The Zoo!

This morning we took advantage of the beautiful autumn weather that we are having and went to the Dublin Zoo. We took Gemma there for the first time back in June, but she was coming down with an ear infection then, so she didn't have too much energy for it. She LOVED it today. As soon as we got there, she kept talking about the elephants, and when we left, she said her favourite were the giraffes. 

One of the tigers

Giraffes!

Zebras and giraffes

Rhino

Gorillas

Penguin

Elephants

Gemma Pics!

As I haven't shared any pictures of Gemma in over a month, I figured I better catch up!

Playing with her Aqua Doodle- a birthday gift!

Looking at the ducks in the river after dinner in Lucan village one Sunday evening. 

Chilling out in her tent- we only had it up for about 48 hours before it broke! 

Playing dress up!

Love these curls!

At a BBQ at Sean and Jean's

Pasta and strawberries for dinner!

Play Doh is a favourite!

Helping Mommy make dinner

Snuggling in the cot

She LOVES the playhouse at the toy store

Studying the Smyth's (toy store) winter catalogue!

Mediterranean Cruise

Paul and I were very lucky and took a 5 night Mediterranean cruise on Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas from September 13 to 18. Gemma went on her holidays to Granny and Grandad in Mayo, and we had a wonderful, relaxing vacation! 

We flew to Barcelona, Spain in the early morning on Saturday, September 13, walked around the city a bit, then boarded the ship around lunch time. We departed around 8pm that evening. The first day was a sea day, and on Monday morning, September 15, we awoke in Civitavecchia, Italy, which is the port of Rome. It is about an hour by train from Rome's city centre. We explored Rome on our own that day.  

On Tuesday, September 16, we found ourselves in Naples, Italy. We took one of the organized tours that day of Capri, Sorrento, and Pompeii. Capri is an amazing island with exclusive shops. Sorrento is a beautiful town along the Amalfi Coast, and Pompeii was destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. It was a full day, but it was wonderful! I would highly recommend visiting all three of these locations!

Wednesday, September 17 was another sea day, and in the early morning of Thursday, September 18, we arrived back in Barcelona. We flew back to Dublin that morning, eager to get back to see Gemma! I drove down to Louisburgh that afternoon to get her, and the two of us headed back to Dublin on Friday morning, September 19. It was a great vacation, but we were glad to be back to our little girl as well! 

Here are a few pics!

The market in Barcelona

Boarding the ship!

Our first beverage onboard!

Our First Sea Day

Not a bad view to wake up to!

A strategically positioned photo!

Roma!

Gelato the size of my head- yum!!!

St. Peter's Square

Capri

One of many designer shops- we saw Dior, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Dolce & Gabbana, and more!

Sorrento

Pompeii

Around the Ship

Mini golf- I won by 2 strokes!

The carousel on the boardwalk

In the Solarium- a quiet, adults only pool area- our favourite!

Giving the Zip Line a try!

Two!

Gemma turned two on Sunday! Where have the years gone? If I had to use one (non-superlative!) word to describe Gemma, it would be independent. A new favorite phrase is 'Gemma do it!' She wants to do everything herself and can get quite upset if she can't do something. But, don't even think about trying to help her! Gemma is also a sweet little girl- generous with hugs and kisses! Here's a summary of Gemma at TWO! 

- As I mentioned in a previous post, she is 1/4 of an inch shy of 3 feet tall, which puts her in the 90th percentile for height. When she went back to creche today, both of the main workers in her room thought she had grown so much in the week that we were away and were wondering what I was feeding her! I haven't checked her weight recently, but Paul and I both agree she's losing some of her baby belly!

- Gemma is chatting up a storm and repeats pretty much everything we say now. 'What's that?' is asked countless times per day. She also says 'I don't know' in a really cute way. When she really wants you to listen to her, she'll come right up to you and talk to you with her head tilted as far as she can to one side! It is so funny! And, if she's requesting something kind of special, she'll do that and whisper the request, usually 'Stickers?', 'Yogurt?', or 'Chips?'

- Gemma counts to 20

- She can recognise and name quite a few colours- red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, and black

- We're still waiting on the arrival of the 2 year molars!

- Gemma loves her time in bed! A lot of nights when we're putting her to bed, she doesn't even want stories or songs, she just says 'cot!' (which is what a crib is called here). And, after nap time and in the mornings, she doesn't want to come out of the cot, even though she's awake. She'll ask for her books, then lay and look at them! She averages 12 hours of sleep at night, going to bed between 7 and 7:30, and she takes a nap around 12:30, which usually lasts 1-2 hours. 

- Gemma got a dollhouse for her birthday, and she LOVES it! She also likes feeding and giving hugs to her 'baby', Barney the dinosaur, bubbles, kicking and throwing a ball, trains/cars/airplanes/motorbikes/tractors,making 'coffee' and 'tea' in her kitchen, stickers, Peppa Pig, and Sesame Street. 

- She continues to clap and cheer and say 'yay Liffey Valley' when we turn into the carpark of our nearest shopping centre. 

- Gemma still loves her books and reading. For her birthday, she got Richard Scarry's Best Storybook Ever from Auntie Margo and Freya. It's a huge book filled with tons of stories and pictures. I had the same book and spent hours reading it when I was around her age, so it's been great to read it together. 

- Singing and dancing are favourites too. 'Mr. Sun', 'The Wheels on the Bus', 'Baa Baa Black Sheep', 'I Love You' (the Barney song), 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star', 'Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes', 'Itsy Bitsy Spider', and 'If You're Happy and You Know It' are most of the songs in her repertoire. 

- When she gets upset, she sometimes hits out at us, but more often than not, she'll say sorry right away, then lean in and give a hug and kiss. Unfortunately it may be more of a game for her at this stage!

Gemma makes us laugh and brings us so much joy (even with the occasional tantrum)!  Happy 2nd birthday our dear girl! 

Most of the pics from the month have been covered in all of the other recent posts, but here's a few more. 

There is a train at Liffey Valley shopping centre that runs from one end of the centre to the other and back. Here's Gemma the first time we took her on it, waving to everyone!

Barney! 

On one of the warmest days of the summer, she insisted on putting this on over her clothes after her nap one afternoon. 

Reading in the cot

Another ride on the train at Liffey Valley!

Giving a hug to the big ice cream cone outside the shop in Louisburgh!