Last week Ruby and I went to a splash park that is hidden away in a nearby residential area. There were only a few kids there that day so it was nice way to cool off in the 100 degree heat!
1 month ago
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Cooling off at the Splash Park
Last week Ruby and I went to a splash park that is hidden away in a nearby residential area. There were only a few kids there that day so it was nice way to cool off in the 100 degree heat!
Balloon at Central Market
We love Central Market. Ruby and I went there to pick up a few things last week. The nice people give balloons to all the kiddos. Ruby is so cute - she points at the balloons and says 'buuh buuhhh' and gets so excited!
Morning at the Dallas Farmers Market
Alex, Ruby and I recently took a trip to the Dallas Farmers market. Ruby got to chase the pigeons.
She wore her raspberry outfit for the occasion. She oohed and ahhed over all of the colorful fruits and veggies (she loves fruit!!!)
This time of year is a good time to visit because there are amazing peaches from East Texas.
Here are our purchases: Herbs de Provence, fig preserves, figs, a mango, garlic, onion, tomatoes and peaches!
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Remember to stop and smell the roses
When we see flowers at the store I always show Ruby how pretty they are and we smell them.
Last week I found some of these growing on the side of the road so I stopped and picked a handful. While I was doing that another mom and her daughter stopped to do the same, saying what a nice idea it was. When I brought the flowers home and put them in a vase I showed them to Ruby and unprompted she leaned over to smell them. How cute!
Afternoon at the Children's museum
My friend Melissa invited Ruby and me to join them at the Fort Worth Science museum to check out the children's section there.
Ruby and her friend Jack (who is about 2 months younger than she is) got to take care of the babies in the pretend hospital.
They also got to go grocery shopping. Ruby loved pushing the cart around and grabbing random play food off the shelves.
On the way out we stopped in the gift shop and they had a big container full of polished stones. Ruby had a ball digging her hands in the rocks, picking them up, moving them around. She must have spent a full 10 minutes just playing with them!
Morning stroll in the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens
Fort Worth has so many fun places to visit - museums, gardens, the zoo. Last week Ruby and I braved the 90 degree temps to have a morning stroll in the Japanese portion of the botanic gardens. The last time we went was fall when the leaves were changing. It really looks so lush and green now.
They have lots of koi fish...Ruby got so excited!
She got to get really close (you can't see but I was holding onto her arm so she wouldn't dive in!)
Everywhere we go people comment on how tall Ruby is. Now that she is walking and upright it is much easier to see her long legs!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Ruby is now 14 months old!
Ruby is now 14 months old…
Her eyes are still blue. She is still quite bald, but we are seeing some hair coming through. I wish it would come in so that we can avoid questions from kids who ask me, ‘is it a boy or a girl?’ (even though she is dressed in a full on pink outfit!). I’m jokingly telling our friends who are taking their kids for their first haircuts that Ruby is accepting hair donations for a wig! Anyways, Ruby’s hair currently appears to be light brown (much lighter than the dark shade it was when she was born). I look forward to pigtails and braids, bows and ribbons. I’m taking a tutu and bow making class with a friend starting in August.
We get numerous comments on how expressive Ruby is and her range of expressions. This can be good and bad I guess! We still see quite a bit of ‘stink face’ and the ‘are you crazy?’ looks. I attribute this in large part to the funny faces and sounds that both Alex and I make while playing with her. He gets to spend a lot of time with her since he is working from home.
Ruby is developing a sweet personality. She gives us hugs and hugs her babies. In the last week or so she has started blowing kisses which is just so cute. And, sometimes she will just spontaneously kiss Alex – she loves her daddy!
Alex has also taught Ruby how to dance in her highchair and when she hears music from some of her toys.
Ruby is now sleeping through the night again. After dinner we give her a bath (in the kitchen sink still!), then her milk and then put her in her crib awake and she is usually asleep by 7:30. She sleeps until around 7 am. I finally feel like Alex and can have a normal evening again, sometimes enjoying a nice dinner in peace!
We have now also mastered the afternoon nap. I give Ruby her lunch, then some milk and put her into her crib awake. She might talk to her babies for a while, but eventually she falls asleep. Usually for a 2 hour nap, but the other day she slept for 3 hours! It is so nice because I can now relax, maybe do a bit of cleaning, eat some lunch and just have a mental break! For months I had to drive her around to lull her to sleep, so this is a big deal for us!!!
She has lots of teeth. And she loves to eat most everything we give her. Some of her favorites include hummus sandwiches, avocado, cooked chopped spinach, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, peas, garlic zucchini, MEAT (of all kinds!), tex mex rice and beans, graham crackers, pasta, and cheese. The other day we gave her some lasagna and she was dancing in her high chair she loved it so much.
She is taking lots of steps and should be fully walking any day now. I think she will be able to enjoy playdates and outings so much more!
She babbles a lot and is really making an effort to say the words of things she points to. For example, she says ‘ba’ to balloons, balls and blueberries, ‘baby’ when she sees her babies and real babies, something like ‘ddduck’ she sees a duck, and the ‘sshh’ sound when she sees a fish or shoes. She likes to play peekaboo and says something that sounds like pip..boo. She still says ee-iii-ee—ii—oo, and loves to meow.
Temper tantrums have started. They are actually kind of funny. Usually they are triggered by me removing something from her hands or keeping her from being somewhere she shouldn’t be. From sitting she throws her head back, thus hitting her head onto the floor, and then crying. She always looks around to make sure I noticed the drama. What is funny is that the speed at which she throws her head back is determined by what kind of surface she is on. If it is the wood or tile, it is a more slow and drawn out lay back, whereas if it is carpet it is a more quick throw back. I’ve just started ignoring her and within a minute she is back to her cheerful self. Ruby is also becoming quite vocal about getting something she wants…waving her arms and hands and whining. Ugh.
She still loves books, especially ones with flaps. Unfortunately, sometimes she gets too excited and tears the flaps off the books. She can now point out some things in books when I ask her to ‘show me the ladybug’ or ‘show me the cow.’ We go to storytime at two libraries and learn lots of songs. In fact, I picked up one song and sing it to her when she goes to sleep ‘Good night Ruby, night night Ruby. Night night Ruby, so glad you came to play.’
We’ve been going swimming a few times a week. I feel so fortunate that we have a complex of pools in our neighbourhood, especially with the Texas temps reaching nearly 100 everyday!
We’ve hosted and been to lots of playdates at friends’ houses so Ruby gets to see her buds frequently! I try to plan fun outings for us. Recently, we’ve been to pick strawberries and peaches, seen a clown show, gone to the pet store a few times to see the cats for adoption, and to Cabela’s to see the numerous fish swimming in the tanks.
Some of her favourite toys are her new play food (especially the peas!) and kitchen, stacking cups, her special kitty cat (which we have nicknamed Smelly cat…from Phoebe on Friends singing smelly cat), playing with her water table outside, the busy ball popper that Sabrina gave her for her birthday, knocking over the wooden blocks with pictures on them, my Russian nesting dolls, my old hot wheels cars, and her bus that sings wheels on the bus. She also enjoys climbing the steps and taking things out of drawers and cabinets.
I finally feel like I am getting the hang of this…It is a whole new world now that Ruby is more mobile, expressing herself, sleeping better, eating what we eat, being less tied to a schedule. I’m really enjoying this stage!
Her eyes are still blue. She is still quite bald, but we are seeing some hair coming through. I wish it would come in so that we can avoid questions from kids who ask me, ‘is it a boy or a girl?’ (even though she is dressed in a full on pink outfit!). I’m jokingly telling our friends who are taking their kids for their first haircuts that Ruby is accepting hair donations for a wig! Anyways, Ruby’s hair currently appears to be light brown (much lighter than the dark shade it was when she was born). I look forward to pigtails and braids, bows and ribbons. I’m taking a tutu and bow making class with a friend starting in August.
We get numerous comments on how expressive Ruby is and her range of expressions. This can be good and bad I guess! We still see quite a bit of ‘stink face’ and the ‘are you crazy?’ looks. I attribute this in large part to the funny faces and sounds that both Alex and I make while playing with her. He gets to spend a lot of time with her since he is working from home.
Ruby is developing a sweet personality. She gives us hugs and hugs her babies. In the last week or so she has started blowing kisses which is just so cute. And, sometimes she will just spontaneously kiss Alex – she loves her daddy!
Alex has also taught Ruby how to dance in her highchair and when she hears music from some of her toys.
Ruby is now sleeping through the night again. After dinner we give her a bath (in the kitchen sink still!), then her milk and then put her in her crib awake and she is usually asleep by 7:30. She sleeps until around 7 am. I finally feel like Alex and can have a normal evening again, sometimes enjoying a nice dinner in peace!
We have now also mastered the afternoon nap. I give Ruby her lunch, then some milk and put her into her crib awake. She might talk to her babies for a while, but eventually she falls asleep. Usually for a 2 hour nap, but the other day she slept for 3 hours! It is so nice because I can now relax, maybe do a bit of cleaning, eat some lunch and just have a mental break! For months I had to drive her around to lull her to sleep, so this is a big deal for us!!!
She has lots of teeth. And she loves to eat most everything we give her. Some of her favorites include hummus sandwiches, avocado, cooked chopped spinach, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, peas, garlic zucchini, MEAT (of all kinds!), tex mex rice and beans, graham crackers, pasta, and cheese. The other day we gave her some lasagna and she was dancing in her high chair she loved it so much.
She is taking lots of steps and should be fully walking any day now. I think she will be able to enjoy playdates and outings so much more!
She babbles a lot and is really making an effort to say the words of things she points to. For example, she says ‘ba’ to balloons, balls and blueberries, ‘baby’ when she sees her babies and real babies, something like ‘ddduck’ she sees a duck, and the ‘sshh’ sound when she sees a fish or shoes. She likes to play peekaboo and says something that sounds like pip..boo. She still says ee-iii-ee—ii—oo, and loves to meow.
Temper tantrums have started. They are actually kind of funny. Usually they are triggered by me removing something from her hands or keeping her from being somewhere she shouldn’t be. From sitting she throws her head back, thus hitting her head onto the floor, and then crying. She always looks around to make sure I noticed the drama. What is funny is that the speed at which she throws her head back is determined by what kind of surface she is on. If it is the wood or tile, it is a more slow and drawn out lay back, whereas if it is carpet it is a more quick throw back. I’ve just started ignoring her and within a minute she is back to her cheerful self. Ruby is also becoming quite vocal about getting something she wants…waving her arms and hands and whining. Ugh.
She still loves books, especially ones with flaps. Unfortunately, sometimes she gets too excited and tears the flaps off the books. She can now point out some things in books when I ask her to ‘show me the ladybug’ or ‘show me the cow.’ We go to storytime at two libraries and learn lots of songs. In fact, I picked up one song and sing it to her when she goes to sleep ‘Good night Ruby, night night Ruby. Night night Ruby, so glad you came to play.’
We’ve been going swimming a few times a week. I feel so fortunate that we have a complex of pools in our neighbourhood, especially with the Texas temps reaching nearly 100 everyday!
We’ve hosted and been to lots of playdates at friends’ houses so Ruby gets to see her buds frequently! I try to plan fun outings for us. Recently, we’ve been to pick strawberries and peaches, seen a clown show, gone to the pet store a few times to see the cats for adoption, and to Cabela’s to see the numerous fish swimming in the tanks.
Some of her favourite toys are her new play food (especially the peas!) and kitchen, stacking cups, her special kitty cat (which we have nicknamed Smelly cat…from Phoebe on Friends singing smelly cat), playing with her water table outside, the busy ball popper that Sabrina gave her for her birthday, knocking over the wooden blocks with pictures on them, my Russian nesting dolls, my old hot wheels cars, and her bus that sings wheels on the bus. She also enjoys climbing the steps and taking things out of drawers and cabinets.
I finally feel like I am getting the hang of this…It is a whole new world now that Ruby is more mobile, expressing herself, sleeping better, eating what we eat, being less tied to a schedule. I’m really enjoying this stage!
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