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'!