These are from many different locations, such as Skylar's birthday at Chucky Cheese, Halloween, Puyallup Fair, my Mom's house, and Richmond Beach.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
One-Year Stats
Ruby had her one-year check-up yesterday, and here are her stats:
Weight: 17 pounds (She is back on the charts now, but basically at 0%, if that existed. As an interesting side note, Crystal weighed 18 pounds at one year.)
Length: 27.25 inches (about 5%)
Head Circ: 44.5 cm (between 25-50%)
The doctor continues to be impressed with how she's grown and caught up, so that's good. She doesn't have to have her monthly weight checks anymore, so her next appointment will be at 15 months (in August). She also got a shot, but hasn't been too cranky yet. Though somehow she did peel off her band-aid (while she was in her new ball pit at home) and put it in her mouth and was gagging on it. Rob was on daddy duty while I was out for a girls' night, and he got it out of her mouth safe and sound. Yuck!!
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Happy 1st Birthday Ruby!
May 14, 2009
Dearest Ruby,
Today you are one year old—where did the year go? We have cherished every precious moment we have had with you. We are so grateful that God chose us to be your parents. Thank you, Jesus, for our Ruby-dooby, silly Billie, sweetie pie Ruby June.
We love you more than anything else in the whole wide world. We could never have imagined how much we would love you.
We couldn’t ask for a better daughter than you. You have captured our hearts with your gentle and carefree spirit. Your smile lights up a room. You laugh and we can’t help but laugh too. You are a bundle of joy and cheer and everyone who meets you is drawn to you. You must take after your daddy in that regard. You are the most beautiful baby in the world, and yes, you will always be our baby.
You laugh whenever you hear any sort of laughter—when other kids are playing, when Mommy and Daddy are laughing with each other, or when you hear people laughing as they walk by.
You like to copy anything that Daddy does, especially any weird noises he makes. Words you can say include: Daddy, dog, duck, book, ball, hi, yeah, up, and (sometimes) Mommy. Words you can sign include: milk, Mommy, Daddy, bye-bye, good night, sleepy/nap, potty, Jesus, book, eat, more, all done, and cheese. You can blow kisses, give kisses, clap, and give hi-fives.
You love to throw your balls and other toys. You can even roll your balls back-and-forth with Mommy and Daddy. You love it when we play music with a beat, and you dance and clap along.
You love to read and you love being read to. Your favorite books are your “Jesus Book” (Bible stories) and Great Day for Up by Dr. Seuss. Last night when we read your Jesus Book, you got so excited you crawled all over Daddy, trying to reach the book. Because of this passion for books and reading, you can sign “Jesus” and “book” and you can even say “up” out loud. You love to say “up” over and over when we read your “up” book. You also follow along when we read you stories—sometimes in the book we are reading, but sometimes in your very own book that you hold yourself. You also read yourself stories when you find books in your toy pile.
You absolutely adore doggies, and especially enjoy chasing Toby around the house now that you can crawl. He waits until you are about to grab him, and then he runs away from you. But that doesn’t deter you! You can spot a dog a mile away, like when we are on a walk, or even on a quick TV commercial.
Now that you eat solid food, you cannot get enough! You love bread and bagels, yogurt, cottage cheese (well, any kind of cheese!), berries, carrots, and pretty much anything we offer you (except for avocado!). You also like Puffs and Cheerios. You drink plenty of cow’s milk and water, but haven’t tasted juice yet. You are getting so big and strong! Sometimes you will eat two pounds of food a day!! But if we give you too much or if you don’t like something or if you’re full, watch out, because you will not spit it out or swallow it, no matter what! We have to fish it out, which makes you cry, but at least you open your mouth after that!
When you get sleepy you suck your right thumb, and it is so darn cute. Sometimes you even suck your thumb when you aren’t tired, which confuses Mommy and Daddy.
You have two little bottom teeth that are adorable, and we’ve been waiting for your first upper tooth for the past few weeks, but it is taking its time cutting through.
Your favorite thing to do this week has been making fishy faces and (almost) blowing raspberries. Maybe you will even be able to blow out your candle on your first cake! We’ve been trying to teach you to say, “I’m one.” So far it just sounds like “Duh”—but you are definitely trying! You’ve also been pulling yourself up on our few pieces of furniture, which makes Mommy nervous. Sometimes you pull yourself up and end up sitting on your knees, but you still bounce and wave your arms without losing your balance!
We could go on and on about all the wonderful things you do and say and all the things you have learned in the past year. All in all you are one amazing little girl and we are so lucky that you are our little girl. Happy birthday, baby girl.
We love you with all our hearts,
Mommy and Daddy
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Happy Easter!
NOTE: I am writing this on the day Ruby turned 11 months old (4/14), although I won't post it today because we still have to upload our Easter photos from the camera. I can't believe we only have 1 month and counting left of Ruby's first year of life. Time passes too quickly!
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Ruby also enjoyed her first Easter. We spent the weekend (and a few extra days on top of that) with Crystal's family in Maple Valley. Before we left our house, though, Ruby received her first Easter gift in the mail--a personalized Easter basket! She loved it so much it was difficult to snap a good shot of her with it. Take our word for it, the back of her basket says "Ruby" not "Rub"! :) Thanks, Grandma Sue and Poppa Smooch Monster! :) (Her cousins also got matching baskets, and their momma snapped much better photos--check out "The Stewart Family" on the right.)
We colored eggs with Kolby and Skylar, and Ruby just wanted to put all the eggs in her mouth. She almost did a not-so-magic trick when she pulled on the newspaper protecting the table from the dye! Yikes! She got to color one egg, and then it was off to bed!
Saturday we were pleasantly surprised by Nana and Papa who visited for the day from Kennewick. Ruby loved seeing them and showing off how big and smart she's gotten. That night the kids left out carrots for the Easter bunny, who left quite a generous sugar-fest for everyone. I didn't get any shots of all the baskets, but maybe that's better... no incriminating evidence of all the junk we've (I've?) ingested.
After church on Sunday we had an indoor egg hunt due to the rain. We made sure all the real eggs were located! Ruby got to open her basket after church and before her nap. She loved all the foil-wrapped candies that were for her mommy and daddy (especially the ones with money taped to the backs!). :)
After a rainy weekend and a snowy day (!!), the sun finally popped out long enough for Ruby to try her new swing and bubble machine from Nani and Papa. At first she wasn't too sure about the bubbles, but eventually she started to squeal and enjoy them. Overall, it was a very nice long weekend with family!
Friday, April 10, 2009
Growing Up Big and Strong
Sorry it's been a while since we've updated. We have some new stats to share. As you most likely know, Ruby has always been on the very small side. The doctor said that's just how she is. However, when we started trying to feed her solids, she would refuse, and just gag and cough. It was as if she physically could not eat them yet. We tried from 6 months to 9 months of age (November-February) without any success. Also during that time she had multiple colds and of course did not even want to nurse very well when she was sick.
Then at her 9-month appointment, we found out that her weight had dropped dramatically off the charts (she had only gained 2.5 ounces in 3 months) and her length dropped from 20% to 5%. The doctor was obviously concerned and said we needed to make sure she ate solids. I tried to convey that we had tried EVERYTHING we could think of (ALL types of foods, in ALL types of presentations, etc, etc). But we would try. Thankfully, just 2 days prior to our doctor's appointment, Ruby experienced what we are calling "the miracle at Miner's." Miner's is a burger joint in Yakima that our family loves. My mom and younger siblings, and Ruby and I drove to Miner's to meet my mom's parents. While we were at Miner's, Ruby was VERY interested in all the food we were eating. So I tried giving her bits of bread and whatever else I could find that was healthy enough to give her. She loved it and really wanted to eat it all! That was a Monday, our doctor's appointment was on a Wednesday, and since then she hasn't looked back!
The miracle at Miner's:
At her first weight check-up (at about 10 months old--one month ago), she had gained 1 pound in 3 weeks (up to 13.5 pounds). We just had her second weight check-up, and she has gained 2 whole pounds in a month! So she now weighs a grand total of 15.5. pounds! If she continues growing at this rate, she will be back on the charts (around the 5%) by her first birthday. We are VERY excited about her growth and we can tell she is happy about it too!
Hey, look, she's bigger than another baby! :) (This is Della, and she was only about 2 weeks old here!)
I love this photo because she looks so chubby, so she'll probably hate it when she's older!
She loves every food we've offered her, except for avocado. Some of her favorites are bread/bagels, cottage cheese, plain yogurt, roasted peppers, pineapple, sweet potatoes, and practically any fruit. But she does love her veggies and savory dinners too. We basically puree whatever we're eating with our Magic Bullet, and she scarfs it down. She's even learned to drink from a straw and a sippy cup, which she can hold by herself.
Eating some veggies:
Blueberries and bagel:
Now that she's eating three solid meals a day, plus some nursing, she is so playful and joyful and is such a character. She loves to laugh, loves to play with her balls, and loves to make her music toys play songs (and then dance along).
Our little girl is getting so big, she even has TWO teeth now! She got her first (bottom left) about three weeks ago, and she just got her second (bottom right) today! We are so proud! :)
Is that a tooth? Oh, nope, just a piece of cottage cheese!
HERE'S her first tooth (can you spot it?):
Some of Ruby's favorite activities:
* Singing into the microphone
* Playing with her giraffe (she's caused a traffic jam with her fire truck)
* Playing with her cousins (here's Jaxon) and her friends from church (here are James and Asha)
* Looking cute
* And her most favorite thing to do... Read stories about Jesus with Daddy!
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