How can it be? Gemma is 9 months old today. She is growing and learning at warp speed. In the last week, Gemma has worked and worked to gain the confidence to start taking her first steps. She absolutely prefers crawling and can cover shocking distances when properly motivated by open toilets, water on the floor, William's bedroom door left open and a cellphone/remote/electronic device left within reach.
Both John and I are trying to inhale what is left of Gemma's babyhood. She is so happy. Really. All the time happy unless she needs a nap or is hungry. Then, she will let you know. Even with ear infections this last week. She was a happy, go lucky, plucky little baby with a smile on her face most of the time unless she was tired or hungry. She slept terribly at night and wasn't very interested in eating, but overall still just a happy girl!
Gemma has about 300 hundred cute things she does right now. I'm surprised ANYTHING gets done around here with all the cuteness happening. In no particular order:
1. Peek - a - boo : Gemma hides her face from you. This could be as simple as turning her face away from you or looking downward. If you aren't paying attention, you'll miss it. She waits a beat and then pops her head back up with a huge smile on her face. She chortles merrily if you crow the appropriate "PEEKABOO!" in her direction. Typically, we play about 564 rounds in a minute before she tires of it and moves on. A round consists of looking away, popping her head back up, waiting for the peekaboo and then starting over. And over. Peekaboo is required now when buckling her into her carseat, dressing/undressing, diaper changes, in the bathtub and multiple other times during the day.
2. Waving "Hi" and "Bye". It just about kills me every time. I was borderline last for work last week because I just need one more "bye bye" wave. And then another. And another. And she was totally willing to cooperate with her sweet baby smile on her face. Half of the time, she'll throw in a high pitched "Aieee" that matches my own high pitch "Hi/Bye" sound. Which turns me into a huge puddle of goo.
3. Gives kisses. Great, big, open mouthed kisses on your mouth. She isn't interested in your cheek or face. She wants mouth kisses and is so excited she makes the cutest little rapid breathing noise when she makes her move. It is like she is giggling just thinking about what she is going to do. I'd tell you I love them (I do!), but she started kissing about two weeks ago in the middle of a doozy of a head cold that created a river of snot to continuously come out of her nose. She dried up this last weekend only to be felled by yet another cold at the beginning of this last week. So, each and every sweet open mouthed kiss has me cringing just a little. I'm sure the nose will dry up sooner or later and I'll really be able to enjoy some baby kisses.
4. Singing. To my knowledge, none of our other babies has done this. If you start singing a song, Gemma will occasionally join in. She will even attempt to match the notes if it is a particularly simple song.
5. Dancing. Again, to my knowledge, none of our other babies have done this. If you play music, Gemma will usually sit on her knees and do the dance we have dubbed the "Gemma bounce". Sometimes she will dance/bounce for several minutes. She also adores being danced with. If you do a few steps with her in your arms, she will crack a huge smile. Until you stop. Then the smile switches off and she'll do a little bounce to spur you back into the dancing. If you STILL don't dance, she'll give you an insistent "eh!" along with a bigger bounce to remind you that she is READY TO GO.
Also, a few weeks ago, Gemma and I were sitting at the dance studio while Amelia had her ballet class. The class came out to work on their dance number for the BIG DANCE SHOW and Gemma was enthralled. "Beautiful ballet arms..." the teacher sang and all the girls put their hands over their head. Gemma observed this for one beat and then put her arms over her head as well. "Bend your knees.." came next and so Gemma awkwardly bent her knees and would have tumbled to the ground if I hadn't had a good hold on her. I couldn't hardly believe my BABY was doing ballet, but then she was distracted by a piece of glitter on her finger and quit learning ballet. Which was fine by me.
6. Mimicking. Gemma frequently copies me, the big kids, ANY big kids really. It never made the blog, but I meant to write about a Monday when I was cleaning the bathroom with both girls underfoot. Which meant it took 300 percent longer. I was wiping off the floor when Gemma noticed what I was doing. She studied me for a few beats and then took her own hand and wiped the floor using the exact same motion. She did it again and again (until she was either satisfied with her work or bored). Again, I know our other kids did this. I just don't remember this extent of mimicking and this early.
Other notes:
-size 3 diaper/4 for overnight
-sized 12-18 month clothes
-considering moving up to another carseat as she is so HEAVY to cart around in the pumpkin seat
-randomly sleeps through the night about every 10 days or so. Usually up one time a night, although was up 5-6 times a night when we had ear infections
- busy busy busy - she doesn't ever hold still! She is just starting to enjoy reading books, although she can't sit through a whole book
- likes food! She eats a big variety of pureed food and we are working
towards getting her eating table food. In the last week, we introduced
yogurt with much success
-crawls like crazy, cruises and will take 4-5 steps by herself when she wants to. Which is not usually when we have the camera out
This morning, the big kids insisted it was pajama day. They did not want to get dressed. Sounded good to me! After lunch, we eased our way into clothes and ended up at the zoo. It was Gemma's first time out at the zoo - I think she enjoyed watching everyone.
