Christmas Part II

For Christmas this year Louis, Ruby, my sister Michelle and I piled into the truck and made the 7 hour drive up to San Leandro. Ruby hadn't been feeling well the day prior, and ended up losing her cookies twice on the drive. I felt so bad for her! And us, for having to pull over, change her clothes, clean her up, clean out the car seat etc, all in what felt like 30 degree weather! Thankfully, we still made decent time and arrived safe and sound, with a load of laundry to do =)

Christmas eve was spent relaxing with family (who were making tamales-yum!) and loving on Ruby girl. She loved the attention of course, and enjoyed entertaining a new audience with her belly exposures and "meows"! By Christmas day, Ruby was making herself at home and got the hang of opening presents. She didn't quite understand that there were presents inside, but she loved taking out the tissue paper. She also enjoyed wandering around and shopping in other people's present piles =)

We had a great Christmas with family and the trip went by fast. Just when things settled down, it was time to go home. The drive home felt sooo long... But we still hope we can go back soon because Ruby had such a great time playing with all of her cousins! Here are few pics from the trip...

Inspecting her new phone, trying to figure out why it doesn't have a touch screen:

Saying "Cheese" for cousin Sarah:

The best present of all, Ruby!:

Christmas with Grandma

Since we'll be traveling to the Bay Area for Christmas year, we decided to start our celebration by heading over to my mom's house before we went. And oh what fun we had! Ruby wasn't sure what to make of the wrapped gifts, she was more excited about playing with Grandma's remotes and chasing the "meows" around. But once Louis got her started she was very excited about all the new things to play with.

I think her favorite thing was the baby and baby stroller, although she had a hard time deciding between pushing it around or sitting in it! =) Here are some pictures from the day...

17 months old!

Ruby is now 17 months old, can you believe it? She is such an amazing little girl and I am so proud to be her mommy.

Chatterbox: In the past few months Ruby has started talking more and more, but her favorite word is still "Meow!" She loves kitties. She has many stuffed animal kitties she carries around, and will turn through all of her books to point out the cats and give them kisses. It's pretty adorable. If she wakes in the middle of the night she will say "meow!" in the hopes that someone will come to return her kitty which she has chucked over the side of her crib... =) Ruby gets to go on weekly trips to the zoo with her Dad, so it's not just kitties that she is fan of. (Although she does like to walk around meowing at the lions, cheetahs, and other big cats.) She also likes to watch the monkies and gorillas play and make noises at the elephants! Ruby recently started calling me Mommy (instead of mama). It melts my heart! Even if most of the time she's yelling it at me because she wants me for something =). She is also saying "boo!" to be scary... And "ho ho ho!" just in time for Christmas.

Dance Party USA: Ruby loves to dance. When I get home from work I'll turn on some music, and we'll get our dance on. She has some interesting taste in music. She likes Lady Gaga, Black Eyed Peas, boy bands, and most TV commercials. She'll be playing in the living room and a song will come on and she'll just freeze, then start shaking her booty. Needless to say, we laugh a lot at our house!

Eating: Ruby is tall and lean and for her age, so as a mom I'm always worried about her eating enough. She has the metabolism of a hummingbird, and like most toddlers, she doesn't eat a lot. She does like to snack though. She can eat her weight in pancakes and french fries, but otherwise she eats like a bird. Thankfully she continues to grow =) We try to offer her a variety of healthy foods, but in the end, if she wants to carb load, so be it!

Sleep: Sleep, glorious, sleep. Ruby was a frequent waker for so long, that once she stopped it was a shock! She still goes through phases when she's teething where she will wake up during the night and want to make sure we're still there. (She has 8 teeth now though!) But it's amazing to have a toddler that wants to go to bed when it's time, runs to her room, gives you a kiss, and says "Byeeeee"! For that, I am so very thankful. (I'm also thankful for liquid Melatonin which has helped my sleep more than any other method I've tried. yum.)

Holidays: What a difference a year can make! Halloween this year was awesome. It's my favorite time of year, and Ruby was able to run around and have a great time. I made her a cookie costume and we went to a Halloween block party. We also took her to the Dia de los Muertos festival in Oceanside which was awesome, aside from the 85 degree weather!

Last year:

This year:


I hosted Thanksgiving this year which Ruby loved. She spent the day entertaining us all as we enjoyed some good food and family wii time!

Last year:
This year:
This year for Christmas, we're taking Ruby up to Northern California to spend the holiday with our family there. I can't wait! I just know Ruby is going to have a great time and I can't wait for some La Pinata! More to come...

14 months old!

Wow, get a new job and a busy toddler and you hardly have time for blogging anymore! I'm sorry it's been so long and I will do my best to stay on top of my updates...

Ruby is 14 months old! And definitely in toddler mode. She enjoys climbing furniture and standing on it, much to my dismay haha. She says hi to everyone when we're out and about in the hopes of getting their attention. When we're reading her books, she can find and point out the puppy, kitten, shoes, cup, ducky, bath, baby, potty, elephant, etc... I am so impressed with how big her vocabulary is comprehension wise. She's still working on her vocalizations, and mainly only says hi, hello, daddy, mama, and her versions of yes, no, up and other basics. Her little voice is just the cutest thing.

Her diet mainly consists of bananas, eggs, toast/bread, turkey, chicken, fish, shredded cheese, crackers, yogurt, potatoes, pasta and the occasional other fruits and veggies, usually mixed into other stuff... Some days she eats a lot and some she hardly eats at all, which I suppose would make any mom worry. Since she was a preemie, I think I may always worry thats she's not getting enough! But she drinks a lot of milk, and her growth is stable, so I try not to dwell.

Ruby also got two new teeth (the top middle) and may be working on more judging on her lack of sleeping through the night the last two days. Hopefully it will pass and we will have our good sleeper back! I was just getting used to it...

All in all, we are doing well. We're trying to enjoy our end of summer with trips to the zoo, beach, and family visits while we can. Here are some pictures to catch everyone up!

12 month Pictures

Here is the latest installment! We met our photographer at Old Poway Park the day before Ruby's birthday for these pictures. It was HOT, but Ruby didn't mind one bit! She smiled the whole time...There were so many cute ones, but here is a sample...

Michigan Vacation

Summer is flying by! I can't believe it is already August! I wanted to share a few pics from our vacation to Michigan. Both of my parents were born and raised in Michigan, so the majority of my extended family is still there. Once a year my Dad's side has a family picnic. And this year, many of us who live out of state took the trip to attend! It was such a treat. Not only because I had not been back for a visit in 15 years, but because I got to take my husband and baby girl to meet everyone as well!

Ruby did great on her first flight. She was definitely restless at times since she wasn't able to roam around as she wished she could! But she was able to get a nap in, eat snacks, and make new friends during the 4 hour flight. Not bad at all!

We stayed with my cousin Heather and her family, including a 10 year old, 4 year old, and 9 month old... all boys! Ruby loved all the action and excitement. We made trips most days to visit family, and of course attending the big family picnic! Are time went quickly, and before we knew it was time to come home. It took a lot of energy to chase Ruby around all over the state, but I'm glad we went...

11 month Pictures

Thank you to Grandma for having us take these pictures. So cute!

Happy Birthday, Part 2

I have been so busy! But I figured I better post the rest of my birthday stuff before we leave for our vacation tomorrow...

We had Ruby's 1st birthday party on July 11th, which was also my 30th birthday! When I first started planning the event, I thought it would be a small group of family and close friends and some cake. But much to my surprise, ALL of our family and friends wanted to take part in this amazing celebration! Again, I was reminded of just how much Ruby has touched the lives of those around us. And there are many people who love Ruby (almost) as much as Louis and I do! And I couldn't be happier that so many of our loved ones were able to join us for Ruby's birthday, since they are the only who have loved and supported us over this last year. We couldn't have survived it without them!

We had the party at Trolley Barn Park near our house. The weather was warm and breezy, and thankfully we ended up with the perfect shady spot! We had 50 friends, co-workers, and family members join us for this extraordinary day. Louis' family was even able to make the trip down from the Bay Area, which meant a lot to us both. Love, laughter, food, cake, and a mountain of presents set the stage for the perfect day. Especially after not being able to celebrate my birthday, I could not have asked for more this time around. Any 1st birthday would be a joyous one, but knowing how far we have come, how far Ruby has come, I was overwhelmed with happiness. My tiny 3 pound baby was now running, smiling, laughing, waving, dancing, hugging... and she was healthy. We are so fortunate. And I can't wait to see what the next year has in store!

Here is a link to the pictures...
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AcNGrds1btGRH

Happy Birthday, Part 1

Let me just say it has been one emotional and fun filled week! Ruby turned one on 7/7. I took the day off work so we could spend the day together. She squealed when she saw her birthday balloons and seemed to know that the day was a special one. We started off with her favorite breakfast, cinnamon pancakes and bananas. Yum! Then we spent the morning playing and wandering around the house. Soon it was nap time and Ruby and I laid down together and slept for 2 hours! It was glorious =)

Next it was off to do some shopping. Some of Ruby’s happiest moments are riding around in a shopping cart. She loves being around new people, and Louis and I often joke that we spend lots of time looking at the back of her head. She waves and says hi to everyone who will look. And with her big smile, she’s always making new friends. And of course, it was around this time that I started to feel very sentimental… How far we had come from my tiny little girl who came too soon.

Once we got home, Ruby had her favorite lunch. Cheese and crackers, with some turkey. Then it was nap time again! This time I cleaned house, hurricane Ruby had struck again. Once she woke up, Aunt Michelle came over, and then Daddy came home and we left to meet Aunt Nickel at Chuck E Cheese’s. Louis wanted to take Ruby to celebrate her big day! Ruby had a good time, but was mostly excited about the other children that were there. She didn’t seem to notice all the flashing lights, loud noises, and rides that surrounded her. Maybe it was a little like her time in the NICU… bright lights, alarms, wires… I’m so glad those days are behind us. I’ll take crappy pizza at Chuck E Cheese any day!

After a little bit of play time, we went home for cake. We sang to Ruby, who looked confused but was smiling! I presented her giant cupcake, which probably looked more like a toy than food. She had a taste, but didn’t destroy it as one might imagine. Louis, my sisters, and I ate our cake, laughed, and took some pictures. It was lovely. A simple and great day…

Later that night, after Ruby had fallen asleep with me, I scooped her up to put her to bed. I stood in front her crib and rocked her. The year before I couldn’t even watch her sleep, let alone hold her, and I found myself not wanting to put her down. The day Ruby was born was traumatic, but her birthday will always be a celebration, one of gratitude and relief. Because we made it. And I have a beautiful, healthy, and happy baby girl that was worth every sleepless night, every tear, every painful memory… The good by far outweighs the bad, and at the end of the day, I am blessed. I am lucky. I am happy. I could not ask for more.

Happy Birthday Ruby! Thank you for all you have given me.