Black eye and some other memories

Gabriella is officially the recipient of her first black eye. It was quite traumatic and sad but she does indeed have a nice shiner on her. Even though I feel like a horrible parent I felt like I should share this moment and a few others that have happened lately. Mostly there are just some really cute things that she has been doing so I thought I would share. Oh and no I did not give her the black eye. She bent over to pick something up at aunt Jessicas house and smacked her face on the coffee table.
Cute thing #1: Since Gabriella has started walking she likes to challenge herself by walking over large or small rocks and trying out stairs and also walking down steep dirt trails. We have a set of 4 stairs in front of our house that she was determined to learn to walk up and down. The other day she and I were going down the steps and the minute we were down the 4 steps she would turn aroun and try to walk up them. She did this back and forth (with my help) at least a dozen times. I dont know if this means she is just very determined or just really easily entertained. Ill take either.
Cute thing #2: When she wants something she has taken to pointing and twisting her hand back and forth for emphasis. We caught on pretty fast and are pretty good at getting her what she wants. She is a good teacher.
Cute thing #3: Gabriella has this darling little chair that she loves to sit in and in fact her favorite thing is to pile all of her toys or anything that is interesting to her on the chair and then try to sit on top of it all. Its pretty hilarious and in fact at the moment she is sitting on my shoes, a pacifier and a little squeaky dog. Good times!
Cute thing #4: At the sand pit this afternoon Gabriella was playing and throwing dirt around and having a wonderful time on her own. She had wandered to the other side of the sand area and found a little toy car. She immediately turned and looked at me and walked over to me as fast as she could holding the car out in front of her to show me the neat thing she found. She handed it to me and then held her hand out for me to give it back to her so she could play with it. How darling though that she wanted to show me her treasure first. So cute!
Cute thing #5: She loooooves puppy dogs and the minute she sees one or something equally as fuzzy or furry she pants like a dog and points. Its darling and another reminder that she is basically a genius.
Those are just a few of the darling things our little girl has done in the past couple of days that remind me how smart, fun and beautiful she is. Im a lucky mommy! (here are some pics of the black eye.. kinda hard to tell but if you look closely its there)