only one?

The last week or so, Gemma's naps have been quite short. She has also been waking up slightly earlier than normal, so we decided to try an experiment today. Normally, I make her sleep 3 hours after she wakes up in the morning and she naps about 1.5 hours. Then, around 2, she naps again for about 1.5 hours. If she's extra tired, she sometimes sleeps close to 2 hours or more. So with the total nap time being 2 hours or less this last week, I wondered whether she was ready to go down to just one nap a day. Today, instead of making her nap 3 hours after waking up, I let her play for as long as she wanted and she only just started to slow down after 5 hours. She got quieter as she played and a little less mobile, which made me think she must be tired. So I gave her some formula and some banana and now she is out like a light. I wonder how long she will sleep for? If she sleeps for 2 hours or more, then I think this just might become our new routine. If she wakes up in an hour or less, then maybe I'll try to persist with two naps for now. I'll keep you posted.

Dol update

55 guests confirmed! only 5 people said they couldn't make it. Most of the guests are coming from Edmonton too. Gemma is so lucky to be so loved that people will travel 3 1/2 hours to come to her birthday party!! 

Please pray that the weather will be nice and the highways will be nice and dry...

No, Let Me...

I can't believe how independent my little girl is. She really likes to do things on her own. Yesterday during supper, she really wanted to feed herself with the spoon and wouldn't let me feed her. So finally I gave in and gave her the spoon and she ate her whole meal that way. Of course, i had to help her a little - tilt the bowl so that when she dipped her spoon in, some food would go into the spoon...

Going Down!

As of this morning, Gemma can go down the stairs! We have a baby gate at the top of the stairs, but it's one of those where you push down in the middle and stays put due to tension. Well, Gemma is always trying to climb it or hitting it and so we just don't put it up (what if she leans on it too much and it falls down the stairs, taking Gemma with it?).

Ever since she could climb UP, we've been trying to teach her how to climb DOWN. When we would put her facing up the stairs and try to get her to climb down backwards, she would just think we're trying to get her to climb UP and then climb UP! But last night, the gears in her head were turning and she figured out that we were trying to get her to climb down. After a couple practice rounds, we headed off to bed.

This morning, she could climb down most of the stairs by herself! (of course i was right there behind her to catch her, however). I am so proud!

Minnie & Daisy

About a month or so ago, we were at the mall and my mom took Gemma to the Disney Store. She immediately took a liking to a plush Minnie and so my mom, being the grandma that she is with no restraint whatsoever, bought the Minnie for her. It was a 2 for something deal, so she also got a Daisy Duck plush.

Well, as soon as my mom paid for them and gave them to Gemma, she's loved them ever since. When she sees them on the floor, she rolls all around, smothering them, "kissing" them (more like biting off Minnie's nose), and just lights up if she sees them after not seeing them for awhile. 

She has other stuffed animals and plush dolls, but Minnie and Daisy are her favorites.

Tick Tock

Other than "umma" (mom), "bbabba" (food), "appa" (dad), Gemma can say "shi-gae" (clock). She knows what it is and will look at the clock on the wall (or else look for one on a wall if she doesn't see one nearby). 

Probably not one of the more typical first words, but hey, we'll take it.

Stress

I'm sorry to vent, but I had to do it somewhere.

These last few weeks, i've been feeling overwhelmingly stressed. Last night, i finally had a mini mental breakdown. I didn't realize how stressed i was until I started talking it out.

Work. I am so incredibly lucky to have this job. It lets me work from home, I can see Gemma whenever I want, and I have a flexible schedule of just having to work 7 hours in a 12-hour period. I also really enjoy the work I do; it really is my cup of tea. And while i really can and do see Gemma whenever I want, the fact that I have to sit here and work is really bothering me. Stupid, I know.... but now it's really starting to affect my productivity (i've gone from the 3rd most productive to now the 7th - out of 37)...

Family (extended). I feel like for some reason I need to tiptoe so much around some of my extended family. I have some vocal relatives (who i love to death) that don't seem to really understand my decisions for my family and instead gets or may get offended by my decisions. I don't want any hurt feelings and I don't want any fights, but I also want to do what i think is best for my immediate family... is that so wrong?

Family (immediate). I have some guilt about my mom watching Gemma. I feel like my mom's already raised her own kids and now she should just be able to be "grandma". I feel bad that I have to work and that she has to watch Gemma. I can't express enough, however, how grateful I am to have her here. My problem here is that I am stressed about the possibility of making my mom stressed. I hate seeing my mom stressed. But so far, she says she is fine and seems that way...

Money. I've only gotten one paycheck since returning to work and Jesse is now on EI as he is at school. Christmas and Gemma's party are coming up in the next 2 months and while we prepared for those, i still feel overwhelmed. On top of it all, my HR lady/my department manager told me i didn't have to contact EI after coming back to work and now I owe the government $1400 in EI overpayment. Awesome.

Friends. I don't think i was meant to have friends. Close friends, anyway. All my life I've been the third wheel of two best friends and i hate it. I feel like this is going to happen again and I want to just not bother with friendships anymore. I also don't know how to balance friendships - i put too much of myself into some and i don't put enough of myself into others...

Some of this sounds so petty, right? I know there are bigger problems in the world... suck it up... suck it up...

a Pirate and his Parrot

Hope you had a great Halloween!

Playing

Yesterday, we enjoyed a short visit with Maeve (Gemma's BFF) and Brandon. It had been awhile since Gemma had seen Maeve (who is just 10 days younger). We saw Brandon a few weeks back, but Brandon is 4 months younger than the girls and not quite as mobile. 

It was so cute to see Gemma and Maeve actually playing together. As Paige described it, they were like puppies, crawling together and crawling over everything in sight. They were "talking" to one another, touching one another, "sharing" and not sharing toys with one another, and Maeve would frown when Gemma would start crying.

It's so neat to see them growing into little girls, really interacting with one another. It won't be long before they are running around, wreaking havoc together all around the house, I'm sure.

Stand Up!

Gemma and I have been practicing standing up on her own for awhile now. I would sit on the floor with her in front of me and try to get her to stand. She usually just falls forward and I catch her and she laughs.

We hadn't done it for a few days, so I was pleasantly surprised when last night she could stand for like 3 seconds on her own! she even tried to take a step towards me a few times! I know, 3 seconds, big deal, right? but it IS a big deal!

I still don't think she will be walking by her first birthday by any means, but it's so neat to see her get closer to it. She still loves to walk all over the house with her little car walker thing. My mom always says "bba-bbang" to mimick the sound of a horn and now Gemma walks around yelling "bba-bbang!".

so cute.