Thanksgiving Thankful Turkey

I want Gabriella to understand and celebrate Thanksgiving like a true American, but unfortunately we don't get the days off and there won't be any cool art projects she gets to do in school... so I took it upon myself to find an activity that we can do together. I wanted it to be both fun and educational, so we made a "Thankful Turkey." Gabby was quite helpful! She painted, traced feathers, and pasted and cut-out the feathers (with some help from me). You can't really see, but on the each feather it says, "I am thanful for..." We talked about what we are thankful for, what does "thanks" mean, and why it's important to acknowledge this... Quite a challenging concept for an ego-centric 3 year-old to grasp, but I tried... When I referred to giving thanks as, "what makes you happy," she seemed to get it.

What we are thankful for: Family, Friends, Emily (Gabby's best friend), Health, Security (our jobs), Franny and Grandpa, Grammy and Papa, Mommy/Daddy/Gabriella, Chen Ayi, and the Celiac Support Group,  and the New Baby Brother/Sister

A couple of years ago I bought the DVD "Charlie Brown Thanksgiving," which includes the story about the Mayflower Compact, pilgrims, and Native Americans so we'll show her that too and talk about it.

Cara's Birthday Party

Alex, Cara, Velora, Stephen,

Scott, Nina, Geoff, Sue, Rob, Kirsten, Mark, Russell,

Nikki, Mary, Brooke, Sharlene and Travis

We are just missing Devon, Laurie, and Jenn

It was a mellow and lovely buffet dinner, cooked by Chef Song. Good people and food- who could ask for a better birthday!

Travis and Gabby-Fish

Doesn't Gabriella look like a pro in her new hot pink swim cap and goggles? I am really proud of how committed Travis is about teaching her to swim... Below is an excerpt from an email he wrote to his parents explaining what she accomplished this weekend.

Been swimming with Gabby a lot lately and we just love it. She floated for over a minute on her back on her own on Sunday. Every day when I come home she asks me to go swimming. It is our special time we get to be together and I can see that it has made our relationship even stronger.

Gabby's 1st Dentist Visit

Gabriella had her first dentist appointment today and Dr. Nazari said she did awesome! So far-so good. No cavities.

Gabby Swims Solo

Gabby and I have been going to the pool alot in last week. She has always been comfortable in the water, never afraid to get her head or face wet. Earlier this week we began doing submarine rides where she holds onto my back as we go underwater for awhile. I have been swimming progressively further and further with her underwater with each day until we can make it about a half a length at a time. She likes to say what she wants to search for each time we go down. So far the list includes; dolphins, whales, octopus, sharks, fish, and crocodiles. She will point in which direction she thinks the animals are in and off we go.
Swimming on daddy's back is one thing but swimming solo was a pretty scary prospect for Gabby. Earlier in my work with her she had a couple experiences where she went underwater when trying to swim to me and it made her pretty afraid to let go of me or the wall. As we have been working this week I noticed that she seemed more and more comfortable, hanging onto the wall with one hand while she would go under water to have a look around. The past two days I left her "floaty" at home, taking off the training wheels in a way. Yesterday I was having her do an exercise where we go to the bottom and she kicks to pull me up and "rescue" me. She really liked it and I could feel that her kick was getting stronger. I decided to take a risk and let her go once we got underwater to see how she reacted. As I let go of her she looked surprised but not panicky, she kicked hard and came toward me. I picked her up out of the water and she smiled as she asked to do it again! We quickly went under again and once again she kicked her feet and came toward me. The next time she asked to swim toward the wall about two meters away and I gave her a push to help her out. She made it to the wall and to my surprise, without taking a breath, turned around and pushed off the wall and kicked back to me. I couldn't believe how big of a breakthrough she could have in one day. On the walk home she wouldn't stop talking about how she wanted to tell mommy about what she had done.
Today we swam again so I could capture all of this on video. A new addition today was her use of hands in a breast stroke kind of motion. The next stage will be for her to float on her back without help and swim on her back. I don't know who is having more fun, her or me. Life is funny, teaching swim lessons in my teens is what helped me find that I wanted to be a teacher. Now that I'm teaching my daughter I get the same feelings I did back then.

Halloween!

Gabriella as Snow White...

Strike a Pose

Fancy Shoes

Gabriella and Emily

Getting Ready to Trick-orTreat

VERY EXCITED!

Cinderella and Snow White

Best Buds...

Always Holding Hands

Happy about Getting Yummy Candy

Thank You Granny-Franny

for the Halloween Card

It was a perfect Halloween weekend... mid 60's in temperature, clear-blue skies, and a huge compound of houses devoted to handing out candy for the trick-or-treaters. We went with two families and walked around our neighborhood. It was awesome! Almost every house was decorated and there were kids dressed-up all over the place. Loved it. As you can see, Miss Gabriella was Snow White. We bought this costume at Disneyland this summer and we've made good use of it. I love this holiday... I'm a bit sad it's over. Oh well- until next year!

Halloween Party #2

Gabriella and Kellan.

Their teacher (Ms. Sara) says they act like an old, married couple

Gabriella found a ghost!

One of the games they played at the party...

On Sunday afternoon, we went to Tareq's house for a "Spooktacular" Halloween party. The kids had a blast... cupcake decorating, ghost hunt, candy, and tons of new toys Gabby has never played with...