Ruby's first Christmas in Fernie was a fun one. Between the decorating, the presents and the Christmas treats, Ruby's VERY on board with going to Fernie as much as possible. I'm sure there will be a bit of disappointment when she realizes that Fernie isn't quite like that ALL the time :) Her kitchen, her moon and stars planet for her bedroom and Elmo were probably the biggest hits over the holidays. Her other focus for the holidays revolved around mastering the art of acting like a turd. Ruby's definitely starting to want to exert more of her independence and it's shining through in some really charming behaviour. I'll say it again...It's a good thing she's cute! Her vocabulary continues to grow by the day and she asks lots and lots of questions. She's incredibly ovservant and super curious...she's just a little sponge!
VIDEOS
(added Jan 6, 2009)
(added Jan 6, 2009)
Life is nothing but fun when you're two! Ruby continues to absolutely love going to daycare. We can't believe how lucky we've gotten twice, first with Kristina and now with Gwen! We might have to rent a larger home to have the space to hang up all of the crafts that Ruby brings home on a daily basis. Quite frankly, I wish that I went to Ladybug Daycare! Ruby's love of the kitchen is persisting and she's particularly enjoying baking with mom, especially when it involves chocolate chips or licking the spoon! We spent Thanksgiving in Kelowna (more pics in 2008 adventures) and Ruby quite enjoyed her first taste of picking apples (literally...she pretty much took a bite out of every apple she picked!). We also have a cure for anyone who is trying to break their kid of the TV habit...buy a 72 inch TV. Ruby is ABSOLUTELY petrified of it and won't watch any TV. She wasn't much of a watcher to begin with but now she refuses to watch anything. Only in the last week or so has she had the courage to even play with her toys in the SAME ROOM as the big, black monster.
VIDEOS
(added Jan 6, 2009)
(added Jan 6, 2009)
Ruby continues to adjust pretty well to Calgary. It sure doesn't hurt that we've had a steady stream of family and friends visiting to keep her constantly entertained! Her obsession with Leapfrog's "Letter Factory" DVD has accellerated her interest in the alphabet...she loves to spell her name "R-U-B-Y" over and over and over again and recite portions of the alphabet (WXYZ are particularly popular). We've been spending lots of time in the mountains and Ruby's becoming a great little hiker. We always bring the backpack but she'll often do the majority of the hike on foot. She loves climbing over roots and rocks and she's always on the hunt for the perfect stick to throw for Java!
VIDEOS
(added Jan 6, 2009)
Playing on the Elk River
Water Table Fun with Charlie
Rockin' Charlie
Climbing and Sliding
Wow...We thought Ruby was talking a lot LAST month! She continues to expand her vocabulary and you can just see the wheels turning as she tries to come up with the right words in the right order. No wonder she's eating so much, she's using up a lot of energy by concentrating so hard! Ruby's really into "helping" with EVERYTHING...making dinner, vacuuming, folding laundry, putting away the groceries. Her idea of helping with dinner generally involves standing on her little stool at the counter and eating everything we're chopping up. VERY helpful! Ruby hasn't seemed too phased by the move to Calgary although she's constantly singing Happy Birthday and when it's time to insert someone's name she says "Happy Birthday to Declan, Taya, Rudy, Bailey, Charlie, Baby Frankie"...I think she misses her little friends! Yes, she's still calling herself "Rudy". Other things to note these days...she's really into doing stickers and drawing, blowing bubbles and playing with her "buddies" which are her fleece blankets. It's 35 degrees and she wants to roll around on the floor with "pink buddy", "beige buddy" and "other buddy".
Sprinkler Fun
Ruby is making strides in all sorts of areas these days. She is becoming more and more verbal by the day, stringing together two and three words and repeating EVERYTHING we say. We've seen a couple of hints of "make believe" play which has been super adorable and her sense of humour is really starting to shine through. She is super quick to smile and laugh (and cry). She continues to love to be outside - running in the grass, smelling flowers, going to the park, exploring everything along the way. One of her new favourite things to do is water the flowerbeds outside. She continues to love to dance (she even boogies to the beat of Nicole's latte machine). She's becoming very independant and is wanting to try lots of things on her own (with an extremely low patience threshold!). There are definite signs of the dreaded "terrible twos" so it's a good thing she's cute :)
Despite the colder than normal temperatures here, Spring has finally sprung! Ruby may have a future in botany as she absolutely loves to explore and smell plants and flowers. We're fortunate to have a lot of colourful flowers in the neighbourhood so we spend lots of time checking them out. Ruby's ability to talk has really taken off in the past month. She's starting to say more two syllable words and her words in general are becoming much easier to decifer. Her favourite colour is pink...if there's a pink option for ANYTHING, she'll pick it (shoes, coat, crayon, shovel, etc). She must get that from Dennis.
There are a lot of pics from this trip in 2008 Adventures but these are a select few of just Ruby. Kaitlin joined us for a week of vacation down in Tucson, Arizona. We had fantastic weather, spent lots of time by the pool, and did a few day trips to see some local sights.
The winter has been good fun here in Vancouver. It hasn't been the worst of winters so Ruby has been able to be outside lots with both us and at daycare. There's no question that she's happiest when she's cruising around outside. We've continued our walks to the village and we went to a local bird sanctuary where Ruby fed the ducks. Over the last few weeks Ruby has really started saying lots of words ("Daddy" is her favourite word by far) and she tries to repeat EVERYTHING we say. Daddy is teaching her how to jump which is hilarious to watch, and she has a great sense of humour.
