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...