, a big one, mind you. The longest we've clocked her at so far is 30 seconds. Can walking be far behind?

Just like the good old days

I had Remembrance Day off work, so I took Gabrielle to her regular Tuesday afternoon play group and gave Mark a break from the drudgery of taking care of our child ;-). I pulled out the ol' trusty sling, which she loved being in again. I don't know if it's because she's a winter baby or what, but she's so freaking cute all swaddled in wool and fleece. 

Peek-a-boo (turn head 90 degrees to enjoy)

Gabrielle is learning new tricks every few days or so. Here she is mastering the fine art of peekaboo. 

[Not so] Happy Halloween!

Here we are - the silly family - getting ready for Gabrielle's first Halloween. In case it's not exceedingly obvious, Gabrielle was dressed as a sock puppet monkey (and not simply as a monkey, as Mark kept insisting). 

It's been about 20 years since I've been out trick or treating. I figured I could dress our adorable baby in a cute costume and she'd bring in a couple of bagloads of candy, easy.

I didn't count on her being totally freaked out every time a door opened. The owners were treated by a big 'WAAAAHHH!!' that totally drowned out my cheerful 'Trick or Treat!' As a result, we called it quits after only two houses. Net haul: 5 mini chocolate bars.

We put Gigi to bed and then headed out to a Halloween party where we met a guy who Mark totally clicked with...

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.

Days eight, nine, ten - gettin' lucky in Atlantic City

Gabrielle is a very lucky baby to have been able to experience the Manhattan Port Authority bus terminal at such a young age. I expect the germs she picked up there will fortify her immune system for a long time. 

I'm in Atlantic City! It's a dream come true. Wake up, Gabrielle, wake up!!

Gabrielle and I took in the sights while Mark was, ahem, otherwise occupied. The beach was gorgeous, although it was hard to get out of the shadow of Bally's. We stayed in the tower on the right, the old Claridge hotel.

Walking in the Atlantic - a surprising 71 degrees warm.

Gabrielle and I took in the hourly fountain show at the Caesar's Palace. She seemed to actually be watching and enjoying it. She's nearly human.

The next day, we returned home. That last travel day involved 2 cab rides, 2 flights, and 2 train rides. Unbelievably, we made it home intact and with all our luggage. Some guy at the Atlantic City train station said he couldn't believe we were travelling with so much stuff and a baby. Yeah. We're a little crazy that way.

Day seven - downtown again

This being our last day in New York, we decided to take it easy and stroll around the lower part of the island. I haven't been to the World Trade Center site since before September 11, so that was our first stop. Not much to see except alot of tourists waving their arms around.

We went back to Little Italy to take part of the festival of San Somebody (gotta find out who it is), i.e. eat more food. Pizza, of course, as well as a sausage sandwich for Mark and a bracciole (pork roll-up thingy) for me. I was told to go to a funky rice pudding shop (huh?) in the area - Rice to Riches. After sampling a couple of flavours, I decided on Plain. It was good, but look at the ginormous size of the smallest serving they offer. Gabrielle and I managed to finish it off, but it wasn't easy.

Day six - Williamsburg and Little Italy

Yet another baby transportation method. Gabrielle was such a trooper.

We had delicious breakfast at Egg Restaurant in Williamsburg (shout out Brooklyn!). And yet another good thing about Brooklyn is that a lot of the subway lines are aboveground. Good for tourists, not so good for residents. 

We took the train to Little Italy in search of the metal funnel that goes inside a 9-cup Bialetti coffee maker because ours broke and we were unable to find a source for one anywhere in Canada. But hey! it's the yearly festival of San Somebody! Blocks and blocks of pizza, bracciole, cannoli, and that classic Italian dish: deep fried Oreos?

Day five - Bronx Zoo

Mark took Gabrielle for a chill out day to the Bronx Zoo, which involved a one hour subway ride each way. Sounds relaxing. Apparently, she really liked the butterfly kingdom.

I don't go to zoos, nor do I approve of them, so the only picture I'm willing to post is this one of her meditating by the koi pond. If anyone would like to see other pictures, direct your request to Mark. ;-)

If anyone is wondering what I was doing while they were at the zoo, the answer is that I don't remember, as I didn't have the camera to document my day. My best guess is probably shopping. 

Day four - cute outfit, sad baby

At this point in the trip, we learned a valuable lesson about travelling with babies: take it down a notch or live to regret it. Gabrielle was in a miserable mood all day, despite the incredibly cute outfit she was wearing from the Takeshimaya sale rack. 

Mark went off on his own shopping for records in the Village, while Gabrielle and I strolled around the Lower East Side, the Village, and Soho. I had envisioned us stopping at some cute café to have lunch and relax, but Gabrielle would burst into tears anytime I even slowed down, so I had to keep on walk walk walking. She had one of her legs up in the air for most of the afternoon. I have no idea what that's about, but I now take it as a very ominous sign. We realized that we would have to scale back our sightseeing and give her more home time after this nightmarish day. 

Day three - midtown Manhattan

Day three, we finally make it onto the island of Manhattan. This was my first time staying anywhere but Manhattan, so it was odd having my visit involve any other borough. But, as the kids these days like to say, it's all about Brooklyn. 

Mark wanted to check out the observation tower at the top of Rockefeller Centre and I didn't so Gabrielle and I checked out the area from ground level while he was up there looking down on us. 

Waxed begonias, I believe? A minute later, they were in her mouth.

Clap if you *heart* New York!

Mark and Gabrielle love the Empire State Building, or at least Mark does. 

Day two - Coney Island

All went well arriving at our apartment rental in Brooklyn. However, us peace loving Ottawaglians weren't prepared for the sound of passenger trains roaring by every half hour. And, being Saturday, the yahoos were out with their supercharged car stereos thump thumping through the night. None of us had a very restful night, as evidenced by Gabrielle's yawn, above.

Post-breakfast in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, Gabrielle needed a diaper change. "How about we change her on this random piece of wood?"

We met up with the Hall&Karens and their four! children at Coney Island: Blondie, Blonder, More Blonder and McBlondest.

This is Blonder (aka Sal), making friendly with Gabrielle.

Gabrielle's got her clapping skills now. Yay, subway ride!