17 months

Ruby turned 17 months on December 9th. She's a busy bee for sure! She's changing and growing like a weed. Here's a bit about her over the past month.

-Ruby is talking so much. I may have mentioned these already, but some of her most used words are bubba, dadda, key-key (what she lovingly calls her blankie), lovie (luh-bee), hair bow, pretty, ear, eyes, nose, splash, apple (babow), cracker, yogurt (whoa-goo), Cheerio (chee-oh), cereal (eee-oh), I want cup, eat (hard t), I want eat, go go!, uh-oh, ball, jacket, feet, toes, nigh-night (nigh-nigh), milk (muck), trash (when she finds some on the floor), "bye bye Daddy". There are so  many more, but these are some highlights!

 -She is not walking, but is getting around much more. She is gaining strength and courage. She will now dismount the furniture on her own and does not fall. She figures out how to shimmy down on her tummy and lands on her feet.

 -She's getting to be a pickier eater, but I can always scramble eggs and she will eat them. The other food she's been crazy about this month are raspberries and blackberries. I've been able to give her those a ton, so at least she's getting good nutrients from them.

 -When she really wants something, she will say it over and over really fast and with some serious passion-it cracks us up. Henry imitates her at random times and makes me laugh. So its...Iwantcup, Iwantcup, Iwantcup, Iwantcup, Iwantcuuuuuup!!!! (same with I want ball!). She has also learned cookie and gum (no, she has never had gum), and associates these with all treats. So she will see the big kids with some kind of treat and will say, "gum?' and I will say, no you can't have gum. Then she will say, "cookie?" (nice try). She says it cooo-keee, drawing out that first syllable.:) She associates cookie with the grocery store, and the other day we were in Walmart and asked, "cookie?". I told her this store doesn't have cookies. Then she said, "nana?" which I got a kick out of because at the Madison Target they give fruit instead of a cookie. She was trying to figure out what they offered at the store we were in! Anyway, weird memory, but I could just see her making connections and communicating.

 -She is learning to shake her head yes and no. No comes much easier than yes. She was playing hard one night and started to fuss a little (maybe got hurt or something), so Steven asked, Do you want me to pick you up? And she gave an emphatic "NO!" shake of the head. We both cracked up. I think it looks more dramatic bc of all her hair or something.

 -She found some dried up leaf in the kitchen and picked it up and said, "wuck. wucky". I couldn't figure out her work, then it dawned on me she was saying yuck and yucky! She then handed it to me and said "trash". Ha! Yes, dear, get used to it! She has been using wucky a  lot since then.:)

-In the pic above you can see she picks her toes!:) She will just be playing, then all of a sudden she will notice something between her toes and she will work and work on getting it. It is so funny and makes her look like a little monkey! Annie did the same thing and still does sometimes.

 -She loves wipes and tissues and will pretend to blow her nose (above) and will use the wipe to wipe her belly and whatever is around. Maybe she will be a good housekeeper someday!

That's all for now! You're such a sweetie, and we love you so much, Ruby! It's hard for me to believe that you'll be 1.5 next month! Time is flying!