Going on Walks

Does walking with my little one in a front carrier count as weight-bearing exercise?

I hope so, because I love it.  We try to go on walks every week day.  This week, especially, has been beautiful outside.

I sing as we walk, and Gemma makes the motor boat sound.  We say hello to the birdies, the ducks and the geese.  We stop to touch the tree trunks and the bushes.  And I talk to my little one,

"Do you hear the birdies, Gemma?  They're singing praises to God.  He made them to sing praises to Him, and He made us to sing praises to Him, too.  They can praise Him perfectly, because they have bird-natures.  We can't praise Him perfectly, because we have sinful natures.  Once, there were people who could praise Him perfectly.  Our first parents were like that.  They were made in the image of God, and we have God's image, too.  But they chose to sin, and now we are all sinners.  That's why we must trust in Jesus with all our hearts.  He is the only one who can take away our sins.  There's nothing we can do ourselves."

The sentences are choppy because I'm speaking as I walk.

"One day, we will live with Jesus in heaven, and it will be so beautiful.  And, then, one day, Jesus will reign on the earth and everything will be perfect and happy.  We will be able to praise Him perfectly."

*pause.* This is only half of the story.


"But if we don't trust in Jesus, we shall be apart from Him forever.  There will be nothing but endless death.  We are full of sin, and the Bible says that the wages of sin is death.  That place will be dark, and full of torment, and full of suffering.  It's very, very scary, and it's very, very real.

"That's hard to imagine, because the world seems beautiful now.  It's beautiful now because God is giving us sinners a chance to repent."

I know she doesn't understand all the words.  But she lays her head on my chest and I hug her tight and pray for her little soul . . .

15 Months Old

Our almost-toddling little one is getting so big! 

I've long since abandoned the motherly foolish notion that my child should be ahead of the game in every respect.  In her gross motor skills, Gemma simply takes after me.  :)  I didn't walk until 15 months, and Gemma also hasn't walked yet . . . but she's very close!

Over the past several months of no updates, she's made steady progress.  She finally started climbing on things at 11 months, doing a true "cruise" crawl on her knees around her first birthday, and started standing more often and pulling herself up shortly thereafter.  At some point, when I set her on the ground, her feet started coming down first instead of her bum, and now she'll happily walk holding onto a support or a person with her hands, and sometimes even with only one hand.
 

When we were in Florida a couple of weeks ago, I happened to catch her first independent stand on camera!  We were so excited!

Gemma has been climbing stairs for months now, but now she's also excitedly learning how to come down them backward on her tummy.  She would practice this to no end if I let her!

Cognitively, she is seeming more and more like a toddler, too.  It seems as if overnight a switch went off and she suddenly figured out her straw cup.  Before that, she could use an ordinary straw or I would help her take sips from a regular cup, but both required some Mommy-participation.  Now, she's an independent little drinker, and she likes to go around the nursery at church and see how many different children's cups she can try!  Thankfully, she has a very cute habit of saying "num num num" whenever she eats or drinks something especially yummy, so she's easy to catch when she starts pilfering drinks!  

She is also learning her body parts, and will point out nose and ears on herself or on Mommy and Daddy when she feels like it.  She also points to eyes, mouth, etc., but the nose and ears are the ones she most often knows when we ask her.  :)  If she finds one of her shoes, she taps it against her foot.  When we hold out the sleeve to her jacket, she pokes her arm in.  If she pulls her bow out of her hair, she inspects it and then taps it against her head.  Very fun.  :)

It's also very sweet how responsive she is becoming.  If I hold out my hand to her before we pray over our food, she takes my hand in hers.  Sometimes when I'm nursing her before bed at night, she starts to wiggle and try to get down, but if I tell her, "No, Gemma, it's time to rest," she latches back on and tries to go to sleep.  She's learning to come when we call her and to be quiet for brief prayers, and she's very good at "no touch" and usually pretty good at "no chew."  Some of these have required some "battles," as John calls them, but I think even she realizes how great it is to be able to play with something we wouldn't otherwise let her have now that she has the self control not to chew it if she shouldn't.

As far as speaking goes, Gemma still mostly babbles.  She says "da" for "down" and "dis" and "dat" to point out things she's curious about.  And we hear a lot of "dada" and some "toy," but the rest seems to be babble lately!

As the months go by, John and I often turn to each other and say, "She's at that sweet spot now where she sleeps at night but doesn't run everywhere yet . . . " Our definition of what the "sweet spot" is keeps changing and I think we're realizing that every stage of this little one's life is simply a delight.  I could just eat her up with kisses.  We are so thankful for her!

A Family Valentine's

 So, a couple of weeks ago was Valentine's Day.  :) There was much celebration on Cottage Lane.

Gemma had fun finger-painting on some white Valentine's I'd cut out of cardstock with pretty scissors.  (And, yes, it was homemade finger paint!  I used a recipe from my babysitter class days very similar to the cornstarch version here!)

She looked pretty cute in her smock, too . . . which was really an old t-shirt of mine from college.  10 points to anyone who remembers what organization it was from . . . 

Since Gemma was already having two babysitters that week, we decided to take her with us for our special dinner out.  She was so good and charmed many.  :)

(I think it helped that we brought along her favorite book!)

For John's Valentine this year, I made him a version of the card book popularly seen on Pinterest!

Source: papervinenz.blogspot.com via Gretchen on Pinterest

And he gave me this sunny yellow orchid!

 Gemma got a new hair bow which I made from some scraps of burgundy taffeta.

We tried to get a nice picture at the restaurant . . . 

. . . but it was hard!

So, fittingly--because we all love each other!--it was very much a family holiday this year, at least until the baby went to bed. :)  (Here and here are some memories from last year and here are some from the year before.)  :)

Winter Knitting

In this part of the country, winter is quickly passing by.  :)  Still, I wanted to share with you all the few things I did knit for this winter.  The pictures aren't tops, but the people in them are. :)

I did end up making Gemma's very own pixie hat! It was from the same pattern I used last September and it came out beautifully.  Since I couldn't find any wool in a weight and color I liked, I ended up buying a skein of Paton's classic wool in plain ivory and dyeing it with grape Kool Aid.  :)  I followed directions found here, and it was a pretty fun process . . . which I did document with photos and intend to tell you about, but those photos are all gone along with our original computer. . . 

These photos are from January, when we visited one of my dearest friends and former roommate, Sarah, along with her husband Logan in the Boston area.  What a sweet day that was.  :)

I loved this baby sweater pattern which I found through ravelry, and knit it up for Gemma in Paton's Classic Wool, as well.  Since she was nine months old at the time, I chose the 18 months size and assumed that the fit would be fine . . . oops!  I think the cotton recommended must be much heavier than the wool I was using, because my first sweater came out newborn-size.  I'm a pretty average knitter, but I think I learned my lesson to check the gauge in a new pattern from now on!

I ended up knitting up a little beanie to go with it and giving it to the precious newborn of a family at church.  The baby hat pattern was the same one I used for the little hat Gemma lived in for the first three months of her life in this big, wide world!

For sweater attempt number 2, I switched to size 10 needles and Paton's Roving in the same color as the first sweater, and it's a much better fit!  I'm now using the rest of the roving to felt some dryer balls!  They're halfway done.  

Yes, Gemma figured out that music comes out of the ear buds.  John was pretty excited to teach her that.  :)  

And, I actually have NOTHING on the needles at the moment, which feels a little strange!  But I have been doing some other sewing and crafting projects lately, so perhaps I'll tell you about some of them, too!  It's nice to be back here.  :)

In other news . . .

I haven't been blogging because someone stole my computer.  Yes, I am quite serious! In fact, the same someone also stole my camera, my jewelry, my hair-cutting kit, my car (we got it back), our stash of Cap'n Crunch, and a slew of other things.

It's been over a month since the robbery, so it hasn't always been this easy to joke about it.  The news brought with it a slew of emotions from resignation--it's just "things"--to defilement to fear.  But the Holy Spirit comforted my heart by bringing these verses to mind in the early days:

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:19-21

and

"For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."  2 Corinthians 5:1

and

"Then He said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed ; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions." Luke 12:15

The house is cleaned up, insurance is coming in handy, and our naivete has been given a harsh check. We have a new security system, and we are taking more precautions in general.  We're blessed in that our thief was caught and is getting tried. But, more than trusting in the justice system, there's one more verse to rest in, and it's the one I painted on Gemma's wall:

"In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You alone, O LORD, make me to dwell in safety." Psalm 4:8