Sunny Face

Gabriella is honing her acting chops at a young age. Ask her for her "sunny face" and she squints as if the sun is in her eyes.

Stamp of Approval

Inspect.

Taste.

Stamp of approval.

Saturday Night Fever

When Noni and Mumpy paid Gabriella a visit this past Saturday night, she pulled out all the stops, including her infamous pirate imitation.

When the cat's away ...

I love when Michael takes pictures with his camera phone and sends them to me, especially when I'm at work and my two favorite "mice" are at play.

11 months old!

Survivor

Outwit, outplay, outlast.

This is me outwitting and outplaying my curious baby girl...

And this is her, telling me that I may have won the battle but she's determined to outlast and win the war.

Cool Down

From the way Gabriella is guzzling down her bottle after this afternoon's run, you'd think she was the one pushing the jogging stroller.

Mr. Roper's Long Lost Twin

El Bandito

Gotta love the kerchief bib courtesy of Aunt Stek.

Team in Training

These days I run with a team: Gabriella, Elmo (her partner in crime), Eli (the elephant ... her other parnter in crime) and Bob (the stroller).

It takes a half hour to get us all out the door, and forty-five minutes for us all to run three miles (I'm convinced my NikePlus chip needs to be recalibrated), but I've never had so much fun exercising.

My poor baby!

I guess it was bound to happen, but that doesn't make it any easier. Gabriella took a bad fall in her crib that resulted in a lovely egg-like bump on her forehead. This picture was taken moments after the incident:

Notice the vice grip on Elmo.

Our 1st Mother's Day!

Going Green

Gabriella loves to recycle.


Of course, there is the ulterior motive of being able play with paper bags and plastic egg crates, but I'm less concerned about motives right now and more concerned with starting good habits.

Grubby Little Baby

This is a glimpse of Gabriella as a teenager, I think. She's managed to smear tofu all over her hands and in her hair, not to mention leave a ring of sweet potato around her mouth, and somehow she's still found a way to blame it all on me.

Pirate Feisty

Gabriella's new favorite face to make ...

It's quite amusing at home, but just try going out in public with a baby who makes this face at every stranger who passes by.