October brings new challenges...

Here is Gemma with her Auntie Toni in a park in Trier. All Gemma wants to do when she is outside is stare at trees. She is mesmorized by them! If she is ever fussy when we are outside, it is easily remedied by pointing out some trees for her to look at.

This month has been a challenging one for us. I was playing volleyball the night that my mom left and I had Gemma with me at the gym in her pack-n-play. When I bent over to pick her up, I felt my knee pop (my good knee) and I couldn't straighten it out. After having an MRI, we discovered that I had torn my meniscus and my ACL. I had surgery this past Saturday. This was my 11th knee surgery so needless to say - I am beyond frustrated! Poor Gemma and Ben are the ones who are suffering the most from all this. We have worked out a fairly good system that is working for us until tomorrow when Ben's mom arrives to help out. I have some great friends that have been making meals for us and helping out. I have also tied a couple of scarfs together and attached them around Gemma's bouncy chair. When I need to carry Gemma around, I just put her in her chair and drag her behind me in our makeshift sled! It's actually pretty funny but it works well. Gemma thinks it's a game and smiles lots so that makes it fun. During the surgery, the Dr. discovered that my ACL did not need repairing after all, so it was just the meniscus that needed fixing which makes for a much easier recovery. So that is what has been going on with us!

Gemma is getting so big so fast! She is cooing all the time now and rolls over when she is tired of being on her tummy. She is figuring out how to grab onto toys and once she grabs onto them, they head straight for her mouth. (She hasn't quite figured this part out yet, she usually just smashes the toy into her cheek with her mouth wide open!)

She sits up well when she is being helped and she is also blowing lots of spit bubbles which keeps Samson entertained!