8 Months Old

Gemma turned 8 months old Monday! This is her newest trick:

No, she's not crawling yet, but she is pushing up to hands and knees and rocking a little. At this point, all she has managed to do is push her legs back and move backwards, which just frustrates her. Especially when we've given her a target to get to.

If there is one main thing that having preemies taught me, it is to relax about milestones. Now, she's perfectly on track with everything, but I'm seeing kids who were born after Gemma crawling in videos on FaceBook. I also know all of my nieces and nephews were crawling at this point.

My thought: no big deal.

She is strong. She is smart. She is perfect.

She will crawl. She will walk. She will run.

And the longer I have before she does all of that, the longer I can keep my sanity.

Her new favorite toy is the piano. She puts one hand on top and then drops it down, then does the same with the other hand, because she knows that's how to get the most noise out of it.

She will still cuddle, but only when she's very tired. She likes to sit up and wants to touch and grab everything!

Her daddy's voice can turn her attention from anything.

This is the latest first for her:

The significance of this is that I was never able to do this with Kyran and Karyssa. If I took them to the store, I'd have to have two carts or bring a stroller along (except for Sam's and Kroger, which did have the double seats). And even then, I usually had help getting them into the store. I could carry them both at once, but it was difficult to get them into the cart once we were in the store. Now, I can unbuckle the kids, scoop Gemma up and go in easily.

When Karyssa and Kyran were little, I admit I looked a little enviously at the women who had one baby on their hip as they walked into a store. Once, the thought crossed my mind, "which baby would you give up," and quickly squelched that jealousy.

However, I am happy to have this experience. During the day when it's just Gemma and me, it is nice to be so mobile. The single stroller is so much easier to maneuver than the double. One baby fits nicely into carts everywhere. I can hold one baby and open doors by myself.

I feel so fortunate to have experienced twins, and now to also have the experience of a single baby. We love our 8-month-old sweetheart!