8 months old

Gemma is 8 months old today!

I was very sick last weekend with a virus and strep throat and John appears to now have my virus....so far the kids are healthy though.....

Here are a few pictures I snuck in today.  It was a cold and cloudy day, so we didn't have much indoor light and it was too cold to be outside.  I love the last little series of facial expressions.  She is just too adorable.


I keep thinking she looks a lot like Amelia : look here
and here is William for reference: look here


While I was taking her picture, I kept thinking about how much I think she looks like Amelia.  Yet, when I look at pictures of Amelia from this age, I can't help thinking how much Gemma looks like....Gemma.

Gemma truly is the happiest baby.  If she is fussing or crying, she either is tired or hungry.  She has a ready smile for anyone who pays attention to her - as long as you don't try to separate her from Mama. Mama is her favorite person and she is always delighted to see me.  Even if I just went to the bathroom or around the corner.  I will never get tired of hearing her squeal of recognition when she spies me in another room, around the corner or from across the room.  I will also never tire of watching her chug across the floor on all fours towards me with a big smile on her face.  I sure do love this girl, even if she doesn't sleep through the night.

She doesn't.  She doesn't sleep through the night.  I try hard to be thankful for the extra special snuggle time (I read this is what you are supposed to do in a book somewhere) and enjoy her babyness.  I'll admit, I have a way to go before approaching thankfulness.  I'm just plain tired.  I haven't slept through the night in half of a year and it is starting to show.  She is up at least one time every night and about once a month, she sleeps all the way through just to keep me guessing.  Sometimes she is up at 1am and 5 am.  Sometimes she wakes up at 3 am.  Other nights she sleeps until 5am.  I never know how long she is going to go.  I suspect that with a little work and "tough love" she might sleep though the night on a more consistent basis.  But....tough love requires a little work, dedication and patience.  Also, good health from both parents and a stretch of time without any trips scheduled.  Maybe in the next few weeks we'll work on that.

Gemma is loving the baby food!  She has gotten good at identifying when her food is waiting on the table and she will cry until you feed it to her.  And don't think about squeezing a bite in for yourself in between bites for her!  Her favorites continue to be carrots, bananas and sweet potatoes - although she has eaten everything I've ever tried to give her.  Mama just needs to watch that we switch things up so we don't end up with an orange baby.