The Danger Diary

Santa!

2009-11-23T06:53:00.005-06:00

Last night, we went to walk through all the christmas lights at Tilles Park with Luby, Anna and Sam. Everyone loved the lights. Even Henry - who thankfully turned a corner on his nasty cold the night before. The weather was perfect, chilly but not cold and thankfully dry.

After a loop around the park, we got to get in line for Santa. Luckily, because it was dark, Ruby and Sam could not see what we were waiting for. Santa was in a giant sleigh (looked real in the dark but I didn't look that closely) and whoever wanted to could get up in his sleigh for photos that you got to take yourself, and of course, gift requests. When I asked Ruby what she wanted to tell Santa to bring her for christmas, she asked him for Christmas. Sweet. Santa promised he could deliver. When it was Sam's turn he was a little scared at first so Luby got in with him. Samson just stared at Santa - which made for a very cute picture. They also had a real reindeer right there that you could pet, but Ruby just chose to look at him. He seemed really small for a deer but had really big antlers. neat-o.

Afterwards, we went to Bandanna's barbecue because it was right around the corner and Luby said it was fast and they would tolerate the kids. Ruby and Sam were pretty good for the first 30 minutes which is all we really needed to stay. Then they started running around a little but not being too loud. I'm pretty sure that Ruby was trying to teach Samson how to play tag. Luckily, we were pretty much in our own section. It was about 8 o clock on a Sunday night.

It was a really really nice time. I'm so glad that we got to do the Santa thing outside of a mall. We might still go see him in a couple of other non commercial places.

So far when anyone asks, all Ruby's asked for is a teddy bear and when the question is pressed, she's asked for another "baby" (doll). Though, earlier this year, she went through this phase of "I just keep wishing for a computer." Finally, we hooked her up with an old laptop so she can type away on notepad. I guess it helps her with recognizing letters out of order. She now has her own desk on a shelf below mine. I thought that she was actually wishing for a portable dvd player like Cameron's, but I guess not. It looks like we'll have at least one more year of festivities without greed. (Yay!)

Sickness

2009-11-20T18:55:00.002-06:00

For the second time since we've moved, Ruby, Henry and I all have colds. Henry has it the worst again and it's just plain miserable. Doing my best to keep it together. Thanksgiving is coming with back to back dinner parties. I'm sure we'll be fine. I just wish I had more energy this weekend to finish unpacking.

This week Ruby wrapped up her "my first school" at the magic house. We decided to re-enroll for the winter as several other parents are as well and she really likes it.

Ruby woke up this morning wanting to comb her hair. It has seriously become one of her favorite things to do. She also is really into brushing her own teeth. She always has done the brushing, but now she likes to get out the toothpaste and the whole nine herself.

She's really facinated with electricity. She loves to flip switches, especially on the lamps. And she's always wanting to plug and unplug things. Plus, we're always having to recharge things. I've tried lots of ways of trying to explain how electricity works to her, but finally she explained it to me. Apparently, in her world, electrons are jelly beans and all the lamps and computers are eating jelly beans when they are plugged in. And when batteries run low, it's because they need more jelly beans. I guess my parents have given her jelly beans at some point.

My mom has taken her to the dreaded McDonalds twice now. Once to eat in and once to the drive through for a sundae. Since the very first time, she's been able to recognize the iconic architecture no matter where we are and has asked to go back. Today I finally started telling her flat out that we don't go there because they are mean to animals at McDonalds and their food is bad for you. We'll see if it makes a difference.

Poor Henry is waking up again. He can't get decent sleep with this cold. Poor little guy.

Out of hibernation

2009-11-17T23:54:00.005-06:00

So many awesome things (good and bad) too easily forgotten. Need to get them on the record. No expectations beyond that.

Now, Ruby is 2 years and nine months. She does amazing/funny/frustrating stuff daily. Last week she jumped out of the cart at Target simultaneously and accidentally knocking Henry, carseat and all, face down on the floor. It was mortifying. But luckily no one was injured.

Later the same day while henry was asleep in the swing and ruby was quietly playing with her dolls (a sure sign that she is about to do something crazy), i was in the kitchen prepping for dinner. I called into the living room asking if henry was still asleep. she replied "he woke up when i gave him his medicine." turns out she climbed up on the diaper pail and got a bottle of homopathic cold medicine down and assured me she only gave him one pill. I seriously do my best, but I am sure the knock on the door from dcfs is coming any day now.

On the positive side, she started using the words actually, meanwhile, and literally appropriately in sentences this week.

i was really proud today when I asked her gymnastics teacher if i should keep her in the twos or move her up to the threes for the next session. her response was definitely move her up. it rates right up there with the first day of preschool a couple months back when the teacher walked up to me and said "it's really nice for the other children to have a role model like ruby in the class". Those little moments of reassurance almost make up for that carseat tossing/little brother almost poisoning business.

In a lot of ways, she's like a mini teenager - slamming doors when not getting her way, etc. She's picking out her clothes regularly - the whole outfit from barrets to shoes almost every day and sometimes really has a hard time choosing. A real girlie girl who loves to apply chapstick and smack her lips afterwards .

She likes our new house a lot but says reguarly that me and Brian and Henry should all move across the street because she wants to live in our house by herself. She's confident that she can take care of everything cooking and all. And when I ask her if she'll get lonely, she says she'll come visit us because it's just across the street.

Last night, she watched the extended version of that youtube video about the guys who owned a pet lion and then released it and reunited with it in the wild in africa and sobbed afterwards.

She loves our backyard and spends lots and lots of time under our big oak tree. Brian tells her made up stories about Steve the Squirrel and all the other critters that live in our yard and so now she's super tuned in to nature. so amazing and cool.

last weekend, we found a dead bird in our backyard that obviously flew into our sunporch. Brian put it in a shoebox and got rid of it. Later, they were at the daily trip to the hardware store (since we just moved), and Ruby made him call me to check on the bird to see if it was better yet. I of course reported that it did get better and flew away. there was an episode of her favorite show, nanalan, where something similar had happened.

She's finally really into potty training. Last night, I told her that Target ran out of diapers and that it's all pull ups from here on out. My mom started a treasure box thing today where every time she goes on the potty she gets something new for her treasure. When brian went to pick her up she was completely into it. Oh how nice it will be to only have one in diapers.

Henry is also amazing. He is SUCH a good natured baby. He just smiles and rolls with the crappy cards he's dealt almost everyday. Ruby is such an attention hog that henry often just seems to be along for the ride. But luckily he is in love with the view.

He's 8 months now and can barely sit up. I'm always holding him or he's strapped in somewhere. Especially since we've been packing and unpacking since september.

He loves to snuggle and thinks everything is hilarious. Really cute! But looks hauntingly like Brian's dad when he's happy and Brian's brother when he's not.

I just had to put away all his six months clothes last week and get out the 9 months. So sad to say good bye for good to more of the tiny cute things.

Everyday I have do this mental exercise of remembering distinctly what it felt like to hold him when he was a tiny little baby. There is such a flood of new memories daily that the older ones fade so fast. It's already hard for me to remember Ruby as a baby. So I'm doing the little meditation on remembering Henry in order to never forget the awesome warm fuzzy feeling of holding such a little baby that's all mine.

Ruby's 1st Birthday

2008-02-29T13:13:00.000-06:00

So.... I'm in the slow process of dropping photos into all my blog draft posts and someday I will be caught up. Until that day, if you want to know what looks like now (or at least what she did a month ago), Brian posted a hilarious video of her birthday party. Check it out when you have a little while.

Novebember 9 months

2008-02-07T09:25:00.000-06:00

Finally - Hoodie weather! I love this little hoodie. It barely still fits her as it's a size 3 months. It's super sweet and has little elbow patches. I wish I would have bought one in every size.

Ruby with Ike at Pat and Nellie's - This is the only pic of them both facing me. They played together really well. Ruby's wearing a dress that was mine when I was a baby. My grandpa's sister in Austria knitted it.

Ruby is super happy any time she has a breeze in her face. She sticks out her tongue to taste the air and giggles. That fact plus with my desire to shape up prompted me to get her a bike seat and helmet. The bike seat was kind of an impulse buy when I had to stop in at REI to talk to someone there about some green building stuff Whole Foods and REI are doing in partnership. The helmet I found on ebay.

Brian got it all hooked up. He set it up on his bike so we could all go together. She does like bikerides, but I guess I expected her to be head over heels for it. She basically just chills out and checks out everything around. Pretty much the same exact reaction as the stroller. We've only taken a few short rides so far, because of the weather, but in the spring we want to take her on some longer trails. I hope we can go on grant's trail to Drew and Erin's with her, hang out, and then ride back. It all depends on the weather really.

Still with no real interest in crawling, Ruby is really starting to cruise all around the furniture now. So, I went out and bought her a new little wagon to help her gain a little more mobility. Definitely, a little pricier than all the other walk-behind toys out there, but this one seems like it will get used for years to come. She LOVES it. She can't turn it, but she can walk from one end of the house to the other if we aim her right. We also have tons of fun pushing her around the house FAST in it, like it's her little race car. She also likes giving the other kids, even Tyler who barely fits, rides.

We went away for another weekend, leaving her with my folks overnight and all things went well again. This time it was for Brent's murder mystery B&B birthday in Hermann - a super fun kid-free get away with a big bunch of our friends. The weekend had a 70's theme, so all the boys showed up with NASTY mustaches. Of course Brian's was the most foul.

And yes, Matt did wear that afro all weekend.

Thanksgiving was nice and easy. Love this pic of Brian and Ruby on our way out the door.

And of course my family of A-B retirees thinks Ruby should be their next posterchild.

By the end of November, I stopped nursing Ruby. I did it exclusively for 3 months, then supplemented with formula (less than half the time) for the next three months because it was so hard to keep up after I went back to work. And for the last three months, she's definitely been working her way from half formula to 2/3 or 3/4. She doesn't seem to miss it at all. I guess it was time. I'm glad I got to keep it going as long as I did. She's been really healthy - just having the sniffles for two days so far and no fevers ever.

At the same time, we've been introducing baby food. It's been tough to get past jars of liquidy food though, because she still has no teeth. My folks keep predicting that she'll get teeth "next week" every week because my brother and I both had teeth by six months, but it never happens. I'm not worried at all. She'll get there when she gets there. Same thing about walking - everyone seems to think she'll walk before xmas because I walked before a year. What's the rush. They say later teeth are healthier and babies that walk early are uptight. But even those generalizations are probably meaningless.

Still no signs of stranger danger. Ruby is a really good/easy/low maintenance baby. We are so lucky.

October - 8 months

2007-11-01T23:09:00.000-05:00

Random ramblings on all things October:

Another trip to the zoo, just with dad this time while I was at work.

I worked A LOT this month. I worked 74 hours in one week, basically just coming home to sleep for a few days in a row. Up and out before Brian and Ruby woke up and back home again once they were already in bed. That sucked. But it was worth it. I'm really proud of the local food festival I planned and pulled off. It went pretty much perfect. And really, it was a lot like the flip side of when Brian was in Boston. I'm not going to say I'm mommy-guilt-free about work. But, since I have to work, I'm glad that I have a job to go to that I love. And that most of the time, it's only 3 or 3 and a half days a week away from Ruby.

My former boss, Tee, was in town for my festival, and when we went out to dinner at Pueblo Solis, Ruby smashed a plate. It's the only thing so far that we saved as a momento of her "firsts" of her first year.

Ruby is getting longer and leaner, but maintained the same weight for a couple months now. Her face keeps changing. It seems like I can start to see what she is going to look like when she gets a little older. Very neat.

She caught her first cold. We got sick together, and I made us some chicken soup. She recovered in one day.

She says Mama now and she learned how to switch the light on and off.

When she is really happy and excited she giggles like crazy and squeezes her arms forward like this

Two times, we babysat Cameron over here. It went pretty well, but honestly was tougher than I thought. I'm always so over-confident because of all my babysitting and daycare experience. Too bad that was from 15 years ago. I'm old and tired now, so getting up off the floor while holding two babies isn't as easy as it used to be.

Ruby still loves walking. She's walking on the furniture a lot and is taking more and more risks. Consequently, she's starting to fall a lot, which can be a little scary.

She still loves water. She would sit in her little tub forever if I let her. I have learned to have some work to do beside her on the kitchen counter at bath time, just to help her drag it out. She is starting to outgrow her tub though. She can reach out for too many dangerous things. She tries turning the hot and cold water on and off. And tonight, she pulled a houseplant right into the tub on top of herself. It was a big gross mess and it totally freaked her out.

She is so observant now - on both macro and micro levels. She checks out her surroundings in detail wherever she is. And she loves to trace the fine details of objects with her fingers. I can remember very much Tyler going through the same phase, and it's neat to see it in her now.

She loves her little interactive desk

And her favorite playtime activity is to dump out bins of toys.

She loves playing with Daisy

She still shows no sign of stranger danger. She still will go to anyone that wants to hold her and loves pretty much anyone that gives her attention. She loves getting complements. Somehow she can distinguish it in conversation and lights up every time. No one really turns her off. But she definitely responds with extra joy to a handful of people. The people she sees the most obviously, but then there are a few people that she rarely sees that she always is super excited to see. It's really interesting. I guess they are all people that have a really positive vibe about them in general. It's neat to know that she can already discern that. One of them is literally one of the checkout guys at the grocery store. She gets so excited when she sees him that she stiffens up, claps her hands, and gasps. It's very cute.

This month, Brian and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary. We originally wanted to take a trip somewhere, but the timing with work was too crazy, so we upgraded from a full-size to a KING-size bed. It's the first new bed we've ever had. Over the years, we just keep lucking (I guess) into other people's practically new but no longer wanted beds. Having the two of us and oftentimes Ruby and Daisy all in one full size bed has been trying. The new bed rocks the house! My mom is horrified that we are keeping the set on the floor. I figure it's less far for Ruby to fall when she eventually rolls off. It's bound to happen sooner or later despite our best intentions. Also, we want to get a platform bed eventually, so we're holding out for that for now.

We also celebrated by going to see Ween. It was a good show, but probably not the best we've seen of ween. That night, we stayed out pretty late, so we had my folks keep Ruby overnight for the first time. She did great. Another day this month, my grandparents watched Ruby for a few hours for the first time, and she did really well for them too.

We had a big lull in going out on dates, but we're trying hard to get back into the swing. This month - 1 date. I'm going to try for at least 3 next month.

While she did sleep through the night for my folks, it was unfortunately still a rare occasion. In fact, she sometimes she wakes up for one or two or more hours in the middle of the night just to hang out and play. We're trying to break this cycle. I'm pretty exhausted.

October also means hockey season is in effect. When Brian gets excited, he yells. When he suddenly bursts out with some random celebratory exclamation, Ruby freaks out and cries. It's going to be a loooong season if she doesn't get used to it.

Halloween came and went. Everyone kept asking what Ruby was going to be for Halloween. Since she can't walk or talk or eat candy, I thought it was only logical to not waste money or energy observing the holiday. So many people kept asking, I finally started replying "a Jehovah's Witness". Someone actually said to me puzzled - "so is she going to wear a navy pleated skirt or what?" arghh. We ended up going over to Tom and Mindy's new house and handed out candy while Tyler and Cameron made the rounds. Afterwards, we ate chili for dinner and had bonfire in the backyard. It was just right. My favorite part of the night was when Mindy recounted how earlier in the evening, Tom told her that Matt was going to come over too. And Tyler added "Gonna drink a couple beers."

Since halloween is over, that means I've officially not cut my hair for over two years now. I really do want to get it cut because Ruby pulls it so often, and now, so hard. But selfishly, or I guess vainly, I'm waiting to get a picture of me and her that shows how crazy long my hair is at this stage in her life. I'm always the one taking the pictures, so there are very few of me and her together. And they are all on here. Everyone takes them up close - just faces. Hopefully, we'll get a good one soon so I can finally get a haircut.

September - 7 months

2007-09-30T18:55:00.000-05:00

This month, Ruby may be at her optimal gerber baby cuteness. I can't believe how many strangers stop and tell me "good job" or how cute Ruby is. Everywhere we go in public we are swarmed with baby adorers. It's a nice feeling for sure, but it's still kind of wierd.

Ruby has been rolling over like crazy. She didn't really start doing it at all until a few weeks ago, but now she loves to just roll around. My mom said on Friday, she went to the bathroom and left Ruby playing on the floor. When she returned, Ruby had rolled all the way under the couch with just her head still sticking out.

She's growing like a weed. She's officially out of all things 6 months. It's a bummer because most of her 9 months stuff is for cooler weather - since she won't turn 9 months until the end of October. It's amazing how fast she grows. I wish there was a way to slow it down. All I can do is try to soak up every minute of it while it lasts.

Ruby started shrieking like a terradactyl. She's just figuring out her voice and volume and all that. But it totally gets on Brian's nerves - he has to take deep breaths to get through it. My mom has no patience for it either - especially in public. Ruby is officially unruly.

As I'm writing this, Brian just scooted by on his back with Ruby riding sitting up on his belly. She's crabby and usually the only thing that chills her out is moving around in a new way. She loves to be pushed around in her bathtub or in one of the little plastic bins we keep her toys in. One more reason hardwood floors rule.

This month Ruby learned how fake cough and to clap.

She also hung out with her favorite cousin, Ben. She loves him like crazy - always leaning over to hug him when he's within reach. I think she remembers that he came all the way to see her when she was just 3 weeks old.

While Ben was here, we all went to the Science Center to see Brian's Mutant Detector.

This month, Ruby stopped taking an 8pm nap, and just stayed asleep. This kind of bums me out because I don't get much time with her if I work late. On Wednesday night, I came home and she was already asleep. That sucks. I would rather her stay up until 11pm, and then sleep for my mom.

Three times in September, she slept from 8pm until 7am without waking up in her own bed!!!! That was insane. 11 hours. Of course, I never got much more than 5 hours of sleep because I I always have stuff around the house to catch up on, and I'm reading a really good book right now - Dishwasher. Hopefully though - it's a sign of good things to come.

Two out of the three times were while Brian was in Boston for work. That was a gift! I was really worried about having her all to myself for five days, but it went great.

We also took Ruby to the zoo for the first time this month. She really liked watching everything underwater - penquins, fish, and hippos. Probably the best was when Brian held her up above the water line to see the Hippo out of the water and then below to see everything swimming. He bobbed her up and down a bunch of times and she was blown away and giggling.

Her favorite things to do this month are:

- Walking (with assistance)

-Music - Cameron gave her a little piano she loves to play and she also loves her new (super-old) fisher price music box portable radio that plays Twinkle Twinkle. I had the "Raindrops" one when I was little and I found hers at TFA while shopping for something else. It's in perfect shape. No batteries!

- Standing by the coffee table and beating on it.

- Picking all of her toys out of a bin one by one. She grabs them, beats them on someting, and then tosses them. Repeat.

- She also still likes her exersaucer. She's borrowing it from her older friend Tyler (along with his bed, changing table, bouncer, etc. - we're all about not buying baby stuff if we can avoid it). I love it because it isn't all blinged out and flashy. It just has a bunch of fine motor exercises that keep her busy while I cook or run to the bathroom or whatever.

She's not crawling yet. I know she'll get to it when she feels like it. She's getting there. Here's what often happens when we try it out:

We have some tummy time and she curls up her toes and pushes up.

Daisy comes by to check things out.

Daisy tickles Ruby. Ruby laughs and fall back on her belly. And we have to start over.

Water Baby

2007-09-06T21:39:00.000-05:00

Today, I was surprised when Ruby and I had to dash from the car into a store in the rain without an umbrella, it didn't bother her at all. When I told Brian about it tonight, he said that, before I got home from work yesterday, he took Ruby outside while it was drizzling, and she was amazed by the whole experience. It makes sense - the light is different, the smell is different, and of course she loves water.
No cute pics of Ruby in the rain yet. Here's my favorite bath time one so far. At first, she couldn't understand why she couldn't just grab the stream of water like she grabs everything else she reaches out for. Since I figured out how to add pictures - I'm going to add some other swimming ones too.

That's Ruby with her swimming lessons buddy, Cameron. I'm sad to say she already outgrew that swimsuit before the session was even over. As you can tell from the pics - she was barely in it on the day they were taken. Ruby LOVES swimming.

She got to swim twice over the weekend: at her friend Anina's 3rd birthday party and she got to get halfway in the new luxurious blow up pool at our farm during cousin Ben's visit.

The water was ice-cold because it was in the shade. But that did not stop her from wanting to get in.

for real...

2007-09-05T23:02:00.000-05:00

Since the first day that Ruby was born, I frequently am amazed that Ruby is real - that she is a real person and that she is a part of our family and will be forever. Sounds so lame, especially coming from someone who hates it when anyone states the obvious, but it's true. It happens all the time, and it is truly and profoundly stunning. The fact that it keeps happening with the same intensity, instead of getting a little more familiar as time passes, just might be the very best part. I hope it stays this way forever.

Ruby kisses.

2007-09-05T07:42:00.000-05:00

Okay - I'm just going to try to write down one thing per day. Babysteps.

Yesterday when I got to my mom's house after work to pick up Ruby, as soon as she saw me, she kicked her little legs like crazy and giggled, and then she kissed me 3 times. The kissing part was new. They were typical baby kisses - no puckering. But it was really great none the less. Coming home is great!

The First Week

2007-09-01T21:46:00.000-05:00

Details about Ruby's birth at http://www.hiveproject.com/ruby/