Playing with Dora stickers on the plane.

Anyone recognize this famous person? Hint: Canadian music. Put your guess in the comments.

Hi Ty! Nice to meet you!

Whoa! Big doggie!

Welcome to Canada!

We made it back safe and sound. Gemma was a great traveller, praise the Lord, and everything went smoothly. She slept a lot, played and colored a lot and enjoyed yummy snacks.

So far we've seen my sister and bro-in-law, and my nephew Ty. They met us at the airport in Calgary for dinner and some play time. We landed in Saskatoon at 11:30ish, saw Baba and Grandma and Grandpa, played at Baba's until 1:30am and then Gemma slept until 3:30 this afternoon. She conked out in the car on the way home from a friends house now (about 8:40) so hopefully this will be her bedtime and not just a nap. Ha, we'll see. We were at Shelen and Mat's place, checked out the Flames room and played with Ian and Kaitlyn.

Gemma is looking for playdates, we'll begin making our rounds here this week as we want to see as many of you as possible. Call us at Brenda's!

Funny New Word

OK, Gemma's funniest new word is... K. It is so funny how she has begun to talk like we talk. Like I'll say, Ok, put your shoes on, and she says, "K". Or, Let's go to Auntie and Uncles house. "K" She says it all the time and it is really hilarious. She just loves to be a part of things.

Last night we went to a friend's birthday party, and she had to bring her toolbox and sunscreen. I think Chris got a picture of us leaving, we'll see.

Big Girl Bed

So Gemma has transitioned into big girl bed with no trouble. The legs aren't put on so it is very close to the floor. She really likes it, actually, she likes to go into her room and sit on it, read there, pretend its sleep time. And at night she doesn't even want to be rocked in the rocking chair; she wants to lay in her bed. She has slept through the entire since she's been in it. well, last night she woke up crying, but I just went in and sat beside her, patted her for a minute and she went back to sleep.

And before you think its amazing that she stays in her bed, I lay with her until she is almost asleep. And she has a late bedtime; by the time we put her in bed she is pooped and wants to sleep:)

More doctor visits...

We had the most frustrating day, good thing I had Gemma to keep me calm!

We rushed to the dr. afterschool for her last vaccination (for this year, anyway). The way the system is here, you show up, wait to see the dr., he checks the baby makes sure she is healthy enough to receive the vaccination, other health check stuff (height, weight, routine questions, etc...) prints you off a piece of paper which you then take down to the cashier, pay, then go back up and get the shot. So we wait to see the dr., go downstairs to pay and DOH! I am short like 125NT. (Less than 5 dollars!) I couldn't believe the vaccination was so much, it was like 2000NT. Anyway, I was super TO because its a 20 minutes MRT ride, wait to see the dr., just to find out we can't get the shot today anyway. So we go home. 2 hours down the tube. AND now I have to go back next Wednesday. Also, Gemma has developed a heart murmur. He noticed it last time and heard it again this time and so wants her to have an echocardiogram. Of course, the heart guy only works Thursdays. So now we will go next Wed. and Thursday. I had booked a babysitter for 5, well we were still at the hospital at 5 so I had to call Andy to go find the babysitter and tell her to wait for us at school (Chris was playing b-ball downstairs where there is no cell phone reception) and anyway, the day turned out OK. Gemma and I had fun together, she shared her cookies with the kids in the waiting room, and was just very cute. She was wearing her Laker's jersey and so people thought she was a boy.

She's learning a lot lately. Like Chris said she started doing some of the baby signs off of her baby einstein video, just from watching it. She said 'giraffe' when she saw a giraffe at the dr. office, and we haven't really practiced giraffe. She sees dogs and fish all over the place and points them out. She brings us lots of joy, that little one, and I can't wait for all of you to meet her!!

Also, she is hardly gaining weight, and the dr. is a bit concerned. She's gained like .2 kg since her last checkup, and only .2 the checkup before that. Any ideas for HEALTHY snacks? I don't want to just fatten her up with sugar and junk.

Gemma's Week

This week Gemma was awesome. She is so fun and she makes me smile so much.

She went to her Auntie's house so I could shop for the baby shower.

She said the words beep beep, baby, car, and more. Also bee-tz (nose).

She used a fork to feed herself (a little bit; this still needs considerable practice)

She learned to line dance. This was very cute. Forward step back step, side to side. It was really funny.

She took me to the waterpark for Mother's Day, and we had a blast (so we got to use those free tickets after all). We also went out to the park on Monday and had ice cream. Forgot to take a picture of us together though. Oopps.

Future shopaholic or race car driver?

Here's a video I took of Gemma a couple weeks ago. She did this of and on for probably an hour, it was super funny. She's so much fun these days as she gets more and more interested in the world around her. Every day she learns how to do something new and it just opens up a world of possibilities for her and Dad to play and interact.

Bummer

We got free tickets to the waterpark near our house for this weekend, and since tomorrow we have a friend's wedding party I was so pumped for a hot sunny day to take Gemma to the pool. And instead it's pouring rain. Drat. It is only 8am so maybe it will shape up.

In Gemma news she is really mimicking a lot this week. She still has her favorite words though, and uses them a lot. Ball. Fish. BuhBye! Xie Xie. GoGo! (dog in Chinese) She also has certain sounds that she uses a lot, for example 's'. You tell her, Gemma say please. And she goes 'sss'. Gemma, say yes. "Sss". She likes ss and shh the best. Her other cute almost word is up She says it sometimes but most often she just moves her mouth open and close, with this little popping sound.

Gemma's Baby

It's very cute how she plays with her 'baby'. She feeds it and gives it water, lays down with it at night. Until she gets bored with it and drops it on its head.

Music Festival

We were in Taichung all day Saturday for Music Festival and Gemma did very good. Thankfully Adrienne was there with the 9th graders and had time to watch her during my working hours, so that was perfect. She was not so good for my Friday night concert, though, and Daddy and herwatched Barney instead. Oh well.

There are also new park pictures up on flicker, in the April set. I'll post a few this week.

Ride your horsie!

This video is ok, she gets camera shy. But there are some good facial expressions at the end if you hang in there the whole way.

New Shoes!

Gemma has grown into her crocs (well, Dawgs actually, but same difference). Also found two pairs of sandals that fit now, so thats good. Ready for summer.

Cold!

So we are experimenting with things that are cold lately. She gets the different feeling of cold items and makes the surprised ooh! face when she touches cold things. Like yesterday we were playing with the cold milk cup right out of the fridge while she was eating her snack shirtless. She would put the cup right next to her bare chest and then pull it away and say oooh!. Then out it on my neck or arm, or belly. And so o and so on. It was pretty cute how she would hold it against herself for a few seconds, waiting for that tingle and then pull it away.

Today we went to Taichung to watch Seussical and well, lets just say if the 2 hour bus ride was any sort of foreshadowing for our long flight home, we are in big trouble.

And one more park pic, until we get some new ones off the camera. Biker chick checking her rear...

Bad Baby

So I got home at lunch and she had written on and in one of library books with pen. (My fault; I left both in easy access) The books she wrote on? "Don't make me count to three; a mother's guide to discipline." ha ha...

Animal Lover

Gemma loves animals. She doesn't know that many but the ones she does she points to all the time. Fish is her big one, 'cause she can say it. It's more of a f-sh sound, but when she goes into the science lab at school that's what she says. (cause there is a fish there). In her story books, who cares about the characters adn the plot, what matetrs is what animals are on the page. For example in her Bible Heroes book on the Adam page she first points to the fish, then the moneky, then the birds. Then the fish again for good measure. The its flip flip flip until we get the Joseph and the coat of many colours page. Why that page? Because standing beside Joseph is a puppy. And she points to it before the page is fully turned. I think its really cool how she she can find those animals in places she has never seen them before. Like we were walking home one day and she looks at the ground and says, fsh. So I look down and sure enough, imprinted on the metal man hole cover is fish. You can show her a book she has never seen before and she can find those animals. Last night at church she was pulling random books off the library shelf and she found one, I think it was the little mermaid, but there were so many fish on it she was in heaven. The picture above shows a mural painted on a wall near the park we like and she loves to go see the birds as much as she likes playing in the park. (She had great fun chasing a pigeon last weekend. He was just the right size and ability for her, too ;) And puppies and cats on the street, well she points and laughs.

She also loves leaves.

Speaking of vaccinations...

... I just saw an ad for the pneumonia vaccine. It's in the Finding Nemo font and it says Finding Pneumo. Hee hee.

There was a small baby who swallowed a...

stone. Well, I thought she swallowed as tone. She was palying with one of those decorative glass pebbles, and then I hear this faint 'click click', the sound of stone on teeth and so I grabbed her face right away to get it from her and...nothing! Her mouth was empty. Her right hand was empty. Her left hand was empty. There was nothing on the floor. I checked her mouth again. Nothing! I thougth she must have swallowed it for sure, but I had no idea how she got it down so easily. A is-it-worth-a-trip-to-the-doctor debate began in my head (all the moms at church were like 'it will go through, don't worry', but I wasn't so convinced.) Anyway, later I was cleaning up around that area and pheww, found the stone on the floor against the chair leg. Yay, close call.

Made it!

A successful trip was made to the doctor yesterday!
1) I made it to the clinic when they were open to get her health card
2) we found the hospital where they do the immunizations.
3) we found the right floor in the hospital
4) the receptionist was VERY helpful and helped me with all the forms, and led me to the different rooms
5) The doctor was friendly and spoke English and did what I think to be a throrough checkup.
6) I didn't lose or forget anything
7) Gemma only cried a little bit

And she got tp have two shots (oh goody, right gemma;) MMR and the first of her Japanese Enciphilitis. We go back in two weeks for the second one of those.

Weight 8.6kg (almost 19 pounds)
Height 76cm (29")

The doctor said she hasn't gained much weight since her last checkup, but is still ok.

So she loves her belly button, and loves to find it when you ask. It's really cute then when she is wearing one piece pyjamas and you ask her "Where's your belly button?" because she pulls up on her jammies (of course they don't go because they are on her feet too) and tugs and pulls and feels trying to find it. Ways to tortue a 1 year old.

No park = cranky baby

Cranky day today, not sure what's up. No new teeth, no fever, no cough...Upset stomach? Possibly because it was pouring rain in the morning and so we didn't get to go to the park. The park has been a daily part of our routine. She missed her evening nap but then still played so nicely at church with her buddy Noah, so that was good. She fell asleep in the bike seat on the way home and so I just plopped her in the crib and its only 9:15. Yay for mommy time. Always lots to do.

Longshan Temple

A few pics of us at Longshan temple with the Hickeys and Chris. (Look at their blogs for more artsy ones; these are just Gemma specific) She is super into animals lately; her head is stuck through the bars looking at the fish. It was a busy day at the temple and she smelled like incense when we got home.

She isn't sick yet. Cross your fingers!

Oh, and we missed our dr. appointment again. We were already to go and then I realized I didn't have her health insurance card (like Sk Health Card - you need it to get anything done). So I searched high and low, but I knew I had it yesterday at that dr.s so I thought well, we'll trek out there and see if its there, but when I got to the MRT I remembered to check the clinics hours and sure enough, it was closed. So we went to the park instead. I know that more and more people are choosing against vaccinations now; maybe this is a sign. Yay for Andy, he called the drs office and yes they have it so tomorrow I will go pick it up and then next wed. Chris can take Gemma for the shot. Fourth times a charm.

Gemma Heart Chocolate

This is all we have for Easter photos, oops! It was a busy holiday as Daddy got ready to preach and as we both got ready for Tom's visit. I'm sort of worrying that Gemma (who am I kidding; all of us) is eating too much junk food and so the Easter Bunny just brought a kinder egg and one other treat for everyone. With the kinder egg one bite was enough; Gemma gobbled it up faster than Bugs eats carrots. And she is so smart, she recognizes the wrapper and so when Chris opened his today she saw it and darted over to him. I put all the rest of the treats away today because she sees them and wants them. I feel like we've had junkfood everyday for the last few weeks, and so it is time to cut back. (ha; I'm munching on nerds as I post this...this will be harder than I thought...)

What else is new? I wish I could remember stories, mostly I have just blurbs.

-Went to the dr. today; vaccination time. Actually, it was a few weeks ago but she had a cold so I waited and now I have a old so I want to go quickly before she gets it too and we have to wait again. We're on a bit of a time crunch because we need her to finish a series before we go home for summer. It was a bit of a saga, actually. We started buy going to the hospital across the street, but after waiting to register they said they don't do that there. So we went to the park instead. In the afternoon we tried her regular pediatrician with the irregular English (Did I tell you about the time he measured the 'circumstance' of her head?) and after waiting there for 25 minutes he said that if she got the measles one today she can't get the Japanese Enciphilitis one (she was supposed to go in January, too, but we missed that one). And since the measles one is more important he said to get that one. Except they didn't have any there that day. Doh! So then was like, uh, can you tell where to go? And so he gave me directions to the hospital in Yonghe, close to his office. But they are only open for vaccinations Wednesday afternoon. So hopefully third time's a charm tomorrow afternoon.
-She blew bubbles in the bath today. So cute :) She was also trying to catch the soap bubbles.
-Loving animals lately. She always points and laughs at dogs and cats we see on the street, and chases the birds at the park. She also loves the fish; there are some big koi ponds at a park near our house with hundreds of fish and we fed them today. Very cool.
-Teeth like crazy. Those four molars are all just through and I can already see the next ones coming up (I better write it down in the baby book)

More pictures tomorrow. We did some touring with Tom, and some other park pics.

The One Word Wonder

We were looking at a picture book yesterday and I right after I said 'puppy' she echoed perfectly, 'Puppy!'. It was so clear and immediate Chris spun around and I froze. Of course when we tried to get her to say it again she wouldn't say anything. It's like the time she said cupcake around her first birthday. Audrey and I were decorating cupcakes , not paying much attention to her, and she just walked past the table and said as clear as day, 'cupcake'. And she's never said it again. She is much more cooperative at completeing verbal requests such as:
Give me five
Give mommy a hug/kiss
Give this to daddy/mommy/Auntie, etc...
Where's your bellybutton/eyes/nose/mouth
Spin around (thats new as of yesterday)

She was very helpful this week, helping me make the cake and then by napping while I was making meatballs.

All four molars have come up in the last 2 weeks, it's a sea of white inside her mouth. She's woken up a few times crying in the night, I think that may have been why. She went right back to sleep after some Tylenol.

I haven't put too much thought into Easter for her... I guess I better find some eggs and hide them, dig the baskets out of the closet.

I don't care what my teachers say...

I'm gonna be a supermodel!

Chris and I decided that it was time for Gemma to start contributing to the family economy, so we put her to work..Ok just kidding, it wasn't really like that at all. We sent in a picture like 4 months ago and they finally called us, totally last minute; they called Friday afternoon to see if she could work Saturday morning. It was a nice short gig, three costumes for a Halloween catalogue. It took one hour start to finish, and was pretty fun. Although she didn't crack a smile the whole time. Doh! Of course, she smiled the whole rest of the day.

Another mom was there but her daughter was older, and she said that these pictures aren't even for this years Halloween, but for 2009 or 10. They take the pictures before they send the items for manufacturing, so when they are mass produced Gemma's picture could be the one on the front of the package. Maybe. Anyway, enjoy :)

How to get Mommy and Daddy's attention

1) Pick u a book and carry it over to me. I'm a sucker for reading my girl a story, I think reading is so important.

2) Grab the remote control. We're pretty strict about not playing with the remote control, so if we are not giving her enough attention or if we are careless enough to leave it at her level she grabs it and looks around triumphantly, waiting for us to come and get it form her. Well, today Chris was sitting in his office and I was out. It got quiet out in the living room so he looked out, and right in his line of vision was Gemma, sitting on the couch, waving the remote above her head laughing at him. Firstly, how did she get on the couch? And so funny that she knows how to get us. We're so well trained, aren't we?

Spicy!

We were at Subway yesterday for dinner, and Gemma was sitting on my lap as I was eating my sub. All of a sudden my firneds sitting across from me said "AHH! Take it out of her mouth!" She had picked a jalepeno off the paper and put it in her mouth. I got it out pretty quickly, wiped her tongue off with a napkin and gave some drink. Not before she let out a surprised 'AhhhHHH!' though. Yikes!

TCK

A TCK expert comes every year to meet with kids, teachers, and classes, and do a workshop with the seniors at the highschool in Taichung. I took teh opportunity to talk to her about our ownlittel TCk and asked what are the most important things that we should know about raising a TCK. (Do we have any TCKs in the audience?)

First of all, What is a TCK you may be asking? The acronym refers to Third Culture Kid, and the definition "refers to someone who [as a child] has spent a significant period of time in one or more culture(s) other than his or her own, thus integrating elements of those cultures and their own birth culture, into a third culture".[1] So it is the mix of the parent's culture, and the culture they actually live in. You can see why this comes into play in a missionary school, where most of our kids are TCKs. I'll skip the other info about TCK profiles, etc, and skip to the advice we got.

1) Take advantage of all the opportunities presetned in the host culture. (Which is good advice for kids in any culture, I think) Travel. Study language. It is very unique to live in a different coutnry and kids should be taught the value of other cultures.
2) Be deliberate in relationship building. TCKs have relational roots, not geographic roots, so be deliberate in building relationships with important people. Send pictures, write letters and send gifts, web chat. Kids can still bond with grandparents and cousins, etc, from overseas. It has to go both ways: A grandparent will never forget they have a grandchild, but a grandchild will forget they have a grandparent.
3) Tell stories. You know, the remember the time we did this, or went there, etc.. A kid at home will hear the stories from uncles and aunts whenever the family gets together, but the TCK parent needs to fill that role.

I am happy that we were doing the things she suggested already. We phone and chat with people regularly, we've sent packages, we've recieved packages. Gemma has a photoalbum with her family people in it and framed pictures of her friends in her room. Of course we want Gemma to feel close to all her family and friends. I know my grandma says this is impossible: "She'll never be close to her cousins like you kids were" (dare I ask if any of you beleive that?) but I think it is possible.

For my Dad

These pics are for my Dad. When we were shopping for her birthday present at Toys R Us I knew as soon as I saw this we had to have it. She carries it around the house, not really knowing how to fix anything yet but we'll see what Grandpa can teach her this summer in the garage.

Field Day

Today was out track and field day, so of course Gemma came to take in the excitement. She was very good all day even though she woke up two hours earlier than usual, and let people take her for walks and play with her. She was even in a race; a 4 year old and under race ;) I had to lead her the whole way and she got last but, come on now, she's only 1. Everyone was watching her and cheering and she got a huge applause at the end...It was all so silly and ridiculous I could hardly move at the end I was laughing so hard. Photos courtesy of an 8th grade student.




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Ga ga ga

Today was lots of g sounds. When I read other blogs of the funny things their kids say it is so hard to believe that one day all this nonsense chattering will give way to whole words and sentences. Babies are amazing! She did say a real word today, one that others have heard I and had not yet: xie xie. (sh-eh sh-eh) which is Chinese for thank you. Chris and our babysitter are convinced she speaks Chinese sometimes. Me? How would I know, I speak hardly a lick myself.

Here she is with said babysitter, a super person who has blessed our family so much. She volunteers to come twice a week in the afternoons and gave up another job so we could pay her to come a third day. She is so great with Gemma and the extra time is really help Chris with his studies and church work.

The Great Shoe Rescue

The fun of travelling with babies!

After dinner out last Thursday Gemma and walked to the bus stop to wait for our ride home. She was in the stroller, but I had the snuggli on to put her in for the bus ride so I could collapse the stroller. Well, that was plan but as soon as we got to the stop the bus arrived. Taiwan busses are very efficient; they won't even stop unless you are standing up waving your arms. Often they hardly come to a complete stop, you have to practically jump in. So you can imagine what this is like with all the baby gear. Well, I yanked her out of the stroller, had her half in the snuggli, noticed her left shoe was on the stroller seat, By this time the bus was pulling away, so I just grabbed the stroller un-collapsed, hoping the shoe would make it and tried to leap on the bus: stroller in one hand, half Gemma in the other and diaper bag. Well, as soon as we got our balance on the bus I realized the shoe had not made it with us. Doh. And then it was one of those super long stretches wthout a stop; the bus just kept going and going. Finally at a red light I motioned to the driver to let me off. The people standing with me had caught my drama and one of them explained that I wanted off. So I jumped out with all my gear again, put Gemma in the stroller and hoofed it back to the original stop (like four blocks back already). Praise the Lord, the shoe was still there, sitting by the curb. Pheww! These were her new good shoes, her adidas ones, from Baba, so I needed it back. Then we settled down to wait for the next bus and made it home uneventfully after that.

Apartment living

It is 9:40 and Gemma is still in bed :D. BUT there is construction going on above us, and I don't know what they are doing but it is heavy and loud. It is shaking the floor so badly that this monkey she has zips around the floor when it touched keeps going off, singing its little circus song. Do I try to go in and turn it off, or will that wake her up more than the monkey? Apartment living...

Party Time

We went to a wonderful 1st birthday party on Saturday for our friend Atticus. It was really fun to have all the other kids her age there because she mostly plays with the bigger kids at school. Gemma loved the toys and food (everything was super yummy) and helping with the presents. (Which is funny because at her birthday, she didn't open many presents either; her older friends did most of the work and checked them out for her first). I stole the pictures from Heather's blog; our digital camera is having battery issues.

On another note, she always rides her cars backwards too. ??? Hers is especially funny because it has all these buttons and a piano on the 'dashboard' and so she sits on it backwards and bounces on the piano with her butt.

Haircut photos

Before...


After!

Tickle Tickle

Gemma said 'tickle tickle' last night! Ok, it was more of a 'tick-a tick-a' but it was accompanied by the tickiling motion up on my sternum. (That's where we tickle her, she's so giggly). Iwas holding her and she sort of rubs/squeeze and says ticka ticka and of course I act it all up and giggle and laugh and she was so pleased.

Another new thing is that she will bring stuff. You can give her something (like a Valentine's Day rose) and say, Go give this to daddy, and she will! Chris says he can even get her to pickup certain thins and bring them; like pick up the dolly, or the book and bring it and she will.

First Haircut

Chris and I have been talking about getting Gemma's haircut for about 2 months now. It is very sweet and a bit curly at the ends, but also stringy and scruffy. Honestly, she looked like a street urchin from Oliver, grinning but hair in her face and hanging over her ears. But anyway, our babysitter came over and said wow, her hair is long and Chris had the great idea to send them on a mission to get haircut. So they did! Unfortunatley no pictures or little lock of hair, but we'll take some tomorrow and save a clip fom the next haircut. She looks very sweet, still long at the back but the bangs are nicely trimmed and around her ears as well. Much less orphan-y.

Funny story; we were out shopping with friends after school and in the pharmacy, Gemma let out this huge fart. It was so loud and long, and well, adult sounding. We all giggled and looked around sheepishly, not wanting people to think it was us.

New Shoes

The cutest faces are made by Gemma. She puckers her lips, makes excited 0 shapes with her mouth, looks disdainfully, indignant, silly, and of course happy. She is constantly cracking people up.

She went to sleep on her own with the babysitter (Adrienne) last night, since I went to the airport to help Chris with his luggage. Her bedtime routine has become pretty consistent lately (another post) and I think that helped.

Funniest moment today; her new shoes. She wore her first hard soled runners today and when we put them on, well, we should of had a camera. At first she was just frozen, (like Anna, Baba's dog). The she was wiggling her butt and moving up and down, I think trying to see how to move her feet that were so firmly placed on the floor. Then the first tentative steps. Think moonlanding without the bouncing. Very heavy, one foot in front of the other with long pauses between each step. Then she got into them and got around pretty well. At one point she realized that it was her who was making the stomping sound and she pounded extra loud for a few minutes, enjoying her own thump thump thumping.

She is glad to see Daddy, of course, and intrigued by the cast/crutches. She keeps trying to touch them.

Tomorrow is her first whole day with Daddy in 10 days! Go daddy go!

Day 8

Gemma and I are on day 8 of bachelorhood, and doing alright. I have to admit, I woke up this morning less than perky but she was really really good, and we had a nice day. She behaves in the day and sleeps through the night; what else can I ask for?

Everyday seems to bring new skills. Today I especially noticed how good her fine motor skills are getting. We've been playing with stickers lately, and usually I hand her one and she tries to stick it to the page, but its hard to get it the right way, or then she tries to push it down and it just gets stuck to her. (It doesn't help that they are those mall sized dot stickers) Today she got it! It was so precious. And last bath day, you know she was hauling around the huge shampoo and conditioner bottle? Well, she also had a brief pause to remove a hair from her skin. She just carefully pinched it between thumb and forefinger and got it. Tonight at a BBQ she was moving dominos all around. Take some dominos, put them in the cupboard, close the door. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. :)

First Big Girl bath

Gemma sat by herself in the big person bathtub today. Ok, if you've seen our bathtub you know its not a big person tub at all, really, but anyway, you now what I mean. We were bathing together, then I let some of the water out and she was so cute, sitting and playing, standing up and grabbing the big shampoo bottles. We get our shampoo and conditioner form Costco so the bottles are almost as big as she is, and she just had to pick it up, turn around, drop it. PIck it up again, put it on the edge. She dropped it over the side once on the floor, and was immensely satisfied with herself. Who knows what is going through their heads!

Since Chris is with the camera there are no pictures (plus, I would have had to leave her unattended to go get the camera, which is of course a no no) so here is an old picture of baby Gemma with Daddy in the tub taken one year ago. She looks so different!

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40 minutes

It takes me 40 minutes to get ready to leave the house with Gemma.

By the time I get everything ready and am actually out of the house I am so frantic and agitated I don't even feel like seeing people.

Where are the mitts? Toques? Sweater? Shoes, Why is there only one shoe? Where is the other one? Where is the sippy cup with the good lid? It's dirty; must wash it. Refresh cheerio container. Food. Blanket. My wallet, cell phone, keys... Put the hat on. She takes it off. Put on shoes. Where are my shoes? Put them on. Uggg!!! I hate it!!! And I try to go easy on myself, leave plenty of time, not pressure myself to be on time, but I still feel so frazzled.

Anyway, enough about me, more about Gemma! Well, she loved web chatting with Daddy this morning.

And, uh... hmm. Once again, it is too late and my brain is mushy. Must sleep, I'll try to blog in the morning.

Gemma Pollock

Art by Gemma. I left her bowl of unfinished broccoli chicken too close to the edge of the table and she got it. Enjoy the art process that ensued.

Daddy's Helper

This is called Daddy's helper because Daddy is the laundry guy at our house.

This fits in with her obsession with carrying things around the house.

First, open the closet.

Take out item of clothing. Put it in the hamper of clean clothes waiting to be put away.

Take item out of hamper, put it in the dirty clothes pile.

Put something from dirty clothes pile into the closet.



Repeat many times. She also like to open a drawer and pull everything out (time for drawer clips). We often find her clothes laying all over the house because she picks them up and wanders around with them

Mommy's Helper Part 2

Wiping things.

She will get the rag and wipe her toys, the table, her high chair if she's sitting in it. Anything. She even went into the bathroom and we discovered she has a new talent; lifting the toilet seat. I walked in and she had her hand and rag down inside the toilet just about to give it a good scrub. (I think I caught her before she got to it).

Mommy's Helper part 1

So Gemma is into helping lately. Now that she can tip toe and reach onto things nothing is safe.

Part 1 features Gemma helping me reorganize my hair clips and jewlery.

Summary

Wow, so long. Sorry everyone! It has been a super busy week, and I've been putting all my extra time on a guess book for another friend and wow. Having a baby is certainly not good for my productivity. But that's ok, because she is only a baby once. I am too aware of the fact that she will one day grow up.

Here is a summary of the week's accomplishments:
-Officially weaned. I nursed a few times this week but I think it's all done.
-Lots of babbling, a few more real words but nothing consistent. Up sometimes, chss (for cheese). She gets super into storytelling, and she'll make all the right facial expressions for a story and tell it to you very intently. It's so cute!
-Loves books! She'll grab a book and bring it over to me, sit on my lap and wait to be read to, I think she is starting to get that the things I say connect to the pictures on the page, and that the pictures on one page connect to the next page. Her favorites are Dino Gets a Bath, a really cute flap book with Dino hiding in all sorts of places. She smiles and acts surprised as we find Dino, and hits other one called Where's Noah? about Noah's ark. As you turn the pages another layer of the rainbow is revealed.
-Talent show judging. Gemma came with me afterschool to help judge the talent show. She loves when the kids sing and dance and play instruments.
-Didn't cry for babysitters! She had three babysitters this week and was pretty good. One new babysitter came over so I could go to a Women's care and share night, and she took Gemma for a walk. When they got home Gemma didn't want to get out of the stroller, so the sitter just set it in front of the TV and the two of them watched TV for the last little it.

Lastly, Gemma has a cold. Lots of snot, very stuffed. I got a decongestant and some cold medicine, tried the decongestant first, so we'll see how much difference it makes. She has slept for 12 hours straight (a first!) I keep checking on her and she has hardly moved, but is breathing nice and deep, so hopefully she feels better when she wakes up.

Thank You

Here are some pictures of Gemma wearing some of her gifts. The moccasins are real caribou hide moccasins and beaver fur, from Auntie Shirley and Uncle Greg in Yellowknife, the Baby Legs from Grandma Sheri (aren't they cute?) and the Esprit outfit from Allison. I have better pictures of her in that outfit but this one was so cute, the forced pose. LIke school pictures.







It is the end of the day and she did so much cute stuff, and I can't remember even one story. I need to tart blogging in the morning.

Jinx

Ok, I don't really beleive in jinxes or knocking on wood, but I am not sure how else to explain this. Murphy's law? Anyway, Gemma is sleeping through the night, most of the time. But I was too scared to say anything because I didn't want to jinx it. All last week I would whisper to myself 'She's sleeping through the night'... Well, on Friday I finally told some people, 'Gemma is sleeping through the night.' You can probably guess where this story is going.

At 2am on Friday night she woke up. Like completely up. Crying screaming when we tried to put her back to sleep. So I was letting her play in the living room and I laid down on the couch. At one point I must have dozed off, and Chris came out for a study break and noticed something on her face. She had found a whole bag of candy and chocolate, and had eaten through the wrappers. All around her mouth was a chocolaty ring, and she was grinning ear to ear. Stinker! After all that sugar it really isn't a surprise that she didn't fall asleep until 5am. We haven't had a night like that since she was a newborn.

Saturday night and last night were awesome again. Fingers crossed, knock on wood, throw some salt over my left shoulder, find a penny pick it up...

Games We Play

The Patting game...Walk around someone's back and lay on them. Then pat gently.

Also is the play in the empty bathtub game. She likes to splash the thin layer of water around.

ready at all times

Shelen's perfectly captured drool picture posted earlier this week reminded me that I hadn't put any up from our trip to the zoo back in December. We went with Audrey's sister, brother in law and nephew, who were in town from California. Andy took some super pictures of the animals, but my favorite was this one, of Gemma looking intently over the rail...with a perfect snot bubble. Just another reason why you need to keep your camera ready at all times!

New Favorites

Gemma's new favorite things to do:
1) Read a magazine. I got a Parents magazine for Christmas and she will sit with it and read it and flip the pages and turn it over for 30-40 minutes.
2) Pick up stuff. She'll pick up the blocks and put them in a pail Then take them out. Then pick them up. Then out. Same with her toy box, laundry hamper, garbage can. She also likes picking stuff up, carrying it to a new place in the house, and dropping it.
3) Squeezing through small spaces. For some reason she will try and sneak around in beween things she knows she can't fit. She pushes and squeezes and tries to force her way through. We don't have a lot of these sort of nooks, but for example between the chair and the coffee table.

I had a moment last week where I was like, "Who is this little girl?" She's grown and changed so much in the last three weeks its like a transformation; from baby to toddler. Her whole style of communicating, her movements, her facial expressions, her games. Its so amazing.

A game...

I think Gemma is on the mend, she ate a lot more today than yesterday so that is good. No solid poos yet, but also o runny ones since this morning so I hope that is good.

She loved the vacation. Don't think I need to say more about that. What a lucky baby :)

Now time for a little game: Go to the comments section and name 10 baby food flavors; GO!

(I need some inspiration for my next babyfood making party, and we only have like 5 flavors at our local grocery store; peach, applesauce, fruit medley, chicken and gravy, and vegetables and chicken. I know there has to be more ideas out there:)