HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY, RUBY ESTELLE!
Two years ago today, Ruby joined our family. Jon and I agree that she still looks and seems like a baby and not a toddler.
She has barely gained any weight over the past year. She is tall and skinny at 21 pounds,**** . She fits mostly in 24 month clothing.
She's a semi-picky eater. She is still nursing throughout the day and drinks a lot of water (and eats a lot of ice). I think spaghetti is probably her favorite meal as she always eats her entire bowl and usually asks for seconds. She enjoys Jon's smoked pork ribs, steak, and occasionally chicken. She's not big on vegetables, but happily ate some zucchini the other day. She loves bananas, but most other fruit she only likes for the juice (she will chew it up to get the juice out and then spit out the actual fruit). She does have quite a sweet tooth and loves cookies, ice cream, and anything chocolate!
Spaghetti!
She has had a MAJOR language explosion over the past two months. It's adorable. Once we started taking her prized binky away during the day, she started to babble more and eventually her babbles turned into words. She went from saying "dada", "mhmm", and "cheese" to saying the following words clearly and in the right context:
Mama
No
Yes
Yay
Cookie
Mine
Hi
Bye
Cold
Hot
Water
Ice
Me too
More
Shoes
Walk
Down
Why
Bird
Hold
Door
Towel
Bubble
Car
Pool
Phone
Pig
Help
Stuck
She also repeats just about everything she hears us or her sisters say so I think sentences will be coming soon! It's been a little bit different having a little one who isn't talking in sentences at two, but it's just one of those things that makes Ru, Ru.
Another HUGE and unique accomplishment is her ability to put herself to sleep. Arianna and Lucy had to be either nursed or rocked to sleep from birth until around 2.5 years old. About three months ago, I started laying her down in our bed with a special toy for nap time and leaving the room. It was hard for me because she fussed at first and it's always been my natural instinct to tend to my crying babies. Since she was only fussing though (versus the full blown sad, scared screaming that Ari and Lucy both did), I let her be and before five minutes even passed, she was quiet. It took a couple of weeks to get into a solid routine, but at this point she almost always goes down between 11-12 and sleeps for 2-3 hours. Her bedtime is around 8-9pm and she's very good about getting herself to sleep them too. So excited to finally have a child who can self soothe as this gives me a little bit of time to spend with just Lucy or time to myself on the days that Lu is in school.
She is FULL of personality. She is bubbly and sweet, but with a stormy temper. She absolutely fits right into the "baby of the family" role; wanting to do everything that her sisters are doing and also demanding that they always give her her way.
December:
January:
February:
March:
Cutting four molars at a time :(
April:
Shoe shopping
Easter
Eyes
May:
Someone thinks she's ready to go to school
18 months
June:
