"Gemma running! Gemma jumping!"

"Gemma running! Gemma jumping!" These are currently two of Gemma's favorite 'sentences' right now at almost-20 months old. 

She loves being outside and being active. Last week she ran/walked a half mile at the YMCA track, all the while exclaiming, "Go! Go! Running! Gemma running!" (This did not require much encouragement by her mom; she seemed particularly motivated after observing a pre-school class doing games on the field and running a lap around the track.)

Some other favorite sayings right now of our little goofball:

• "Chase you!" i.e. 'Daddy, please chase me around the living room and tackle me.'
• "Watching! See you." i.e. 'Mommy, look at me climbing on the couch.'
• "Pray. Hands." She says this promptly at mealtime and holds out her hands, one for Dad, one for Mom. Twice in the past few days she has even said, "Pray. Jaja. Pa-kuh (Grandpa). Hands." so then we prayed for them, too. Isn't it amazing how the Spirit works through the heart and vocabulary of a toddler?
• "La, ti, ti." i.e. singing along to the Do-Re-Mi song from The Sound of Music.

Another notable explosion of language is her ability to remember names and recall recent events. She loves to list off the names of her cousins and her friends; her first made-up song goes like this: "Emma friend, Asher friend, Kenna friend, Joy friend...".

And at the end of each day before bed she likes to go through recent events and talk about them again: "Bunny; pets; Rachel" she will say to prompt me to recall how we went to the animal shelter with her friend Rachel. Or: "Band-aid; pinch; brush" to recall how she got a finger prick to test her iron level (at WIC), and then was rewarded with a new toothbrush. She will remember events from several weeks back, like "Asher; bagel" to describe Asher eating a bagel during our visit to Durham in mid-March, and repeat the words over and over until we realize what she is referring to.

Here are some pics of Gemma playing with her tunnel in the living room one night before bed. 

"Yes, Daddy, you want to take my photo?"

A few more shots of Duke University's beautiful campus

A beautiful Easter

It's a week later already...but we wanted to share a few Easter pictures (taken after church). We had lovely Easter weather - and a lovely little daughter who naturally didn't want to stay still for a photograph. So this is the best we've got: Gemma, our little fun-in-action!




After a tremendous lunch prepared by Jim (turkey tenderloin; sweet potatoes; roasted asparagus) and a nice nap, we enjoyed a walk on the Clear Creek Trail, a paved trail that meanders through the fields just outside of town. A neighbor arrived just after we did, so we walked together - 4 kids, 2 strollers, and a beautiful spring day. Towards the end of the walk, we ran into another neighbor family and stopped to talk. What a perfect way to spend a leisurely afternoon.

Warm days

...means lunch (and snacktime and even dinner) outside on our little patio! Quick, before the weather warms up too much and we roast out there. Gemma loves to eat her snacks while pointing at the birds and trees and imitating the loud call of the crows; then she gets down & walks around to look for bugs and dandelions (which she calls "daisies").

We're also seeing some beautiful blooms on our clematis already, and are in process of getting herbs and flowers in pots. Pansies, for one, as they will be able to handle the sun and heat on the patio. We had such a mild winter that the rosemary, lavender, oregano, thyme and mint all survived outside and are growing again! And this winter I didn't prune the clematis, and already it looks much healthier and full of blooms than it ever did all spring or summer during the last two years. Slowly we are learning a thing or two.