Covergirl

I found this neat little thing on the Today's Parent website that allows you to upload a photo of your baby and put it on the cover of their magazine. I guess it's available to the first however many people and you can get an issue of their magazine with your baby on the cover in November. 

Doesn't Gemma make such a pretty covergirl? 

Go here to make your own cover!

6-month vaccinations

So yesterday we took her in to get immunized for the third time. She weighed 16 lb 4 oz and was 25.75 inches. The nurse commented she is perfect in terms of weight/height ratio. 

Jesse and I apparently were due for tetanus shots (you need one every 10 years) and so we got those first. Then Gemma got her shots and did very well. She only cried briefly, but really looked at that nurse like she was the most evil woman ever after that, LOL.

Music...Cue!

We have a stereo in the livingroom that Gemma absolutely loves. Even in the first weeks of her life, she could always be calmed by someone cuddling her in front of the stereo while swaying... she would watch the lights and be mesmerized. 

Now, when we bring her downstairs to the livingroom, Gemma will lean towards the stereo (no matter where we are in the area) and make sounds, asking us to turn it on. and when we do, she will sometimes "sing" along or just squeal in delight.

Anyone know of any good children's music CDs??? like a sing-along type of thing...

Babies - The Movie

Jesse and I got to sneak away for a couple of hours yesterday to go see Babies, a documentary film about four different babies in four different countries - US, Mongolia, Japan, and Namibia. It starts from their birth until pretty much their first steps and has pretty well no dialogue, except for the babbles of the babes or their parents talking to them. 

I think the American and Japanese babies (Hattie and Mari, respectively) were cute to look at, but not all that "interesting" as their lives are very similar to those of Gemma and her friends. But there was one really adorable part in the movie with Mari - where she is throwing a tantrum over a toy - that really made me laugh and realize that was probably how I was at that age and I am guessing Gemma will be similar...

Bayar and Ponjiao (Mongolian and Namibian babies, respectively) were super adorable as all babies are and while they were living in different environments, I think the message was that essentially all babies are the same - curious, curious, curious.

For the entire 1 hour and 20 minutes, I missed Gemma TERRIBLY and could not wait to go back to her.

Go rent the movie when it comes out on DVD. Check out the trailer if you haven't yet.

Mommy...where are you???

As mentioned, we were in Edmonton on Sunday for my little cousin's birthday party. It was a full house with 20 kids and parents of those kids, plus uncles and aunts of the birthday boy... not to mention two rambunctious dogs and one super fat cat. 

Sunday was a very long day. I think it is singlehandedly the most Gemma has cried in one day in her entire life. Crying in the car on the way there. Crying once we got to the birthday party because she was so overwhelmed by all the "strangers". She pretty much cried the entire time we were there other than the one hour that she spent sleeping in the basement. Once she woke up, she resumed crying whenever someone would talk to her. Then we left the party to go pick up my mom from church. and guess what happened when we got to the church? that's right. More crying. Then it was pretty much nonstop until we got home with the exception of a few breaks where she slept a little. 

I thought that with us going out so much and socializing so much, Gemma was better equipped to handle people. I think maybe she just got off to a bad start with a 3.5-hour car trip, and then a "stranger" (my cousin) snatching her away as soon as we arrived. She didn't have any time to take it all in, i suppose. 

I guess she is more like me than I think. I am socially retarded, yet I really love my immediate family. Gemma always wants one of us to play with (actually, I think she always wants her harmony to play with). If we even turn around while we're playing with her, she whines. If she sees us leave the room, she then calls out to us. But when we're out in public, she kinda freezes. She would rather sit and observe everything rather than get into it and play. 

Guess we just have to take things slow...slower...

More Traveling Woes...

Yesterday, we made our monthly trip to Edmonton. and while i know that car seat laws are there to protect our babies and keep them safe in case of an accident, sometimes i can't help but think it would be so much easier if I could just hold her while we drive. NOT THAT I EVER DO THAT - i would NEVER do that. 

do they have car seat laws in Europe? i know they don't in many countries in South America, Asia (Korea being one of them), and even Australia. 

It kinda sucks because we have two weddings this year and Jesse's family reunion. One wedding is in Victoria, the other by Smoky Lake, AB where I grew up, and the family reunion is at Good Spirit Lake, SK. Say what you want, but I will not have Gemma on an airplane before her first birthday and driving 12-13 hours with Gemma to Victoria and to the reunion just seems unfathomable... The Smoky Lake wedding is in October and if Gemma is weaned at that point (I still haven't decided when I'm going to do that), I think Jesse and I will go and ask my mom to watch her for the weekend.

I really hope that she will be better once she is turned forward facing... which of course isn't still for a LONG time...

Houdini

Last week, my mom put Gemma down for a nap, swaddled, on her back. When I went in there an hour or so later once she woke up, Gemma had completely freed herself from the swaddle, rolled on to her tummy, turned on the musical aquarium, and "crawled" over to the other side of the crib. 

dang. i should've taken a picture...

6-month appointment

I cannot believe my little baby is gonna be 6 months old on Sunday. We had her well-baby checkup today. Her weight was 16 lb 2 oz and i have already forgotten the height. Anyways, she has gone down a bit both in weight and height percentiles. 

At 6 months, Gemma can:

Sit up on her own.

Roll over back to front (but somehow forgot how to go the other way).

Rake a cheerio with her fingers. 

Look for objects she has dropped (she looks SO cute when she does this).

"Inchworm" across the floor on her belly. 

She understands "bath time" and "ppa-ppa time" (meal time). 

She definitely knows her name.

She loves to sit and read with Harmony.

She loves to be outside, but hates stepping on grass.

She is getting more used to people and is interacting with other babies more.

Yay Daddy!

Jesse was given a work truck on Monday - a brand new F-150. It was kinda neat because there were two other guys who had dibs on this truck, but neither wanted it! One was happy with his old truck and the other preferred his van over a truck! 

Mid-week, Jesse was given a job offer from another plumbing company. The guy he used to work with left A&S (the company Jesse works for) and is overseeing another company and wanted Jesse to come work for him. The pay is a bit better, but Jesse is just going to stay with A&S. 

I am not sure if his boss at A&S was aware of this or what, but yesterday they gave him a raise!

I hope this good fortune continues... we were kinda worried because on Tuesday Jesse ran over a magpie that was sleeping under the wheel of his truck. Magpies are bringers of good fortune in Korean mythology (I know that many Westerners have much different thoughts on magpies) and so we were like "he rolled over our good luck!"...

Thank you God for blessing our little family.

Okay. That Really Hurts.

Remember how I said I'm gonna miss Gemma's toothless mouth?

Well, I do. I miss it terribly. 

Biting me with gums hurt, but I never would have complained if I knew biting me with these tiny teeth could hurt THIS BAD. 

At my cousin's advice, I flicked Gemma on the cheek yesterday when she bit me. She looked at me with a look of terror and screamed bloody murder for like 5 minutes straight. She was crying so hard that she could hardly catch her breath.

Then she bit me again at the next feeding, so the flicking thing didn't work. 

Shouting "No!" also doesn't work, nor does taking her off when she bites me.

Any advice?