Ruby D at Eighteen months

At eighteen months you:

-are such a cuddle bug. you ask for "hug" and "kiss" numerous times a day from me, your sister, and your daddy. you lean right in and wrap your arms around our necks. so precious. you also kiss sissy, your minnie mouses, and pictures of babies/animals in books.
-can help count from 1-10 if you are in the right mood. you know 3, 5, 7, 8 and 10 and sometimes pipe in with 6. you also think you can read and point at books saying "t-h-e, the" (just like sister). you also randomly say letters when looking at books. if we ask you what color something is you say orange every time.
-at your checkup at riley (every six months) you weighed 21 pounds. although you are completely proportional and clearly very healthy your doctors were still worried about you and ordered a lot of tests. you had an x-ray of your left hand to find out your bone age and a full blood panel taken. the only exciting part about any of this is that they were actually able to get blood from a vein in your arm instead of your forehead this time. yeah! they put numbing cream on before hand, and you didn't cry at all. my big girl!
-can say pretty much anything and are extremely verbal. you also are extremely opinionated. we hear NO a lot from you. other common words/phrases: hug, no way, i need up, please, here you go (which you say as one word-so cute), sister, minnie, oh (you say this when you think something is cute, when you are hugging gracie, etc.-it is completely adorable), wow-which you say with a pursed open mouth.
-are very good at using a spoon. you are doing a little better at drinking more milk throughout the day. you are still a very good eater. some of your favorites: cheese, noodles, yogurt, strawberries, hot dogs, and ice cream.
-when you see something you like at the store you say: "cute. i want." oh my ruby d!
-love playing with your minnies, books, blocks, and babies.
-start running to the bathroom at full speed when i say bath.
-still take off your socks every day. you are getting better at taking off your pants/diapers. you are barely in your car seat before you start throwing your shoes and socks off. this drives me crazy by the way.
-are still very shy with other people but will smile and flirt from afar.
-tell me you love me, mimi, mimi's house, papa, gracie, daddy, uncle nick, and taking a shower with auntie ann.
-love music. you start shaking your whole body when a song come on that you like.
-have such fair skin that you bruise so easily. you always have some kind of mark on your forehead. sigh.
-are getting such long/thick hair. everywhere we go people comment on how blond you are and how cute your sticky out pig tails are. you won't keep a barrette in at home so your bangs are always hanging in your eyes.
-you and gracie do not share the same favorite tv shows (you play during hers and look up every once in awhile). you are more a fan of sesame street and cat in the hat where as gracie loves sid the science kid and the octounauts.
-are a very good helper and will take things to the trash for me (especially your diaper) and help pick up your toys at night. you are horrible at trashing the bookcase every day though.
-still tell me/take yourself to the bathroom for every poop you have and usually will pee in the potty too. i am considering starting to pee train you but will probably wait until late spring/summer.
-still breastfeed right before bed (you start flipping out for "boob" as soon as we leave gracie's room after prayers) and occasionally during the night. you are such a stubborn determined girl i haven't quite figured out how/when i will start the final weaning process with you. during the night will probably happen once we get you out of our bed and into either the crib or a toddler bed. hopefully you will start sleeping through the night at that point too (ha ha).

oh ruby d d you are just a riot. you make me laugh even when you are frustrating me. you have such a strong personality and are so sure of yourself. we all love you so so much and can't get enough of your hugs and kisses. even when you are screaming no at me i can't wait to hear your cute little voice or hear your big belly

 laugh. i love you my ruby girl.

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Friday Faves

• pinterest.com (my username is sharingiscaring).
• birds eating from our window feeder.  i love our little window feeder in the living room. it took a long time for the birds to warm up to it, but now they use it all the time. the girls get so excited watching them. i have a bird feeder in the yard also, and i plan on getting a bird bath this summer.
• harry potter specials on the biography channel (i am rereading the harry potter series for the umpteenth time. i am currently on three.)
• ruby d's sticky out white blond pigtails. 
• gracie going through all of her books looking for words she knows (usually she can find the, and, and she).
• teacher susie on sid the science kid.
• peonies, tulips, and pink or white roses (i do not like red roses).
• my new shoe cabinet from ikea. the drawers fold out and have double rows for shoes. (LOVE!!):
  
• the pottery barn kids catalog, because let's be serious, i can't actually afford anything from them, but i love to look.
• rainy nights in january.
• recent favorites from etsy.com:

Itsy Bitsy

The weather this winter is crazy. Very little snow, very few freezing cold days, and so many mild, rainy days. It feels like it should be spring soon instead of the middle of January. Spring clothing in all of the stores doesn't help. You know what kills me every single year? Little girl swimsuits. There is literally nothing cuter than baby bikinis. I seriously have a problem. Ruby D has I don't know how many hand me downs so I am trying not to look for her (although I know she will end up with at least one suit). Gracie has grown out of almost all of hers so yeah! No, we don't have a pool. No, we don't belong to a gym with a pool. We do go outside to run through the sprinkle every few days during the summer though, and I take them swimming whenever we stay at a hotel. We also will have a pool at our hotel when we go to Disney in October. Unfortunately my very favorite suit will not be coming home with me, because I just can not justify spending that much money on a swim suit for a four year old. But really, how freaking cute is this?

It's so vintage inspired! (janieandjack.com if anyone else has $42 to throw around).
Most of our swimsuits come from Gymboree (clearance and outlet) and Old Navy. Target also has really cute suits-especially the polka dots. I hope my love of swimsuits doesn't pass on to Gracie as she gets older; I'll probably be thinking that $42 would be a good deal!

Christmas Photos (plus Gracie's 4 Year Shots)

I know that I am biased, but she is just so beautiful.

Stinker girl. She has her father's mouth. The girls resemble each other, but Gracie looks more like me and Ruby looks more like Andrew. Lucky Ruby is going to end up with straight hair where as poor Gracie gets stuck with my frizz.

I love this picture. Poor Ruby thought that I was going to leave for some reason when I put her down. She calmed down relatively quickly, but she can be a rather ridiculous baby. Gracie is my photogenic girl who has never been scared of a photographer.

 

Love! I didn't purchase this pose, but this is pure Gracie through and through.

 

Finally warming up to the experience.  She loved the chairs that they had for her to sit on.

Clap Clap.

 

Andrew liked this picture, but I don't think it even looks like Gracie. She looks happy, but her face is way too wide. I also have never had her pictures taken without her hair in pigtails, and I'm still not sure about it.

A perfect four year old picture. She looks so smart, so sweet, so curious, so her.

Are we done yet?

My turn Sister. 

LOVE. Dimple, naughty face, and scrunchy nose smile all in one pic.

 

Ha Ha.