THE BUSH FAM[ILY]: 1519 Days

ONE YEAR OLD!!!

One year ago today, in the early hours of the morning, God took this little family of four and made us a family of five. At 4:16am, we welcomed Ruby Estelle to the Bush family and she's filled our lives with so much love and joy. She's fit right into the family from the start and it's been so rewarding to watch her grow and change over the past twelve months. This coming year should be even more fun as she learns to talk and interact more. She's already working hard to keep up with her sisters and she's become such a unique little person. Jon and I feel so blessed to be her parents.

Weight/Height: 20 pounds/29 inches

Eating:

She is still nursing, but she's cut down quite a bit. She nurses for very short periods of time and I really feel like she does it more for comfort and to be close to me than she does to eat. She does nurse several times throughout the night.

She's finally getting back to table food! She usually eats some kind of warm cereal (oatmeal or cream of wheat) for breakfast mixes with some cooked or pureed fruit. Lunch and dinner are whatever we're having and occasionally a pouch of food if she's not into what we're eating.

At the beginning of November, she got to try a family favorite- breakfast casserole! She's definitely a fan!

Today, she will be getting her first taste of cake! Photos coming soon ;)

Sleep:

She seems to have regulated her sleeping habits! She's been going down for naps consistently from about 11am-1pm and going to bed between 8:30-9pm. Occasionally, she will also take a later afternoon/evening nap while I'm cooking dinner, but I really try to avoid that because it pushes her bedtime back.

Health:

Just six days before her first birthday, poor Ruby Star came down with her first cold. For about a day and a half, she had a rough sounding cough and some congestion, but she never spiked a fever or came down with any other symptoms. After that day and a half, she was completely back to normal. It was so uneventful, I'm not even sure it was a real cold and am leaning more toward it being a reaction to the drop in temperature. I'm so grateful that she appears to have taken after her sisters and developed a nice, strong immune system!

Teeth #7 and #8! Bottom left and right lateral incisors. I'm hoping that she gets a little break from teething because it looks like the first set of molars are up next :(

Milestones:

*Mimicking- there are several silly little hand gestures and clapping motions that we'll do and she will mimic. She's also really picking up on her older sisters' behaviors. When they get loud and excited, she gets loud and excited. When they run to see grandma and start talking to her all at once, she happily runs after them babbling and trying to be a part of the conversations. She desperately wants to be everywhere that her sisters are and do the things that they're doing. It breaks her heart when she's excluded.

*Kisses- a favorite! If I say, "Ruby, give mama a kiss!", she will lean in and smack her lips.

Words: the only word she says consistently is "dada." We finally got "mama" out of her last month, but that one is still far and few between.

We think she tries to say "thanks" when something is handed to her, especially if it's something that she wanted.

*First Halloween! Ruby's last first holiday and she celebrated dressed as Minnie Mouse.

Ruby's First Year

My very last belly photo, taken in early labor.

Welcome to the world, beautiful girl!

One Month

Two Months

Three Months

Four Months

Five Months

Six Months

Seven Months

Eight Months

Nine Months

Ten Months

Eleven Months

One Year

Achievement unlocked: Make it to one year without eyes turning brown!

They bounce between light grey-blue and grey-green

I'm not sure how much longer she's going to let me wear her. She always wants up and down and up and down so ring slings work best because I can get her in and out quickly.