A Walk in the Park

Yesterday we took Gianna to a narby park. Not a slides and swings kind of park, just lots of land and paths and a bridge that Gianna fell in love with. She's really into going up and down hills, bridge, etc. She loves being outside and tells us often that she wants to go out by saying "go," "side" (outside), "coat," and "hat." Despite the cold yesterday she had a great time running around the park (note the "weeeeee!" video) and picking up grass and twigs and pebbles. We're getting her in shape for our visit to Atlanta on Tuesday to see her cousin Isabella, who is always on the move!

On the bridge with Daddy

Our little nature guide, "Look Mommy, a twig"

And here's a small tree, Daddy.

Peeking with Mommy at Daddy over the stone wall

And below is a picture from Friday after Gianna did some drawing in her favorite place, the bathroom (her studio, I guess). She asks for "paypay" (paper) and "pen, pen, pen, pen, pen..." until I give them to her and then she heads straight for the bathroom to do her work. Anyway, I took her shirt off so she wouldn't accidentally draw all over her shirt. This is what happened. It's hard to see, but those are pen marks all over her belly. We'll stick to pencils in the future.

Ain't no mountain high enough

Okay, so it's more of a hill than a mountain, but Gianna hasn't had much experience with different terrain, so she's just finally getting good at going up and down hills. This is facilitated by no longer being afraid or let's say wary to walk on grass. Despite the cold, she was loving her time outside today.

We had a great time with Nonna and Pop-pop this weekend. She loved playing with them and if she couldn't see them, she immediately asked where they were. "Nonna? Pop-pop?" She especially loved swinging (aka, "weeeee!") in the sheets that Nonna made into curtains for us. So here's a few pics of that. Plus a few more of her fun on the hill with Daddy today.

A day in the big city

On Monday we decided to leave the 'burbs and take a day trip to Manhattan to visit our dear friends Meghan and Riley. Riley is just a few weeks older than Gianna, so it was great for the girls to get together. Unfortunately, I didn't take too many pics, but here's one of the girls "reading" together. (The other picture is just a super cute, happy picture from this weekend.) Monday was a beautiful day in New York so we made the most of it and went to Riverside Park to swing on the swings and play on the slides. The girls had a great time...despite the aggressive squirrels. We hope to do it again soon!

Superbowl weekend

This post actually has nothing to do with the superbowl, but it is about what we did this weekend. On Friday night we went to my cousin's high school basketball game. Gianna thoroughly enjoyed herself. She loved all the clapping and wanted the boys to give her the ball. She was so excited; it was so cute. Unfortunately I fogot my camera! But here are a few pics from the rest of the weekend and a video of Gianna using a fork to eat her apples. She only likes to eat foods where she can practice using her spoon or fork.

Here she is video-chatting with Bella, Nick and Elizabeth, and Nonna at her new table. And wearing Daddy's belt, one of her favorite things to do.

Nonna and Pop-pop visit

We had a vist from Doug's parents (Nonna and Pop-pop) this weekend. Gianna LOVED having them around; they're awesome playmates! Here's a video of Nonna and Gianna playing the hilarious foot game.

On Saturday, Doug brought us all to see his very space-agey office, where Gianna clearly felt right at home. In fact, she refused to get out of the chair.

And we were so grateful to have free babysitters for a night out for Doug's office party, which was lots of fun. Thanks Nonna and Pop-pop!

Here are a few more pics from the last few days. She has learned how to say "cheese" and ham it up for the camera. (She doesn't normally go shirtless, but she had just spit water all over her shirt and we hadn't made it upstairs to change yet!)

Rocking chair and rockin' out

Here are a few videos from the last two days. The first is of Gianna in her rocking chair. She loves climbing in and out of it. If you manage to watch the whole thing, at the end she displays her "expertise" in colors :)

The second video is of GB watching a video of her cousin Isabella and Pop-pop. She loves to dance to it and flap her arms. I'm pretty sure she thinks Bella lives in the computer because she points to it and begs to see "Beya." So cute!

Our little entertainer

Gianna is, occassionally, quite a willing entertainer. Tonight was one of those times. Clearly, we are amused by her tricks. We are so in love with our funny little Toot. Apologies for the bad videography.