I decided I needed to do a Gemma post, just to update on some of the things she's been up to. I will number them, because it helps my brain feel more organized that way. And heaven knows it's all about me. (haha, joking, for anyone who may be new around here and not used to me ;-D)1. Playtime. She is getting really into independent play, and can keep herself entertained with minimal help from me all morning sometimes. Sometimes not (and that's fine too, we enjoy playing and reading together). But some days she just does great and that makes for good productive mornings for both of us. Her favorite thing is playing with her brown bear, bunny and baby. They do three things: eat, take naps and take baths. Time and time again. She uses a mixture of her things and my/Kolbe's things and it is just so cute to watch her little imagination at work. "Baby" seems to be at about the same developmental level as Kolbe currently. Funny. Here are some pictures of what she does. I just think it's so cute.
2. Drawing. She doesn't draw much, but once in awhile with either her magnadoodle or markers... or my pen. (which is apparently a super-cool thing to do. Now you know.) But she always draws the same thing. A bunch of circles with little dots in them. Every time. I am sure there is some deep psychological reason for why she does this, but I just think it's cute.
3. Eating. So she's never been terribly good at this, but that's nothing new. Some days are better than others. We roll with it. She seems to be maintaining/gaining weight and following a growth curve, and what she does eat is reasonably healthy so it works. Now that Koble is using the highchair she has decided that she likes to use it again sometimes too. As long as he doesn't need it at the time that's fine with me. I think she looks like a giant in it. And yes, for the record, she is dipping her quesadilla in ketchup. And the bib? All her request. Silly girl!
4. Beads. She built a "cage" for her fish. She loves these beads (they were mine as a child) and always uses them to build cages for things. Besides baby, et al, they are the other toy that typically comes out every day. I have taken a pretty minimalistic approach when it comes to toys, and I really like it that way (and the kids don't seem to mind either). It works.
5. Prayer time. She is very diligent about this and will even remind me when it's time for prayers, or just announce that it's prayer time and start getting our things out. I like that it is becoming habit. We finally got Kolbe his own Rosary (um, chew-toy) so he would quit trying to grab ours. She's done pretty well at letting him have it too, which kind of surprised me.
6. Helper. She continues to be a great help to me. I asked her to get diapers out of the dryer the other day and then kind of forgot about it. I stumbled over the laundry basket a few hours later to find that she had stacked them up in a neat little pile, all even and tidy. No idea where she gets it.
7. Singing/Music. No pics. Sorry! And no video either. I know, I know... Still in love with her Nursery Rhymes, but she has started doing this funny thing where instead of the regular words she will randomly substitute Kolbe's name. It is odd. But cute. We have split her music CD's into playtime and sleepytime music. "This Old Man" or "Mulberry Bush" screeching over and over on loop all night was just getting to be too much (for me, and I'm guessing for her too although she'd never admit it). She's doing fine with it though. Our favorite nighttime CD's are Sleep Sound in Jesus and Twila Paris' Lullabies. If you're looking for more good sleepy-time music, A Child's Gift of Lullabies and Jim Brickman's Hope have been other favorites at our house.8. Little Bear. We have several of these books from when I was a child, and have checked out several more from the library. She really likes these books and stories a lot. The other night DH and I were searching for something on the DVR and saw "Little Bear" so we curiously checked it out (it was part of the free OnDemand that we apparently get) and it was indeed little bear. THE Little Bear. There were a handful of 25 minute episodes of Little Bear, each containing four short stories (just as the books do). We really don't do any regular TV with Gemma (besides her and her daddy watching random clips of "funnies" (America's Funniest Home Videos) together for 5-10 minutes some evenings). We've showed her a few of the Little Bear episodes though, and she definitely thought they were pretty neat (as in, they held her attention and she talked about them later). They are well done in my opinion, and I don't mind letting her watch them occasionally. It's nice to know that they are available on the DVR.
9. Library. We have been making weekly trips to the library for awhile now. The girl loves her some books and we have found the library to just be such a treasure. I love being able to search their catalog online and request specific books (for instance, we have lots of Autumn/pumpkin/apple themed books coming up soon). And she enjoys the diversity. Currently in our baskets/on our end-tables are anything Seuss, various Nursery Rhyme books and this sweet legend by Tomie dePaola. I recently requested a new book from Sophia entitled The Temperament God Gave You and I am really looking forward to it. It discusses the four personality types from a Catholic standpoint. My husband and I talk often about personalities. I think that if more people had a better understanding of their own and others' personalities, we'd all get along better. But I digress. And this is getting super long. Thanks for hanging with us! Now you are current on all things GEMMA!
Lately I've been laying Kolbe on the floor more to play. He's started holding toys and putting them to his mouth, and really seems to get a kick out of it. And Gemma absolutely LOVES playing with him. She'll lay his blanket out all flat, straightening the corners like only she can, and go get his basket of toys or her blocks (as pictured) and just talk and share and show him things. It just melts my heart. And it's actually quite helpful to me, as she's done this several times while I've been cooking dinner and it's kept both of them happy and entertained (the kitchen/dining is adjacent to our living area, so I'm able to keep an eye on them) sometimes for 20-30 minutes. And I realize it won't always be like this. As nice as it is to look through rose-colored glasses, I'm sure once he gets mobile she will be in for quite the awakening and there will certainly be squabbles and unpleasant moments, and that's cool. She'll learn and grow, he'll learn and grow, and they'll both be better children for it. But right now, it just makes me smile watching them together. 
I love these kiddos.
So I decided to combine several of my potential posts into a "Seven Quick-Takes" post on Gemma, since she probably hasn't had as much blog-time as she deserves lately.
#1. A month later, I can say she's really been doing well overall with the whole "transition to two" thing. She has become a bit clingier and wants to be held more often, and sometimes melts-down a bit more often. But seriously, what two-year-old doesn't go through that?! And she hasn't ever shown a bit of aggression or anger towards Kolbe...nothing but love!! Time-outs seem to be effective, and I'm always touched when she comes in and says, "I'm sorry mommy," unprompted. Poor girl is so much like me. Everything has to be just so, done in a certain order, etc. Oftentimes I get frustrated with this (why I don't know because I am the SAME. WAY.) but then I rush her and she gets mad and I get mad and, well, it ain't pretty folks. GAH!!!! She's teaching me a whole new level of patience, and hopefully she is learning some valuable lessons along the way too. We are both works in progress, for sure. Enough introspection. Moving forward...
#2. "Set table over there" which is her way of saying she wants to sit up on the cabinet and help or participate in whatever daddy is doing. In this instance they are baking a pumpkin pie together. YUMMY!!!
#3. The "slumber party". As you may remember, Gemma got a doll crib for her second birthday. It lives at the foot of her bed and is where her baby, "baby" sleeps. Putting baby to bed has become part of our nightly routine (see #1 for a reminder about the importance of this activity). Well, the other night, whatever possessed her I'm still not sure but I think every stuffed animal plus "purple baby" (her other doll) ended up in there. I guess it was slumber party night. And then she had to make sure they all had their "corners" (see second pic). I think I've mentioned her obsession with the corners of her blanket before. Anyways, see for yourself...
#4. Twenty-five months. Yep, she turned 25 months on the eleventh, so here's the obligatory pic. I'm still not sure where her neck is.
#5. Babywearing. I often "wear" Kolbe, either in his front-carrier or the sling. Not only is it very convenient, especially with a toddler running around, but it is very beneficial for baby, also. If you're unfamiliar with babywearing, click the link above, or take a gander at this article. Anyways, I guess Gemma has taken the cue, because I caught her yesterday trying to get her doll in my sling (which was obviously way too big for her). So we made a little make-shift sling with a flannel blanket. She LOVED it!!!
#6. Nursery Rhymes. Our neighbor gave Gemma a Nursery Rhymes book when Kolbe was born, and she really has fallen in love with the sweet little rhymes and songs. She has started singing a lot more now, and can carry a tune pretty decently at times. It's cute. Super cute. Here we are reading before bedtime. I think this is actually Seuss, though (another recent favorite), not Nursery Rhymes.
#7. Daddy. Even though she may be a bit clingier with mom lately, there's nothing like snuggling with daddy...whether you are a tiny baby or a sweet toddler. Ahhhhhhh, life is good.
Haven't updated much since the Baptism, so thought I'd drop in!!! Besides being bathed in the waters of Christ, Kolbe also had his first bath at home on Saturday. Decided to not traumatize the poor little guy too much, and opted for a sponge bath on the kitchen counter. He did surprisingly well, and of course I had my little helper right there beside me through the whole thing. When we were finished she was still asking about giving Kolbe a bath and kept going in the bathroom, and it dawned on me that what we did probably didn't really qualify as her definition of bath. Some day they'll be big enough to bathe together...for now, I'm thinking no. :-D
He has definitely become more a fan of diaper changes over the week, guess he's getting used to them. Plus he has a sweet big-sissy who stands on her stepstool and holds his hand and talks to him and sings to him through-out. And I am LOVING the Green Mountain prefolds. They are just great paired with one of these Bummis covers. I'm anxious to give some of my wool and fleece covers a try once his umbilical cord falls off.
Look how BIG he is getting. Would you believe this little babe has already grown out of his newborn-size sleepers?!! Wha, wha WHAT?!!!?!?!?! Gemma wore hers until well over a month. He's a good eater and happy guy though, so I won't complain. But wow. Just. wow. Where is the time going?! Now I feel silly for buying those ones at Target last week. They hardly fit anymore!
Gemma has definitely had some rough patches over the past week. And I feel for her...she wants me to hold her or do something with her that I just can't do like I used to when I have a newborn to take care of. All in all she has adjusted great, this has been such a huge change and she really has just had some minor issues. I am proud of her. And for all the rough spots, there are equally as many sweet moments for sure. Here she is sharing her beloved blankie with Kolbe. She is holding the corner in the first picture and telling him about how great the corners are. If I hadn't mentioned before, she is very obsessed with the corners on her blanket.
And this one is just funny. Baby is about as big as Kolbe (nope, Drew, still no clothes!!). And has a hard head. Luckily Gemma is fairly conscious most of the time about being gentle around him. She is never malicious, I think that sometimes she just doesn't understand how much bigger and stronger she is than him.
Well that's all for now, folks!! Thanks for checking in.
2. Drawing. She doesn't draw much, but once in awhile with either her magnadoodle or markers... or my pen. (which is apparently a super-cool thing to do. Now you know.) But she always draws the same thing. A bunch of circles with little dots in them. Every time. I am sure there is some deep psychological reason for why she does this, but I just think it's cute.
3. Eating. So she's never been terribly good at this, but that's nothing new. Some days are better than others. We roll with it. She seems to be maintaining/gaining weight and following a growth curve, and what she does eat is reasonably healthy so it works. Now that Koble is using the highchair she has decided that she likes to use it again sometimes too. As long as he doesn't need it at the time that's fine with me. I think she looks like a giant in it. And yes, for the record, she is dipping her quesadilla in ketchup. And the bib? All her request. Silly girl!
4. Beads. She built a "cage" for her fish. She loves these beads (they were mine as a child) and always uses them to build cages for things. Besides baby, et al, they are the other toy that typically comes out every day. I have taken a pretty minimalistic approach when it comes to toys, and I really like it that way (and the kids don't seem to mind either). It works.
5. Prayer time. She is very diligent about this and will even remind me when it's time for prayers, or just announce that it's prayer time and start getting our things out. I like that it is becoming habit. We finally got Kolbe his own Rosary (um, chew-toy) so he would quit trying to grab ours. She's done pretty well at letting him have it too, which kind of surprised me.
6. Helper. She continues to be a great help to me. I asked her to get diapers out of the dryer the other day and then kind of forgot about it. I stumbled over the laundry basket a few hours later to find that she had stacked them up in a neat little pile, all even and tidy. No idea where she gets it.
7. Singing/Music. No pics. Sorry! And no video either. I know, I know... Still in love with her Nursery Rhymes, but she has started doing this funny thing where instead of the regular words she will randomly substitute Kolbe's name. It is odd. But cute. We have split her music CD's into playtime and sleepytime music. "This Old Man" or "Mulberry Bush" screeching over and over on loop all night was just getting to be too much (for me, and I'm guessing for her too although she'd never admit it). She's doing fine with it though. Our favorite nighttime CD's are Sleep Sound in Jesus and Twila Paris' Lullabies. If you're looking for more good sleepy-time music, A Child's Gift of Lullabies and Jim Brickman's Hope have been other favorites at our house.
