lots of fun!

Ruby Jane

2 years old

STATS

height: 33.5 inches (40%)

weight: 23.5 pounds (12%)

FAVORITES (these vary day-to-day)

color: pink

number: 8

foods: beans & rice, chicken nuggets with "sauces", berries & fruits

treats: cookies, "chocolate chips" (= anything chocolate)

books: I Have Feelings, Elmo's Favorite Places, I Don't Care Said the Bear

songs: Wheels on the Bus, Once there was a Snowman, Happy Birthday, Jingle Bells

movies: Wizard of Oz ("Scary Castle"), Up, Kung Fu Panda, Monsters Inc.

toys: Sesame Street play set and dollhouse

games: any game with Daddy

MILESTONES

• Ruby moved up to the "2's" class at school and will move up to the older nursery at church this week
• Ruby has been sleeping in her new bed for 16 days
• Ruby took TWO no-tears baths this week (this hasn't happened since she was probably 9 months old)
• Ruby knows all the colors and can count from 1 to 10
• Ruby knows all the main Sesame Street characters, but still calls Big Bird "Big Duck"
• Ruby loves her new "I Have Feelings" book that talks about different emotions. Ruby loves to make faces for each one - silly, scared, happy, sad, excited, angry, and proud. It is adorable; I must get pictures!

FUN(NY) PHRASES (my recent favorites)

• Every time we leave Grammie & Papa's house she waves and says, "Lotsa fun!"
• Ruby likes us to ask if her food is hot. We'll ask, "Is it hot?" and she says, "No, [it's] yummy!"
• Ruby was watching Kung Fu Panda the other week and she exclaimed, "I like Kung Fuuuu!"
• Ruby is really into scary things right now. She likes to say, "Scary monsters coming out!" and "Mommy/Daddy scared!" Ruby's not scared of anything!
• I turned on the TV one night and ESPN was on. Ruby saw it for a couple seconds and said, "No like football!"

PICTURES

Playing with Jeff on one of their days home together:

Working on Grammie's new computer:

Waiting for the doctor at her 2-year visit:

Taking an outside break from shopping at "Daddy's store" (Target):

First time coloring on her face & body:

First time falling asleep on the floor during nap time:

First time riding in the car shopping cart at Harmon's:

Christmas lights

On Saturday we went downtown for dinner and then walked to Temple Square to see "the lights." It was FREEZING cold – I think it was less than 20 degrees outside. We didn't dress quite warm enough for the cold weather. Ruby was wearing a dress, tights, boots, and a hoodie. I was miserably cold, so I expected that Ruby would not be a happy camper. But, unpredictable as she is, Ruby was happier than ever. She kept her hands in her pockets, but showed no sign that the cold bothered her one bit. She loved all of the pretty Christmas lights and the "pretty water" fountains. Our little winter baby just sat back and enjoyed the sights.

Christmas party

We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at Jeff's parent's house. Jeff's sister and her husband were in town from Portland, along with their dog Punk. (Ruby LOVES Punk.) We hadn't seen them since they moved to Portland in September; it was great to spend time with them for the holidays!

Ruby started out the day by giving us a Christmas present: she slept in! We got to sleep in and get ready before she woke up. She woke up right before we were going to have to wake her up. She was very excited to wear her jammies to Grammie's house for the "Christmas party."

Ruby was awesome about taking turns opening presents - she loved opening her own but also loved delivering gifts to other people and watching them open the gifts. She was very careful about opening her presents. She would rip off a small piece of wrapping paper and hand it to one of us. Then, she'd rip off another small piece and hand it to us. With each one we asked her, "What is it?" Most of the time she guessed right – "a book!" or "a shirt!" She got most excited about the ones that were "a toy!" (She really got spoiled. Thanks to everyone who gave her such fun and thoughtful gifts!)

(Last Christmas my dad gave Ruby this pink kimono that he got in Japan. It was too big for her so I've been saving it for when she got bigger. I wrapped it along with the other clothes we gave her and she wore it around all morning.)

We had blueberry muffins while we opened gifts. Ruby loved putting her own butter on her muffin, or rather, putting butter straight in her mouth in between spreading it on the muffin. (My sister-in-law Leslie sent this cute surfboard pattern apron to Ruby. She loved wearing it over her kimono.)

Ruby went full speed all day long. She was in such a good mood; we didn't put her down for her nap until 3pm. At some point during the day we commented that Ruby has been in a really good mood all week. Jeff said, "Ruby, you must be having the best week of your life!" Ruby said, "Yah, of life!"

It was approaching bedtime and we told Ruby that it was time to go home. She said, "No, stay at Grammie's house." Jason asked her, "Ruby, do you want to party all night long?" and she said, "Yah, party all night!" She actually went to bed just fine even though she would have loved to stay up to play with all her new toys.

Thanks to everyone for making it a special and memorable Christmas! Thanks to Ruby for being so sweet and happy all day. It sure is crazy to think that we'll have a 3-year old and an 11-month old next Christmas, but I'm already looking forward to it.

birthday party!

We had Ruby's birthday party on Saturday afternoon. Ruby thinks parties are the coolest right now, and she had been looking forward to her birthday party all week. Jeff and I decorated the house with pink balloons and white crepe paper streamers. Grammie, Papa, and Auntie Melanie came over to celebrate with us.

Ruby had the time of her life opening all of her birthday presents. I really wish we had video recorded it because she said and did the cutest things. She was filled with excitement and had so much fun, but you wouldn't be able to tell from any of the pictures I got because she's not smiling in any of them!

She loved all of her gifts. She opened her Elmo Potty DVD first and wanted to watch it right away. She opened her Toy Story slinky dog toy and said, "Buzz!" (what she calls Toy Story). Grammie and Papa got her an armchair. When she was opening it we asked her, "What it it?" and she said, "A bed!" She really loves her chair. She calls it "Ruby's big chair" or "My's big chair."

We bought a red velvet cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes instead of making it from scratch this year. Nothing Bundt Cakes makes the most delicious, moist cake, and their red velvet with chocolate chips and cream cheese frosting is the best red velvet I've ever had.

We sang 'Happy Birthday' to Ruby and she blew out her candle. It took her three tries, but she got it! It was adorable! Ruby loves anyone to sing 'Happy Birthday' to her; she asked us to sing it over and over. She even sang the "Happy Birthday to Ruby" part. (I haven't heard her sing much yet, so it was a big surprise to hear her trying to sing the song.)

to get haircut!

On Ruby's birthday I took her to get her first haircut (finally). Jeff was working, so I called to make sure he wasn't going to feel left out if he didn't get to come. He wasn't worried about it. I Ruby that we had to get in the car because we were going to get her hair cut. When I pulled up to the 'salon' she said, "To get haircut!" Her enthusiasm faded when they wanted her to sit in a metal airplane. I thought we were going to have to leave, but I got Ruby to sit at a different station in a red car. I got this picture at the beginning when she was still feeling apprehensive about the experience.

Ruby settled right in. She got to watch Toy Story and play with some toys, and they gave her a lollipop too. The stylist was great with her and managed to cut her hair even while she moved her head around. She was really fast too - I think it only took ten or fifteen minutes from start to finish. Ruby could have stayed all night; I had to convince her to leave. Overall, it was a very positive experience, and we will definitely go back there for her next haircut.

Here's the back of her hair post-cut. It's still long and curly, so I don't miss the scraggly couple of inches that are no longer there.