Gabriela reading

For several months Gabriela has demonstrated reading abilities thanks to countless hours of review of word cards and videos from Your Baby Can Read! We are excited to see her respond to these words and she is excited to review them with us. Often she will grab one of the Your Baby Can Read! review books and hand them to one of us. She loves to sit on our lap and have us read the word and reveal the picture. Please watch the video of her demonstrating "clap", "nose", etc.

Gabriela on the Farm

Gabriela visited the farm in early October for a week. The Kapplinger's celebrated her first birthday there.

One Year Old

Gabriela is now one year old! She took her shots like a pro...not even a fever. She got over her recent viral illness, and then began eating everything in sight. She is even drinking whole milk! It is hard to imagine that a year has passed. Watching the pictures from my belly to her birth to now are amazing.

Gabriela's Birthday Party!

Turning One!

Gabriela's birthday party is coming up, then her real birthday! I cannot believe this year has flown by so fast! The first 2 months felt like a blur due to exhaustion. Then our little girl started growing up. She loves to play and giggle. When asked, she will bring us a book, her duck, the ball, her purse, or drink her water. She says, "Mama" (meaning mommy) and "DaDa" (meaning daddy and/or dog-sorry daddy!). She loves Pancho with a passion. He can turn her frown around quite quickly! Book reading is always an enjoyment. Gabriela likes speed-reading. Sometimes she turns the page before mommy is done reading! She is an amazing helper when Mommy is doing laundry! She is still learning the different textures of table food...she is quite picky. She has no problem letting you know she doesn't like something...she will gag & puke. We are looking forward to the upcoming year when she will hopefully begin communicating more. We are working on the signs for hungry, more, and milk. She is transitioning to the next room at daycare.

Walking!

On the evening of August 3rd, 2010 Gabriela took her first steps. We were in the living room and she walked from the couch toward Tammy. Tammy and I immediately gave her big hugs and kisses which she enjoyed immensely. Several minutes later she repeated the feat and we praised her again. Over the last few days she occasionally walks a few steps. Uncle Drew and Victoria got to see this special experience, too. Then, Grandma Peggy came to the house a couple days later to see Gabriela walk and the video captures the events.

Pushing walker!

On June 26th Gabriela used the walker to stand up and then she pushed it on her own! We are so excited to see her accomplish these milestones.

Stand up!

Over Memorial Day weekend, Gabriela went from a laying position to a sitting position on her own. On June 3rd, Gabriela stood up on her own for the first time. On June 4th, she began crawling on all fours! Yesterday, we hosted Matt and Stacey's Baby Shower for Hunter, Emma, and Khloe. Here is a video of Gabriela crawling, sitting on her own and standing.

Pick herself up!

Gabriela picked herself up several times this week! You can see she enjoys new challenges and the everday excitement of new discoveries. Here is a video of her in action.

Gabriela crawling!

Today, Gabriela crawled from the nursery to the master bathroom! This was a big deal to see her have the strength to move over the carpet. This evening I was on the other side of the family room rug and she decided to crawl to me. That was a huge treat. We played for several minutes and then Gabriela saw Tammy and decided to crawl to her as well. This is truly the most fun we have had with her. She can make decisions and crawl to them! Here is a video of her crawling this morning.

Baby bird

There was a thunderstorm over the weekend that must have claimed one of the baby birds. The remaining bird is very active and the momma is busy as ever. It is fun to witness the garden yield new life.

Baby birds

The baby birds outside the nursery are doing well. Momma is very very busy. Flying back and forth frequently. Here is a video of her in action.

Army crawling and Standing

This week Gabriela has shown she can consistently stand for a couple minutes at a time. We stand her up next to an ottoman and she uses her hands to keep herself steady. In addition, she showed her stuff today on the hardwood floor by pulling herself forward! She tends to roll around more on the rug and carpets. Here are two videos of her army crawling and standing.

Gabriela pulling herself forward:




Gabriela standing up. Pancho looks a little scared!

7 months old

Gabriela is now 7 months old. She is sitting for the most part on her own. She is a professional at rolling over. She has now cut her first tooth...the same day her triplet cousins were born!! We welcomed Hunter Matthew, Emma Marie, and Khloe Marie Kidwiler on April 20th. They were born at 28 1/2 weeks, so please pray for their continued health and growth! Gabriela loves to look at pictures, talk about our dog Pancho, and stand up holding on to Mommy and Daddy's hands or any structure. She had her first virus with fever, cough, and runny & stuffy nose 2 weeks ago...so painful to watch her not feeling well. She stays busy at home with Daddy or at daycare. She is now working on tooth #2...I see swollen gums!

Mockingbird babies!

Outside Gabriela's nursery window is a Mockingbird nest. Yesterday, we noticed the Mockingbird was no longer sitting in the nest but leaning over. Today, I captured a short image of one baby moving.

Sitting!

Gabriela began to stay in the sitting position in mid March! We set her down and she can stay in the sitting position for several minutes before losing her balance or getting tired. The last two weeks of March she has been fighting colds and now a cough that has kept Mommy up for most of the last three nights. Today we took her into day care and she had her picture taken with the Easter Bunny. You can see that photo on the Gabriela Rose link. Here is a video of her sitting.

Back to Front Rollover!!!

We caught her very first back to front rollover tonight on video. We could see she wanted to rollover. She was trying over and over again on her own. We found the video cam and parked at the top of her so she had to strain her neck to see us. That seemed to be the motivation she needed to keep trying. It was so exciting!!!

Rolling Over!

This week daycare told us Gabriela was rolling over during 'tummy time'. So, I put her on her tummy and after many minutes of crying...she did it! Here is a video of Pancho and I watching her in action.

First day at day care!

Gabriela was all smiles when we entered day care today. She was very curious of her surroundings while we sorted her bottles, clothes, blankets, etc. This was a great help as I left her in their care. Tammy and I feel comfortable leaving Gabriela there to socialize. The ladies said she was very cute with the bow in her hair.

4 months

Gabriela will be 16 weeks this Thursday! Hard to believe she is this age already! She is growing up too fast for Mommy & Daddy. She loves playing under her Rain Forest Gym...thank you Krista & Clay Babers! She enjoys smiling...and giggles when she really finds something amusing. She likes watching our dog, Pancho walk around...he usually stays out of her reach. She loves to talk...imagine that?! She watches her "Your Baby Can Read" DVD (thank you Grandma & Grandpa Kapplinger) and we work with her on flash cards almost every day...hoping she will be an early reader. Gabriela likes to use her muscles in her arms and legs...she does not have all that much control yet. We recently started her on baby rice cereal. As you can see in the video, she is still getting used to the different consistency. Due to her spitting up so much on breast milk and formula, we have started her on Prevacid. It has helped a lot so far...definitely less spitting up and less loads of laundry for Mommy! Her fashion sense is amazing thanks to her Aunt Amy. Please view her pictures on the "Gabriela Rose" tab. Isn't she adorable??