11 Months Old

Well, time has passed us by again, and here we are 11 months later! We cannot believe that this beautiful angel has been with us for almost a year now. Gabriella Daphna continues to develop into a marvelous, adorably amazing baby! We are now working with Early Intervention to help build Gabi's core strength to give her the muscles she needs to crawl, take steps, and pull up. She is already making great progress!

One of her greatest growths this month is definitely her speech. She went from simple consonant sounds to full on babbling this month, and it is really cute to interact with her and "talk" with her. She has developed the amazing baby excited squeal, and we continue to be convinced that her perfection and reality of being the world's cutest baby is not based on parental bias at all...

She eats a wider range of foods now than ever before. We have discovered her love of hard boiled eggs, black beans, pasta, cheese, and many many more foods.

Most 11 month olds love their asparagus, right?!

Who knew she could inhale black beans as quickly as she did? It may have made for a bit of a mess for the wait staff at the restaurant, but it certainly told us what to buy on our next grocery store run!

I may have thrown up on the high chair, then mommy put me in the Bumbo where I threw squash all over her and her clothes, so I might have then ended up in the sink...

just passed out with my face flat into the mattress... nothing to worry about... upside-down HI from the stroller

Thanks to Nana for our new digging tools for Channukah! We love them!

Another huge development this month: OUR FIRST TOOTH POPPED UP!

At the playground, Gabi was able to share Nora's first swinging experience (literally).

Here are some more great moments captured on "film" this month:

playing with the cute baby in the mirror

You've seen her know it and show it before with her great clapping. Now it's Happy 2.0!

These are probably my 2 favorite videos of the month (if that's even possible b/c they're all so stinkin' cute in my humble opinion)...Who can resist great baby giggles?

some GREAT giggles with Daddy

"Peekaboo Delight"

Cat toys may cost more than they should, but they're cheap baby toys! Gabi made friends with all 3 of her kitten sisters this month with her luring powers:

The kittens are learning to share nicely.

Gabi may not be learning to share nicely.

In time, she's getting the sharing concept!

Thanks to new exercises, Gabi has been able to pull herself to stand from sitting on a bucket. As you can see, she is super proud of herself!

Just having fun at the park (but with enough motor control to handle the frog on her own)!

While we are not so excited that time is passing too quickly and she is already growing up too quickly...we are super relieved that this monthly photo shoot is almost over. This little lady who gives away so many great smiles...only gives them away when SHE wants to...[And a note to the observant - this girl may look sweet and innocent, but be aware these were the best of the hundreds of shots that were taken over several sittings...]

and clearly...we're done...

Maggie wants in on the picture fun!

...so now the blanket gets repurposed...

And finally, at the end of a long but great month, Gabi helps us sort through the weekly ads.

Zoom in at the CUTE face (AND CHEEKS)!

Thanks to our kittens, we went several days this month without making the bed...We have so many babies in this house...

Nikki says, "I'm being a good one, Mom! I'm not on the bed; I'm on the fridge!"

Nikki

Brook Maggie

A Hansen Post-Christmas

'Twas the day after Christmas
And we got in the car.
To visit Aunt Erica;
She wasn't too far!

We played with her family,
And had SO much fun.
The only sad part
Was when it was done.

Gabi and I drove to Pipe Creek, Texas where Aunt Erica was spending the Christmas week with her family. We had such a great time with Erica, her siblings, parents, and definitely her nieces and nephews!

Shortly after arriving, it quickly became Baby Central:

(besides me and Gabi) Pictured are all of Erica's nieces and nephews (twins Isabel and Christian, big brother Michael, big cousin Addie) and Erica's sister, Janna.

Three adults; so many babies, and we definitely played musical babies.

When baby Christian needs to sleep, Debbie comes to the rescue for some snuggles.

Debbie again for the win! (this time with Christian's twin, Isabel)

Gabi has fun with the bigger kids, Michael and Adriana.

Clearly one of our better moments...

ok, perhaps, this moment is better?

Before we all retire into our slumber party bunk room for the night, the girls decide to have a dance party.

Aunt Erica and Gabi have fun at the dance party too!

Who knew such big talent could come from someone so small?!

Some other great moments from our time together:

The Hansen Ranch is on 40 private acres in BEAUTIFUL Hill Country!

If we MUST spend some alone time before Team Cohen heads back home, we MUST visit fro yo...naturally. The cute, smiley people are the after-effect.

One last BFFAEAE shot before heading home! Gabi and I both had SUCH a fantastic time, and the smiles and laughter were endless! Thank you, Hansens for being such great hosts.