Freya Thanksgiving morning
Gemma and Daddy post dinner
Gemma loved playing with the magnets on the refrigerator!
Paul, Me, Mom, Margo, Gemma, & Freya
Freya looking forward to Christmas!
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Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Thanksgiving
We spent Wednesday, our first full day in MN, just hanging out at Margo's and recovering from the travelling the day before. On Thanksgiving Day we watched a bit of the parade in the morning, then headed to my aunt and uncle's house to spend the day with my mom's side of the family. We had a delicious meal and enjoyed seeing all of the family. Gemma especially liked the sweet potato casserole. How could you not like something covered in butter, brown sugar, and marshmallows?!?
Freya Thanksgiving morning
Gemma and Daddy post dinner
Gemma loved playing with the magnets on the refrigerator!
Paul, Me, Mom, Margo, Gemma, & Freya
Freya looking forward to Christmas!
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Freya Thanksgiving morning
Gemma and Daddy post dinner
Gemma loved playing with the magnets on the refrigerator!
Paul, Me, Mom, Margo, Gemma, & Freya
Freya looking forward to Christmas!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Monday, December 16, 2013
Travels to MN
We arrived back in Ireland a week ago yesterday after a wonderful full 10 days in MN. We've spent the last week unpacking, washing clothes, getting over jet lag, going back to work and creche, and getting ready for Christmas, so I'm a bit behind on here! I'll attempt to catch up over a few posts.
We departed Dublin on Tuesday, November 26th. Our flight departed at 1pm, so it wasn't too rushed getting up, ready, and the last few things packed in the morning. Luckily when we checked in, the desk agent was able to put an empty seat between Paul and I, so we had 3 seats for the 3 of us. It didn't take too long to get checked in and through security- once we did we let Gemma out of the stroller, and she squealed with happiness at all the space in which to run!
The 8 hour flight to Chicago Gemma spent walking up and down the aisles, watching movies and playing with apps on the iPad, looking at books and toys, saying 'hiya' to everyone who passed, and eating lots of puffs. She only slept about 45 minutes, but she was fairly happy the entire time considering the lack of sleep and cramped quarters!
We had to change terminals and go through security again in Chicago with not a huge amount of time to spare. Once we reached our gate, we let Gemma loose again, and she was delirious with tiredness at this point! She just ran around giggling. Once we got on the plane, we sat and de-iced for quite awhile, and Gemma got pretty fussy at this point. She then slept most of the flight to Minneapolis. Once in MSP she was running and giggling again! We got to Margo's place around 7:30pm local time (1:30am to us). Gemma played with Freya for a very short while, had a bottle, then crashed.
At around 3am, Gemma started to fuss, and we brought her into bed with us. It was quite funny, all day she had only wanted me, but at this point, she only wanted 'Daddy'! I've taught her well! We got up for the day around 7, and within a couple of days Gemma was pretty much adjusted to MN time!
Some pics from the journey:
In the car park at Dublin airport waiting for the shuttle to the terminal.
Gemma just discovered she turned the light on with the remote control!
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We departed Dublin on Tuesday, November 26th. Our flight departed at 1pm, so it wasn't too rushed getting up, ready, and the last few things packed in the morning. Luckily when we checked in, the desk agent was able to put an empty seat between Paul and I, so we had 3 seats for the 3 of us. It didn't take too long to get checked in and through security- once we did we let Gemma out of the stroller, and she squealed with happiness at all the space in which to run!
The 8 hour flight to Chicago Gemma spent walking up and down the aisles, watching movies and playing with apps on the iPad, looking at books and toys, saying 'hiya' to everyone who passed, and eating lots of puffs. She only slept about 45 minutes, but she was fairly happy the entire time considering the lack of sleep and cramped quarters!
We had to change terminals and go through security again in Chicago with not a huge amount of time to spare. Once we reached our gate, we let Gemma loose again, and she was delirious with tiredness at this point! She just ran around giggling. Once we got on the plane, we sat and de-iced for quite awhile, and Gemma got pretty fussy at this point. She then slept most of the flight to Minneapolis. Once in MSP she was running and giggling again! We got to Margo's place around 7:30pm local time (1:30am to us). Gemma played with Freya for a very short while, had a bottle, then crashed.
At around 3am, Gemma started to fuss, and we brought her into bed with us. It was quite funny, all day she had only wanted me, but at this point, she only wanted 'Daddy'! I've taught her well! We got up for the day around 7, and within a couple of days Gemma was pretty much adjusted to MN time!
Some pics from the journey:
In the car park at Dublin airport waiting for the shuttle to the terminal.
Gemma just discovered she turned the light on with the remote control!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Monday, November 18, 2013
Happy Birthday Granny!
Paul's mam's birthday was November 10th, so we went down to Louisburgh for one night the weekend before last to celebrate.
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- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
15 Months
I'm a week and a day late! On November 10th, Gemma was 15 months old. It seems like everyday she is doing something new now. Gemma is now:
-Practically running around the place! She loves to walk around, especially new places. The weekend before last we were at Paul's parent's house for a night, and I think all she did was walk around!
-Climbing up onto the couch in addition to the two chairs in our sitting room. She has learned to back down, so I'm not quite as nervous as when she was trying to dive head first off of the furniture!
-Saying 'hiya', 'bye bye', 'night night', 'car', 'daddy', 'mama', and 'more'. We also think she says a version of 'Sarah'- the main childcare provider in her room at creche and the name of one of the other little girls at creche.
-Putting clothes in the laundry hamper and garbage in the garbage can. Today she got a bit mixed up and promptly threw her hat and mittens in the garbage when we got back from a walk!
-Also putting the books we read before bed into the chair next to the one we sit in when reading. At first I would ask her to do it, then one night last week I came back into the sitting room from getting her dinner ready, and she had already put the books into the chair. We read certain ones, and she had picked the right ones!
-Loving Barney the dinosaur and Shrek. When she hasn't been feeling well with a cold, I let her watch a bit of them while we snuggle on the couch. She sat still and quiet for 40 minutes watching Shrek once! I hid the Barney DVD for awhile, but she found it yesterday and kept grunting at me with it and bouncing up and down until we watched it!
-Giving kisses with puckered lips now and continues to give great hugs. She's great at waving bye bye without being prompted as well.
-Still loving books. I think she spends more time with them than any toys she has. She's rediscovered a couple of box sets and loves taking the books out and putting them back in.
-Starting to cuddle and give hugs to her stuffed animals. Paul brought her a little Scottie Dog from Scotland a few weeks ago that she especially likes.
-Likes songs and dancing. A favourite is 'If You're Happy and You Know It'.
-Down to just one bottle a day at bedtime. She's still not great at taking milk out of a cup, but she loves yogurt and cheese, so we give her lots of these. Eating can be hit and miss. One day she'll eat something, the next day she'll spit out the same exact thing! Toddlers!
-Still a big, healthy girl. I haven't taken a weight or height lately, but her 18 month clothes are starting to get a little small! We'll be stocking up on 2 year clothes when we're in MN soon.
-Such a fun, sweet, happy little girl! Everyday her report from creche says 'Gemma was in great form today', meaning a great mood. We are so lucky to be the parents to such a wonderful little girl!
Some photos from the past month:
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-Practically running around the place! She loves to walk around, especially new places. The weekend before last we were at Paul's parent's house for a night, and I think all she did was walk around!
-Climbing up onto the couch in addition to the two chairs in our sitting room. She has learned to back down, so I'm not quite as nervous as when she was trying to dive head first off of the furniture!
-Saying 'hiya', 'bye bye', 'night night', 'car', 'daddy', 'mama', and 'more'. We also think she says a version of 'Sarah'- the main childcare provider in her room at creche and the name of one of the other little girls at creche.
-Putting clothes in the laundry hamper and garbage in the garbage can. Today she got a bit mixed up and promptly threw her hat and mittens in the garbage when we got back from a walk!
-Also putting the books we read before bed into the chair next to the one we sit in when reading. At first I would ask her to do it, then one night last week I came back into the sitting room from getting her dinner ready, and she had already put the books into the chair. We read certain ones, and she had picked the right ones!
-Loving Barney the dinosaur and Shrek. When she hasn't been feeling well with a cold, I let her watch a bit of them while we snuggle on the couch. She sat still and quiet for 40 minutes watching Shrek once! I hid the Barney DVD for awhile, but she found it yesterday and kept grunting at me with it and bouncing up and down until we watched it!
-Giving kisses with puckered lips now and continues to give great hugs. She's great at waving bye bye without being prompted as well.
-Still loving books. I think she spends more time with them than any toys she has. She's rediscovered a couple of box sets and loves taking the books out and putting them back in.
-Starting to cuddle and give hugs to her stuffed animals. Paul brought her a little Scottie Dog from Scotland a few weeks ago that she especially likes.
-Likes songs and dancing. A favourite is 'If You're Happy and You Know It'.
-Down to just one bottle a day at bedtime. She's still not great at taking milk out of a cup, but she loves yogurt and cheese, so we give her lots of these. Eating can be hit and miss. One day she'll eat something, the next day she'll spit out the same exact thing! Toddlers!
-Still a big, healthy girl. I haven't taken a weight or height lately, but her 18 month clothes are starting to get a little small! We'll be stocking up on 2 year clothes when we're in MN soon.
-Such a fun, sweet, happy little girl! Everyday her report from creche says 'Gemma was in great form today', meaning a great mood. We are so lucky to be the parents to such a wonderful little girl!
Some photos from the past month:
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Thursday, October 31, 2013
Monday, October 14, 2013
Happy Birthday, Paul!
Today is Paul's birthday! We celebrated early and blew out the candles on the cake last night.
What a difference a year makes, although Paul is wearing the same sweater!
Wishing a very happy birthday to a wonderful husband and daddy!
What a difference a year makes, although Paul is wearing the same sweater!
Wishing a very happy birthday to a wonderful husband and daddy!
14 Months!
This isn't the best photo of Gemma and her lion, but it was the best one I could get this past Thursday, when Gemma turned 14 months old! She was tired after a day at creche, plus has a bit of a cold (again!), so we'll take what we can get! Gemma is becoming more of a toddler everyday. At 14 months, Gemma:
-Has taken her first steps on her own! It happened on September 26th when we were at Paul's parent's house in Louisburgh. Gran had gotten her a little plastic chair of her own, and she kept standing in front of it and lifting it up. One day she picked it up and took a few steps holding it up in the air. She didn't do any steps on her own again for about 2 weeks, but this past Thursday she took some in creche and again at home. Over the weekend she has been doing more steps more often. She loves walking holding hands and especially liked walking up and down the driveway at Paul's parent's house.
-Continues to love books! Most days she pulls all of them off of the shelf, looks at them herself, and brings them to us to read. She also likes looking at our books too and always seems to choose 'The Firm' by John Grisham off our shelves.
-Last weekend when I was reading to Gemma out of one of her nursery rhymes books, I started reading 'Row, Row, Row Your Boat'. Gemma grabbed my hands and started 'rowing'. She also clapped my hands when we got to 'Baa Baa Black Sheep'. I asked in creche, and they sing both of those rhymes there. Gemma loves them, and will start to 'row' or clap our hands when she wants us to sing them.
-Gemma has started to hide behind Paul and me if we're sitting down on the floor with her, an will peek around to find us. She also likes to climb on us from behind.
-She wants to help open doors and turn light switches off and on now. She is so tall that I don't think it will be that long until she can reach the door handles herself!
-On October 1st, I weighed Gemma at 28 pounds, 12 ounces. That's above the 95th percentile. We haven't been able to get her to stay still enough to measure her height, but over the weekend she was with our neighbour boy, who is about a year older than Gemma, and Gemma was about two inches taller! She is wearing 18 month and 18-24 month clothes.
-Gemma expanded her food horizons a bit while in Louisburgh with Paul's family- she tried and liked fish fingers and chicken curry. And, she continues to want everything we're eating! She won't drink milk out of her sippy cup yet, but we keep trying!
-She continues to enjoy creche and has started napping a bit longer there.
-Gemma may be getting close to transitioning to one nap per day, as that is all she does at creche, and sometimes at home she has taken a LONG time to finally fall asleep for her second nap and doesn't sleep that long.
-Overall Gemma is a very happy little girl, but she has started to have the occasional tantrum- mostly if she's tired or frustrated by something. She definitely has an independent streak!
-Gemma's hugs and kisses are the best! We love her so much and are so blessed to be her parents!
Photos from the past month:
Standing up!
Love my books!
Reading in my chair at Gran and Grandad's
Walking with Gran and Daddy
Playing the piano at Gran and Grandad's
Shocked by the ending of 'The Firm'!
Helping Mommy with her clothes
Walking back to the car with Daddy after lunch in the Tea Rooms in Lucan
More books!
And one of Mommy and Daddy at the wedding they went to on September 27th
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