Elephant Talk

Watching Baby Einstein and talking back to the elephant. Probably one of the funniest things she does.

Pancakes are Good!

I was pretty sure Gemma would be crawling by the end of this month, but considering there are only four days left, I'm pretty sure that won't be happening. David and I are leaving for a six day trip to Mexico next Wednesday, so there is a possibility that she will start crawling while we are gone. Such a sad thought. However, as long as she's happy and healthy while we're gone, I guess I can't really complain.

She got sick again last week. No fun at all! She cried Friday night from 7:00 p.m. until 2:00 a.m. when we finally decided to take her to the emergency room. I was at a loss. There aren't many things I dislike more than not being able to help her feel better when she is sick, or even just figure out where she's hurting. She seemed to calm down some once we got to the hospital, so after waiting for half hour without being seen, we decided to just take her home. We found out she caught, as her pediatrician put it, "the virus of the month".

On top of being sick, she has also been teething. In the last two weeks she has gotten all four upper front teeth. She has handled that surprising well.

She's eating anything and everything these days! It sometimes surprises me how much she can eat. Fruits and veggies just aren't cutting it anymore. Thankfully she doesn't seem to be a picky eater, so she usually just has some of whatever we're having for dinner. Yesterday however, I got the urge to make her something special so I made her some pancakes. I tried to make them as healthy as possible using organic buckwheat pancake mix, applesauce, egg yokes, and rice milk. She LOVED them. I don't usually enjoy cooking, (I do it only because we have to eat) but I had a lot of fun making these. It felt good to make her something healthy and then watch her devour them. I think I'll have to make pancakes a Saturday tradition.

8 months

Not much to say besides that the older she gets, the cuter and more fun. She is starting to wiggle a lot on her tummy so the crawling phase is soon to come.

Summer Trip

We took our first summer trip to Chicago with Nana and Papa this past weekend, and had a total blast. I was under the weather for the whole thing, but I wasn't going to let that stop the fun, so I stayed well medicated. Gemma was AMAZING!!! I was nervous about several things:
1. The 6 hour drive there
2. How she was going to sleep at night in an unfamiliar place.
3. How she was going to handle being held or in a stroller most of the day.
4. How we were going to fit in naps.
5. How she would handle a second 6 hour drive home.

I should have known I was worrying about nothing. She did great!
I don't think I have ever done so much walking/sight seeing/eating in one weekend. That was my third time in Chicago, but the first time I really got to know the city. I think I could move there! I'll recap...
Day 1:
Left Columbia at 8:30 a.m. and arrived in Chicago at 3:30 p.m. Check into the hotel and immediately headed out for Navy Pier. Came back in time to put Gemma down for bed and grab dinner. (Next time you are in Chicago, eat at Big Bowl...AMAZING!!)
Day 2:
Got up early (thanks to Gemma of course) and went for a run with Scott. While we ran, Gemma, David, and Bev did some sight seeing. We met up at Buckingham Fountain and walked back to the hotel via Michigan Avenue. Took Gemma swimming so she would take a long nap. After nap, headed back to Navy Pier and saw a Cirque ShangHai show. (Let me tell ya, those people can bend!!!) Later that night we met up with Jacki and went out for tapas.
Day 3:
Signed up for a bus tour. Got off at the Hancock building and went up to the top and looked over the city. Had ice cream and went back to the hotel for Gemma's nap. After nap, went to lunch and had some amazing hot dogs. Got back on bus and finished the tour. Had Chicago style pizza for dinner and then went to check out where they were filming Transformers 3. (I really loved that they were filming a movie while we were there, it made the trip that much more fun.)
Day 4:
Had an delicious breakfast at Jackie's house, and then headed home :(

Great trip!

Just to prove we were there ;)

This kept her pretty busy when we were in the hotel room. Nevermind I brought actual toys.

She spent hours in this stroller, and such a great stroller it is.

Nana and Papa

Family photo

Excited for hot dogs!!

So sweet!

Sharing a cracker with Nana

Waving

Gemma has to be one of the most vocal babies around. She's constantly talking, and while I think it's the most adorable thing, I'm aware it will probably drive me nuts when she gets a little older. Over the last few weeks, it seems her personality has really started to show through and she has started doing a lot of "new" things. She has started:
- fake laughing when everyone else around her is laughing.
- fake crying when she "hurts" herself...drama queen.
- feeding herself finger foods. She rarely lets me feed her now.
- giving kisses (especially when she's tired).
-waving hi and bye, along with saying "Ba" when she waves good bye. I'm pretty sure it should be considered her first word :)
-looking for daddy. While she still loves me the most :) she gets crazy excited when David gets home from work, and she wants to know where he's at at all times once he's home.

Here's a video of Gemma waving. She has two waves actually, the arm wave and the salute wave. I apologize for the loud "bark" at the end of the video...that's David sneezing hahaha.