68/385 Pizza Night

67/365 Gymboree Fashion Show

I love Gymboree, but I rarely shop there because I find the prices way too high.  That being said, I was recently there during one of their sales, and splurged and bought a few things for Gabrielle.  She's been making pretend necklaces and bracelets from whatever makeshift items she finds around the house, so I thought it was time to buy her some "real" jewellery to play with.

This week's Small Style:

Dress, Bracelet, and Necklace: Gymboree

Tights: Children's Place

Shoes: Maggie and Zoe (from Marshalls)

66/365 Little Miss Independant

Gabrielle decided she wanted to push me on the swing today!

65/365 Playing With Backlighting and Monkey Kisses

I've been reading a few things about back lighting lately, so I thought I'd give it a try today.  Gabrielle was an unusually cooperative model, but I still had to distract her with some milk to get her to sit still long enough to practice.  I think I'm making some progress in terms of learning how to expose these types of images properly, but my camera is still really stretching to accommodate me.  I had to completely max out the ISO, shoot wide open, and choose a slower shutter speed than I was comfortable with.  On a positive note, I think I figured some things out in terms of spot metering, and these didn't turn into silhouettes this time.

We had a friend over the day and got the exersaucer up for her five month old.  Gabrielle became fascinated with it all over again, and loved experimenting with all the noises it can make.  She noticed the monkey right away gave it more kisses than I've gotten in a month!

64/365 Some Scenes From High Park

63/365 Imitation

This girl imitates EVERYTHING now, which makes me realize that I need to be aware of my actions in a new way.  Most of the time her imitation is just plain cute, like today, when I asked her if she wanted to help me clean up and she spent the next 15 minutes dusting everything in site, including her face and her tummy.

She also loves to talk on the phone, insists on joining in whenever I get a call, and steals it at every opportunity.  I've already had to hang up on her more than once.

We've had many laughs as we watch her learn and practice new skills, but this stage is sobering as well.  Lord, help my actions be commendable and worthy of imitation.

62/365 Bedtime Rituals

Our bedtime routine is a work in progress right now.  We established the important things, like changing diapers, changing into pajamas, and brushing teeth, but these are still punctuated by lots of distractions.   

Last night's activities involved examining all the dirty laundry,

bringing me lots of  new "presents",

organizing and rearranging the contents of her favourite drawer,

and of course putting it all away again.



Falling asleep was no problem for either of us after all that!