Crawling, Standing up, bumps & bruises and allergies (22.10.06 - M)
About 10 minutes after the last update Gemma started crawling, and about 2 minutes after she started crawling she started to get into everything. The mummy now spends all day saying "No Gemma" or "Ut Ut Ut". While Gemma was perfecting the crawling style (it was a little suspect for a while) she had already moved onto her next party trip, pulling herself up. She practices standing up at every opourtunity (inc. the middle of the night :s ), and even manages to get onto her tip toes to reach all those places Mummy and Daddy have moved things out of her reach :s.. Yes Gemma has moved fast forward into trouble maker, and she is loving life now. The only 2 downsides to her new found freedone are: 1) She is not walking yet, even though she would really like to be; and 2) the bumps and bruises are quite common and hurt a lot. The Mummy also spends lots of times picking Gemma up from her latest fall and making her feel beter.. Poor little Monsti.. So to summarise, Gemma is crawling, getting into everything, pulling herself up and standing with support as well as taking a few steps along the sofa or between a couple of stools.
We finally got to the Allergy clinic with Gemma and had all the prick tests done on her arm, and it seems not only is Gemma highly allergic to dairy (ALL Dairy products) she is also quite allergic to eggs (which is funny because she had previously had egg without too much stress). So for at least a year or two Gemma will be tofu baby, and the mummy is now trying to find some cake recipes that don't have eggs so Gemma can have her first birthday cake.
Panic,Holidays and Finger Food (23.09.06 - M)
When we last left off Gemma had been a little poorly (as the English would say). After a couple of days of sniffles, slight coughing and a slight fever Gemma broke out in a faint dotty rash. Although Gemma wasn't really ill, she was showing a number of symptoms of the measles or something like that.. So the Mummy took Gemma to the doctors to find out what was wrong, because if Gemma did have something like the measles, then the Mummy felt she should know and warn the other Mummies she knows and has seen.. Well it was quite a funny experience. Apparently the mention of Measles sent panic through the british health system, and causes minor hysteria..
The local GP was a little crazed at the idea that the mummy had exposed the whole surgery to this deadly disease.. What is even funnier is Gemma and the Mummy saw no less than 3 pharmisists, 4 nurses and 3 doctors (inc a peadiatrician at pead A&E) before a special consult was called to identify if the rash was measles. Apparently no-one in the health profession here has seen the measles because everyone is vacinated against it.. The mummy was even told that if it was the measles and it was untreated then Gemma would die (which was funny because appart from an uneven temperment Gemma was fine :)... The Mummy was waiting for a big bubble to be erected, and for the Mummy, Gemma and everyone else they had been in contact with for the last month to be commited to the bubble until the threat of mass outbreak had passed.. laugh..
As it turns out Gemma didn't have the measles.. she had some viral infection that is followed by a rash, which had the name of some itallian that discovered it. it was harmless and Gemma was far from going to die.. so the hysteria relaxed and everyone was fine :) (Except for the crazy GP who is still recovering from her freak out..)
Following the crazy measle scare the Mummy packed Gemma up and took off down the coast with Gemma's friend Cooper and Cooper's Mummy Jacqui. We all stayed in a lovely little cottage on the water front and had a very peaceful time. It was somewhat funny trying to get out of the house with two babies and so many feeds and sleeps, but somehow the Mummies managed to leave the house in the afternoons.. The tranquility reduced somewhat when the Daddies joined in the fun for a long weekend, but a very nice time was had by all. Gemma and Cooper even had their first big bath together, not that they noticed, Gemma chased the duck around the bath and Coop struggled to stay afloat with this crazy girl creating tidal waves..
Gemma has been developing like crazy lately,it seems she is always learning new things, altho the mummy is not so sure they are all positive.. laugh..
- Gemma now has a big bath every day, which is great fun because it is just like swimming lessons, only with ducky to play with.. The Mummy and Daddy think it is just like hard work and guess that some new muscles are developing in their back :)
- Gemma has decided that she likes to feed herself (finger food) and that puree that is fed to her by the Mummy is not fun and thus she refuses to eat puree anymore.. For one so young she has a surprisingly determined stubborn streak, and is quite resolved to get her own way. The result is the Mummy is stressed because Gemma doesn't eat enough (only tomatoes can tempt her) and meal times have become a little bit of a battle. The Mummy now roasts Gemma veggies and feeds her lots of fruit, but now needs to find a way to get some fats into Gemma because her low fat diet is not really helping with the weight gain issues... Oh the fun.. The Mummy was sure she had at least 6 months more before these battles began.. The mummy was dreaming.. (Ironically the Mummy has been told that Gemma is developmently advanced for being so determined to feed herself.. Joy.. The Mummy needs the house of the too tiny to do things..)
- Gemma has become a lot more social and really loves stranges who smile at her. So if you see Gemma in the street, give her a smile and she will be very happy..
- Gemma is a lot closer to crawling, she crawls sometimes, but then comando's when it isn't working as well as she would like.. Gemma may have worked out the crawling, but she is not very graceful at it, the Mummy and Daddy wonder about her co-ordination at times
- Now that Gemma is able to move around she is venturing out of her usual play area and into new realms, so now the living room is her oyster, which keeps the mummy on her toes.. All adult things have become Gemma's fav toys, the Mummies shoes and sunglasses are too much fun, as well as magazines, books (the Mummy and Daddy variety) and cables (daddy has decorated the appartment with cables)... So much more fun for the mummy every day :)
- Climbing, pulling herself up, standing and walking are now the real interest area's for Gemma. Every chance Gemma gets she is trying to pull herself up on things like the stereo.. oops..
- Gemma continues with swimming lessons and she is really loving them. The mummy also drags Gemma to mother and baby movies every Monday afternoon, which Gemma doesn't really care too much for. Next month the mummy thing she will take Gemma back to baby Gymboree, more singing and dancing to fill our days..
- Gemma is still not a great sleeper, but the parents are managing on 3-4 hours sleep, somehow.
New pics coming soon...
Having a bad day... (10.09.06 - M)
Poor little Gemma has been a little off color for the past 3 days of so. She has had the sniffles and been teething for the last week, but since Friday she has had a nasty temperature and a special mood to accompany the sniffles. Poor little thing isn't really feeling the best and has been quite grumpy both day and night which has been fun for everyone.. NOT..
Despite the health setbacks, Gemma has still been working on her agility development.. Gemma has been practicing the crawling position a lot but not really getting anywhere. Gemma has also managed to master the comando style get me forwards position, which seems to have satisfied her for a while.. She learnt to go from crawling position to sitting position this weekend, which is fun for Gemma.. It is all she has been wanting for weeks, because now she can get to the coffee table, sit herself up and unpack all tghe mummy's magazines.. Yay.. The mummy tricked Gemma and cleared all the mag's while Gemma was asleep tonight.. Pesky Mummy won't be too popular tomorrow, Gemma has been dying to get into the under table treasures for weeks :s... (the Mummy guesses Gemma will need to go back to learning to crawl so she can get into all the other treasure chests the appartment has to offer..)
The mummy won a free family portrait sitting, so the mummy, daddy and Gemma went off to have their pics taken on saturday.. it was all fun and the pics looked great on the computer. It was a little bit of an arty farty place, so the raw pics will be presented in some wizz bang arty way.. The mummy and daddy were invited back for a special screening of the potential pictures, and then given a price list of the pictures that they may want to purchase.. There was a little caution when the photographer mentioned that the studio offered financing for the pictures, but nothing could have prepared for the price list.. the price of a small desk photo was £145, and the minimum price for a wall sized picture was £2000!!!.. The mummy thought OK perhaps we could just get a few small prints, she thought wrong.. the only way to get prints is in an albumn, and the price for an albumn with 10 pics in was a cool £945.. (That is really £95 per photo) IMAGINE.. So I guess everyone could expect a family protrait for christmas.. NOT!!
The mummy is planning on taking Gemma away on Tuesday for a few days, we will join Jac and Cooper down in Deven, and the Daddy's will join on Thursday for a long weekend. Hopefully it will be a great reast for everyone, and at least the daddy will get a couple of nights sleep this week..
A Girl can't live on tomatoes alone, or can she...
Gemma is making a lot of progress in the eating stakes. She now has 2 teeth, and a new high chair. and the world of eating has extended past pureed apples. Gemma is happiest when she is eating solid (not puree!) food, which began with banana's and now extends to toast, rice crackers, pears, raspberry's, peaches, Tomatoes and even Chicken. Gemma loves eating solid food and won't eat puree for more than 3 or 4 spoons until the Mummy gives her something solid to eat (play with??).. Gemma's favorite are by far tomatoes, and Gemma will often resist eating anything other than tomato and rice cracker.. which begs the question, can a girl live of tomato alone??
Nasty Allergy's.. Will mummy ever get back to work??
Gemma has always shown signs of being a little allergic to the world, but it was mostly a few hives which would disapear after a little while.. When the Mummy was trying to decided when to go back to work she decided to give Gemma some formula to see how she took to it. Not well, it seems Gemma is quite allergic to formula, she puffed up a little, was covered in hives, her torso was red raw for hours and Gemma was quite distressed. Luckily Gemma only had a very small amount of the formula (1-2 mouthfuls), so the reaction didn't worsen and effect her breathing etc. So now the wait is on to get an appointment with the allergy clinic to identify what the problem is and how we can deal with it. In the mean time Gemma has been given some soy formula, which she is not in the least interested in. At the moment the Mummy's return to work has been put on hold, which puts a bit of a dint into the Mummy's plans to set up a new wardrobe and a new shoe collection :)
It's been a while .. again (04.09.06 - M)
As the heading suggests, it has been a while, again. The mummy has been filling up the social calendar so there isn't too much time for writing a blog.. The mummy will try and get a little better. The mummy and daddy ran into a little trouble with the web site space capacity, which meant there was some work to be done to resolve the issues, which in takes time.. (this can only lead to a pile of excuses..)
Wow Gemma has grown up soooooooooooo much in the last month. She is so much more aware of her environment and she is starting to become quite a head strong little girl (thanks Daddy..).. Gemma is also developing quite a lot physically. She is getting stronger by the day (which is not surprising given she spends every available minute doing sit ups and push ups..).. Gemma is moving around a lot, but she hasn't yet mastered the crawling, much to her frustration. She is able to move forwards a little, backwards with ease and also does a lot of circle work without too much effort. Gemma also gets into the crawling position and moves her legs, but this usually results in the face plant. With moving comes a little more independance, but also a lot more frustraition. Gemma desperately wants to crawl, but this is just the beginning, she is also quite persistant in standing and is desperate to work out how to lift herself up.. (hmm it is all just beginning.. yay - M)
The new found proficiency in moving around means Gemma is getting into a lot than she previously was. This means the mummy has a lot less spare time as she spends so much more time rescuing the CD collection (well not the CD's yet, but books, cables, shoes and foot rests..).. Gemma also has a fondness of under the sofa, and spends a lot of time every day trying to get under there.
Gemma is suddelny hearing the terms NO and Uh UH much more often.. Although Gemma doesn't understand these yet she definately knows when she is getting into something she is not meant to be in.. (eg playing w the stereo) This is always confirmed when Gemma turns and gives the Mummy a big smile as she is about to go in and play with these out of bounds toys.. How fun..
Gemma has become much more social and very happy at company that is not just the Mummy all day (how could this be possible??).. Gemma is also starting to really enjoy her swimming lessons, becoming much more relaxed in the water and thriving on the under water swims.
A big Cot.. How little Gemma can look (07.08.06 - M)
The Mummy and Daddy finnally put together Gemma's real cot, which Gemma greated as a fantastic new toy. The Mummy and Daddy have to try and explain that this is not a play pen or a new toy, but a bed.. Gone are the 5 minutes where Gemma went to bed quite easily, now there is an hour lead time to sleep before evey nap, where Gemma is exploring the cot (which has nothing in it :s).. Never fear the parents will continue to convince Gemma that the Cot is for sleeping and a great place to sleep at that.. lets see.. (The mummy is still hoping to have more than 4 hours sleep in a row this year.. Gemma doesn't feed as much in the night anymore, but she does like to play, grizzle and chat.. yay..)..
Suddenly Gemma looks tiny again, after looking so big in the crib.
Shuffelling, sleeping and a tooth.. a big few weeks... (06.08.06)
Lots has happened in Gemma's world since returning from
Going to Sleeping ..
Gemma seems to be a lot more relaxed about going to sleep
since returning to
Sit Up stroller..
The mummy and Daddy finally replaced the boring lay down
stroller with the much cooler sit up part.
Gemma loves her new found life of watching the world and playing with
her toys on the move. The world is a
much happier place now..
Backwards Shuffle
Gemma is well and truly on the move, and it's far to early
according to the mummy who enjoyed her quiet life :).. Gemma is not only rolling all over the place,
she is also shuffling backwards; pulling her entire torso up of the floor with
her arms, pulling her knees under her and then somehow pushing herself
backwards. The Mummy has left Gemma on
the mat a couple of times and come back into the room to find Gemma somewhere
quite a distance away from the starting place..
With this new movement it is time for everyone to learn some
lessons.. The mummy and daddy need to
learn to put dangerous and fragile items out of Gemma's reach, but more
importantly Gemma has a whole world to learn about.. Starting with the coffee table.. one more
than one occasion Gemma has had to call to the Mummy to be rescued as she was
stuck under the coffee table :).. The
mummy is afraid that the terrible 2's start here.. at 5 months?? :s..
Teeth
After months of dribbling, chomping on anything and
everything and giving Yogi a run for his money in the grizzling stakes, Gemma
has finally got herself a tooth.. Brave
little monster cut her first tooth Sunday 23rd July (2 weeks ago now.. Yes the
Mummy has been very very slack..).. The
first toothy pic will be posted on the pic site sometime soon :)..
Swimming
Gemma started swimming lessons as soon as we got back from
Australia, and has already been to 2 classes and to the pool with Mummy and
Daddy twice... At the end of the first class Gemma was pushed under water for
the first time, and has been under water a number of times since. Gemma seems quite ambivalent about it all,
and the mummy isn't really sure if Gemma really likes the whole swimming thing,
but expects Gemma will make it clear if she doesn't like it..
Food
Gemma continues to enjoy the world of food. She is eating 3 meals a day, and has been
experimenting with many fruits and veg.. Her favourites are: Sweet potato;
carrot and peas; and apple and pear.
Gemma is not such a fan of Banana or potato, so they are off the menu
for a week or 2.. The mummy has purchased a new cook book with hundreds of baby
puree idea’s.. so now the mummy only cooks for Gemma and the poor daddy is
having to overcome is dislike for puree as it is all that is on offer.. J
Trip to Australia
The much anticipated trip to Australia has now come and gone, and what an adventure this was for little Gemma.
Milestones while Gemma was in Aus:
Meeting the Family..
Gemma has many adoring family in
Gemma's much anticipated trip to
The flights ..
The flight to
General Progress ..
While in Aus Gemma seemed to relax in the area of
progress. She didn't really roll over
very much and made a little progress in the sitting department, but not too
much. Most of Gemma's progress during
the trip was focused around socialising, and here Gemma became a lot more
interactive and was very happy to chat and giggle with anyone who wanted to
play :)
Eating and Drinking
While in Australia Gemma was showing many signs that
suggested she was more than ready to begin eating and drinking. So during the trip the Daddy gave Gemma her
first glass of water, which made Gemma very very happy. Gemma also had her first "solid"
food experiences while in
Busy Busy Busy (19.06.06 - M)
The past week has been very very busy and filled with lots of activities. The highlights for Gemma would be baby massage and baby Gymboree, where there are activities specifically for stimulating and playing with babbies. Gemma has made a little more progress:
Rolling everywhere
Gemma has learned how to roll from her belly back to her back, which means she is rolling from one side of her mat to the other. The mummy thinks it won't be long before she has to go looking for Gemma. Gemma still gets a little stuck on her tummy sometimes, but it won't be long before she is on the move.
Ouch - sore gums
Unfortunately the teeting process is continuing, and Gemma is less than impressed by it. There are some serious grizzling days passing us at the moment, but the Mummy and the Daddy are doing their best to make it better for their little bear :)
First baby sitting experience
The mummy and daddy finally took some baby free time and went to a concert on Saturday night, which means Gemma had her first real baby sitter experience. All came through the experience unscathed, Gemma seemed happy and unfazed by the experienced.. If only the mummy could say the same thing :)
This week is likely to be very busy again as the family prepare for their first trip to Aus. Gemma has to get her final lot of Jabs this week, and the Mummy has a lot of running around to do, so hopefully we will all just sleep our way through the flight.. (this is the Mummy dreaming :))
12 Days .. So much has happened.. (12.06.06 - M)
Its been a while since the Mummy has managed to write anything in this space, and what a busy 12 days its been in this little babies life.. Here are some of the highlights:
World Cup Fever
In case you've missed it, ie you live in a normal place in the world, where the countries main news doesn't revolve around the metatarsell of a thug, THE WORLD CUP HAS BEGUN... (that is soccer to Aussies and American in the read).. What has the world cup got to do with Gemma I hear you ask.. well Gemma loves it.. The world cup means the television is on during the day, and Gemma's new favorite past time is watching television. Gemmsa becomes completely fixated on the television, it makes the mommy and the daddy worry they have a little TV junkie in the making.. only time will tell :)
Roly Poly - comando girl
Gemma has finally mastered the roll over, so if the parents ever leave Gemma on her back they will blink and find her on her belly. Unfortunately Gemma still hasn't perfected the belly to back roll over, so sometimes the parents are called to help rescue the frustraited Gemma stuck on her belly :)
Ohh the Hands are everywhere
Gemma is becoming much more active with her hands, if it was possible. They are everywhere, keeping her (and the parents) awake, playing with new toys, generally getting into anything they can.. Gemma is really aware of her hands and loves the new world where she can grab things and play. The downside is Gemma wants to be playing with her hands all the time, including the middle of the night..
What and interesting place the world is
As Gemma gets older it is easier for the Mummy to take Gemma out and about into the world.. Gemma loves being anywhere that is not the appartment, and spends every minute taking in her surroundings. The downside to this is there are some serious overstimulation issues at times, and it is almost impossible to get Gemma to engage with people..
Healthy with issues
Like any normal baby Gemma is really healthy and growing strong, but there are a couple of issues. Gemma has some reflux, which is really not to much fun for her or the parents as it interferes with feeding and sleeping at time. Gemma also has some eczema, which is pretty mild at the moment, and the parents are hoping it stays that way. In additon to the Eczema, it seems Gemma also has some sensitive skin issues, she breaks out in little red spots when exposed to new things (like a new carpet). They disapear as fast as they appear, so they are nothing to worry about, but the parents need to be a little careful about what Gemma's skin is being exposed to.
sleep, whats that...
Gemma is not really a good sleeper, and the parents are failing in their bid to get Gemma to sleep a little better and more consistently. Gemma is the daytime power napper, consistently taking 40 minute naps, at least she has a lot of naps. Gemma is also a slightly restless night sleeper. On a perfect night Gemma will sleep from 8pm - 5am (with one dream sleep), on an average night Gemma will be awake every couple of hours, mostly to play.
teeth r on the way :s
Gemma has started teething, poor little thing. She has some very sore gums and thus she is a little cranky at times. Poor little thing. The parents are hoping things calm down a little soon as Gemma is clearly unhappy with the process.
Crazy Hands Keep Us all awake :s .. (31.05.06-M)
It is really great to see Gemma discovering her hands and exploring the world by putting everything in her mouth, especially these wonderful hands. Unfortunately there is a huge downside to this development, and it is effecting us all.. Gemma has taken to escaping the swaddle and playing with her hands in her sleep. So much fun for our developing little monster, putting hands in her mouth, rubbing her eyes, playing with her ears, whacking herself in the face, pulling her dummy out of her mouth, and playing with her dummy, it is all so much fun that she wakes herself up about every 45 minutes and then cries because she needs Bern and I to put her back to sleep.. So much fun let me tell you... We are all getting tired and ratty and really hoping she gets used to these bloody hands soon so we can all get some sleep.
Gemma has been much happier this week, we have had a number of days where she is just happy to be awake and playing. She seems a lot more aware of her little world and is loving her toys at the moment, especially ones she can easily lift and put into her mouth. I'm surprised that her hands haven't fallen off at yet given she spends about 3/4 of each day with them in her mouth.. Apparently they are the tastiest little hands ever :).. We haven't had too many more giggling episodes but there has been a lot of chatting (with hands in mouth..). The funniest thing she is doing at the moment is chatting with her reflection in the mirror besides her change table. Gemma and the baby in the mirror have many in depth conversations and Gemma gets really excited about these and often laughs and squeals at the mirror.. Gemma is also putting more effort into perfecting this rolling over thing, although it seems impossible when she tries :s.. She is currently lying on her side grizzling because she is a little stuck... (OK she is saved..)
Today we started baby massage class, which was really nice. Much to my surprise the little miss was quite relaxed and didn't grizzle at all, she even seemed to enjoy it, at least she seemed to like it more than she ahs at home. Lets see how we go when we get to tummies next week. We have also been going to some exercise classes and mummy groups, its nice for the M, but Gemma is mostly uninterested in it all.
Cuddles for Cooper (29.05.06 - M)
Today Gemma had her first cuddle with a boy.. Chris and Jacqui came over with Cooper and we were having play date pictures on the sofa.. Gemma being the older woman was sitting against the sofa without support and started to fall in the direction of Cooper. The Pics were so cute because it looked like they were holding hands and cuddling. Actually they looked like an old balding couple cuddling :).. I will put some pics up in the next few days.
Grizzly Bear (24.05.06 - M)
From Giggling Gurty to Grizzly bear in a matter of days.. Yay.. Gemma has had a little bit of cold which was making her a little grumpy, and then we went and got her second jabs yesterday.. Now we have a full blown grizzly bear on our hands. Hopefully it will pass in a couple of days, in the mean time I need to find a park ranger to put this bear out of its misery.
Giggling Gurty.. (22.05.06 - M)
The other night Gemma was lying on the Mummies lap while the Mummy was watching some Friends re-runs. At one point the Mummy laughed out loud, Gemma clearly found this hilarious and started to giggle (not laugh, really giggle..). The Mummy and the Daddy found Gemma's laugh funny so they continued to laugh, which inspired Gemma to continue lauging.. It was hilarious.. All three of us were in fits of laughter for about 2 minutes (very long time in the life of a 3 month old).. Today the Mummy was out and about lunching with other Mummies, and Gemma was "Chatting" with Dana (Mummy friend) and started Giggling again.. Then again this afternoon Gemma and the Mummy had another little giggle.. It is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cute and sweet...
Gemma seems to be "learning" new things, and then she moves on to learn the next thing while forgetting the last thing she learned.. The Mummy figures this is normal, soooooo much to learn and do and so little time to do it in (if only the mummy would stop with this napping thing).. We all assume she will pick up where she left off with sitting and rolling sometime in the future..
I'm on the move.. Watch out world.. (17.05.06 - M)
Gemma took her first steps into the world of becoming mobile today.. Well not literally steps.. Gemma rolled over today for the first time. She rolled from her back to her tummy 3 times. what she does when she is on her tummy is still a mystery, and the process of rolling takes a lot of energy, so it was closely followed by exhaustion.. But it was a huge development step and she was so proud of herself , and I was very proud of her.. :)
Oh La La - The Jet Setting has begun. (17.05.06 - Mummy )
So Gemma has made her first trip abroad.. We took a 4 day Break to Ile de Re' in France, and Gemma had her first French experience, as well as her first flight (I guess she won't be the 30 year old that has never flown). The experience was all a little overwhelming for Gemma, especially the airport and flying parts of the trip. London Stansted airport is full of activity on Saturday mornings, and Gemma was as bug eyed as a 2&1/2 month old baby could ever be. The over stimulation didn't stop there, the flight was filled with people and activity, the hotel was a new place and full of new things to take in, and then there was the beach.. wow.. This was all followed by an hour or so of hysteria while Gemma came down from her high and relaxed to sleep (passed out exhausted is another way to look at it..). The rest of the trip was quite uneventful, Gemma even went to a restaurant twice and didn't even notice.. ( :) - it is possible for the Mummy and Daddy to have some sort of life).. The only two notable things from the trip were Gemma's first (and second) shower, which were not too much fun and loads of time in a car, which was like an and off switch for the sleeping baby (as soon as the car started Gemma fell asleep, as soon as it stopped she woke up..).. The trip home was much like the trip there, so much going on that Gemma didn't sleep for hours and had HUGE bug eyes...
We were all happy to have a break (well at least the mummy and Daddy had a lovely break) but we are all equally happy to be home.. Lets see how long it takes before Gemma is back in her "routine" ..
Getting Started... (9.05.06 - Mummy - AKA Mel)
OK, the mother has decided to let anyone who wants to know, know what is going on in Gemma's life.. Inspired by Zita and her wonderful blog, the mother (and the father??) will try and capture important events in Gemma's development and report them here.. There might even be a comment or two about the Parents life.. Lets see shall we..
// It should be noted Gemma is currently sleeping and the mother has nothing much to do.. Lets see if this is a phase or if it actually lasts.. (If I were a betting person I would put money on the phase option :)
Enough of the ramble, now onto the real topic at hand.. GEMMA - Gemma has been developing quite a lot in the past week, I guess she has been growing as well, although it is hard for the mother to tell..
So what has Gemma learnt this week:
- Look thats MY Hand.. Yes Gemma is slowly discovering that the funny looking things that constantly fly past her head or whacking her in the head are in fact her very own hands! So there has been a lot of hand sucking and putting things like her spit rag or blanket into her mouth. She even had a little attempt to keep her dummy in her mouth the other day... it all ended in tears as she hasn't learnt that keeping dummy in mouth is not the same as ripping it out of mouth. This is a HUGE development step, and she is loving it. She is even opting to give up food for hand sucking time. which is a little trying for the Mother, although we assume it is a phase :s..
- The world looks different from up here .. Sitting is so much fun.. If there was a competition for baby sit ups Gemma would be up there in the running this week. She has discovered the joys of sitting and loves it, every opportunity she is trying to sit up, with or without our help. She is still quite unstable - rocking all over the place, but she is giving it her best shot. She has also gained control of her neck and head a lot better, holding them up and strong if we pull her up from the change mat (lying position). Lets see how long it takes before she can actually sit up.
- Copy Cat.. In the simplist form.. Gemma has learnt to copy Bern (and now Mel as well) when we stick out our tounge... it is a fun new game we play and she loves it. Sometimes I catch her looking at me and sticking out her tounge to see if I copy :). Occassionally she concentrates so hard I think her little head will explode while she tries to get that tounge out.
Other less interesting things -
- Sleeping .. Gemma is still sleeping well at night, but her day time naps are a mystery to Bern and I. She will only go down for 45-50 mins regardless of how tired she is, and there is no getting her back to sleep once she is awake. We have also tried to catch her before she wakes and to settle her again, but this also fails, she is quite determined and always knows best.. (where does she get that from.. I wonder.. pick a parent any parent..) We have no idea what to do, so if anyone has some advice, please email/call/anything..
- General Health.. Growing string (6.10 kg today), and very healthy - she does have a few common baby ailments (conjunctivitis, a little eczema and a little craddle cap) as well as a little more difficult reflux problems. But generally she is healthy and happy. Lets hope she stays this well for ever...
Up and Coming - Gemma will take her first trip abroad. We are heading to an Island in France (Ile de Re') this weekend for our first little break. Hopefully we will have 4 "relaxing" days in the sun. Although we have to survive the flight first!
Also for all those in Aus, we will be making the nightmare flight there in late June for a wonderful 3 week Holiday. (Arriving on 23.06 and leaving on 16.07)