Weekends in Louisburgh

The past two weekends we travelled to Louisburgh to stay with Paul's parents. Paul's sister and her husband were there too, as they spent the entire week there, so Gemma had an even bigger audience for her antics! 

The first weekend we left Dublin early Saturday morning (July 12th) and arrived in time for lunch and Gemma's nap. The weather wasn't the greatest the rest of the day, but we visited Paul's aunt and uncle, so Gemma got to see the sheep and hens! 

On Sunday the 13th, Mayo played Galway in the Connacht Senior Gaelic Football final in Castlebar. Paul, Brian, and I went to the match, and Gemma stayed with Granny, Grandad, and auntie Marie. Mayo won- the fourth time in a row! 

When we got back to Louisburgh it was a gorgeous evening, so we spent it in the back garden. 

We headed out Monday morning, going back to Dublin via Galway to visit some friends who had a new baby. 

During that week, Paul took the Nestor Cup (the trophy that the Connacht champs are awarded) to a Mayo Association event in Dublin, so we got some quick pics with it!

Last weekend, I took a half day on Friday (July 18th), so we picked up Gemma from creche in the early afternoon and headed west. On Saturday, Paul and I had a wedding in Mulranny, County Mayo, so Gemma spent the day playing ball, blowing bubbles, getting driving lessons, going for ice cream at a local cafe, etc with Granny, Grandad, auntie Marie, and uncle Brian. Apparently she had such a good time playing in the garden with Brian, that she would only let him feed her her bedtime snack!

On Sunday, the annual horse show took place at one of the beaches in Louisburgh. Before we went to check it out, Gemma helped to water the flowers

and ran through the clothes on the line. 

She loved the horse show (there were sheep and dogs too)!

After visiting the horse show we headed back to Paul's parents for lunch and Gemma's nap. We headed back to Dublin that afternoon after another great summer weekend!

23 Months!

One month from today we will be celebrating Gemma's second birthday! I had no idea time would fly this quickly. For the most part, Gemma is a very happy, sweet, independent little girl, but she also shows the occasional 'almost two' stubbornness and tantrums. 

Some new things this month:

- Gemma is chatting up a storm and saying three word sentences, usually 'That's Gemma's _____' or 'That's my _____'. She has a good grasp of what belongs to who. At creche they say that she always talks about which bag, hat, shoes, etc belong to which child. 

- She sings her ABC's! 

- Gemma has begun to help dress and undress herself a bit. She can zip things up once they get a start, and she can unzip and take off coats/sweatshirts. With a little help she can put her pants/shorts on her legs, then once standing she can pull them up. 

- She has started to get both feet off of the ground (a small amount) when jumping up from the floor. 

- Gemma now hangs off of our treadmill handle, lifts her feet, and swings a bit!

- She still loves Barney, trucks, motorbikes, and airplanes. On different occasions when we were driving, she spotted a 'backhoe loader' and a 'car carrier', saying each of these!

- On Monday morning, Gemma and I went to our local shopping centre, Liffey Valley, which is the same exit as her creche. When we got to the bottom of the exit, she said, 'crèche?'  Now all this week she's been asking to go to 'Liffey Valley' when I've been collecting her from creche. She's gotten a bit upset the past two days when the car heads home instead of to the shopping centre!

- Gemma has gotten very attached to her 'baby', a stuffed doll she got for her first Christmas. She also asks to do 'stickers' (peel stickers off the sheet and put them in her notepad) and Play Doh a lot. 

- Gemma loves going to parks, and the slides are her favourite. She also likes looking for animals when we're outside and has gotten her first trike. She doesn't quite have the hang of pedalling it yet, so thankfully it has a handle that we can push her. 

- We survived Gemma's first ear infection in mid-June. I've never seen her so miserable. She fell asleep in the car and in my arms at dinner, so we knew something was wrong! She hasn't done that for about a year and a half! 

- Gemma has graduated from her high chair and now sits at a little table and chairs that was an early birthday present from Auntie Marie and Uncle Brian. 

We are having so much fun watching Gemma develop into her own little person. Every day Paul and I say how lucky we are!

Some pics from this month:

Watching Barney with her two Barneys when she wasn't feeling well. 

I came around the corner while I was putting laundry away and found this one afternoon!

She's been standing with her hands on her hips a lot lately!

Playing at the toy store

She really wanted this at the toy store!

First trike ride!

Yogurt!

First meal at her new table

At the park- another little boy stood at the other end and jumped up and down, making the bridge swing, and the two of them just stood there giggling at each other!

Another trip to a different park

Out for a 'treat' while doing the grocery shopping. How long will I be able to get away with a whole meal bread roll and water out of a special bottle as a treat?!?

Play Doh!

Being a 'monkey'! 

A Fun Weekend!

We spent the weekend at home this weekend and had a great time. On Friday Gemma wore a special tshirt to creche to celebrate the 4th of July!

I was lucky to get some 'me time' and went out to dinner with a neighbour friend on Friday night and met two other friends for lunch on Saturday. While I was out on Saturday, Gemma napped, then Gemma and Paul went into the city centre. Paul had to collect his laptop that was in for repairs, and they made an afternoon of it. There is a guy who blows big bubbles on Grafton Street, so they went to see him, then they got Gemma's first ice cream cone! Paul said as soon as she got it in the shop she went over by the wall, sat down, and nothing else in the world mattered! 

Paul was brave and let her have it in the van on the drive home!

Saturday evening the three of us went out for dinner, and on Sunday morning we made the best of the passing sunshine and went to a park between showers. Here's Paul helping Gemma on the zip line.  

We spent the rest of the day getting groceries, watching some sporting events on tv, skyping/FaceTiming with family, and going for a trike ride/walk. We are loving the summer weekends!