Saturday, June 30, 2012

18 Months

Our punkie turned 18 months on June 17th.  She is at such a fun stage, learning new things every day.  Ruby knows the animal noises for bear, tiger/lion, snake, owl, pig, horse, cow, kitty, dog, sheep, and rooster.  She says (or tries to say!) lots of words these days including: ball, go, no, yeah, all done, cracker, shoe, sock, nose, baby, okay, dog, bye, hi, hello, purple, yellow, two, amen, high chair, apple, pizza, peaches, choo choo, a choo (when someone sneezes...we're working on "bless you" instead!)...I might be missing a couple but those are the ones we hear on a daily basis!  She has started to say a few phrases or so we think.  Her favorite is, "I chase you," when we are playing her favorite game of chase.  She will also say gotcha when someone catches her.  Oh, she can also say chinchilla, which is hilarious.  Hattie's boyfriend has a couple and when we asked her to say it she did a pretty good job!  We had to send a little video to Brandon as proof!  Ruby can find her nose, eyes, ears, hair, teeth, hands, finger, toes, feet, and tummy.  She can also find these body parts on everyone else!  She did her first somersault a couple weeks ago on her own, although I'm pretty sure it was on accident as it hasn't happened since.  Ruby is totally in love with babies right now.  Whenever she sees a car seat or stroller she says baby.  We bought her her very own baby and she pushes her in the stroller and plays with her a lot.  She also has to sleep with her for every nap and every night as well.  Ruby can be a stinker to get down for an afternoon nap but once she's down she might sleep for 3 hours.  She goes to bed at night herself.  She even walks in her room on our own, with her baby in her arms of course.  She can work my Iphone like a pro and is getting smarter and smarter in finding where I've hidden it.  She will sit for quite awhile and play her games and look at videos and pictures.  I have to admit it is quite nice when I need to get something done!  She has learned some interesting dance moves, and can be quite a little ham when she wants to be.  She loves being outside and points to everything that interests her.  She loves when airplanes fly overhead and she loves hearing and seeing wildlife outside, especially dogs and birds.  We have been frequenting the pool a lot this summer.  One lifeguard told us that she's never seen someone so small go under so many times and come up laughing each time.  Needless to say, Ruby is not afraid of the water!  Ruby also answers the yes/no questions we ask her, which definitely encourages her opinionated mind!  Some of her other favorites are bathtime, counting, reading books, going down slides, playing in the sand, and getting her fingernails and toenails painted.  She is very proud of her pretty painted fingers and toes and she will hold them out to anyone and everyone and say "Oh pretty."  She got all four of her one year molars this past month.  At her 18 month check-up she weighed 26 pounds, 6 ounces (82%) and was 33 1/2 inches tall (90%).  



Ruby wears this hat A LOT as her hair still needs to grow a bit before I stop worrying about her nearly bald head getting sunburned.  She prefers it backwards :)



Friday, June 29, 2012

Omaha

A few weeks ago we traveled to Omaha for a few days.  We stayed one night with my Uncle Dan and Aunt Jude.  They have "Monday Night Dinners" every week and we were able to join in on the fun!  Dan and Jude's two daughters came, as well as another one of my cousin's who lives in the area.  It was great to see them and meet some of their younger kids for the first time.  Ruby had a blast with all the kiddos!


Giving kisses to Sully who is just 10 days younger than Ruby.





Then Jon, Stef, and Sydney met us in Omaha for three nights in a hotel.  We visited the zoo, went swimming, and visited the Children's Museum (while the boys golfed!).  We had a great time with them ...like always!








Japanese Gardens

On the last day of May we walked around in the Japanese Gardens in Terrace Park.  Although we were a bit disappointed in the lack of flowers that were actually there, it was a nice change of scenery from our normal walking route.