It has been a very fun Christmas season for Ruby. The majority of our Christmas photos are in 2007 Adventures but these are a few of just Ruby over the past month or so. We've had a couple of snowfalls here so Ruby's had lots of fun outside exploring in the white stuff. Outside of "mama" and "papa" which she's been saying for quite a while, her first word was backpack. Hilarious. She often says "back" but she blurted out the whole word the other day twice (but hasn't done it since). She also says "un" or "nun" for sun.
Ruby is 16 months old as I type this. WOW...time really does fly. Ruby's degree of curiosity and desire to learn has gone to new heights in the past couple of weeks. She's still not really saying much but she's starting to mimic sounds more and more and is starting to attempt some animal sounds...monkey, cat, elephant. She points at ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING...over and over again :) You can really see her sense of humour emerging and she's really quick to laugh. She loves her backpack and will run over and point to it if she hears the word "walk" in a conversation.
Trick or Treat Warm Up
Skunk & Chicken go Trick or Treating
Ruby's really into the swing of things at daycare now. She absolutely loves hanging out with Kristina and Taya! Ruby's really starting to understand more and more. She knows most of her body parts and she continues to LOVE to read books. She can understand all sorts of things so we tend to put her to work, having her help clean up her toys, go get her shoes, take things to mommy and daddy. She's quite handy really! She loves to give kisses and is slowly figuring out how to give a hug. She also loves to climb on and roll around with cushions and blankets. We've started setting up little tunnels with the couch cushions and she absolutely gets a kick out of burrowing her way around. She may be part rodent.
It was a fun second half of the summer. We took advantage of Nicole's last few weeks before heading back to work spending tonnes of time outside, at the water park, in the yard, etc. Ruby started to walk at the end of August and she's now a full on walking machine. There have been lots of spills and a couple of goose eggs on her poor little head but she's loving being able to move around. She gets so excited and tries to run and this is when the wipe outs usually happen. Ruby started daycare in early August. We were lucky enough to have one of Nicole's friends agree to take on Ruby full time. Kristina has a little girl, Taya, who is about a month older than Ruby so they already knew each other really well and they seem to be getting along famously. There are three kids in total so it's a great set up and Ruby seems to be really loving it. It has definitely been a tougher transition for Nicole than for Ruby :)
Ruby the Copy-cat
Ruby's New Dance Move
It's summertime in Steveston so we've had lots of water/pool time in the past few weeks. A great new waterpark opened up in the village so Ruby and her friends have been hanging out there quite a bit. We've also had both Ruby and Java's pools going in the front yard providing lots of entertainment for the neighbours. As of early June, Ruby has become officially mobile. She started by dragging herself around on her belly but has evolved into a full crawl and man, is she ever fast! She's also now able to pull herself up into a standing position if she has something to hold on to. Some of her new found favourite spots in the house are the dog's water dish, the dishwasher and fridge (when they're open), and inevitably climbing up mom and dad's legs while they're busy in the kitchen. Some of the photos included here are from our recent vacation. More photos and the full description of the trip is in 2007 Adventures.
VIDEOS
Strawberry Massacre
Ruby Crawling
Up Close & Personal
Ruby the Dog
Waking Up
Organizing
Ruby Standing
Ruby Dancing!
It's hard to believe Ruby turned 10 months last week. She's starting to think about crawling - she's rolls like crazy and is starting to stick her butt in the air and can even pull herself along the floor a bit. Her new love of being on her belly has made changing her diaper a two person event involving numerous wrestling moves and pinning techniques. Ruby has taken her love of eating to Olympic levels. She is eating like a machine these days. She absolutely loves feeding herself with her hands so we try and give her lots of food that she can pick up herself. New items on the menu include cottage cheese, hummus, salmon, chicken, brocolli, cauliflour, asparagus, noodles, mango...the list goes on. She LOVES books. Everytime we bring out a book to read, she flaps her arms like she's trying to fly away and it's just as exciting with every turn of the page. Now that the weather is getting nicer, we go to the baby swings at the park in the village and Ruby thoroughly enjoys the ride (and watching all the other kids in the park). Oh, and the waving I mentioned last update...she doesn't do that anymore :)
The Giggler - The Sequel
Ruby Snoozing
Playtime
Special Delivery
Bathtime
April has been a pretty exciting and sometimes painful month for Ruby. She has 4 top teeth coming in at the same time so she had a week where she was NOT a happy camper. The painful part seems to have passed now and she's back to her cheery self. Food is a big part of our days it seems, and Ruby continues to try new things. She now eats yogurt and little chunks of cheese. Cheerios are a big hit and she's slowly getting better at putting them in her mouth (versus the side of her cheek or in her ear!). Chicken had disasterous, if not entertaining results (imagine chicken being sprayed EVERYWHERE). She's definitely NOT a fan of the chicken so far but we'll keep trying. Ruby loves to turn the pages in her books now and she just started to wave a couple of weeks ago. We also think she's TRYING to say Java but it comes out as a mix of Haba, Abba, etc. Since cheese has been introduced to Ruby's diet, Java has decided she can stay :)
Easter Bunnies
It's hard to believe that Ruby turned 8 months a couple of weeks ago. After lots of nights with really red cheeks, Ruby cut her first two teeth in early March (the bottom two at the front). She's started to "make strange" with people she doesn't know but not on a consistent basis. We're continuing to introduce all sorts of fruits and veggies and for the most part Ruby seems to like them all (peas didn't go over terribly well but I think it's more the texture of them). She now eats yams, squash, sweet potato, carrots, peas (sort of), pear, banana, avacado and apple. Java is usually the lucky recipient of any uneaten baby food so her love for Ruby is slowly growing :)
The Giggler
Most of these pics are just from around the house and neighbourhood...swimming, eating, relaxing, going for walks (mom and dad walking, not Ruby!). Ruby is starting to sit really well but still needs support so she doesn't fall backwards. She definitely prefers to be vertical. She loves trying to stand up and she loves to be hung upside down! We're into reading lots of books these days and the jolly jumper is still king. We've discovered that Ruby is VERY ticklish all along her ribs and under her arms. This has provided ammunition for just a silly amount of entertainment, laughing and giggling.
Swimming #1
Swimming #2
Swimming #3
Swimming #4
Swimming #5
January's been a really fun month with Ruby. She started swimming lessons...we use the term "lessons" loosely as it's mostly just her getting used to being in the water. She also started to eat solid food...we'll also use the term "eat" loosely as most of the cereal ends up on her face, in her hands, in her hair, or a bit on her bib. It's very fun and we can't wait to keep introducing new foods. Ruby's also laughing and smiling lots now and she is completely fascinated by Java. Java's incredibly gentle with her and has already learned that the best place to lay is directly underneath her high chair. We have no doubt they'll become great friends.
Ruby Clean-up
Ruby Close-up
