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.

Gaby's First Trip to Disneyland

Happy Memorial Day!!! We hope you had a great long weekend! At the Tsimanis household, we enjoyed a visit from Grammy and Grandpa Arnie on Friday, with a trip to a yummy burger joint for dinner. Today, we spent some fun time in Venice with Babushka Maya, Aunt Galya and Uncle Fima - the weather was beautiful and Gaby seemed to really enjoy the fresh air!

Last Monday, the 18th, was Gabriela's first visit to Disneyland! We took advantage of the free admission on your birthday (it was my birthday) and Alex, Gaby and I headed out to D-land. To get Gaby in the mood, we started out introducing her to Minnie Mouse at Grammy and Grandpa's house. Gaby received as a gift from Lisa's friend Melissa (Mo) - a pair of Minnie ears with her name on the back so we had to try those on her too. Let's just say she has room to grow into them!!!



Of course you can't escape the lines at Disneyland - but who knew we'd have to deal with one just to get into the parking lot!!!! Actually, that was probably our worst line of the day. Here are Alex and Gaby in the parking lot - she had a nice meal and was ready to go! We brought the Minnie ears with us just to see how many photos we could snap of her in them before she went nutso on us...so far, so good!

OK - we finally made it into the park! Here we are at the entrance in front of some amazing flower plantings in the shape of Mickey Mouse - I have to wonder how many gardeners and consultants they have on staff to get the flowers just right.

We made a bee line to "It's a Small World" - we only had to wait a few minutes in line before we got on the boat. We finally gave Gaby a break on the mouse ears!

Here we are on the ride. We probably annoyed the others in our boat because we took photos non-stop. Growing up near Disneyland and going several times a year as a child, I have such fond memories of the place - I just didn't want to miss a single experience documenting Gaby's first trip. She won't remember this of course, but maybe she'll enjoy seeing the photos later when she's older.

Not sure Gaby knew what to make of it all - she was wide-eyed for most of the ride just looking back and forth from one side to the other. I took some video of her at one point - it was hilarious - here she was, wide-eyed and mouth agape and in the next instance, she was yawning as if bored!

A close up of our wide-eyed girl!!!

The family in front of us were kind enough to offer to take a photo of the three of us on the ride - Gaby showed us her Elvis pose!

We visited Toontown - mostly just to change Gaby's diaper and put on some lighter-weight pants - it was pretty warm that day. But we had to take a photo on this cute car...

Basically, Gaby lasted at D-land for two rides - Small World and the train. Here she is on the train - she seemed to really enjoy it! After the train ride, we met up with Grammy and Grandpa for lunch at Downtown Disney and they took Gaby home for the afternoon while Alex and I enjoyed some of the big kid rides!

We ended the day with an amazing Middle Eastern feast at Grammy and Grandpa's, finishing the meal off with a yummy cupcake with a singing candle on it! All in all, a great birthday!!!

What? I'm 5 months old already?

Gaby turned 5 months old Friday (May 8th). It came as quite a shock to her - the photo below says it all! Still, all is well in Gaby's house - she continues to grow and do new things. As of last Saturday, our most recent weigh in, Gaby was just about 18 pounds - a full 1.5 pounds heavier than at her 4 month appointment just three weeks earlier! Gaby's been dealing with a fair amount of congestion over the last month - the doctor believes the result of a dust allergy. We're doing all we can to address the problem but even still, Gaby remains in good spirits. We've had lots of fun over the last month - below we tell the story since our last posting in photos.

Gaby celebrated her first Passover this year. We enjoyed two seders - one at Babushka Maya's house on the first night and one at Grammy Michele and Papa Arnie's house on the third night. Below is a photo of Gaby wearing her froggy pajamas just for this occasion (at Grammy & Grandpa's house), courtesy of our dear friend Cookie Stern (remember the Passover song: "One morning when Pharoah awoke in his bed, there were frogs in his bed and frogs on his head...").

Gaby joined us for the first part of the seder before retiring to bed. Still a little too young to recite the four questions but we have no doubt she'll be in good shape to join her cousins next year!

Gaby continues to enjoy her baths - this was just too precious!

We finally put together Gaby's exer-saucer a couple weeks ago - here is Gaby's maiden voyage at the helm. She seemed so knowledgeable about it - turns out she'd been playing in the exer-saucer at her daycare for a week before she tried it out at home!

We've taken to exploring new parts of LA county when we can. A couple weeks back, we visited Montrose, a neighborhood in Glendale, just north and slightly east of Los Angeles. We had a lovely brunch, visited the local farmer's market, and then headed off to the Descanso Gardens, a beautiful public garden, nearby. Below are some photos we took with Gaby at the gardens.

Planes, trains, and automobiles - these are all the modes of transportation Gaby can now claim she has taken. Last weekend, we took a train trip from LA's Union Station to San Juan Capistrano to celebrate Babushka Maya's birthday. We had a good time on the train - it was just a little more than an hour down to Capistrano. Union Station is just a beautiful, old train station. We got there early and enjoyed walking around the station and the outside grounds.

We met up with Aunt DeeDee (Alex's sister) at the train station in San Juan Capistrano - she came up from San Diego to celebrate with us. We enjoyed a great brunch at Rios House Cafe, just across the train tracks from the train platform.

After brunch, we walked around the charming stores in a historic district of San Juan Capistrano and then went to visit the Mission nearby.

Just this weekend, the three of us enjoyed a visit to Larchmont Village, an area of LA not far from the gorgeous homes of Hancock Park. It's a neat street with lots of shops and restaurants. We had brunch and walked around, visiting some of the beautiful, albeit over-priced, stores on the street. Just a really relaxing way to spend a Saturday.

Here's Gaby and mommy in Larchmont Village - don't you just love this sun hat?

And finally, today was Mother's Day! My first as a mommy - what a wonderful day! We enjoyed brunch with Grammy, Grandpa, Uncle Jeff, Isabella, Michael, Lucas, and the entire Kaye family. Check out the photo of Gaby sitting up - it's the first time we've seen her sitting up unassisted - OK, she was upright on her own for 10-20 seconds but it's something!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mommies out there!!!!