Ruby Two Years

Over the past few months, Ruby has seemed to grow so quickly and seems to have become a toddler overnight, leaving almost all traces of "baby" behind.  It kind of breaks my heart because the time has passed so quickly - it really is still so fresh in my mind when she was born and all of the miracle of her little life.  Her little personality has been shining through and she makes me laugh every day with her antics and opinions.  In terms of tracking her developments, she is long past the point of keeping track of how many words she can say - she speaks in full sentences and can say most anything she wants.  She kind of talks non stop and is learning how to negotiate to get what she wants. Her little voice is so sweet and she often catches me off guard with the funny things she says or the questions she asks.  Lately she likes to sing "I Am A Child of God", "Wheels on the Bus" and "Skip to my Lou".

Ruby is still sick a lot for a baby that appears so healthy.  We continue to battle with her poor snotty nose, she will even go get a Kleenex and try to wipe her own nose.  When we took her in for a follow up on the tubes in her ears, the doctor did a pretty thorough examination and said that the nose running probably bothered us more than it did her and he didn't think there was anything to be done right now.  In August she got hand foot mouth disease and had her mouth and body covered in little sores.  She was so miserable and it was awful because there wasn't really anything to do to help her except snuggle and rock her.

The sickness doesn't to have harmed her and certainly hasn't stunted her growth.  We went in for her two year doctor's visit and he was actually quite shocked at how much weight she had gained.  She is currently in the 88th percentile of height and pushing the 99th percentile of weight.  This didn't surprise me at all because she bypassed size 2T clothes and is wearing only size 3T.  He did some tests to make sure there weren't any underlying problems, thankfully everything was ok.  The way she and Luke often wrestle and play, her size is probably the only thing that keeps her safe. 

As always, here are some of the highlights of the past several months.  It's wild to see how much she has changed just in this three month time period.

Anytime she can be outside is especially great for Ruby,

Something about wide open spaces...

Just in case it wasn't quite clear,

We completely adore this girl.

 

Luke learned to do a somersault and Ruby is doing her best to learn how  to do one on her own.  I couldn't get a photo but she can also jump with two feet off of the ground.

First four wheeler ride with grandpa,

As you can see, she loved it!

Cake is high on the list of things Miss Ruby adores.

Oh, and popsicles.

So I think she has seen her mama store one too many things in her bra,

Where else should she keep her treasures???

Ruby would be content if she could spend all day

Reading stories or looking at pictures.

Or Watching Curious George

Ruby is currently obsessed with Hello Kitty

Queen of my heart

Poor Ruby girl, her world has been rocked by Luke going to preschool.  She is upset nearly every day when drop Luke off and she doesn't get to stay.  Most days I think she manages to get a shopping trip out of it, so she seems to have figured it out to her advantage.

 In April we rode the ponies at Thanksgiving Point and she cried the entire time.  What a difference a few months makes.  This time she smiled and said "yee haw" the entire ride.

The girl is a monkey, she is obsessed with climbing.  The other day I heard the water in the bathroom running and went in to find this....she wanted to brush her teeth.  We spend a big part of our day trying to get her to sit down.  She climbs on the couch, the chairs, our bed, stools, and anywhere else she can manage.  Poor Luke, I think it makes him even more nervous than it does us.  He does his best to get her to sit down, but is usually pretty unsuccessful.  

We had a great time on Labor Day, it appears the Miss Ruby may have campaigning to be the Princess of Onion Days, or at least Miss Congeniality.  She loved the party in the park, but wasn't entirely sure about the carnival rides.  These were the first real rides she has been on.  She did ok on a few, but she was so terrified on the roller coaster that we had to have them stop the ride.  Poor baby.

Happy little girl at the BYU women's soccer game.  You would never guess that ten minutes earlier, she had thrown up all over me, her, the stands, etc.  I'll spare you the pictures, but it was pretty epic. Once she was done and cleaned up, she was happy to stay and watch the game.

 In addition to climbing, she has become quite the little stinker, sneaking off to get herself into trouble.  If only she knew that Grandpa Broadbent likes his thing "just so", she never would have gone exploring in his room.

Recently she has started to struggle to go to sleep when it is nap time.  She plays and sings and yells out that she is done and ready to get up  We get a little nervous when she gets too quiet.  Even though she is confined to the crib, she still manages to create plenty of messes.  This time she was supposed to be asleep.  When we asked her what she had done she said it was "lotion".  If only....the Desitin she smeared all over herself and her toys was much tougher to get clean. 

Once she finally sleeps, there is nothing sweeter

Ruby will sometimes talk about going potty like Luke, but I don't think she is quite ready to get rid of her diapers.  She had to have some tests done that included a urinalysis and I did not want her to have a catheter, so we decided to see how she would do on the potty.  The two of us spent well over an hour in the bathroom, she drank lots of water, watched the Elmo potty video and sang songs.  Just when she started to tell me that her legs were hurting...success.  I don't know who was more excited, her or me.  Even though she did so well, we will probably wait a little longer before we get serious about potty training.

These past two years have been amazing, and have brought more blessings than I could have ever imagined.  I am so excited to watch this little one continue to grow and develop and entertain and challenge.