Gemma is 18months old!

I was going for the quintessential pic on the grey chair against the cream wall like the ones from our 12 month photo series but Gemma just wasn't into it. She wanted to run around and play with her Duplo instead. Can you blame her?

I did get her to sit on the grey chair but only if she could hold the remote.

This is definitely an outtake. 

 This one too.

Oh no she's really mad at me now. 

Quick do something. Let her stand on the ottoman! 

 I changed her outfit thinking maybe jeans and sweats might help the situation. 

 Nope! No sitting for anyone!

 Must Dance in moccasins!

A few of Gemma's favourite things: Colouring with her crayons. Or basically making me sit down and colour for her. I love it! Being the Boss er I mean Mom of her dollies. She likes changing their diapers and feeding them bottles and taking them on walks in their stroller. Music! She just loves everything musical. Especially the Wiggles. She's still a pretty good eater but will now clearly tell you NO if she doesn't want to eat something. Her favs are avocado, salmon, cucumbers and chickpeas.

She's talking a little more and has added a few words on top of No!No!No!. Some words she says fully like Help, Bye, Hi, Ball, Hat but others she makes up her own version. For instance when she says All done it sounds like ahhhhJUN. When she says bottle it sounds like baol. And when asking for More she does the sign and says Mo!Mo! Gosh she's cute. She's also showing signs of bilingualism. When we watch her french language learning videos and the little panda bear says Au Revoir she looks up and says, "Bye!"

We are entering the strange and scary world of discipline. Gemma is a powerhouse full of emotional force and to be honest I'm not sure what to do. I definitely tell her no when it's appropriate but I feel she needs even more rules and boundaries and I'm a little lost. Having said that last week was hard but even yesterday I felt like I got her emotions more and could help her better. All I want to do is take care of this baby girl the best way I can! Getting all Schmoopy Mommy I know I know!
 
Did I ever tell you that when our midwife first heard Gemma's heart rate she said it was so strong and fast and will most likely be a boy. I remember spending most of my pregnancy worried I would miscarry like in the past until an experience in one of our last Hypnobirthing classes. The Doula lead us into a meditation and asked us to take the place of the baby inside us. I did and Gemma yelled, "Mom I'm fine, I'm strong and you need to believe in me." It was so amazing! And so true! Gemma is the strongest woman I know. She is firey and bold and brilliant but also quiet and introspective.

But mostly she'd like you to know she won't take no for an answer. She a kinda "go back to the drawing board and sharpen your pencils boys" kinda a girl. With whom I am deeply in love.

If you're curious here's the other updates from her 12 month photo series:

1 Month
2 Months
3 Months
4 Months
5 Months
6 Months
7 Months
8 Months
9 Months
10 Months
11 Months
1 Year Old

Love and Hugs

Gemma is seven months old!

This month has been all about sleep! After a mini breakdown just before Easter I just couldn't do the every 1-2 hour night wakings. But I honestly didn't know what to do. I didn't want to let her cry it out but the no-cry solution wasn't working either. I begged Vince for help and he stepped up. He took the monitor and slept on the couch for 3 nights while he helped Gemma learn to sleep the hard way. He put her down in her crib awake and if she cried (of course she did) he went in to soothe her in intervals until she fell asleep on her own. The first night I balled and balled and she fell asleep in half and hour. The same the next night and the next. The fourth night she fell asleep in 15 mins and now it takes her maybe 2 mins?! But the best part is she is sleeping 11-12 hours a night with no feedings. If she does wake up in the night she fusses a bit but puts her self right back to sleep.

We are new women. She smiles all day and so do I! Now we are working on naps. That is harder but we have seen major progress there too. She hardly cries when it's time for her nap and falls asleep in 3 mins or less but she only stays alseep for 35-45 mins. :( The other thing is I'm having a hard time indentifying her sleepy signals. But it's all good, we're in it together me and Gem.

She's also getting better at drinking from a bottle. She takes an average of 3 full bottles a day now. I think she was refusing them before because she was so damn tired. She wanted my boobie for comfort. Now that's she's well rested she has the energy and enthusiasm to learn something new. It's wonderful!

Other than that she is now sitting up and has a total of 7 teeth. We're still doing Baby Lead Weaning and she is loving every minute of it. Dinner time is definitely her favourite.

A few of her other favourites are shaking her Bright Starts activity balls, pressing the buttons on her play smart phone and laughing at herself in the mirror.

And honestly there really isn't anything on her 'Not' list. She likes it all!

Love and Hugs

Is self care important to new Moms?

Remember that Times cover article intitled "Are you Mom enough?" Well even tough I never read it I understood it loud and clear. And after the first 3-4 months of Gemma's life I certainly wasn't feeling "Mom enough."
 As you know Gemma isn't a big sleeper and she also started teething early. (She has 7 teeth now at almost 7 months old) Of course I was and still am blissfully in love with her but taking care of her is another story. It's hard work and I was feeling pretty mad and guilty for not being able to do it all myself. But at the same time I was desperate for help. I started searching the internet late at night for anything and came along this article called, "A simple self-care contract for Mothers" on Babble.com. A bell went off. I asked Vince to come home earlier and stop going to the gym, I asked Mom and Dad to make the long drive to help on Wednesdays and Saturdays and finally I called these guys:

My neighbour was literally the Nurse Next Door. Her name is Victoria and when I was feeling over exhausted she was the first person I thought of. She came over the next day and we signed a contract for a nurse to come help with Gemma for 3 hours once a week.

And guess what? I got a massage and it felt damn good! Best thing I've ever done.

So I just want to know, am I the only exhausted Mom out there who couldn't hack it?

Love and Hugs