She continues to amaze us with her verbal skills and humor! Here are a few of the things that she amazes us with these days:
1. About a week ago, we were tucking the big kids in bed and as we were leaving the room, she blew a big kiss and said "I wuv you"! My heart almost exploded! Just a couple of days ago, she did the same thing to me when we were eating breakfast. She will usually repeat everything we say, but not the phrase "I love you". It seems as though she understands what it means and wants to say it on her own terms. (I pray that continues throughout her life!)
2. She is probably her happiest when she's eating, so many of our cutest moments come during those times. On the kids' birthday, she turned next to her at breakfast, looked at Kyran and said "hug", then put her arm around him. She did it two more times and even let me take a picture. There is NOTHING like the love between siblings!
3. She not only has favorite books, but is learning the names of them. One of her favorites is "No, no, Yes, yes", and when she wants me to read it, she goes looking through her books saying "no, no" over and over again until she finds it. Then she usually says that part during the book, too! Another favorite is by the same author and it's called "Huggy Kissy". That one she calls "Huggy Huggy". The last line says "Will you give me a huggy and a kissy?", to which she sweetly replies, "no". Too cute!
(Christmas spoiler - She opened a book by the same author/illustrator on Christmas morning and immediately recognized it and said "no, no!"
4. We have taken the paci away again and she is doing ok. Last night she woke up and cried for a while, but after asking to be rocked ("rock?" while pointing to the glider), she got back in bed quietly and just played for a while. It reminded me of a song that came out when we were trying to get pregnant with Kyran and Karyssa, and I rocked her for a little longer than I might have otherwise.
Just the other night the baby was crying, so I got out of bed and rocked her awhile,
and I held her tight, and I told her it would be alright.
Then my mind went back to a few years ago when we tried so long we almost gave up hope
and I remember you, coming in and telling me the news.
Oh man, we were living, going crazy in the kitchen.
We danced and screamed and held each other tight.
We laughed until we cried.
Three amazing children later, I still laugh until I cry with them sometimes!
5. This was a couple of months ago, but I don't think I ever wrote about it. One day she asked to eat (one of her favorite words) and I told her that she just had lunch. She paused for a minute, then said, "'nack?" (snack). That silly girl will find a way to get food! I really believe that she would eat until it was time to sleep, then wake up and want to do the same thing, over and over again!
6. She has asked in the past to go to bed by saying "night night". Recently, she's started saying, "sleepy". A few weeks ago, we walked into Kyran's therapy place and there was a dad in there who looked like he was asleep. She pointed to him and said "sleepy", and he started laughing.
7. The big kids stayed at my mom's for New Year's Eve, so Jason, Gemma and I went out to dinner. We wanted to sit where we could watch the football game, and there wasn't room for a high chair, so we put her in a booster. She sat still just long enough to take a bite, then would stand up, turn around and wait for the servers to come out of the kitchen. Then she would wave, say "hi", and giggle until they looked at her. I'm thinking she made a few people's nights!
8. Like her sister, she loves men. Daddy is her favorite, of course, followed by Uncle Ben. I think Granddad took third place on our recent visit to see him. After that are a couple of men at our church: Thomas, who works in the nursery, and JB, our worship and youth pastor, who was Karyssa's first "boyfriend". He's now married and has a son 6 weeks younger than Gemma, and she adores them both. The other night before the kids' Christmas performance, the music got quiet and she saw him from across the room. She yelled as loud as she could, "JB!", and of course he had to stop working for a minute to come see her.
9. She loves tissues (napkins, toilet paper, etc.). She asks for one and will wipe her face and her tray now after she eats.
10. She now says "Whoa" (and sometimes "fall down") when she falls, and the other day after she fell she said, "whoa, oo ok?" It was so adorable!
11. She says shoes and boots, but I thought that it was just because that's how we distinguished between her shoes. A few weeks ago, I got a new pair of boots that she had never seen and she looked at them and said "boots". She's going to be a shoe girl!
12. I was on FB the other day and someone posted a video to the Whip/Nae Nae song. She made a beeline for me from the other room saying "Nae Nae. Song." and wouldn't stop until I played it!
She is constantly adding new words to her vocabulary, and I can't keep up with her! Here are a few of the new words that she has mastered:
Baby (She has been saying this for quite a while, but I just realized I forgot to write it down)
Food
Ben
JB (12/20)
Off
Zipper
Whoa
OK? (always a question)
Cake
Pray
Puffs
Granddad (12/27)
Tammy
Out
Sleepy
Good girl (She'll follow Bella around the house saying this!)
Light
Shake
Salad
A few other notes:
1. It has been a while since she has eaten any baby food. Not because she won't, but because I forget to give it to her. She asks for what she wants, then when she's done, says "up". I still have a few things of it in the pantry, and I need to give it to her soon. At that point, I probably won't buy anymore. She eats solids very well, and gets lots of fruit and veggies from her fruit squeezies too.
2. Gemma, like her big brother and sister, is a pass-around baby. Although she has her favorites, she'll go to almost anyone. I've had people ask me if it bothers me, but I actually love that she feels so secure with Jason and me that she knows we'll always be there when she wants and needs us. I also love that she makes people feel so special when she reaches out to them (now complete with the beckoning/grabbing motion with her hands)!
3. Her physical skills are continuing to improve, and she is getting more brave. She will now back off of anything, including our very high bed (leading to her first bleeding injury when she hit her gum the other day), and will climb on everything too. Her big challenge now is the bottom step to get up to Kyran's bed. She almost made it the other day! She still walks with a little waddle, but is definitely getting faster! She is getting better at getting her spoon in her mouth, although her scooping skills are still not great.
4. Her 15-month molars are all the way in and she is now cutting her top incisors. She is a teething champ! It's allowing her to eat slightly larger chunks of food now, and more chewy stuff instead of the softer stuff.
I just love this age. She is such a sponge and loves to do whatever we are doing. It is so much fun!!
Two years to the day after we made our official FB announcement about our pregnancy with Gemma, she finally fits in her 6-month "Player to be Named Later" onesie!
With the blanket that G.G. made for her before she was born!
She loves brushing her teeth!!
Pure Cuteness!
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