and the bruises continue..

so the day after the high chair fiasco, gemma rolled down two steps on our staircase. if you're thinking, "don't you ever watch your baby?", i understand what you would ask that and the answer to that is "yes we do"... this was just a lack-of-communication kind of incident. My mom was going upstairs and Gemma followed her, i didn't know my mom was headed up and she didn't know Gemma was a few meters behind her. 

today, she was bouncing around on a mattress we had laid out and lost control and fell, hitting the side of her head/above her eye on the window sill. Massive bruise right away and I thought for sure she would have a black eye and her eye would swell shut. Well the damage isn't so bad and in fact the bruise has faded away quite a bit even just a few hours later. 

I don't know if it's karma (do i believe in karma??), but last week, when we had a few friends over for a playdate, Brandon had fallen asleep in his mom's arms when Gemma whacked him as hard as she could with his bottle.

well if it's karma, i think she's paid for it enough already. Does anyone know where i can get a bubble suit with attached helmet/full face mask for a baby??? 

and i'm actually totally serious. 

an accident

I don't think there is anything worse than seeing your child get hurt because of your negligence. Of course, most of the time nothing is done on purpose and it's amazing how it only takes a blink of an eye for an accident to happen.

Yesterday, we had just finished supper and I was just wiping off Gemma's hands with some wipes. I had pulled the tray out a bit, but it was still on the sliders. I took literally one step away from the high chair to say something to my mom and the next thing you know, Gemma is on the floor, her head under her, and screaming. I had pulled the tray a notch too far and it was no longer locked and she just leaned forward and basically fell right out. 

in that instant i thought her neck was broken, the way she was on the floor. I picked her up and tried to console her with my own tears welling up. She cried for a bit, but she eventually got over it. I, on the other hand, felt awful and kept playing that image of her in my head over and over again. I couldn't get over how stupid that was of me to step away, even if it was just for a second. What was I thinking??? 

Anyways, after much reassurance from Jesse and my mom, I finally got over it, but it made me feel like the worst mom in the world. I know accidents happen and kids grow up without permanent damage (most of the time), but it still hurts like hell to know that happened because of my negligence. 

but i think Gemma's forgiven me...

An Outdoorswoman

Gemma sure loves the outdoors. We've been taking advantage of this beautiful weather we've been having and taking a walk out in front of the house everyday. She loves to just walk around, not doing anything in particular. As soon as we head into the garage to come back inside, she loses it and then for about 10 minutes she is almost inconsolable. I can't wait til spring/summer - we'll basically live outdoors then...

I like a boy

On Saturday, we were at a restaurant having an early supper. They had an aquarium close to where we were sitting and because it was still relatively early for supper (i think it was like 4 pm), there weren't too many people there. Gemma was very fascinated by the fish and loved watching them and trying to touch them through the glass. We were sitting by close enough that we just watched her from our table. 

eventually as the restaurant got busier, a little boy who seemed about 5 or 6, was at the aquarium banging the tank. Gemma watched him quietly and then joined him in the game of "fish slapping". Another younger boy, maybe about 3 or 4, came by and while the other boy ignored Gemma, this one tried to interact with her. He was patting her on the head, poking her cheeks, trying to lift her up, etc. It was funny though because she kinda ran away from this boy to the other boy, hugging him, almost trying to say "make him go away" or something. The older boy was completely freaked out by her hugging him and looked extremely uncomfortable. He was nice enough though that he didn't push her away or anything. 

Boy, she really liked kids these days. She always wants to interact with other older kids. But really, when did I teach her that hugging random boys was okay????? LOL...

Fun in the Snow

holding on tight!

ready...

so much fun

peek-a-boo

digging in the front yard

TV addict

Call me a bad parent, but Gemma watches a lot of TV. She's had a few favorites for quite some time now and it's actually kinda amusing to "grow out" of some shows and then get really into some new ones. Even when no one's watching, we almost always have the TV on the Treehouse channel in the background. It's not like she just sits there and watches, but she will go around and play and then if she hears a song or a segment she knows, she will come to the TV and watch.

Then I introduced her to Baby Einstein DVDs that we bought in Korea. Boy, she loves these and brings us the case or points to the case asking us to turn them on. These, she will actually sit and watch for like 20 minutes before moving on.

I drew the line today though. It was getting close to nap time and so i turned off the TV to take her upstairs when she threw a tantrum. I held my hands out to pick her up and she refused to be picked up. Instead, she just screamed and got up and went to the TV, trying to turn it on herself. A 13-month-old shouldn't be this addicted to TV. So it's been off for the rest of the morning and hopefully the rest of the day. I don't watch TV much myself, so it's no biggie for me. Also, our discounted cable offer is running out this month or something, so we won't be getting cable after that.

Say bye bye to TV, Gemma. and I better hide those DVDs...

Breathe!!

I am 14 weeks pregnant and i feel like i am 38 weeks. Thankfully it's not because i look 35 weeks, but i'm breathing like i am. I don't know why but for like a week now, i've been really air hungry. No matter what position I'm in, no matter what I'm doing (or not doing, even just relaxing), no matter what time of day it is, I feel like I can never breathe enough.

When i went for my appointment yesterday, I told Dr. Bagdan about it. She checked out my lungs and my heart and couldn't up with a conclusion. She said if I still have this going on in a month, then she would like me to go for an echocardiogram (an ultrasound of the heart). Hopefully it resolves on its own very soon.

but i got to hear the heartbeat for the first time yesterday! nice and strong, and very fast... i can't remember exactly, but it was either 168 or 178 bpm. What's the wives' tale about heartbeats and gender again? LOL.

Gender Debate

I think it's no secret which sex I'm hoping for in this baby. Not that I have any control over it, but I would love another girl. If the baby is a boy, i will be just as happy, but for Gemma's sake (and for mine, as i can save a lot of money on clothes and toys if it's another girl), a girl sure would be nice. One of the reasons for having them so close together was in the hopes that they would also be good friends growing up (of course i expect fighting, however, and sibling rivalry, but that's no matter what age and what gender, right?) and i think the chances of that increase if they were both girls.

Jesse is hoping for a boy, but again, he would be thrilled with another girl like Gemma. It must be a guy thing. 

mind you, i am super curious to know what kind of a little boy we make. what he would look like... who he would take after more... etc... and of course, the most important thing is that this baby is happy and healthy and that's REALLY all that matters...

so we can't wait til we can find out, which is the last week of Feb/first week in March. But already I've gotten flack for wanting to find out. I don't know why some people don't think it's as much of a surprise if you find out beforehand. or that it takes the fun out of it. Um. Trust me. It's still a surprise and it's still fun. Maybe even FUNNER because you have months beforehand of shopping for all things blue/pink, not having to resort to just green and yellows. And what is it any of your business anyway? Oh, you didn't find out when you were pregnant? Good for you! I would never criticize your decision to wait, so why are you criticizing mine? 

and the worst part is, THIS IS MY SECOND BABY. We found out with Gemma, so you would think this wouldn't come as such a shock... 

oy vay. Either way, I can't wait to know what it is!

Pediatrician

Gemma had her followup appointment with the pediatrician today for her head movement thing that she used to do. She hasn't done it for ages and I only noticed it the other day for the first time in months. Anyways, obviously that is good and then she just wanted to go over Gemma's development and growth, which we did. 

She weighed in at 10.23 kg (22.5 pounds) and 29.5 inches. As always, she screamed her heart out getting weighed and measured; she hates that part for some reason.

Developmentally, she is doing great, which is always nice to hear a professional say. Dr. Klym said that babies Gemma's age should be able to say between 2 and 4 words - well, Gemma can say a lot more than that! I was/am a little worried about Gemma's speech at times because of our bilingual household, but so far she seems to be doing well. In some cases, she understands both english and korean for the same object or command.

So she is good. But because she is still doing the head thing once in a blue moon, we're going back again in 1 year, which is crazy to think about - I will have a 2-year-old and a 6-month old! Yipes!

Where's Baby?

Can I brag just once more? I swear my daughter is the smartest little thing.

She now knows to point to my belly if I ask her where baby is. It just amazes me because if I ask her where her bellybutton is or where my bellybutton is or where daddy's bellybutton is, she goes to each person and lifts their shirt to reveal the bellybutton. With the question of "where's baby", she knows it's me specifically. I was so surprised because I was thinking she would get belly and baby confused and she might point to her own belly if someone was to ask, but even if I am across the room, she walks over to point at my belly if someone asks where the baby is. The cutest thing is when you ask her to give the baby a "bbobbo" (a kiss) and she kisses my belly.

if she only knew what's coming... LOL.

what could it be?

I'm already dying of curiosity about whether this baby is a boy or girl. I haven't had my korean gender dream yet and my symptoms are really confusing the expert symptom-reader, my mom. In many ways, this pregnancy is a lot like Gemma's and I have some similar food aversions - the biggest one being onions. There is also chicken, but it's not as severe as with Gemma. I actually think the worst aversion with Gemma was radishes (and we koreans eat a ton of radishes), which I don't have this time. However, i can't stand the smell/taste of mustard. With Gemma I ate tons and tons of fruit. With this one, I have no desire to eat fruit. They don't turn me off, but i never feel like eating them. Instead, i want vegetables. For everyday for an entire week, I ate Opa! Souvlaki's greek salad for at least one meal (minus the onions). Chicken is definitely the worst meat, but I am not loving beef and pork either. So as you can see, there are some similarities, but not all.

On top of that, I am much more tired with this baby, but that just could be the fact that I have Gemma here.

and I already look at least 5 months pregnant and haven't been able to wear my regular jeans for a few weeks now.

In March, we are going to find out because i can't handle this kind of suspense for longer than i have to! I am super curious to know what our boy will look like and I've come to accept that this baby could be a boy and I will have to deal with it... LOL. I was very anti-boy at first, but i guess i have no choice in the matter, do I, if that's what is in here? Really, either way, i can't wait to meet him/her in July. I just pray pray pray that he/she doesn't come on Jul 19 (2 days before EDC), which is cousin Ruby's birthday (and her first birthday, at that)....

Having Two

Today, I got my first taste of what it's like to have two kids running around. Well, actually, this would be more like having twins, but still... two. 

My mom and I are watching Gemma's BFF, Maeve, today for a whole day. Tomorrow too. We always joke that they are best friends, but really at this age they couldn't care less about each other. LOL. In fact, they spent the morning "fighting" over toys. Maeve is really calm and mellow, so that helps a lot, since Gemma gets very emotional and dramatic over losing toys to Maeve. 

A funny thing: Maeve has a stuffy/runny nose, so I brought out our battery-powered aspirator to help her breathe a bit better. Gemma hates that thing and as soon as she saw me bring it out, she dropped to the floor in an all-out protest. Even when I held Maeve and was using it on her, Gemma wouldn't stop crying. Maeve was just like "whatever" and she let me get the snot out, but it was so funny to see Gemma go nuts beside her. 

My mom was at work for a couple hours this morning and so I was flying solo with the two kiddos for a bit. It's nice to have her home now though. Maeve is asleep and Gemma is having lunch. I can't even put into words how lucky i am or how much i love having my mom here with me. 

We'll see how the rest of the day plays out, but one thing is for sure: This would be a lot harder by myself. Thanks, mom.

Baby

I just got back from my first ultrasound. I never had one with Gemma around this time of my pregnancy, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I wasn't sure what the baby would look like exactly. Anyways, after drinking a liter of water and being in major discomfort and feeling about to pee my pants over every bump we drove over, I got to my appointment. Luckily the wait once I got there wasn't too horrible. I had a nice sonographer this time and she let me see the screen the entire time she was scanning.

There is only one baby! yay! The heartbeat was on the higher side, I think, at around 170. It had long arms, long legs, and it moved about a lot. I was really surprised though when she told me that by my measurements, I'm sitting at 11 wks 5 days, which is an entire week up from my own calculations. According to my last LMP, my due date would be July 21, but I was so certain that I was later than that and had calculated my own due date of July 30. So now with 7 days' discrepancy (9 days for LMP and my own date), my due date officially moves up to July 21.

I don't know why but I was filled with worry this morning before my appointment. When I talked to Jesse after, he told me he felt the same way and he was so relieved to hear everything was great.

On top of it all, Gemma got to see her baby sibling for the first time. I'm on cloud 9.

A Sucker for Softies

Gemma just loves, loves anything soft. She loves soft plush toys, she loves soft clothes, she loves soft blankets, etc. She loves to rub her face in it and roll around in it and she looks ever so happy while she does it.

Headbutting and Biting

With her newfound independence with walking, Gemma sure doesn't like to be held back from doing whatever she wants to do. She is getting faster and faster and is nearly running at times, even though she still falls down a lot. So if she is having a ball and running around and someone picks her up against her will, she will try to bite them in the arm or headbutt them. Actually, she doesn't do that to me, but she will to anyone else. She already knows that mommy doesn't stand for that, but that she can get away with it with certain people. And it's true. When I tell Jesse to firmly tell her "no", he just tells me "but it's so cute".... oh boy. she's obviously only slightly has him wrapped around her little chubby finger.

She also snarls like a cat. If she suspects someone is about to do something to her that she doesn't want (pick her up, come get her, change her, whatever), she snarls like a cat ready to scratch you or a dog who is protecting it's bone. It's quite ridiculous actually and sometimes I want to just laugh, but know that's not exactly what i should be doing. Although I wish someone would tell Jesse that...

Apparently Jesse was a biter as a kid and so maybe that's why he tolerates it... like he sympathizes or something. LOL... anyways, she needs to stop and if anyone has any advice other than firmly saying no, let me know!

..and Happy New Year!

We are finally home from spending the last 3 days in Edmonton. While I feel now that the hustle and bustle of family are important, I am so glad to be back home. Gemma did well for her naps and nighttime sleeps, just the only thing was that she would wake up a couple hours early and then scream for 10-20 minutes, then go back to sleep with us on the bed. Then she would sleep another 2 hours and then wake up ever so pleasantly. 

She is really becoming an explorer and likes to walk everywhere on her own and not be carried (when we're out and about). I also think she learned a few things from her 5-1/2 weeks older cousin, Ella. Ella seems like a much older kid by the way she acts (she is running, sliding down stairs like crazy, dancing, and just very wild and rambunctious and HILARIOUS). Gemma still looks like she just discovered walking and has her arms up for balance. But I wonder if it's because Ella has an older sister? I don't know.

anyways, we had a wonderful time and now welcome the New Year. Can't wait to see what 2011 has in store for us!