You are 17 months young (and old) today, sweet Gabrielle.
You laugh out loud when you hear others doing the same. It makes us laugh more.
You go right to sleep at night when it's time (6PM) for bed. And
you're ready to get up and start the day bright and early (5AM) and sometimes brighter than that.
You've traveled coast to coast and across the Atlantic and you're a wonderful little traveler.
Your favorite foods are smoked salmon, olives, guacamole, whole grain
cheddar crackers, turkey, yogurt, fruit smoothies that you suck out of a
tube, and chips (one in each hand).
You know how to arch your back to get what you want. Or let out a high-pitched scream. Those aren't our favorite moments, but we understand it's how you know to communicate at this moment.
You love outings. When the car stops, you kick you legs and wave your arms in excitement of what's ahead. You'd prefer to
be down on the floor in stores – re-merchandising everything. You love going to the pool. And your most favorite road trips are those early morning runs to Starbucks with Papa.
You keep
hats and sunglasses and headbands on and love to smile at yourself in the mirror.
Your work consists of scattering stuff across the floor – but you're awesome at picking up. You especially like small trinkets (like Barbie accessories and shaped erasers) that you can hold in your hands and feel and discover, and then move on to the next item. You are curious – you want to know how things work. And it typically only takes one to two trials for you to get it.
You know how to give great kisses – and prefer to give them to other little
people more than other adults. You wave and say hi and acknowledge
others. You light up when you see people you know.
You LOVE music. You stop whatever you're doing the moment you hear a musical sound and begin moving to the beat. Music seems to be embedded in your soul and although you're a happy child at heart, music enhances that happiness. (I would love to see you play the base fiddle. Jeffrey thinks you're a drummer.)
You lay on your belly and kick your feet in the bathtub. You love when we blow bubbles during bath time.
You don't walk on your own yet. But you talk up a storm. Your favorite words are baboon, cheetah, baby, mom, wow, buhbye, more, please, cheers! and yep. You talk in your own language – full sentences. And we believe that you believe everyone understands exactly what you're saying.
You've captured our attention, our imagination, and our love.
Tara - This is beautiful Jessica.
Asha - If I (a stranger) thinks this is so sweet and interesting, think of how she’s going to enjoy reading it when she’s older. You’re a great mom!
tracy - My now six year old was a late walker–she finally took off well into her 17 month
melanie - Complete sweetness. And I’m fascinated that she leaves on hair accessories…nicely done miss g.
robin - this is why I love your blog so much…
Suzette - I loved this! So sweet. You will be so happy you recorded this for posterity.
Liz - I love that one of her favorite words is “baboon”. Bananas!
perfect bound - How sweet and inspiring. I’ve enjoyed reading your blog for years and now that I’m expecting my first little one, it’s even more special. Keep enjoying these moments and thanks for sharing.
Danielle - What a loving post of your beautiful daughter. Motherhood has definately captured you and thankfully won’t let you go. Lovely! Thank you for sharing
elise - perfect post. love this.
NancyD - Beautiful photo! Her brown eyes with the purple headband are gorgeous. And this post really makes me miss my nephew… wish I could watch him grow like this!
leni - aww, so sweet.
Laura - Ahhh, glad to know we aren’t the only ones with an eeeeearly riser.
Impressed with your language skills, Ms. Gabrielle! Charlie says dad and that’s all we’ve got so far!
Stacy Miller - Hey, thanks for posting this. It’s the push I needed to stop blog surfing and spend nap time capturing where my kids are at right now. I was really good about doing it with the first baby but have fallen out of the habit.