A Month of Gaby!

Hi all! It's been such a busy time for the Tsimanis family! Gaby is having a good time, growing, and learning lots of new things. Since we last wrote, Gaby has perfected the art of sitting - she was wobbly a month ago but is a major champ and can sit with the best of them now!

She continues to eat well, and has been exploring the finer aspects of avocado, butternut squash, apricots, peaches, nectarines, squash, mango, and zucchini. She's also developed a taste for Cheerios - when we first introduced them about a month ago, she didn't quite get the concept of a pincer grasp and many Cheerios hit the ground. But in a very short amount of time, she now feeds herself Cheerios like a pro! She really likes them a lot and gets very excited when we pull out the box. We also recently tried out tofu and yoghurt with Gaby in an effort to get her to eat more protein - she loves the yoghurt but perhaps the tofu is an acquired taste. We'll keep working at it. She sometimes teeths on frozen bagels and enjoyed some of my pancake this morning even!

What's really exciting is that Gaby has cut her first two teeth as of last Sunday (the 16th). She had a couple rough nights but has really tolerated it all remarkably well. She still doesn't like it if I try to get my fingers in there but you can actually see the teeth, even though they still have a long way to grow.

Gaby has also shown her skill in clapping - she even does it on command. We sing "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands" and when we pause to clap, she claps! She has just really started doing this in the last week. But the newest skill - just being demonstrated in the last couple days is that she is waving. She has started to wave when we say "hi" and "bye".

Gaby's day care was on vacation for almost two weeks from July 16th to the 28th. I took off some time at the front end and back end of that time. Alex took off the week in the middle to be Mr. Mom! He and Gaby enjoyed a play date with our friends David and Jackson Seiden and later in the week, we all spent a long weekend at the Newport Beach Marriott to celebrate our anniversary (the same hotel where we got married). We had a very relaxing time - Grandpa Arnie babysat so that Alex and I could enjoy a couple hours at the spa. We also had fun spending a day at the pool with the Lipsons.

Below are some pictures highlighting some of Gaby's fun activities over the last month.

This is Gaby's daycare provider ZuZu. We took this photo the day before ZuZu left for vacation to visit her family in Lebanon. She especially loved this orange dress on Gaby so we got her dressed up in it to take special photos for ZuZu.

I can't quite remember what it was that Gaby was eating - but she really enjoyed it!

We snapped this shot of Gaby wearing this gorgeous hat that was made especially for Gaby by our dear friend Melissa. It's a little too warm to wear it now but I think it will still fit her nicely when the weather cools off a bit in the fall.

Here's Gaby hanging out in Venice a few weeks ago.

This photo was taken at C&O Cucina in Venice. Babushka Maya, Aunt Galya and Alex's cousin Igal from Israel enjoyed a cuddle with Gaby.

Gaby spent a Sunday at the end of July with her buddy Jackson (Dana and David Seiden's son). It was a really hot day so our plans to enjoy some time outside didn't pan out but we had fun playing with Jackson's toys in the nice air conditioning!

The day after Gaby and I enjoyed a playdate with Jackson and Dana, Alex and Gaby had a playdate with David and Jackson! This was taken at The Grove at the same spot that a similar photo was taken when the kids were just a couple months old!

Here's Gaby's first foray on a slide - not sure what she really thought of it all - it happened so fast!

Here we are hanging out at the pool at the Newport Beach Marriott. Gaby wore these glasses for all of five seconds - long enough to take the photo. She wasn't a fan of the shades.

Here's Steve and DJ Lipson with Gaby and Alex floating around in the cool pool water.

Gaby really liked floating around in the pool!

On August 1st, Gaby had her first experience with a babysitter who was not a relative. Mom and Dad took Alex and I along with Jeff and Annie out for our anniversaries. Annie's niece and a friend of hers babysat for all the kids. I think I had a harder time with leaving Gaby than Gaby had being left. Before we left for dinner, we got Gaby fed and ready for bed. Michael helped to feed Gaby (as seen here). He really enjoys his role as big cousin!

Isabella also got a chance to feed Gaby - she did an awesome job!

Oh - poor Gaby! This was taken a couple weeks ago after returning home from a long and busy day at daycare. We had just finished dinner and before we could get Gaby cleaned up and ready for bed, she had fallen asleep!

Here's Gaby showing her sense of humor (or at least her mother's sense of humor)!

Ah...a rite of passage for any kid in LA. Here's Gaby at Dodger's Stadium for her first Dodger game yesterday (August 22nd). It was a miserably hot and humid day but she was a trooper!

We had really cool seats - almost directly behind home plate but up a little high. At least we were in the shade for the whole game!

We got Gaby dressed up in her Dodger blues special for the game. Would you believe that the couple that came and sat down right next to us had dressed their 11 month old daughter in the exact same outfit!?!?! Hey, at least the Dodgers won!!!!

So that's our story for now. Gaby says "hi" and looks forward to sharing more fun stories and adventures in the next blog entry!

A Happy 4th, Some More Firsts, and Something Intellectual (Well, Sort Of!)

As per usual, this post didn't get out quite as soon as I hoped. I started it on the 4th of July, ready to recount some of the fun things we've been up to and then got distracted. So, here we are, a week later...

Well, to start, happy belated 4th of July! We had a fun day, BBQ-ing at our place with our friends and family. We walked over to one of the parks near our house to watch the fireworks - a great view and we didn't need to battle traffic! In honor of the red, white, and blue, I made a "cupcake cake" inspired by one I saw in a great cupcake cookbook. The one in the book was more polished but this tasted pretty great!

We enjoyed visiting with the Nevitt's, Lipson's, Michaelson's, Alex's friend Ryan, the Shugarman's, and the Grandparents (Arnie, Michele, and Maya). Below is a picture of our own "American Cutie". Dressed in red, white, and blue just for this occaision.

"Auntie" Wendy enjoyed some time with Gaby...

Gaby enjoyed a visit with her buddy and future husband, D.J., during the festivities. He's such a sweet boy and he had a big smile for Gaby and she for him. They even held hands for a bit.

Michael had a good time helping to feed Gaby and both he and Isabella took turns holding her. They both seem to have a good time playing with Gaby and she enjoys their attention. I can't wait to see them all play together as they get older!

On July 8th, Gabriela turned 7 months old! We celebrated the day with a photo of Gaby in the now-famous bouncy chair. This is, unfortunately the bouncy seat's swan song since Gaby has grown just a bit too big for it now. Compare this picture to the ones posted in Gaby's April 7th blog entry - it really gives you an idea of how much she's grown! In her 4 month picture, her head doesn't even pass the top of the parrot and now her head is in the clouds!!!

Gaby continues to eat like a champ. We now give her two meals a day of solid foods - cereal in the morning and a fruit or veggie in the evening. She's pretty much enjoyed everything we've offerred her - prunes, winter squash, pears, apple sauce, sweet potato, carrots, blueberries...the only one she didn't really get into was peas. We'll try that again sometime soon. I've also made my first batch of baby food too - broccoli! I'm hoping that Gaby learns to love the green veggies.

Gaby has been improving her skills - she's sitting up on her own...at least some of the time she is! Sometimes she wants to lounge and isn't as interested in sitting up. If we put something interesting in front of her, she's more likely to forget the fact that she's sitting unassisted and just play with her toys. What's been really fun is a new set of blocks (seen above) that we like to pile up in a tower and she enjoys toppling over. More often than not, it produces a nice little giggle from our girl! She is also rolling over a lot now - it's just that we never see it. She'll roll over in day care and she'll roll over in her crib. The only evidence we have that she does it is when we discover her on her tummy in her crib. Sometimes she rolls onto her tummy and gets herself stuck in a corner and starts crying. Then Alex or I have to come in and roll her onto her back so she'll calm down. Interestingly enough, we discovered her asleep on her tummy yesterday for the first time - maybe she's OK with being on her tummy now!

Today, we enjoyed a leisurely, but hot summer Sunday. We started out with brunch at a restaurant we hadn't tried before (Toast Bakery) - it was very yummy. We happened to be seated in "baby central" - there were five other tables right around us with babies or toddlers - it was fun! Gaby enjoyed the people watching. We then went to LACMA (LA County Museum of Art), where we saw the exhibit "Pompeii and the Roman Villa" - it was a very interesting exhibit of art work and statues discovered in the process of unearthing the city of Pompeii and surrounding cities that were destroyed by the erruption of Mt. Vesuvius. Just outside the exhibit was an interesting art installation (see Alex and Gaby above) - it was made up of strings of plastic baskets, collanders, cups, and plates hung from the ceiling. It looked like someone went on a shopping spree at a 99 cent store!

Given how hot it was today, we thought we'd take a trip over to the pool - we weren't the only ones with this idea. But today was Gaby's first time in a swimming pool - we think she liked it. I think she just thought it was a really big bathtub! I'm sure this is a natural reflex for babies but it was fun to watch her kick her legs as Alex and I pulled her through the water.

Although a little late in posting, here are some of Gaby's formal 6 month photos - the one at the bottom includese Gaby in a Dodger's outfit in honor of Alex's favorite baseball team, which was part of her present to Alex for Father's Day.

Father's Day and Other Fun Things

Well, we've enjoyed another few weeks with our beautiful Gabriela since our last blog entry. Gaby continues to explore the wonderful world of solids. She has enjoyed the finest of organic sweet potatoes, then peas, pears, apple sauce, and most recently, carrots. Check out the photo below - sweet potatoes definitely show up well on camera. Later in this blog is a shot we took today of Gaby after she downed a whole container of carrots - looks a lot like sweet potato but she's a bit tidier in the later shot (it may not look like it but she really does a much better job of keeping the food in her mouth now).

Gaby with her great-Babushka Anya on June 7th

Gabriela turned six months old this month (6/8)! Time just flies by... She had her six month check-up with the pediatrician and she continues to grow and thrive (but we knew that already). Still, here are the stats: she is still in the 90th percentile for weight but the amount of weight gain has slowed a big - she weighed in at 18 pounds, 12.75 ounces. She had a bit of growth spurt - she is now 26.25 inches, which is a two inch increase since her four-month appointment and she is now in the 75th percentile for height (up from the 50th percentile).

Taken on her 6 month birthday, Gaby's a bit longer - now her feet hang off the bouncy!

We took a short, overnight trip to Ventura this last Friday. It was the first time we got away with Gaby since our trip to Michigan. We stayed right on the beach and had a great view of the surfers "hanging 10". It never got really sunny but the weather was great for walking around and exploring. We enjoyed some wonderful meals including lunch at Zoey's (see photo below) - the heirloom tomato salad was incredible! We also visited the Mission San Buenaventura - a beatiful little mission and the last one Father Junipero Serra established before his death. Not as large as San Juan Capistrano but beautiful nontheless!

Alex and Gaby at Mission San Buenaventura

We also enjoyed some great mole at a local tiny restaurant and seafood by the Harbor. Our last gastronomic experience of our trip was at Cafe Firenze in Moorpark, which was not too far off the route back to LA. Moorpark is a small-ish city - not much there but it has been put on the map (in my opinion) by the fact that my favorite "Top Chef" Fabio established his restaurant there. Alex and I are big fans of the show - if you haven't seen it, it's a "reality show" competition where chefs from all walks of life compete for the title of Top Chef - and in the last season in New York City, Fabio may not have won the title but he was Top Chef in our hearts. And the restaurant was fabulous - there were only two reservations available for the night when we called. I loved the balsamic martini (yes, I had a drink - AFTER I fed Gaby) and the pasta was yummy!

Gaby has demonstrated great skill in eating her socks - not the kind of solids we envisioned her eating!

The photo above reveals one of Gaby's newest skills - grabbing her foot and putting it (or the sock that covers it) into her mouth! She just recently discovered her feet and enjoys grabbing them and rolling back and forth. Funny enough, she is fully capable of flipping over from her back to her tummy - she just hasn't done it in front of Alex or I! We know though that she can do it because on more than one occasion she has flipped herself over in the crib and then screamed bloody murder until one of us came to rescue her. She is generally very active in her crib and we always find her in a different part of the crib and usually turned completely around from where we left her when we put her to bed!

Yesterday was Father's Day - Alex's first!!! Gaby and I had planned since she was in utero what we would do for Alex for Father's Day. Since Alex loves the Dodgers, I dressed Gaby up in Dodger Blue - a super cute outfit with ruffles on the butt (because we all know what a nut I am for those ruffles on the butt!). We took Gaby's 6-month photos and had a special photo arrangement produced in her Dodger outfit for Alex. Finally, we arranged to get him tickets to see a game later this summer along with Grandpa Arnie - Dodgers v Cubs (Grandpa Arnie's favorite team!). There were a few other gifts added to the mix and that was a pretty good Father's Day!

Alex showing off his Father's Day present

But here's the best present of all!!!

On today's menu: Carrots!!!

Gaby hopes all the daddies out there had a great day yesterday! Stay tuned for more stories of Gaby's growth and adventures!

First Cereal and Swimmin' with the Fishes

Hi everyone! We had a big weekend this last weekend - Gaby started on her first solids. We're so excited - she sat like a big girl in her high chair and ate some rice cereal. OK, to be honest, maybe it wasn't really eating - it was more like tentative tasting and spitting. We think but can't be certain she actually swallowed the cereal.

Gaby went back and forth between being happy and sad to be seated in her high chair...

And here we go...

We tried a couple times on Saturday and Sunday to give her cereal and then once last night as well as tonight. By tonight, she was a pro - she ate a whole bowl of cereal (OK, so it was maybe a tablespoon) and most of it ended up in her tummy! I gave her an extra spoon because she kept trying to swipe the one I was using. She still kept reaching for the cereal so we did end up with the cereal that didn't end up in her tummy spread around a bit - hands, nose, chin, hair...

Gaby finished her biggest meal of cereal and stayed relatively clean in the process!

On Sunday, we joined our friends Dana, David and Jackson at the Long Beach Aquarium. It was Lisa's and Gaby's first trip to the aquarium - so fun!

Gaby and Jackson got to know each other a little better during the day - they both enjoyed being carried by their parents in their respective Baby Bjorns!


Gaby was so fascinated by the fish and water animals she saw! Here she is watching the baby sharks...


I love this shot - Gaby watched the sea lions swimming and tracked them back and forth across the tank.


Gaby tried to touch the fish as they swam by - so cute!!!


It's hard to believe but Gaby will be six months old next week - we'll send an update on her stats after her six-month appointment with the pediatrician.