Random...

Ruby is napping.  Rather than clean my house like I should (because, OMG...), I'm going to dump my brain into the internets.  Ok?

I took some pics of R being adorable and running around in her cloth diapers this morning, so you'll get those too.  I'm sure you all mind.  I didn't edit them either.  Not that I have much editing capability, with just iPhoto...

I need a new computer, badly.  I have a many years old macbook, and it's getting ready to bite the dust.  It's so old that you can't update the OS anymore, and I can't put Photoshop on it.  Ugh.  But a new compy is not in the budget.

Speaking of new computers, my younger brother worked as an Apple Genius for a time.  He recently resigned, to take a better job, but before he did, he picked up a new computer for my sister-in-law with his employee discount.  Then, while setting it up for her, he promptly spilled a beer on it and fried the thing.  Not even kidding.  Let that be a lesson for you all.  Beer + computer do not mix.

Hey!!!  College football season has begun!  I am SO SO SO excited to watch my Buckeyes dominate!  I'm also really excited to dress Ruby up in her game day gear.  If you follow me on Instagram (yes, I still need to make a link button), you saw that I finished up a scarlet and gray skirt for her to wear with a kick-butt onesie I got for her off of Etsy.  We also got her her very first Seahawks jersey, and she's been carrying it around the house yelling, "GO!!!" ever since.

Speaking of that, Ruby is quite the sports fan.  She loves "ball ball" (any ball sport).  When we were at Target, she saw that football was playing on all of the display tvs, so we stopped to watch.  A young guy working there came up and asked if I needed help.  I replied, "No, she just wants to watch football."  To which he said, "Awesome."  Yeah.  She is pretty awesome!

This looks safe...

Yesterday I made Ruby accompany me to Nordstrom to get fitted for a real, post-pregnancy, post-nursing bra.  Holy crap.  I forgot what it's like to wear a real bra!  It's great!  I bought one, because wow, Nordstrom bras aren't cheap, so I have some work to do to rebuild my non-nursing lingerie wardrobe.  Let's just say that my new bra is 3-4 cup sizes larger than all of my pre-pregnancy bras.  No, I don't think I grew that much.  I just was wearing really ill-fitting bras.  Eek!  Never again!

I'd also really like to totally revamp my actual clothes wardrobe, but that's not going to happen.  Still, Hello Apparel is having a huge sale today, and I might have to get one of their sweatshirts finally.  Would that be too hipster of me?

I feel like I'm wanting to turn Ruby into a total hipster baby, and find myself obsessing over her fall wardrobe, which is ridiculous.  But, I think it's really the only "hobby" I have time for?

My next door neighbor just had a new baby.  She's tiny, and squishy, and adorable, and it almost makes me want another.  But not really, toddlers are where it's at.

Are you guys watching Graceland (I told you this was going to be all over the place)?  I'm kind of obsessed & hate that it wasn't on this week!  I need more!  But it's almost over!  All of my summer tv is ending, sad.  I really enjoyed The Killing, Longmire, The Glades, Burn Notice, and Graceland.  What's coming up for fall?  I don't even know, except The Walking Dead, but that isn't until October, ugh.  Though my Homeland season 2 DVDs are supposed to ship in a week or so.  Can't wait for that!  What else do I need to be watching?  After Ruby goes to sleep, I like to rot my brain with tv.  And crocheting.  Because I'm a granny.

I am currently at war with my face.  I never had bad skin, even as a teenager, but now?  Now it is insane!  Thanks a lot post-partum hormones.  It is making me horribly self-conscious, and want to never be in pictures, which is why you never see me in any.  I googled for the best products you could buy in a drugstore, and am trying a few out now.  Cross your fingers.

Btw, we run now...

And throw huge balls.

There's a new Starbucks in town, and it's walking distance from my house.  Well, the one at the neighborhood hospital was also technically walking distance, but this one is probably under a mile away.  And I now have the Starbucks app.  Trouble.  Plus the new one also has a drive through, for sleeping baby times.  Double trouble.  We walked there the other day and it poured rain on us on the way back.  I didn't even mind, because I had a delicious drink in my hand.

Speaking of rain, the rainy season is upon us.  Ten months of rain.  What am I going to do with a toddler???  We will go nuts.  We have our toddler "school" on Mondays starting in September, and volunteering still, but what do I do with the rest of the days?  Ruby and I both go stir-crazy being stuck at home, and Mr. G frowns upon going shopping 3 days a week.  Ideas?

She is a nutcase.

And with that, it seems, the little lady is taking a short nap.  Of course.  But I think that was more than enough random for one day.  Time to go clock back in for mom-duty.  Perhaps we'll take a walk today...  To Starbucks...

Calendar Girl - Fifteen Months

Man, is this post ever late!  Good thing I take good notes on my phone throughout the month so that I can remember everything she's doing.  Because this girl?  She is doing a LOT!

Hoo, boy!  We are in full-on toddler mode now!

And I don't mean that in a bad way at all.  What I mean is, she toddles!  Yep, at 14 months 17 days old, Ruby took her first steps and has not slowed down since!!!

At first, she still could only get to a stand (and then walk) if she had something to pull up on, or was set down standing.  But it was only a matter of days before she could stand up herself and just take off.  I kind of expected her to walk closer to 18 months, given her past timetable for gross motor skills.  So this has been a pleasant, and adorable surprise!  I love her little zombie walk!

With this walking ability, she's finally gotten the hang of her walking push toys, too.  She practically runs around like a crazy girl pushing her clacking alligators and her baby stroller.  She also dances, her most comical move being the "booty drop", which is exactly what you can imagine, and if you say, "booty drop, booty drop, booty drop!" to her, she'll do it.  Ha!

This month, Ruby also added a few new words to her repertoire.  She says "ok", "wow!!!", and "yay!" (this one accompanied by clapping).  She also started using the word "eye", and you'd better watch your corneas around here, because chances are, if she's saying "eye" she's about to poke one.  Sometimes it's just her baby doll's, but often it's one of ours, or the dog's.  We went to a petting farm, and while petting a bunny, I heard the tell-tale, "EYE!!!" and had to get her the heck away from the bunny.  She has a new animal sound, bear, which is a very growly "ROWR!"  And my favorite new word/sound of the month is this:  If you ask her what Santa says, she very deliberately says, in a low voice, "Oh! Oh! Oh!"  The face that accompanies this is priceless.

My chalkboard idea isn't faring too well.

Our sleep issues mentioned in the last post have continued.  In fact, several nights Ruby has just ended up sleeping with us (or just me, sometimes Mr. G opts for the couch - there's really not room for three in our bed!).  I'm not really sure what the deal is, but she seems to be almost afraid to go to bed in her room.  I know it sounds like another step backward to allow her to sleep in our bed, but my hope is that we'll make sleep seem like it really IS a safe thing for her, and then we'll work on getting her back to the crib.  Since I can't climb in the crib with her and help her to sleep there.

I went to a class for parents of toddlers, and the sleep regression was my issue that I brought.  One of the other mothers in attendance mentioned that they had had similar troubles at one point, and pushing back their son's bedtime helped.  Ruby still seems tired at her "normal" bed time, but we've started to push it back a little bit, and it actually seems to have helped some.

I have wondered if her sleep issues are due in part to the fact that we are nursing much less now.  Right around her birthday, I dropped to nursing only at first morning wake up and for sleeps (2 naps and night).  So, about 4 times per day.  Often, though, one nap would be a car nap (sometimes both!) so it was more like 2-3 times per day.  Then this month, I decided to drop the first morning wake up session.  It wasn't serving me a purpose (getting her to sleep), and I wanted to head in the direction of weaning, so out it went.  Which means that sometimes, the night session is her only one, if we're on the go.

I'd read that children mourn the loss of nursing, and so have been taking care to have lots of snuggle time.  We've definitely been cuddling up and reading a lot more books together, at her request.  So I wonder if she's just resisting the sleep because she's needing more mama time.  As nice as that sounds, I want sleep, too!  

Ruby got to try ice cream for the first time this month, and she was NOT a fan.  Which pretty much holds true with her no white dairy attitude.  She still doesn't like yogurt, sour cream, or whipped cream either (what the heck, kid???).  Luckily, she came around when Mr. G & I got our traditional anniversary Blizzards, and she had a taste.  Now she'll mooch the heck out of us if we have any.  

Ruby also seems to be a lover of sauces.  Often times she'll refuse meat, but if I give her barbeque or something with it, she is into it.  The girl is a lover of flavor.  She even likes my salsa verde!

Mobile toddler = lots of shots of her walking away from me.

No new teeth this month, so we're still at 8 total.  Maybe she's working on some molars?  There's often a hand in her mouth, but she doesn't often let me in there to feel.  Plus, those teeth that she does have are SHARP.  Because she also still puts stuff in her mouth that she shouldn't (dirt, bark chips, dryer lint, toilet paper - I know, what???), I taught her to say, "Ahhhhhh!" and open her mouth.  So that I can at least look in!  She actually thinks it's pretty funny, and if I say, "Ruby, what's in your mouth?" she'll say, "Ahhhhhh!"

At 15 months, Ruby's loves are much the same as before.  She loves bubbles, and being outside to blow them.  Her water table.  Vehicles (especially the garbage truck!).  Animals, especially dogs, bears, and horses.  Sidewalk chalk, which she now tries to draw with on my leg, because her DAD taught her that!  Loves books, especially Go, Dog. Go!, Goodnight Moon (she can point out the mouse on every page now) and any Dr. Seuss.  Loves to eat.  Loves the dryer and dishwasher and helping me unload them.  Loves to play dress up, especially with things that are tucked away in drawers that she figures out how to open.  She is very much the observer, and I can tell that she spends most of her day filing away information and figuring stuff out.

As far as toddlers go, I think we've pretty much hit the jackpot with this one.  Aside from her sleep issue, at 15 months, Ruby is a pretty easy going gal.  She was such a high needs newborn, I'd hoped that would come back around and mean she'd be a great toddler.  I know that toddlerhood is long, but so far, she's pretty full of awesome.

Ruby is a quiet observer.  She needs a moment to warm up in new situations, but then she is quite social, and loves to charm people.  She doesn't seem to mind so much when other toddlers take her toys, and doesn't usually have that determination to get into trouble that I often see in her buddies.  She does have determination, though.  When she has a goal, she is bound to accomplish it.  The following photos are an example that I just had to share.  She wanted to go on that slide.  Barefeet + bark chips?  Yeah, those weren't slowing her down!

Made it!  Can I please go on the slide now?

The funny thing is, she's pretty scared actually to go on slides.  But she was happy to do it with Grandma's help.

I love the hair!!!

Overall, I just can't get enough of this kid.  She continues to be an amazing presence in our lives, and we just can't wait to see what she does next!!!

Ruby's gorgeous dress was a gift, but you can find it here.

Week in iPhone Pictures

August 11-17

Sunday:  We'll take a nap anywhere, any way we can get one!  I started a new project.  See all that water?  She tried to dump it on ME.  Monday:  I was "forced" to wear two different shoes (at least they were both mine).  Driving the fire engine at the toddler park.  Reading up about Pete Carroll, getting ready for football season (she is obsessed with Mr. G's Seahawks yearbook).  Tuesday:  Hoping if she reopens the lunchbox, more food will appear.  Wednesday:  Out of boredom, we went to the toy store, and came home with Little Blue Truck.  And a Playmobil 1*2*3 set.

Thursday:  Fluff mail (I sold some diaps I didn't love and replaced them with these babies)!  Rainy day indoor horsey ride.  Fridge-raider.  Working on using some crayons.  Friday:  I made mexican muffins, and she watched them through the window saying, "Cook, cook, cook it!"  Saturday:  Riding her cousin's bigwheel at the City Streets festival in my brother's 'hood.  There was an excellent parade, too! Ruby really wanted to be a part of that drill team.  Playing with cousin Frankie while the BBQ contest was happening.

August 18-24

Sunday:  First nap ever in the crib without nursing first (yep, I went for it and weaned, more on that later).  Splish-splashin' around.  Monday:  Headed outside for some bubbles and sidewalk chalk.  Someone has mastered the art of dipping!  Tuesday:  Just being adorable at volunteering.  More interested in watching the other babies in the stands, than watching Daddy play softball.  Wednesday:  She helps unload the dishwasher now.  If you've never made homemade granola, you should - this batch is already gone (I use Sarah's recipe & love it)!  Ruby Jo looooves my crockpot sloppy joes!

Thursday:  The ladies of the playdate - these girls have known each other practically since birth!  More softball shenanigans at the last game of the season (phew!).  Friday:  We headed into the city to stuff our faces with beignets and to take a quick trip to the Land of Nod.  That pillow is what we were after; she loves it and calls it "Ninight"...  More fun at the toddler park - I'm so glad we have one in our neighborhood!  Saturday:  Hey!  My rainbow quilt won a blue ribbon at the fair (and so did two hats and a sweater I crocheted for Ruby)!!!  Checkin' out the piggies.  She wanted to ride that roller coaster SO badly.  Baby's first Purple Cow (a float made with blackberry ice cream, blackberry syrup, and Sprite - made by the Snohomish county dairy women, and only available at this fair).

Sigh.  I should have done a separate post just for the fair.  It was SO much fun taking Ruby!  When I was a child, I was in a 4-H club for many years, and this was the fair that I participated in.  My main project was my horse, and fair was like the big finale for the season.  We brought our camper and the horses and lived at the fair for about a week while showing.  Taking Ruby brought it all back, especially since she loved the 4-H horses!  We took her into one of the barns, and it just so happened it was my old club's section.  They even still had the tack boxes my dad made back in the day.  It was awesome.  Ruby loved all the other animals (especially the 4-H dogs, of course), and the fair food (thank goodness she's a Purple Cow lover just like her mama & daddy!), and I can't wait to take her back.  

In fact, I just might take her back tomorrow!

InstaRuby

After some deliberation, I've decided to go public with my instagram. I mean, I was pretty much already sharing all of my instapics on here anyway, so why not?

So if you just can't get enough Ruby and need your daily fix, you can follow us over  there. User name is jennyann28!  

(and, yes, eventually I'll go to a real computer and post a link ;) )

Um... MONTH in iPhone Pictures

Oops.  Catching up!

July 14-20

Sunday:  She wanted to look out the window at the cars (it was just our car, lol).  "Driving" Uncle Tony's car.  Monday:  Swingin' at the park.  Intrigued by tennis.  Tuesday:  Volunteering usually = playing at the hospital.  Her new kicks had arrived when we got home!  Wednesday:  Ruby picked up the remote like a phone and said, "Hi!!!  Dada!"  Mooching Grandma's snacks at Starbucks.  We saw these deer on our walk, and they were totally cool with us standing around watching them!

Thursday:  Stuffing her face with peanut buttered banana pancakes.  Discovering bark chips at a playdate at the toddler park.  Friday:  With nothing else to do, we decided to have picnic #3 for the week.  Followed by some swinging.  Saturday:  Trying hard to make progress on the rainbow quilt during naptime.  That hat kills me.  What she thinks of ice cream (what the heck?!?).  Soaking herself in the water table.  Bunny ears are not just for Easter.

July 21-27

Sunday:  Hydrating on a long walk.  Very blurry, but a picture of her first steps!  Monday:  Having a good time with Grandma's toothbrush at Target.  Snack on the deck (I was trying to trick her into eating yogurt by getting one of those squeezy pouches that was a yogurt combo).  Mad because I made her sit on her bottom in the tub.  Mr. G texted to see if the wee one was asleep.  This was the response he got. Tuesday:  But once asleep, she sleeps so cute!  She really is a toddler now, isn't she?  Cooling off in the "pool" while we sun some diaps.

Wednesday:  A random, inexplicable fever.  We HAD to go to the grocery store, and the poor bug just wasn't feelin' it.  Thursday:  All better, and excited to eat peaches out of her container.  Goofing off.  I turned the camera around on the phone, which she thought was hilarious.  Hugging her puppy, awww. Friday:  Blueberry finger!  Looking for airplanes in a dry pool, lol.  Saturday:  I guess I only took this one pic, but I was pretty excited that her plate matched her OSU cup!

July 28-August 3

Sunday:  Smarty pants tries to buckle her own chest clip.  She looks like a real proper lady in that hat.  Monday:  Suspiciously eyeballing people out the window at our last lunch date with Uncle Tony before he got a new job.  Mommy is a jungle gym.  Sleepy buns!  Tuesday:  Getting ready to stroll to lunch at the hospital.  Reading Go, Dog. Go! for the 1000th time (that day).  Wednesday:  Oh, the cheese.  So happy in her big girl car seat, while waiting for Daddy to get our traditional anniversary Blizzards.

Thursday:  I've got to figure out how to lock cabinets in our rental...  Ruby and her buddy went to Kid's Cove at the mall.  She was not too sure about the behavior of the big kids there.  But the games were fun!  Friday:  I think she'll love this quilt, if I ever get it done.  Finished the last block!  Hmmm... decisions, decisions.  We had a sudden cool weather day, so I decided to try this vest on her - and she went crazy.  Saturday:  The top is finished!

August 4-10

Sunday:  Sewing blitz.  I was so busy, I forgot to take a picture of my child - until she was curled up in bed with me at night.  Monday:  Breakfast at the counter, so the tray could get a wash.  Another great well-baby check up!  We decided to make cookies after her 4(!) shots.  She decided to help herself to the chocolate chips.  Tuesday:  Sippy sharing.  The hair, the shirt, I die.  Wednesday:  It's done!  Taking a walk with my big girl.

Thursday:  Sharing snacks with the dog, after being stood up for our playdate (grrrr).  Friday:  Making stacks at Starbucks!  Don't let that face fool you - she was thrilled to get a doggie sticker for being buckled into her cart at Target.  The finished quilt, right before we packed it up and took it to the fairgrounds.  Waiting in line to enter our crafts at the fair - she was way over it, it was dinner time, and we were 30 miles from home, but she hung in there like a champ!  Saturday:  Big Seattle day, first stop was the aquarium.  The starfish were pretty, but overall, it was hugely disappointing.  But then we went to the Mariner's game to see Ken Griffey Jr. inducted into the hall of fame (he's the little black dot in the middle there).  Go, Junior!!!

Phew!

Hi.

It's been a while, yes?

As always, I'm full of excuses.  Here are a few.

Ruby's having some sort of sleep regression.  As in, she won't go to sleep anymore.  Well, not without gut-wrenching, snot rolling down her face, huge alligator tears.  Which we don't do in this house.  But what that translates to is basically her wriggling around in bed with me for a couple of hours every night until she passes out from exhaustion around 10ish.  Since my only free time is dependent upon her being asleep, well, I don't have free time anymore.  I went to a toddler class taught by my former baby class instructor last night and talked about this a lot.  I'm still unsure what I want to do.

Isn't she the cutest, though?

I am trying my damndest to finish Ruby's rainbow quilt (which I started over 2 years ago) so that I can enter it in the fair.  The entry is a week from today.  I still have a good amount of work left to do in that short week.  It's possible, but it's going to take some cooperation from my family, and I'm just not sure I'm going to get that cooperation (which is a whole other story).  I will be really disappointed if I don't finish in time.

Ok, so I guess those are my only two excuses, but they're huge ones.

In other news, oh yeah btw, Ruby is WALKING.  She took her first steps two weeks ago.  While it's still not her preferred method of transportation (and she can't yet stand up without something to pull up on, so that hinders things), she's letting go and walking more and more on her own.  It is insane to me that less than three months ago we were getting her evaluated for gross motor delay, and now she has gone from nothing, to pulling up, crawling, sitting up, cruising, climbing stairs, and walking all in that short time.  Unreal.

Unrelated, I got a random email from a marketing gal at See Kai Run (makers of Ruby's favorite shoes), saying she'd found the blog, and could they post a picture of her wearing the shoes on their Facebook page?  I was surprised they'd found my little ol' blog, but said sure!  So you can peep my little lady out over there if you like.  And if you're visiting my blog because of her picture on the SKR page, welcome!  And thanks for visiting!  I promise I try to post more regularly. ;)

And in other thanks news, if you were the person who ordered something off of MyHabit after clicking my referral link that I had in my deal-finding post, you are AWESOME, and THANK YOU.  That credit will definitely be put to good use!

And, hey!  Want to know how to make me think you all are super duper SUPER awesome?  You can click this link and vote for Ruby in the Pediped casting call contest.  You all know that baby girl LOVES shoes.  This gig would be perfect for her, no?  You can vote once per day, so just head on over there daily (through 8/9) and give her a little vote.   Thanks!

Ok, this tired mama needs to drag her buns downstairs and try to sew without waking up the little monster sweet angel.  Sigh.  Seriously though, this quilt is going to be awesome like nothing you've ever seen.  If I finish it.