It's all about Ruby!

Afternoon fishing trip

2011-06-21T16:53:00.001+10:00

Home early from school for an afternoon fishing trip with dad.

Story time

2011-05-21T11:39:00.001+10:00

Reading stories from the library in our new play area

Ouchy

2011-05-20T18:00:00.001+10:00

After a week of being off colour and just not 100%, last night ruby was up until 11pm crying with an ear ache :(

After a fair amount of medication she finally went to sleep and has today been to the drs.

Happy mummies day!

2011-05-08T09:21:00.001+10:00

What a fantastic start to the day, a sleep in until 7am and ruby running in to wish mum a happy birthday.

She had made a special gift at kindy, a love heart collage card, a drawing with lots of purple, mums favourite colour, and the best bit, 3 Jatz wrapped up with a bow.

We shared the biscuits in bed and ruby said that it was great way to start the day having a picnic in bed.

Lizard/wizard

2011-05-02T09:40:00.001+10:00

Mum Merlin is a lizard just like T Rex.

No honey Merlin is a Wizard with a 'w'.

I said Arthur is a lion and the lizard is a bear and T Rex is the king of the castle.
See mum it all matches.

Ok sweetheart

Location:State Route 45,Sheldon,Australia

Catch up

2011-05-01T08:34:00.001+10:00

After a few months of pull our hair out attitude, our beautiful girl is back 90% of the time and all it took was a trip to the chiro for a cranial adjustment - who'd of thought.

Ruby now has a better social life than the rest of the family and some days asks if we can just stay at home.

She goes to 'school' twice a week, swimming lessons, dancing class and now yoga.

She is still dinosaur mad, loves building castles at the beach and playing with Tilly in her cot.

Glee! Receiving her Dino themed Easter pressie from Phoebe and Jake

Check out the new fringe, care of the blu tac that was stuck in her hair.

Fun at the beach over Easter

First trip to the movies - loved it so much she wanted to stay for the next one

First time at dance class - each week is a different theme and she dresses up each week to suit the theme

This was pirate day

And seasons day

Visiting granny in the hospital

Going for a walk in mums new stroller - dad calls it 'the enterprise'

Passing out from exhaustion at 9pm - this was when Tilly first came home and dad was still working nights, mum was struggling to get them both to sleep at night

Location:Various

Big girl riding her bike

2011-04-30T17:07:00.001+10:00

Ruby is now a master of her push bike and rode all over Kingscliff while we were there last weekend. Today she has a new accessory - spokey dokies.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Birthday Party's, Attitude and Nappy free

2011-02-07T15:25:00.004+10:00

Well she made it. After a few threats, Ruby turned 3 and had a fairy/dinosaur themed birthday party with her family. We missed out on our trip to the muesem due to the floods (which just happened to occur on Ruby's b'day) but we have promised to take her in again once it all opens back up.

We did try to take Ruby and Tilly last weekend but found out only after getting all the way to the city that the muesem was still closed after the floods. We did find in Southbank a free kids area that had been set up with a huge jumping castle/slide and the biggest sand pit - Ruby was in her element.

We know she is 3 and that this is normal behaviour for a 3 year old but we still can not believe our little angel has turned into little miss sometimes naughty. Ask her to do something and you get told, "I don't love that" and she will walk away and do something on the other side of the house or she will do something that she knows is wrong, wait until you are looking, do it and see what reaction she gets. Oh and the tears, Ruby will cry and sulk for no reason, if you aren't listening, doing what she wants or if she has just been told to go to her room.

On the other hand, she will give you the best hugs, tell you how much she loves you, help out doing the house work, play quietly when Tilly is sleeping and be super good. These extremes happen within minutes of each other and usually the naughty Ruby shows up when Tilly is awake.

Ruby loves her sister so much and is so keen to play with her. She just wants Tilly to be able to jump and run and be a little less fragile.

Ruby latest love is channel ABC 2 which runs kids programs all day! Recently when Ruby was playing up in the car, Dad said "you can go and live at Grandma's house if you don't stop .....", Ruby's reply was "OK, can I watch my programs".

Oh, and since just before her birthday Ruby stopped wearing nappies to bed, she is now nappy free full time.

Almost 3

2011-01-08T15:04:00.002+10:00

Wow what a time Ruby has had the last few months. Santa has been to visit along with her new best friend Phoebe.

She has had her first trip to Dreamworld, a day at Build a Bear and many a late night playing with her cousins from England - yes she is going to miss them.

Ruby got so spoilt at Christmas that leading up to her birthday in the next few days there isn't much left to get her. The 'plan' is to take her to the muesem for her birthday to see the Dinosaur exhibition. Ruby is dinosaur mad at the moment and mummy is trying to organise a birthday party to suit, right down to the cake.

With everything closed for Christmas and the state of our weather (lots of rain) Ruby and Mummy have been doing quite a bit of baking together. Ruby even got her own red knife so that she can help chop the veges for dinner.

School and swimming lessons are due to start back up again in a week, it will be nice to get back a little routine for Ruby since Tilly came along.

Loving my baby sister

2010-11-29T11:47:00.003+10:00

So far Ruby seems to be adapting quite well to our newest addition. The only times that we seem to be getting a little bit of attitude from Ruby is at bed time, when mummy is home on her own and having to get both Ruby and Tilly settled. Ruby wants mum all to herself and doesn't yet understand that Tilly just can't be put to bed while she is crying so that mum can sleep with her. But it's only been a little over a week, she will get used to having to share her mum.

Otherwise, though she is very keen to cuddle Tilly, change her bottom and read to her. She loves her to bits, constantly saying "look at her mummy, she is so tiny".

We are getting lots of nice photos of the girls together, (when Tilly is awake) and a nice video of Ruby reading a story to Tilly before bed time.

Friends - some real, some not so real

2010-11-08T19:52:00.005+10:00

Ruby has in the last week or so found herself an imaginary friend called, Monk. Monk, helps her eat her dinner; he was chain sawing the couch and helps her pick what to wear, among other things. He seems to only get a mention though when Ruby is over tired, this could explain the weird things he does some days.

Ruby is absolutely enthralled with Dinosaurs at the moment. Did you know they made at least 7 different 'The Land Before Time' Movies? We didn't either until we went to get Ruby a kids Dinosaur movie from the Video shop. Some days we will have to feed the Dinosaurs, that are in our back yard, a snack or other days they are jumping on the trampoline with us.

Our little 3 year old has been causing tired mummy a little bit of grief the last couple of weeks, with no afternoon nap both mum and Ruby are grumpy and over it come 4pm. After butting heads and having way to many smacked bums an attitude change on mums behalf was implemented. Thank you to the Super Nanny, we now have a good girl chart and a naughty step and both of these a working much better than a raised hand and voice ever did. After seeing that Ruby will get a present when she gets to the end of her chart, Daddy requested that he have a good boy chart too. Ruby has 5 stars on her chart and Dad has 2 stars.

Oh and we are going to have to invest in a cheaper computer for Ruby, she is now very keen to send emails (copying mum). She doesn't realise that emails are suppose to be sent to people who you don't see everyday and will ask or tell you that she is going to send an email to her bubba, to mum or to dad, even if we are sitting right next to her. Ruby has also learnt how to turn the sound up but attacking the dial on the mouse and will without notice come into the office and bang away on the keyboard, creating a huge mess on the computer.

First School Photo

2010-10-23T20:18:00.005+10:00

Our little girl has grown and changed lots in the last few months. She has even had her first ever "school" photo.

Daddy has taken Ruby out in the canoe on their own to catch fish and she loved it.

Daddy has even brought Ruby her own fishing rod and reel which apparently catches the most fish and has some how managed to become Daddy's new rod. When Ruby saw her rod in the back of the car after Dad had been out fishing on his own, she said "boo dadda, that's my rod".

It's been about 2 months now since Ruby gave up her Dummy at bed time. We have wrapped it up as a present for the baby. Ruby has also just recently given up on her day time naps. She is super tired but will fight and fight and fight and still not sleep.

Ruby has always been the boss but lately she has stepped it up to a whole new level. Everything is 'I will', or 'let me do it' and recently 'NOOOOOOOOOOOO'!!!

Ruby is loving her 'bubba' and pretending to be her mum, she will dress her every morning, change her nappy, take her for walks to the park and put her to bed at night. Yesterday we even had a birthday party for bubba, there were decorations, party hats for all the guests (they were of the stuffed variety) and drinks and cake (all pretend).

Ruby has also started singing, mainly in the car and about random things. There will be a dadda song, a mumma song and recently a song about the bush cows!!!

I love you baby

2010-08-14T18:11:00.005+10:00

After many requests we have finally taken a photo of mum's belly.

6 months in and bub is growing lots and lots, with poor mum is now finding it hard to wear clothes that fit when she was 9mths pregnant with Ruby.

Come November Ruby's not going to be able to get anywhere near mum for a cuddle.

Imagination, Fishing, Dobbing, Swearing and more

2010-08-10T20:58:00.005+10:00

Our little chatter box has developed quite an imagination over the last month or so - mumma I'm scared, there's a camel in my cupboard - for example.

Ruby has fantastic stories and will talk non-stop if you let her. If Ruby has been out for the day with dad she will come home and tell mum exactly what she has done with dad that day, right down to the point where dad was looking for a new mumma!

Oh and her memory is amazing, Ruby will recite her stories, tell mum and dad off if we read ONE word wrong and repeat things that she hears you say. Yep, even naughty words that she shouldn't be saying - f*&king Wiggles (thanks dadda); for f*&king sake (thanks dadda); lets go home there's mould in the f*&king caravan (thanks dadda).

In the last month dadda has started a new job, just down the road from home. To celebrate before he started we had a weekend away at Kingscliff - due to the mould we lived it up and stayed in the local Breakfree Apartments. Even in winter Ruby loves the beach, spending one of the mornings playing in the surf and sand and the other on her first fishing trip with mum and dad. Ruby caught her first fish, which gets bigger and bigger and bigger every time you ask her how big it was.....she is going to make a great fisherman!

Baby Abbott is growing lots and lots with both Ruby and dad making comments about mum's large belly and posterior. Ruby loves coming to the doctors for our check ups and even gets up on the table to have her baby checked. She also did this when we went for our 3D ultrasound, when mum went to the loo, Ruby jumped up on the table and asked to get her baby looked at. Just Weetbix in Ruby's belly. At 'school' recently Ruby's teacher Miss Lizzy was playing rhythms on a drum and was asking the kids to copy her. When she told the kids that the next one would be like a heart beat, Ruby said 'My mummy has a heart beat in her belly, it's the babys'.

Ruby is now going twice a week to swimming lessons - super fish Abbott we'll call her and once a week to Baby Gymnastics where she is learning to balance, jump, do handstands and somersaults.

Ruby, Dad and her first fish!

Full of questions

2010-05-24T19:26:00.002+10:00

Everything is a question with Ruby at the moment. Even if she knows the answer or you've just told her 6 times, you will still get asked "What's that".

Aside from this our little girl is an Angel, she is super funny, delicious and absolutely gorgeous. Ruby loves cuddles and will randomly launch at you with her arms open wide for a big cuddle.

She sings songs, recites her favourite books and generally talks all day.

Ruby loves school, "Ruby not come home mumma" is what I was told today when I went to pick her up and she is still loving her swimming lessons and trips to play gym.

In the last week we've been told that Ruby is moving up a class in swimming to Starfish and also going up to Seniors at school next term.

Ruby gives mummy's bump a cuddle everyday and will often ask to see the baby - which is getting bigger (much bigger than Ruby ever was).

Funny moment of the week:
Mummy has told Ruby previously that when she goes up to the stars Ruby can have the ring Daddy brought her. Yesterday while looking at Mummy's fingers Ruby announces that "Ruby can have mummy's ring when mummy goes to the stars with Grandma Alice, Nana and Papa and the Goat" (Goat is from the farm where we buy our vege).

Playing with Dad at the beach on the weekend - yes it was cold!

CRAZY

2010-04-27T21:59:00.003+10:00

and not just from the ice cream Grandma Dianne has been giving her.

Ruby seems to turn into a Gremlin around dinner time every night. Running around the house, gibbering, making weird noises and just generally being uncontrollable.

She will not sit still long enough to eat anything decent going up, down around and around the kitchen bench, running from one room to the next.

We are hoping this crazy faze will pass as for most of the time Ruby is wonderful (and sometimes bossy).

She is very tough on her Dad, "Dadda stop talking to Mumma", "no Dadda don't hug Ruby", "Dadda sing to mumma"....

Ruby has finally started jumping properly and doesn't she love it. Unlike her cousin who runs and jumps like a 5 year old and has done since she was 1, Ruby has seemed quite awkward tripping over her feet and not quite mastering the jump rebound action required for the tramp. Now she's got it there's no stopping her. She loves being active and loves her weekly visits to playgym where she gets to play on all the gymnastic equipment.

Swimming wise Ruby is still doing really well and she is now being taught how to swim with proper arm actions and not just being told to paddle and kick. She is jumping in from the edge and will swim at least 5 - 10 metres to Dad under the water by herself.

Ruby in the equipment at Playgym

Infections, blood tests, trips, bad news, good news, first days, Easter and more....

2010-04-20T22:19:00.003+10:00

Our beautiful (cheeky) Girl - enjoying a week away at the caravan

Yes there is a lot to catch up on and we really should have been posting as these things were happening but mummy's been a little slack lately.

Way back in the beginning of March we had a bit of a scare with Ruby getting an infection on her face that came up like a boil and with it the glands in her neck swelled to the size of a golf ball. After rushing her to the doctors for medication which did nothing, mummy and daddy had to torture poor Ruby with her first blood test. Let me tell you this was probably the worst thing we have ever had to do and hope to never have to do it again any time soon. Of course, nothing came up in her blood....which is a good thing.

After 3 weeks the glands finally went back to normal and Ruby now only has a small mark on her cheek.

To try and cheer our baby girl up after her ordeal we took her to the Brisbane Museum. Let me tell you she absolutely loved it. From the train ride in, right down to seeing the dinosaurs.

Not long after this, Great Grandma Alice had a massive stroke and passed away. This was a very emotional time but we are thankful that Grandma didn't suffer and she stayed with us long enough for everyone to say goodbye. Ruby even came up to see Grandma at the hospital to give her a little kiss and say goodbye.

Then 2 days later, mummy found out she was expecting Ruby's brother or sister (due on 22nd November). Ruby is super excited and talks to mummy's tummy all the time and tells us what her and the baby are going to do together. I hope #2 is tough - it's going to need to be.

On a whim we thought we would check out the local kindy/child care (we're calling it school) as we thought it would benefit Ruby to spend some time with other kids and not just her immediate family. Ruby and mummy went up to have a look and Ruby didn't want to leave. So we booked Ruby into go every Monday and so far she absolutely loves it. We walk in the door and she has the biggest smile on her face for all the other kids.

And of course at Easter we spent 5 days at the beach. Ruby turned into a typical 2 year old - enjoying her freedom a little too much but otherwise it was a nice (sort of) relaxing break. At least Daddy got some fishing time in.

After weeks of feeling drained, ill and overwhelmed mummy is now starting to feel a little better and ready to catch up on the blog and everything else that has been put on hold. Lots of photos will be added to Ruby's album and yes, we will update more regularly....promise

Ruby Alice in Wonderland

2010-03-02T22:10:00.004+10:00

Recently Ruby attended her first dress up party for mummy's friend Kay. Kay held an Alice in Wonderland Tea Party and Ruby went as Alice, mummy went as the Cheshire Cat (kind of).

Ruby Alice caught her white rabbit

The latest things that Ruby is loving spending her time doing is puzzles, having tea parties with her animals, reading (all the time) and teaching her bubba to swim in the bath. You can hear her telling bubba to "ready go", "monkey monkey on the wall" and "kick bubba".

Ruby is now super clever with her letters and will randomly announce from the back of the car a letter she has seen on a sign. With daddy she spelt out Woolworths and this morning with mummy, she spelt out the full sign at the YMCA - where is goes for swimming lessons - something along the lines of YMCA Fitness and Sports Centre.

Ruby will still miss some letters and confuse some numbers but to say she only turned two a month ago, we think she is mighty clever.

Letters

2010-02-17T21:21:00.002+10:00

Ruby now knows her letters. Every single one of them. She recognises them in any order and knows which ones spell RUBY (not that she has a hard name to spell). She will randomly start to sing the ABC but will start at the letter she has just seen on the front of a book or on a sign.

Ruby has this week also started to sing songs. On a trip in the car Ruby made mummy sing the same song over and over again by the time we made it to Mount Cotton daddy was ready to throw the two of us out of the car. But when we got home and Ruby was sat at the table waiting for dinner, she proceeded to sing the same song she had just made mummy sing in the car - word for word.

Counting

2010-02-10T18:08:00.001+10:00

Just a quick note - Ruby counted to 10 all the way through for the first time today.

TWO!!

2010-01-12T10:45:00.011+10:00

Another year already!! It's crazy how much Ruby has grown, changed, learnt and developed in the last 12 months.

She is now potty trained, talking, counting to 5 and she knows her left from her right - most of this she started doing in just the last few weeks. She has gone from her cot to the big bed, stopped breastfeeding and paddles with arms and kicks in the pool(assisted) like a pro. Her hair has gone curly, she is slimming down (a little) and she continues to get taller.

If she keeps this up, we'll be sending her to school next year.

Ruby's birthday seemed to go on and on. The day started with the viewing of her present from mum and dad - her new room! (video in her album). Then a trip to the nurse to get all her measurements done.
Height - 92cm
Weight - 13.6kg

We then headed to the park for a play date with Grandma Dianne, Isabelle, Maddie, Aunty Emma and Uncle Jamie.

After an exhausting morning you would think that Ruby would be quite happy to have an afternoon nap in her new room while mummy got organised with work and the plans for the rest of the week. But no, by 5pm and still no sleep Ruby was absolutely feral and the planned trip to the beach that afternoon was getting later and later. Eventually after a visit to Grandma Sheila and Great Grandma Alice, we hit the road for the caravan at 6:30pm. Ruby finally crashed half way to the beach.

The next day was magic. Family day at Kingscliff should be on the agenda more often!

Then Saturday was party day. Just family this year. Mummy made a beach themed cake and girls had a great time beating each other up on the trampoline.

Massive apologies for the delay in posting, things are looking promising time wise, with hopefully some big news for mummy in a few weeks, so more and more posts very soon.

There are an enormous amount of photos from Ruby's birthday week - all photos and videos have been uploaded to her album.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T20:23:00.003+10:00

After a week at the beach we are home again to spend Christmas with the family. Two big family days this year - one at Grandma Sheila's house and one at Grandma Dianne's and Grandpa Lindsay's house.

The last week has been fantastic. Ruby is such a beach baby. She loves the ocean and jumping the waves and loves making castles and smashing them to bits. We would spend all morning at the beach, then come back to the van for an afternoon nap and then head back to the beach for a play before bed time. Ruby has also had her fishing trip in Daddy's boat, she got the biggest kick out of watching daddy paddling and catching fish.

Today has been huge. After initially being too scared to go and see if Santa had been to visit, Ruby very quickly got over this and was right into ripping the presents open to see what she had got. Yep, she got spoiled. Grandpa Norman soon arrived to help put together Ruby's new trampoline and a few hours later we got to play on it.

Then the rest of the day was spent unwrapping presents at Grandma Sheila's house and having a huge lunch.

Another xmas party in a few days and then we are back down the coast for another week. This time we are sharing with Aunty Taryn and Uncle Simon which will be good for a laugh, especially if Ruby has a few accidents - we are in the process of potty training.

new photos to be uploaded to Ruby's album soon - promise!

Our little talker

2009-12-12T20:32:00.003+10:00

It seems that over the last few weeks Ruby has started to say just about everything you ask her to say and she is blowing us away with the things that are coming out of her mouth without any prompts.

There are still the occasions when you just have no idea what she is saying but majority of the time you can have little conversations with her or she can tell you exactly what she wants.

Today it was "play at the park mumma"; "mumma high" (this is on the swing); "ants bite Ruby".

This week Ruby got her first letter from Santa, which was very exciting and for a couple of reasons. A few weeks ago Ruby was drawing and we asked her if she would like to write a letter to santa, of course the answer was yes. So not thinking much about it Ruby drew and mummy wrote a nice letter to santa telling him that Ruby had been a good girl and what Ruby would like for Christmas (a bubba! Maybe next year honey???). We popped it in an envelope, addressed it to Santa at the North Pole, stuck a Winnie the Poo sticker on it and put it in the letter box.

To our amazement Santa wrote back. He even new that we were going to the beach and reminded Ruby to where her suncream and hat....how cool is that. Yay Australia Post!!!

The last few weeks have been ridiculously busy leading up to Christmas with work and all of Ruby's classes. Only one more week and we are off to the beach for a small break, yahoo! We aren't camping this year and are staying in the family caravan. Ruby has got her own little life jacket so she can go fishing with daddy and we are really looking forward to taking her for swims as she is getting more and more confident in the water.

We are also hoping Santa will bring Ruby some clothes as she has grown so much recently that she is nearly out of all of hers. Mummy and daddy are holding off on buying anything until we find out what santa has brought. Maybe some clothes instead of a bubba.

Also, due to mummy's slackness it has been decided that next years photo album will contain monthly photos and videos of Ruby instead of weekly updates.

photo update

2009-11-23T11:51:00.004+10:00

Ruby's album has finally been updated.

I have no idea if the photos are in the correct weeks but there are a lot of new photos and recent videos of Ruby.

Keep a look out for the photo of Ruby with the first flower off her tree; the cute photo of Ruby and Daddy on the swings and all the videos of her entertaining us and making us laugh.

Mummy and daddy have started to use the Santa card with Ruby, we have let her know that if she is good Santa will come and bring her some pressies - a horse, a bubba and a book (this is what she asked for - so whenever she looses the plot or is drawing on the tiles - guess what, santa's not coming! Oh my god, it works - she stops what she is doing and recites her list of goodies.

We have been told this week that Ruby is moving up a class at swimming - about time too. She is the only baby in our class that is actually swimming and not just being dragged around the pool. Ruby loves swimming, we have taken her swimming lots lately, due to the temperature. Ruby can just jump on a noodle and paddle herself around the pool, she will get to the side and monkey monkey to the step and climb out. As long as we are watching she can pretty much play all by herself. Can't wait until we go away at Xmas to the beach.

Oh and our little chatter box now says "hello dadda" when she picks up mummy's mobile and pretends to have a conversation with him.

Ruby's xmas photo 2009 - minus Santa!

Daddy's Girl

2009-11-11T20:31:00.003+10:00

Not that it's worrying anyone but Ruby is starting to follow a lot of her Dadda's traits. They might be hanging out together a little too much.

Her hair is going curly, she is obsessive about having clean hands and face (I think this one comes from Grandma Sheila) and she now runs around the house chasing flies with the fly swat.

Apart from this our little girl is now the biggest chatter box. She will yammer on for most of the day and if you aren't listening she gets louder and louder and louder. Her vocabulary is getting better and better everyday and Ruby is now talking in small sentences - "Eat dinner outside mumma" or the latest "Need that" or "it's stuck" or "Ruby help mumma with dinner". Yes, dinner is still a major part of Ruby's day.

And Ruby's most favourite thing to do at the moment (apart from eating or reading) is to ride her little car around the house at ridiculous speeds, chatting to herself and anyone who will listen at the same time.

slow down world, just for this week!

2009-10-26T23:00:00.002+10:00

Here is a brief run down of our last fortnight:

Tuesday 13th - visit baby Maddy at the hospital
Wednesday 14th - the whole family is sick with a tummy virus
Thursday 15th - still sick
Friday 16th - still sick
Saturday 17th - Mummy and Daddy go to Cabaritta Beach to celebrate Gary and Rachel tying the knot - Congrats guys
Sunday 18th - Party time for Great Grandpa who turned 80
Monday through to Friday an extra busy working week with Ruby still under the weather
Saturday 24th - Our first trip to Kingscliff in months, yahoo! Ruby finally eating again
Sunday 25th - Trip to Samford Pub, for lunch with old school friends

Phew!!!

Although the last fortnight was a little crazy, there were some very cute moments.

During one of Ruby's mid day naps and after many scary poos, daddy went into check on Ruby who had been asleep for a few hours. When he peeked in on his little angel who was fast asleep in her cot he noticed that there was a little bare bottom that had been unleashed prior to going "night night". A major disaster was avoided but we have a procedure in place now where Ruby goes to bed with a pair of button up pants on or some major restraints in place.

Ruby has this week started to sing the first couple of words to one of her favourites from music class. She is doing the hand actions to the Wiggles -Hot Potato Hot Potato, Cold Spaghetti cold spaghetti and is also having a go at saying Hot Potato.

After not having a bar of mummy and her surf board a Kingscliff, Ruby happily ran over to another little boys board and let him push her around the ocean. There are names for girls who are easy and mummy was hoping that Ruby wasn't one of them!

And tonight, Ruby has used the potty and gone to bed in her big girls bed :)

The new addition to our family - Madeleine Poppy

Ruby on the move at Great Grandpa's 80th

Enjoying wearing only her knickers

Ruby and Isabelle eyeing off Grandpa's B'day cake

New cousin

2009-10-12T22:09:00.006+10:00

Ruby has decided this week that she is no longer going to have day time naps at Grandma's house. This is really no good as by the time mummy gets home from work both Grandma and Ruby are exhausted and are no fun to play with at all.

This last week Ruby has had no boob - 10 days boob free and counting - and has got her very last baby tooth. Ruby is saying more words, she will help mummy "cook", she will read a "book", "call dadda", says "hello Ruby" and Uncle Simon and Aunty Taryn taught her "bow chicka wow wow" this week - thanks guys.

Daddy took Ruby swimming on one of their daily outings and with the assistance of a noodle and no help from daddy, Ruby swam 25 meters on her own.

Bad mummy has taken hardly any photos this week but managed to get a couple at a very overdue mothers group catch up. Check out the size of our girl. You would never guess that she is the youngest of the group (apart from Baxter's brand new baby brother Oscar). Eva Grace (in pink, sitting next to Ruby) is 6 months older.

We've also recently found another photo of the Abbott's taken at Uncle Jamie and Aunty Emma's wedding. I don't know what the photographer has done to make mummy look so tanned but she likes it :)

And last but not least, we have a new addition to our family tonight. Aunty Emma has given birth to Madeleine Poppy at 7:16pm. We will be up to visit her first thing tomorrow and will post pictures very soon.

Pony's

2009-10-05T10:49:00.004+10:00

So many things are happening with Ruby at the moment that I'm worried I will forget to post something. But the most important thing over the last few days is that Ruby is letting us put her hair up...hooray! Some days we will have one pony like mum and dad and other days we can have two pony's like Isabelle, who has been wearing her hair up since she was very young. Ruby finally looks like somebody loves her.

Ruby's last two teeth are final through and we are now working on weaning completely from mum. Ruby doesn't need it but has fallen into a habit of having boob before bed whenever mummy is home. Mummy has been "going to work" a fair amount the last few days so that Ruby will go to bed without looking for the boob. Boob free for 36 hours - not that we are counting.

Ruby's favourite word at the moment "kookaburra". She is also coping a lot of what you say to her. While playing on the swings mummy was sitting on the baby swing and told Ruby that she was too fat to do the seat belt up. Now Ruby says "mumma fat". Her favourite saying "help mumma with dinner".

Ruby has a large respect for food and sometimes we think she has an eating disorder. She is constantly eating or looking for food. She is happiest when she has a food item in her hands, not necessarily to eat but just to play with or hold. If she ends up looking like a sumo you will know why.

Day trip to Narnia set

2009-09-22T19:49:00.005+10:00

Due to that fact that daddy had completed an extra long shift at work, mummy and Ruby evacuated the house this morning and went on an excursion to the Narnia 3 movie set being filmed at Cleveland Point.

Ruby had a great time playing in the park and watching the boat rock.

We were lucky to be there on the day that the actors were filming scenes and got to see the kids (if I was more of a nerd I might know there names), Lucy and Peter????, a dwarf and Gary Sweet in action. After watching for 45mins and seeing them do the same line over and over mummy has decided that being an actor must be the most boring job on the planet.

daddy says "evil is hereditary"

2009-09-21T12:31:00.004+10:00

Apart from being the cutest thing you ever did see, Ruby also has the best little personality. She doesn't go far from her family when we are out, she is always eager to please you and make you smile and loves her mum and dad to bits :)

Ruby is sleeping and eating like crazy at the moment and we fear that another growth spurt is imminent.

Ruby is starting to say more words and is trying her hardest to copy little things that you are saying. After a trip out yesterday, we arrived at our driveway and a little voice came from the back of the car "home". Ruby knows the difference between hard and soft (gentle), she puts her hand up to her ear when you ask her if she is listening, we are working on using our loud voice less and our soft voice more often - especially when daddy is sleeping. She will twirl and sway when asked to and hums along to different songs she likes.

It's holiday time from all of Ruby's extra curricular activities so expect more photos as we will be heading out and about over the next couple of weeks.

Reminiscing - too cute not to share

2009-09-14T21:29:00.004+10:00

This is random, but I feel the need to share it with everyone. Ruby is a few days old and by the looks of things both mummy and Ruby are enjoying their nap together. Thanks for the photo work daddy.

Puppy sitting

2009-09-07T20:43:00.004+10:00

On the spare of the moment mummy's boss needed us to house, dog, horse, chicken, puppy and bird sit for the last four days. Ruby absolutely loved feeding the four horses twice a day - until they got too close, collecting the eggs from the chicken coup and playing with the 12 week old blue staffy pups....nearly as cute as Ruby but not quite.

Each morning Ruby would wake up and announce that the horses, puppies and chickens needed dinner - "ney ninner", "wow wow ninner", "cluck cluck ninner" so off mummy and Ruby would go to feed them before anybody else had gotten out of bed. The farm or resort as we are now calling it also has an olympic size trampoline which mummy and daddy had a great time bouncing Ruby around. Ruby also learnt how to do a somersault from playing with mummy on the trampoline. This morning Ruby was somersaulting all over the bedroom, one after the other.

Over the last week Ruby has started trying out more and more words and now says and knows "hot", "pink", "brown", "black" and she is also starting to say two words - almost like a mini sentence - and usually always about dinner or Ruby, "Beby ninner" or "Beby night night".

This week after only having three hours sleep the night before and working all day, mummy for the first time ever, yelled at Ruby to go back to sleep. Ruby had been mucking around for an hour and a half at 2am and had started to ask for stories to be read. This was the final straw and Ruby got picked up, put back in her cot and told very sternly to go back to sleep. If you can believe it, she went back to sleep for the rest of the night and ever since has slept for 12 hours straight. The lack of sleep we believe was due to more teeth coming and this week Ruby has been all dribbly and her nose has been running like a tap. She isn't acting like she is ill, so we are now waiting for the last two teeth to hurry up and pop through. For christ sake hurry up!

Colours

2009-08-26T09:45:00.004+10:00

Ruby has become so very clever with her colours, her favourites are Purple and Yellow and she will scream about something that is "lello" or "Berple" when she sees them. We have a beautiful tree at the front of our house that has just started to show an amazing amount of purple flowers and when we are in the front yard we regularly have to make a detour to see the "Berple" "Berple". Yesterday when we were on our afternoon bike ride, Ruby got so excited about the "lello" tractor mummy nearly stacked the bike from all the jumping around that was happening in the back seat.

We have screaming matches now at bath time if the "yello" towel isn't used to dry her and if you ask what colour nappy she would like to wear you can be sure it will be "lello".

Other than her two favourite colours Ruby now knows "bue" (blue) and "ga" (green), and this morning said "bow" (brown) and "ra" (red).

All this learning of colours is due to Daddy's choice of stories from their weekly library trip. Mummy thought the books were a bit old for Ruby but she loves them and will sit for ages with you picking colours and counting things that are on the pages. In the two days since the colour book came home Ruby has learnt white, brown, green and red.

Growing wise, there seem to be more teeth on the way. Another molar came through on the weekend and it we don't think the last two are far off either with Ruby showing all the signs that she is still teething.

And the funniest thing Ruby did this week is a cart wheel. Well, sort of. Mummy was doing them in the park and Ruby decided she was going to copy. She puts her arms up high and then swings her leg around in a circle. We will endeavour to get a video of this and also one of Ruby saying her colours.

Little helper

2009-08-14T23:07:00.003+10:00

Ruby's favourite thing to do at the moment is to help you with your chores. Sounds good right and to a certain degree it is. Everything is getting done really quickly due to the fact that the faster you get the dishwasher emptied or breakfast cooked the less likely someone is to get injured or something is to get broken. Ruby loves sitting up next to the cook top and helping to stir dinner or breakfast, she loves to empty the dishwasher and even knows where the plates, bowls and cutlery go. She also loves to empty the dishwasher as you are trying to load it. Ruby is really good at passing pegs to help hang out the clothes but gets bored with this very quickly and has just recently taken to the vacuuming - which she will only do on her own.

Ruby has also recently started to do lots of colouring. We have lots of pages of coloured scribble around the house and this weekend we are going to attempt to paint without making too much mess.

This week we took great grandma to music class and then granny and gramps took us to lunch where Ruby got to play car racing games in the kids play area. This is Ruby's other latest love. Driving the car. She will sit in the front seat for ages playing with all the things that flash and make noises and gets a huge thrill when mummy lets her sit in the front to drive up the driveway. The only thing is that she doesn't ever want to get out of the front seat and this usually ends in tears.

Just as a side note - congratulations to Andrew and Kay-Lynn who were married on the 1st of August. The Abbott's had the best time and we look forward to helping you enjoy the next chapter of your lives together.

Big Girls Bed

2009-08-07T09:34:00.005+10:00

This week Ruby decided all on her own that she was going to sleep in her big girls bed. As mummy was going through the usual bedtime routine Ruby climbed up onto the pillow of her big bed and laid there without moving. When mummy asked her if she wanted to sleep there tonight, Ruby nodded. So after a kiss good night, the light went out and the door got closed. Mummy then sat by Ruby's room waiting and waiting, surely there was no way Ruby was going to stay in the bed without restraints!

After 45mins and not a peep from her room, mummy went to check on Ruby who was sound asleep in exactly the same position she was left in. And this is where she stayed, even when she woke up at 7am, Ruby stayed on her mattress and waited for mummy to come and see her.

The following night didn't work exactly like that, Ruby woke a few times and ended up finishing the night in her cot, but last night was exactly the same as the first night. Ruby slept the whole night in her big bed and stayed there even when she had woken in the morning.

Other than the freaky sleeping Ruby is swimming like Ian Thorpe, climbing like a monkey and eating like her father. And the word of the week - "Ruby", everything is "Ruby" or "Ruby's".

Super Ruby

2009-07-22T16:22:00.003+10:00

Last week while visiting Grandma Dianne, Ruby was taken by a photo hanging up that had Ruby, mumma, grandma and great granny in it. She sat there for ages just looking at it. When we asked her where mumma was she would point and say 'there' and she did the same for grandma and granny. When we asked her where Ruby was she would look up smile and point to herself, who's that in the photo then, 'baby'.

Since then mummy and daddy would ask where is Ruby just to see her point to herself, then out of the blue we were playing this game and little voice came back 'Ruby' and of course she was pointing at herself. She is also saying 'Ruby' for things that belong to her. When we are heading off for our afternoon bike ride Ruby knows that we have to put our helmet on first so she runs to the garage pointing at her helmet 'Ruby' Ruby' 'Ruby'.

The other thing Ruby has started doing, is putting things away. Ok, this seems trivial but she would not do this before, she would spread her toys and books all over the house and just walk away and leave them. Now she is putting her clothes in the dirty clothes, putting toys away and picking up after herself - when asked!

We've also started back at swimming and music class this week. With Ruby loving both. Swimming with daddy on a Thursday and music with mummy on a Tuesday, we might even get daddy to music next week, although he wasn't very impressed on the other mums (no yummy ones apparently) at the new class time so we will see.

Ruby has also met her Aunty Freda this week and lots of other relatives from Daddy's side at a party over the weekend. Ruby was a little taken aback by the amount of people wanting to talk, cuddle and hold her but in the end the resident pig and Freda's new monkey book were the winners.

Babble and words

2009-07-15T11:34:00.005+10:00

It seems that in just the last week Ruby has started to copy or trying to copy words that you are saying. Her babble is becoming easier to understand and she is trying really hard to say words. Mummy was telling Ruby how the bread was cooking in the toaster and that when it was finished it would go POP. Ruby looked mummy for a second and then said POP. And on a visit to see Great Grandma and Great Grandpa, Granny was telling Ruby how her jumper was Blue and Ruby's pants were Blue and so were mummy's jeans - Ruby looked at Granny and said 'Blue'. Yesterday she wanted to wear her 'Purple' socks.

Her favourite word to say however is Gar Gar. Her shoes are gar gar, her socks are gar gar, her dummy is gar gar and so is play dough. This is a little bemusing as everyone tells her the correct words but she insists that these things are known as Gar gar???? Maybe now that she is starting to develop her vocabulary these things will go back to their known forms.

Ruby has been and had her 18mth injections this week, again no drama at all. There were a few tears when the needle was going in but once the band aide was on, Ruby sighed jumped down from Mummy's lap and waved goodbye to the nurse. She did however, remember the nurses room and started to panic and cry when mummy and daddy walked her in. She has only been in this room a few times and the last time was 6 months ago. I hope she doesn't remember the incident with Santa - we could be in for another photo disaster at Xmas.

Ruby has also this week started climbing and sliding all by herself at the park. She can now go up the chain to the highest slide, up the steep stairs and tries really hard to climb the rope maze. Mummy is a little devastated that she doesn't have to follow Ruby up and now misses out on going down the slides herself.

having a ball in the bath

Happy Birthday Great Grandma Alice

2009-07-02T15:17:00.005+10:00

Ruby's Great Grandma Alice turned 99 on the 27th of June and we had a huge party to celebrate. Well it was huge for Great Grandma. Lunch with the immediate family was very exhausting. Grandma Sheila cooked up a storm as usual and had enough food for the whole of Mt Cotton. Next year is certain to be a big one though!

This last week has been crazy busy for the family, with an overnight stay at the caravan, a BBQ lunch to meet more relatives and grandma's big day got jammed in there as well.

Daddy also took Ruby to music class this week and didn't he have a ball playing with the drums, scarves and dancing with Ruby ;)

Mummy has put a big girls bed in Ruby's room this week (a mattress on the floor), Ruby hasn't slept in it yet, but she is very pleased to see dolly sleeping there when she wakes up in the morning. We are going to go slowly with the transfer to the bed as she has only just started to sleep properly in the cot - lets not ruin it!

And on the animal front, Ruby now buzzes like a bee, does the arm actions for a monkey and does a very good impersonation of Rusty when she pulls his tail.

Scar face

2009-06-19T22:45:00.005+10:00

We've had a few accidents lately. Ruby tripped over and landed face first on a boulder in the garden before music class. There were no tears, just the usual sulky noises. But when Ruby turned around she had a nice 50cent piece sized gravel rash on her chin that was bleeding and bleeding and bleeding. Apart from the scar taking way to long to heal - after a week it now looks like a faded food stain - Ruby is fine.

We did however have a rather scary accident involving the steam vapouriser and Ruby's hand. The silly chook got her hand on it when it was on - she was to quick for mum - and burnt herself. There were many tears and lots of trips to the freezer to play with the ice. This has healed and you can't even tell that she was burnt but if you ask Ruby to show you her sore finger she sure remembers! There is one good thing that has come out of the incident and that is if you don't want Ruby to touch something or go somewhere you can tell her it's hot and she will stop dead in her tracks.

Out of pure curiosity and the fact that all of Ruby's long pants seem to now look like they should be 3 quarter pants, mummy decided to measure Ruby this week. Over the past 5 months Ruby has grown 7 centimeters. Is that some sort of baby record? Will she ever stop?

Ruby has also gotten a lot better at swimming with daddy. She will now go on the blue mat without a drama, kicks and paddles underwater and jumps in from the side of the pool. Even though Ruby has been using the toilet really well, for some reason she decided this week that the pool would be the place to go. Crazy, after telling mum all week that she needs to use the potty and then uses it, she makes a liar out of us and just stops half way through class and does it in her togs. Glad mummy was at work and daddy had to deal with it :)

This week Ruby has started clucking like a hen, she tries her hardest to bounce like a kangaroo (very funny to watch - we will get this on video), drives her car everywhere and is teething again.

We thought the 2 year old molars were coming earlier in the year. Well, they went away and now they are back. Hopefully, this time they will pop through. Ruby's not happy, her fingers are constantly in her mouth and she is waking during the night again. Although, no where near as bad as she was the last time she was teething.

Check out the nice little carry spot for her apple. Talk about comfort food, Ruby is happy as long as she is carrying around a food item.

slack mummy

2009-05-31T11:36:00.003+10:00

Ok, so it's been a while....sorry. Daddy has been reminding mummy to update Ruby's blog continuously but do you think he has any inclination to write....no!

The big news for the last couple of weeks is that Ruby has taken to using the potty. We have had two poos in the potty in a couple of days and she is now recognising and letting you know that she is about to and has done a wee or a poo in her nappy.

Ruby has started jumping, throwing and riding backwards on her little car. She is also spending a lot of time moving our furniture around the house.

Ruby is also becoming very knowing. You can now ask her a question and she will answer yes (nods) and no (says nope and shakes head). Would you like some fruit, dinner, water or bath - nods; are you ready for bed - nope!

The latest animal sounds and actions Ruby worked out over the last couple of weeks include growling like a bear, (clap hands together) snap snap like a crocodile and pinching fingers together like a crab.

Mummy and Ruby have also been working a lot on colours. 9 out of 10 times Ruby will know yellow and green and she is just starting to grasp red and blue.

our spunky monkey wearing size 2!!

She sleeps

2009-05-11T21:09:00.006+10:00

Right through the night and for hours during the day. Ruby is putting herself to sleep in her cot, you can get her ready for bed put her in her cot and just walk away. That's right, walk away. She will sing to herself and even go through all her animal noises and then it will just go quite and she will be sound asleep like a little angel.

No more screaming at the side of the cot, no more lying on the floor for hours for mummy and daddy while she plays and throws you her dummy and then stands up and screams until you cuddle her to sleep.

We have no idea what changed but it all started last weekend after mummy took Ruby out to dinner. We have one late night out on the town and she works out how to sleep. Go figure.

Mummy had a lovely Mothers Day. We got to celebrate over 2 weekends with all of Ruby's grandma's as well. We brought Grandma Sheila a new cook book that she can share with Ruby and that's exactly what they did today. Ruby met mummy at the front door this afternoon with a plate full of biscuits that her and grandma had made today. Apparently, Ruby was very helpful with stirring, rolling out the dough and cutting out the biscuits into animal shapes. They were very tasty, not bad for a 15 month old.

and the last bit of news, mummy has launched her new business this week www.rubyrabbitofficeassist.com

All design work was done by the absolutely fabulous Aunty Porsha www.porshamarais.com I just hope that she will be able to sleep soon as well.

Ruby and a big grey kangaroo

Where Oh Where has my baby gone???

2009-04-28T20:28:00.003+10:00

Ruby is such a little person now and aren't we having fun watching her learn, grow and develop her own little personality. Ruby is very determined, knows exactly what she wants and exactly how to get it...usually via mummy.

Ruby can play on her own now and doesn't need to have you in the room with her constantly...hooray! She has just started to read stories by herself and has a great time trying to get herself dressed in the morning. Everything goes over her head, even daddy's knickers - she loves the red ones!

Ruby has majority of all animal noises known to man down pat (we are working on a video of this) and will randomly start 'mooing' in the back of the car if we pass a cow or 'woofing' at a dog that could be miles away or on a poster at the pet shop. Ruby goes bananas when you take her down the pet food isle at the supermarket. Daddy has her convinced that there are dogs and cats stuffed in the little tins. This week she is 'baaing' at sheep and 'quacking' at ducks (apparently - Grandma Sheila is the only one to have seen this). But it's not just a visual thing, you can ask her what a cat, horse, cow, dog, sheep or fish says and she will make the noise. Ruby has also started saying 'Bunny' (well mummy knows what she means, it doesn't sound exactly like bunny but close enough), 'Grandpa', 'nana' (for banana), and lots of other gibberish that we are still to work out.

Ruby has also started associating anything that goes around and around with the hand action for "Round and round the garden, like a teddy bear". So she is now signing for 'spiders' (insy winsy), 'all gone/where?' (hands out, palms up) and now 'round and around' (she draws a circle on her palm).

And the coolest thing that she is doing - building sand castles and playing on the beach instead of just eating the sand! Daddy, Mummy and Ruby had a great time on the weekend digging holes, making castles and burying Ruby up to her chest in sand.

Beach bunny

2009-04-15T14:36:00.004+10:00

Another wet and miserable Easter at the caravan! But didn't we have fun, stomping in the puddles, running through the rain on the beach, getting wet and sandy and just grubby in general. All the stuff Mummy wont allow at home. Daddy wasn't very impressed with the fishing - to much fresh water apparently but otherwise, the long weekend was a treat.

Ruby got spoiled as usual by her grandparents and is now getting really clued into what presents are and now gets really excited when she sees a wrapped present - whether it's for her or not. Ruby also got sent a really cool animated Easter card from her Aunty and Uncle in the UK. Ruby hasn't had much to do with the computer but would drag us back to to the study to play the card over and over again. The excitement could of had something to do with the chickens dancing across the screen. Ruby just loves animals. She has 3 books in particular that have animals in them that she makes us read all the time.

Ruby now also has a repertoire of animals sounds. Her favourite at the moment is Meow Meow. Grandma Dianne and Grandpa Lindsay got a new cat just last week that they decided to name 'Meow Meow' due to Ruby's constant meowing. Poor Rusty can't get a break either, she will scream at him like he is a Rock Star and run from across the room to pat him as hard as she can. Ruby's not very good at 'gentle' just yet.

Ruby also knows 'neigh', 'moo', 'woof woof' (sometimes) and kissy noises for the fish. She has also started doing the hand actions to Intsy Wintsy Spider when she sees a spider in the house and has puts her hands out, palms up when she has lost something. We have been having great conversations through sign language.

Ruby has just reached 15 months and if one more person asks mummy if Ruby is 2 years old (due to her size) she is going to scream. We are hoping to get Ruby weighed and measured next week to see how much she has actually grown in the last couple of months. We might have to start feeding her more processed food to slow her down for a bit.

Dancing!

2009-04-03T09:38:00.002+10:00

I don't know why we do this to ourselves but again we've had a massive week. They just seem to collide into each other at the moment.

Mummy decided very quickly when she heard the Australian Ballet were going to be doing a performance for free in the Botanical Gardens that we MUST go. Apparently so did everyone in Brisbane! Aside from the fact that it didn't start until 7pm and that the gardens were packed with people all bustling to get the best vantage point, Ruby, Mummy and Great Grandma had a really good evening. We started our night by catching the ferry into the city, Ruby's first boat ride! Ruby was very warying sitting at the back of the boat watching all the buildings fly past but by the end of the journey was really enjoying the ride and even pretending to surf as she stood up trying to keep her balance as we coasted along.

We got to the gardens in plenty of time to find a nice spot, that soon deminished around us as the starting time drew closer. Ruby was getting very irritated at the fact that mummy wouldn't let her go for a run through the crowd. She did manage at one point to run away from mummy and made it all the way to the front and nearly to the stage before she was caught. She found some nice young girls to roll and sit all over, which they didn't seem to mind and she would also help people empty out their picnic baskets and bring the food to mummy. But as soon as the music started and the dancers came out Ruby stopped in her tracks and just stopped and watched. She would say 'Wow' as the dancers floated around the stage and would clap and clap at the end of each performance.

Ruby was dressed to impress for the ballet and everyone would tell her how beautiful she was. The ones that didn't notice would get a shock as Ruby would stand there swinging her dress at them until they commented and told her how lovely she looked.

The evening was a late one and of course Brisbane city council didn't think to put on any extra public transport, so the wait to come home was horrible but all in all a great night was had by all.

On the subject of dancing. Ruby just loves music. She has a new favourite song which we play everyday (it just happens to me mummy's favourite as well). She sways in the slow bit, bounces when the music picks up beat and starts to clap along when the band start clapping....very cool!

We are working on numbers at the moment. This is Ruby's latest favourite book. We count and count and count. Well mummy and daddy do, I'm sure Ruby just loves the bright pictures.

We've also had a break through at swimming with the blue mat. Ruby has been bumped up a class and is starting to do some exciting things, like jumping in from standing and the new thing with the mat. The babies climb out the pool via the ladder walk around the edge and then across the blue mat which is floating in the pool to jump in the water to mum or dad. Ruby loved this so much she was lapping the other babies to have a second, third and forth go. She did however, start screaming again when we tried to get her to sit on the blue mat - go figure!

All dressed up for the ballet

2 weeks on the farm, a wedding and a new 'do for mummy

2009-03-23T09:22:00.006+10:00

The last few weeks have been a little crazy. We house sat for mummy's boss for two weeks, moved back home for one night and then spent the night at Kingscliff after attending Uncle Jamie and Aunty Emma's wedding. We spent our first night at home last night, and we're sure Ruby had no idea where she was when we put her to bed.

We had a ball out on the "farm" for two weeks. Ruby loved sharing her meals with the dogs and the lorikeet. She would point to the horses and say "neigh" and drag us to the chook sheds to check for eggs every chance she got. Mummy and Ruby had a spa together everynight and we would have a swim in the pool nearly every day.

The highlight of the last week was the wedding. Uncle Jamie and Aunty Emma got married "finally" on the beach at Kingscliff. The weather was beautiful, the bride was gorgeous and even the groom scrubbed up all right! Poor Ruby missed her afternoon nap due to the timing of the wedding but was still really good throughout the ceremony and reception, playing in the sand (rolling in the sand), walking up and down the red carpet (during the ceremony), stealing the bowls during the lawn bowls game and dancing and twirling on the dance floor (through dinner). She made it until almost the end of the night before turning absolutely feral from exhaustion - like her father, who hadn't had much sleep in the days leading up to the wedding. Oh and mummy now has short hair, which she got cut off on a whim for the wedding. It looked really good on the day but could be a bit of a trail for mummy now she can't just tie it back in a pony on a bad hair day.

Ruby is also doing lots of things now that you wouldn't expect from her. She is picking up things really quickly and is just like a little person. She can point to her nose, mouth, head, ear and (wait for it) her bum. We aren't sure how she learnt that last one but she knows where it is and it is hilarious to watch her show people. She even spent one morning pulling tissues from the tissue box and walked around the house wiping her bum...so clever! She knows the hand actions for Intsy Winsy Spider, if you tell her to put two hands on something and hold it tightly she will do it, she will squeeze things when you tell her, she can do Round and Round the garden on your hand, and she loves talking on the phone - mummy's mobile in particular. Grandma Sheila apparently got a few calls from Ruby while we were away - god knows who else she has been calling, can't wait to see the next phone bill!

Helping mummy at work!

Enjoying the pool

Playing on the beach, during the wedding.

The wind swept Abbotts!

She won't believe us....

2009-03-05T21:36:00.005+10:00

Thank god for the blog and documentary evidence otherwise I don't think Ruby will believe us when we tell her how extraordinary she is at growing teeth. Yep, she is definitely teething again and getting her last 4 teeth.

That's right at 13 and a half months Ruby is getting the 4 teeth you aren't suppose to get until you are 2 years old! We are back to not sleeping and screaming at intervals during the night. She is chewing on lots of things again and is constantly grabbing her ears or the side of her face. She has also been very irritable during the day. Fun!

Other than this Ruby is great. Daddy took her to see the child health nurse this week to confirm our teeth theory. While they were there Ruby got weighed and measured and has grown 3cm in a month, while only putting on about 400 grams. She is now off the chart with her height.

Ruby is also doing lots of things that are apparently all part of her development. She started walking backwards this week, she started blowing bubbles (which we have been doing at swimming lessons), she is into nearly every cupboard in the house and is climbing on everything.
Ruby seems to have settled into the new routine we have made for her as well. She is getting to see a lot more of her Daddy and gets to spend a whole day with him on her own on Wednesday. This weekend we are relocating and house sitting for mummy's boss. Ruby is going to love it, they have 2 horses, 4 dogs, a bird, a bunch of chooks and a pool. Mummy is going to love it as she won't have to leave to go to work, she will get to spend lots of quality time with Ruby and daddy.....and they have a spa bath!

How cute is the pony tail - they don't last long as Ruby pulls them straight out if we don't destract her enough. But the hair in her eyes is driving Mummy nuts, so we will be persisting with the pony.

Day time Daddy

2009-02-25T09:16:00.008+10:00

Daddy has a new job, which he started this week. His title "machine operator", pretty cool hey! Basically, daddy is maintaining/operating the machines at a biscuit factory on the afternoon shift. So he gets to spend most of the day with his girls. Today is daddy's first time looking after Ruby while Mummy is at work. I'm sure that they will have a ball being naughty together while mummy isn't there to supervise.

Poor little Ruby has had an upset tummy this last week. Mummy was thanking the heavens for mattress protectors after Ruby woke in the middle of the night and threw up in her cot. We thought it was something she had eaten but she just hasn't been right since. She has gone back to waking every couple of hours and screaming blue murder when she does wake up. We've been checking for the onslaught of more teeth but haven't seen anything. Hopefully, this will pass again soon.

Apart from having an upset tummy and restless nights Ruby has been really happy and playful during the day. She has taken to snorting now when she screws her nose up, which makes her the cutest little piggy this side of Oz. Ruby is also getting very cheeky with Rusty the cat. Mummy will let her carry his food into his bowl, which she will happily and eagerly do, with Rusty following all the way. Until we get there and she will run away with the tin of food, then come back show Rusty that she stills has the tin, smile and run away again. Rusty and mummy wait and wait and wait but she never gets close enough to where we are waiting for mummy to grab her or the food. It usually ends in all 3 of us playing a game of chase around the house.

New video's have been posted to Ruby's album this week, a cute one of her dancing and another of her on the move (as usual) in the garden.

"Sure mum, no worries"

2009-02-15T10:05:00.009+10:00

It's crazy how much Ruby is understanding now. Mummy and daddy aren't even sure when it started happening, but you can say things to Ruby now and she acknowledges you and then does what it is you have said.

She started sitting down when told to a few weeks ago. Now Ruby lies down when you tell her to. You can even say, "ok, time to get dressed" and she will walk into her room and head for the dresser to look for what clothes she would like to wear that day. She knows that the CD's go in the stereo and tries to put them in when she wants some music on. She will pat her head when you ask 'where does you hat go', you can say 'time for dinner/brekky/lunch, go and get your bib on' and she will head to her room to go and get one. She knows that giving kisses mean it's time to go and will give both her grandma's a big kiss, grab her bag and walk to the door waving and saying bye bye, when mummy arrives home from work.

Yesterday, mummy was getting Ruby ready for the first footy game of the season and had the football out and kicking it around the house. Mummy then rolled it to Ruby and told her to 'kick it' which she proceeded to do - with the biggest smile on her face.

All of this is just blowing us away at the moment and the more she does the more we look at each other in astonishment. Yep, we are going to have to stop swearing or start spelling.

Aside from all this Ruby has started pulling the funniest faces. Her happy face now consists of her nose being scrunched up and all her teeth showing. She does this one a bit, especially when she is happy with herself or knows she is being sneaky and has something she isn't suppose to. We have been trying to get a photo of Ruby doing this but she makes it difficult as majority of the time she is on the move and doesn't stop long enough for the photo to look any good. This is the best we have so far...

Head Banging Ruby

2009-02-07T16:51:00.006+10:00

Ruby loves to dance. She started dancing before she started walking with just her legs bouncing up and down. She then proceeded to the hand wave or spirit fingers at the same time as the leg bouncing and this week Ruby has added head banging to the mix. We are going to try really really hard to get a video of this as it is hilarious to watch.

We are back up and running again now with the computer and have a fair amount of Ruby to catch up on. She has started back at swimming lessons and music classes and is loving both of them. We've been and had her 12 month check up with the child health nurse, she weighed in a very healthy 10.45kg and is 79cm in height. We were also told that she is developing really well and don't need to bother coming in for the 18 month check.

For those that are checking out Ruby's photo album you will notice that there are a few photos recently of her in just a nappy. That's cause it is so bloody hot! Ruby has heaps of clothes please don't think we are too poor to dress her.

Ruby's last tooth is through and she now has 16 teeth. Just the two year molars to go....piece of cake!

Ruby has also spoilt mummy and daddy recently with lots of sleeping at night. We've had some great nights where she has only woken once or twice or slept for 9 - 10 hours straight. She has also just recently started to put herself to sleep in her cot, at night. Few! No more rocking, singing or sucking on mummy.

Mummy has been and had her Tarot read today and some lovely things were said about her family. Apparently, Ruby is gifted and has been put here for a reason (not just to torment Daddy). She told mummy that she could see Ruby in the public eye when she is older. If that's the case we may have to remove the naked baby photos from the internet!

Twins ???

2009-01-28T09:32:00.005+10:00

Is this scary for anyone else??

Grandma Dianne dug out this picture of mummy at 12 months of age (with food in her mouth) and we all just about had a heart attack at the likenesses.

We've had computer issues again at our house so recent photos and more news will be updated very soon.....hopefully. This is just a teaser to keep the readers interested!

Happy Birthday Ruby

2009-01-19T11:26:00.010+10:00

We've made it. Ruby has managed to get to her first birthday without too many scratches, dings or any broken bones. It has been a bit of a challenging year for mummy and daddy what with the first few months of colic and then the teething and the lack of sleep to go with. Mummy having to go back to work and leaving her side kick half way through the year, the ear infections and the Roesola. Daddy has tried to sell Ruby a number of times but watching our beautiful baby turn into a gorgeous toddler has been well worth the hard yards. Who'd of thought we'd produce such an unbelievably adorable and beautiful girl, but then we're biased.

To celebrate Ruby's first year we organised a party in her favourite park with just about everyone she knows. Ruby arrived on her new bike decked out in pink balloons to a sea of people surrounded by pink decorations - yep, everything was pink, right down to the cutlery. Grandma and mummy had been baking all weekend to make sure there was enough food to cater for 5 babies, 2 kids and god knows how many adults.

Ruby couldn't have enjoyed her party anymore. She walked around (like Frankenstein, with her arms out in front) all afternoon, playing on the slides, feeding the ducks and just generally being the princess of the party. It was like she knew the party was all for her. We played 'pass the parcel' to a specially designed Ruby CD (thank you Aunty Porsha), fed the local ducks and opened heaps and heaps of pressies. There was so much stuff for us to get home, Ruby's new bike wouldn't fit in the back of the car. So daddy walked her all the way home - balloons and all. A big thank you to everyone who sent her cards and dollars from England. She received so many cards that when one of our neighbours came over to give her a present for her birthday he stopped at the door in astonishment as he couldn't believe how popular Ruby is.

On her actually birthday mummy took Ruby shopping to spend some of her B'day money. She got two new outfits and got fitted for some new shoes. Watching Ruby get her little foot measured and fitted for shoes was very cute. She just sat there and watched the lady messing around with the machine and her foot. Then once her shoes where on she did a parade around the store. She proceeded then to every other person in the store to show them. Ruby was so impressed with herself that she decided she didn't want or need to be strapped into her stroller and decided that she would walk the shopping centre to the car park. As you can imagine, it was a long walk to the car. Ruby would stop and change directions, she would get distracted and follow another group, she would stop and wave to the people leaving on the escalator. Lucky we didn't have any where to be in a hurry.

Ruby also had her 1 year injections this week. She is so brave. She had to have 3 injections in her legs and she only cried when they were going in. Once it was over she was fine and even walked out to reception on her own waving bye to the nurse. Ruby also had a quick measure and weigh at the doctors but not properly, we are due to get this done in early February so we will keep you posted on how much fatty weighs in a few weeks.

This last week Ruby has gone from just starting to walk to running. It's like she's been walking for months. We've had a few minor spills, especially as she gets tired, but nothing major. Oh yeah, she remembered how to sleep. Four nights last week Ruby slept for 7 hours straight. Last night however, was a different story with her waking every half hour. Ruby has 1 tooth still in her gums and we are hoping that this was the issue last night. On the tooth front, Ruby turned 1 year old with 15 teeth!!!!

Sleeping with Daddy - 1 day old

Chillin with Grandpa Norman- 3 months

Party time with Grandma Dianne - 6 months

Swimming lessons with Mummy - 9 months

On the slides at her B'day party - almost 12 months

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUBY!

The future's so bright..

2009-01-07T12:52:00.007+10:00

Ruby has survived her first camping experience (including 3 storms), her first Christmas and first New Year celebrations.

On top of all of this, the day mummy and daddy finished work to start the holidays Grandma and Grandpa moved into their brand new home. The ever helpful Abbott's rocked up at the end of the day and sent Ruby into to play in the pile of empty boxes and rubbish of wrappings from all of Grandma's new furniture. The neat pile was sent from one end of the house to the other.

Then off we went to Kingscliff to start our two week camping holiday. To accommodate our ever growing family it was decided years ago that we would camp and Uncle Jamie and Aunty Emma would set up a mobile caravan opposite the family van. On the first day of our holiday mummy and daddy put up our 2nd hand tent (thank you Aunty Porsha), without instructions and with two broken poles. Our accommodation was great. It was nicknamed the palace as it is big enough for daddy to stand up in. Unbeknown to mummy and daddy the two broken poles had been put in the front half of the tent, which we were so happy about when the storms hit and only the front half of the tent got wet and the back half - where we were sleeping - was perfectly dry.

Ruby decided early on that she much preferred sleeping on the air mattress with mummy and daddy. There might have been one night she stayed in her port-a-cot the whole night. During the day sleeping for Ruby was a little bit of a problem as the tent was like a sauna (very hot summer days) and the family caravan was getting constant traffic. By the second week we had our daily routine down pat. Up at 5am - too hot to sleep- brekky, then to the beach. After showering and snacking, Daddy would take the rest of the family fishing while mummy would get Ruby down to sleep in the van. The afternoons would mainly consist of a trip to the shops, trying to work out what everyone was doing for dinner and then have dinner and baths before Ruby got too cranky and was ready to go to bed for the night. This was the most difficult part of the day, as once Ruby went down to sleep someone had to stay with her or near the tent in case she woke up (the family van was too far away for us to hear her). So most nights, daddy would stay with Ruby while mummy had her shower, then mummy would jump into bed while daddy usually got his fishing stuff ready or hung out with the family.

Ruby's first Christmas was huge. Ruby got very spoilt, (thank you to everyone OS who sent her gifts, she is sooo very lucky). Unfortunately, Ruby wasn't the happiest that day, having issues with her teeth. But we still managed a swim, two naps and a parade around the caravan park in tinsel.

New Year's Eve we all went to dinner early in the evening, thinking Ruby and Isabelle would be to tired to eat later. But when we got back to the caravan park and all the kids were running around with fluro sticks and noisy toys the girls went hypo. Ruby managed to dance her way until 10:30pm before crashing - only just missing out on the first fireworks display (mummy was devastated).

The weekend we got back home we got to do Christmas all over again at Grandma Sheila's house, where Ruby got her first horse. That's right Grandpa Norman brought her a Fur Real horse, which we have named Neddy. He Neighs, eats and gallops when you hop on his back....very cool!

Ruby also got 4 more teeth while we were away. Only two more to go - the right hand side top molar and the right hand side bottom canine - and that should be it for a while. Both of these two remaining teeth are showing in her gums and don't look to be too far away either.

Ruby also finally started waving while we were away. She knows to say bye bye and waves (mainly to her dadda) all the time at the moment.

This week (as per previous post) Ruby has started to walk. She is getting more and more confident on her legs and today walked all the way from the kitchen to her toy box on the other side of the house (about 10 metres). Mummy and daddy are also madly organising the birthday party event of the year. Mummy did a test run of the birthday cake last night and Grandma Sheila and Grandma Dianne have been baking all week as well. Stay tuned to see all the photos from the celebrations.

Look out world she's walking!!!!

2009-01-05T19:37:00.004+10:00

After doing laps of Kingscliff holding on to mummy and daddy's hand Ruby has today finally walked more than two or three steps on her own.

When mummy arrived at Grandma's to pick Ruby up after work she was told how Ruby had walked from one end of the couch all the way to Great Grandma Alice to steal her banana. Then for the next 30 mins Ruby showed mummy just how she could do it by walking backward and forward between her and Grandma. Then when daddy got home Ruby walked about 13 steps to meet him.

She is getting more and more confident with it and loves getting a big cheer when she is going. She has big smiles for you when she gets to her destination.

By the time she turns 1, Ruby should just about be a profressional.

stay tuned for more posts on all our holiday, Christmas and camping adventures

Two Steppin

2008-12-17T13:23:00.004+10:00

Well, we don't think Ruby is far off walking. She has this week started taking two or three steps between furniture and possibly a few more to get to mummy or daddy - mummy counted 6 steps yesterday.

Ruby is doing a lot of standing on her own and is walking around the furniture now like she doesn't need it. She is really confident when holding your hand/finger and takes off to almost a run. This morning Ruby had Grandma Dianne and mummy in stitches as she was stepping between the T.V. and the couch, would stop in the middle dance up and down to the song that was on the radio and then continue on her way. She can't just learn to walk she has to dance as well.

The latest and probably one of the only things Ruby is saying at the moment is 'WOW'. Everything is wow. She loves Grandma Sheila's Christmas tree and points and says wow everytime you walk past it or near it. You pick her up from the floor and she says wow - like the new height she is at is amazing. The Christmas lights, wow; Christmas Cards, wow; even her drink bottle, wow.

On the teeth front, Ruby's top two molars are now looking very close and are swollen in her gums. We were also told this morning by the nurse that her canine teeth are in her gums as well, they just aren't looking as close or as sore as the molars. Poor muffin, no wonder she isn't sleeping very well at night.

Mummy and Ruby have been having discussions this week about her sleeping. Mummy told Ruby that there would be no chance of her getting a brother if she doesn't start sleeping at night. So far, Ruby hasn't shown any interest in getting a brother.

The family is off this weekend to go camping for the xmas holidays. Yep, we are in a tent. Please everyone pray for good weather. For the regular readers, this will be the last post until we get back in January, expect a huge update that week.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, from Mummy, Daddy and Ruby.

Christmas Teeth!

2008-12-11T14:31:00.005+10:00

If it's not one thing it's the next. Ruby has two new teeth on the bottom, but not without any drama, of course. The molar on the left hand side came up like a huge blood blister about a week ago and with all the pressure from the tooth underneath final opened up on Tuesday. It looked like a volcano in her mouth. By Wednesday the fluid had drained out and all the remaining skin is now flapping around her tooth. It looks soooo very sore. We've been told to keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't get infected - that will be the next thing!

Now that the pain she was getting from the blood blister and the tooth has gone Ruby is much happier. She was rather grumpy and looking quite ill for a few days over the weekend. Sorry to my girlfriends who came over for Christmas lunch on Sunday - Ruby was not in the best of moods.

Ruby has developed her own language this week. Grandpa says that she sounds german but it is more like alien. It sounds a lot like she is saying "glidey glidey or dwadley dwadley" with a few other noises between. And doesn't she have a lot to tell you.

We've had another attempt at seeing Santa this morning. This time with cousin Isabelle. Still no go. Ruby didn't even make it past the lady taking the photo before crying. She did calm down enough to stare at santa a while but was more impressed with the reindeer ears he was giving away. There's a lovely photo of mummy and aunty Emma with Santa to add to the collection.

The girls also had a Christmas Music class this morning. This was heaps of fun and Ruby absolutely loved it. I definitely think we are going to have to go back to music classes in the New Year. They played (and climbed) on drums while we sang drummer boy, shook bells for jingle bells, danced with scarves and danced and danced. There were a few slow songs where you are suppose to just rock and cuddle (Silent Night) but Ruby was more interested in crawling across the floor singing - very loudly - at the other kids.

She is so knacked after this morning expedition that she has been asleep ever since we left the carpark at music - 2 and a half hours ago - definitely going back next year!

Sun, Sand, Surf and Santa

2008-12-04T19:24:00.010+10:00

Ok, so she's not very impressed with Santa but she is an absolute beach baby and just loves playing in the water and eating the sand. It's been an eventful week and a bit, but this time it's all good. Ruby's ears are all better and she is back to her happy self, except when Santa's around.

The family has had a mini holiday at Kingscliff to celebrate Mummy and Daddy's 6th wedding anniversary. We had two days at a hotel (which felt really weird) and two days at the caravan. Ruby was a treat the whole time, we would spend all morning at the beach, she would sleep for hours and then we would play or shop in the afternoon.

On top of this we helped cousin Isabelle celebrate her 1st B'day (photos in Ruby's album), we've been to see Santa in the city, had Grandma and Grandpa move in and had a play date with Sophie in the park.

Seeing Santa for the first time was an experience. Mummy had the bright idea to go and see Santa in the city - along with everybody else. We caught the train in, Ruby loved this, and then waited and waited and waited in line to see Santa. Daddy waited in the line while Ruby and mummy walked the toy department of the Myer centre. Ruby loves trucks! When it was finally our turn, Santa was waiting in this little room no bigger than a bathroom with two people to take photos. Mummy could tell from the way Ruby had stiffened in her arms that she wasn't going to be very impressed sitting on the old bugger's knee. Smart girl, who'd want to sit on some old mans knee that's hiding in a little room. We ended up getting a half decent photo with Mummy holding Ruby. Oh well, maybe next year.

Ruby is well impressed with Christmas lights. She loves the lights on our Christmas tree and a few houses in a our street have really gone to town. Ruby has been out every night before bed time to see them. We've all had a turn walking the street with her jibbering away in her on little language about what she can see.

Apart from going to the beach Ruby's latest favourite thing to do is read. She will sit and flip pages in books for ages, mumbling away to herself like she is actually reading the book. She will bring you a book to read her and then another and another and then bring back the same books again and again. Sometimes we actually finish one before she runs off to get the next one. Daddy loves reading to Ruby and on one of our shopping trips over the weekend Daddy brought Ruby a new book - The Snot Goblin. Ruby loves it, Daddy thinks it's hilarious and Mummy just thinks it's foul (Grandpa wont let Daddy read it after dinner).

Ruby has also started to point at things, she will be walking along holding your hand and will be pointing in the direction she wants to go. She has also got quite a little vocabulary now, she knows "Ta" and when to say it, she will say "Bang" if there is a loud noise, the latest one is "Bird" and there is a lot of Mumma, Dadda and Bubba. She sings a lovely song about Mumma, "mum, mum, mum, mum" all nice and melodic, Dadda however gets shouted about, she will be sitting an inch from him and will scream "DAD" over and over again. Crazy how she worked out early on that Dad has selective hearing and is very good at tuning out.

Mumma and Dadda's little hot water bottle.....

2008-11-22T19:38:00.004+10:00

What a week we've had.

It started on Monday afternoon with a trip to the doctors as Ruby was not happy when mummy picked her up from Grandma's. We weren't sure whether she was having issues with her teeth or she was coming down with something so off we went to the GP. She had a bit of a runny nose and was irritable and the doctor looked in her ears and throat but said that nothing was wrong and she just had a cold. He gave us a script for something to help her nose and sent us on our way. The drugs prescribed said to take every 6 - 8 hours and that they can make you drowsy. Ruby was so drowsy she couldn't even find mummy's nipple to latch on to for a drink - something she hasn't had any issues with since birth. She was also waking every half an hour screaming. As she was already dopey mummy didn't want to risk giving her panodol on top of what she had already given Ruby until the 6 hours were up. Ruby was so warm that even during the rain from the storm mummy had all the windows open and covers off - did I mention that she had come to bed with mummy and daddy by this stage as this usually helps her sleep. After trying really really hard not to wake daddy, eventually he woke up to see what was wrong with his girl. When he felt her, he jumped straight out of bed to take her temperature which had reached 38.8 degrees. It was now past the 6 hour mark and mummy said she could now have some panodol as the other drugs weren't working. After about 15 mins Daddy decided that we should take Ruby to emergency to find out what was wrong. So at 2am on Tuesday morning Ruby had her first visit to emergency.

The emergency room was so empty (due to the storm) that we walked straight in and had 3 nurses come to play with Ruby. By this stage the panodol had kicked in and Ruby was happy and her temp had come down. But her runny nose had gone from being clear to a thick green colour, which she had rubbed all over her face during the night. Mummy and daddy had no idea until we were in the harsh light at the hospital and our beautiful baby girl looked like she had dried avocado all over her face. In the end we were sent home (with a new teddy) and told to keep the panodol up to her and that she just had a virus.

Mummy had the day off work to spend with Ruby on Tuesday (Daddy went fishing after the trip to the hospital and then to work) and then Ruby was with Grandma on Wednesday. Everyone kept an eye on her and kept giving her the pain relief. As soon as it would wear off though, back would come the temperature. By Wednesday night the panodol wasn't working and by 5am Thursday morning Ruby was back to screaming and being inconsolable. After a few phone calls to health lines we were told Ruby should see a doctor within the next 1 to 4 hours. Luckily mummy managed to get an appt with her doctor.

After checking her over, Ruby's temp had reached 39.8 degrees by this stage, she told us that Ruby has two middle ear infections. We got a new prescription for antibiotics and some more pain relief.

It's now Saturday and the drugs seem to be finally working. Ruby is sleeping and is happy to play like normal. Her nose is still gross but hopefully it will continue to get better and mummy and daddy can catch up on some much needed sleep as well.

From this.....

To this.....

So looking forward to the terrible two's

2008-11-14T19:15:00.004+10:00

Ruby's got herself a little attitude this week and doesn't she know how to use it. We get the waterworks if we're doing something she is not happy about, she turns herself into a pencil so that she can escape a cuddle and she goes as stiff as a board when you try to put her into the car seat, stroller or high chair.

Unless Ruby is asleep, travelling in the car is not much fun at all. Telling her that we are on our way to see Dadda usually stops her, however this may not last too much longer as mummy tells her this a lot - even when Dadda is no where to be seen. She will no doubt be suss to this very soon.

Our clever girl has started to say 'Ta' this week when you hand her stuff. She will also pass you what she is holding if you say 'Ta' to her - most of the time.

Ruby has gained momentum with her walking and is now doing really well holding on to one hand. She will get herself up to standing and then reach out for you to hold her hand (very cute), if you offer two hands she bats the other one away. Someone has forgotten to tell Ruby that she can't walk yet!

And doesn't she love to get grubby at the park. Check the state of her knees! Aunty Porsha came for a visit this week and got to see this first hand. Ruby was so dirty after playing on the slides and in the sand that we had to strip her down and throw away her pants before coming home.

Ruby's bringing sexy back

2008-11-05T18:48:00.003+10:00

Tyra Banks would be so proud..... Ruby's got it going on! The come hither look, the 'I just got out of bed' hair, the sexy bikini and the sand all over her bits! Work it baby!

Unfortunately, there is no good news on the teeth front, we can now definitely see the bottom molar on the left side but the other 3 are still in her gums, apparently hurting like crazy. Ruby has also had a couple of major spills this week, two were at Grandma's house when Ruby was trying to follow mummy to work, forgot she can't walk without holding on and let go of the couch and fell backwards on to the tiles. Then Ruby smashed her mouth on the change table at home, there was blood everywhere and mummy had the biggest scare but Ruby had forgotten about it in seconds - even with all the blood - and all her teeth are still intact, thank god. Unfortunately she didn't learn from this and still gives mummy grief by rolling over and sitting up as soon as she is put on her back. This is not fun at all when her bum is dirty.

Ruby is a pro at clapping hands now and does it when ever she thinks she has done something wonderful. So yep, she claps a lot. Go down the slippery slide, clap. Crawl to mummy, clap. Say Dadda, clap. Stand up, Clap. Ruby has also started doing Indians by herself this week, you guessed it, then she claps.

Molars

2008-10-31T19:47:00.003+10:00

Poor little Ruby is really suffering with her teeth at the moment. We had a visit to the nurse this week who had a look in her mouth and has said that all 4 molars are very close to coming through. Everyone keep your fingers crossed as Ruby seems to be in a lot of pain with them at the moment and not sleeping much at all.

Otherwise, Ruby is very talkative and is babbling a lot. This is very cute when she says your name (mamma/dadda) but in the middle of the night when she only cries and calls for her mamma its not so cute, especially when Daddy thinks this is his way of staying in bed - she doesn't want me so you'd better go!!!

Ruby has just started to walk around only holding onto one of your hands. The more and more she does this the more co-ordinated she is getting with it. It was only a few days ago that she wouldn't let go to either of your hands and would fall to the floor if you let go of one of them.

The family also had a day at the beach this week - to cool off as it has been so hot - Ruby was so keen to get wet that she crawled straight across the sand bank and in to the water and just kept on going. Mummy and Daddy had to stop her before she was to deep to keep her head above the water. Daddy managed to get some great photos of Ruby in her first pair of speedos.

Ruby has also been to her friend Isabella's first b'day party. (We made an early exit as Ruby was overtired and cranky). The kids were so very cute in their party hats, however Ruby thought hers was very tasty and ate the top off of it.

Sprout...

2008-10-24T12:11:00.006+10:00

Finally Daddy has planted Ruby's tree. This is an Australian native that should flower Red around Ruby's b'day. It was planted as a seed when Ruby was first born and has only just now gone in the garden at home. Crazy that Ruby and her tree are the same size...

The family have had another weekend away at the beach this week. Ruby had a couple of trips to the beach, lots of building of sandcastles (well, mummy built and Ruby destroyed), a paddle in the ocean (no tears this time) and we all went to Rosie's 1st B'day party at Cabarita (just down the road from Kingscliff).

Ruby was dunked for the first time at swimming lessons - no dramas at all. But we did get tears towards the end of the class. Ruby was not very impressed with lying on the rubber mat (she was on the very end next to two other crying babies) nor was she impressed with crawling through a tunnel on top of the water. Daddy was very upset that mummy didn't get any photos of Ruby crying in the middle of the tunnel. Overall though, she seemed to enjoy herself.

Ruby's two bottom molars look like they have finally arrived. Mummy can now see them in her gums and the other telling sign is that Ruby has gone back to sleeping better at night. But it is very hard to check on their progress as the only time Ruby will open her mouth wide enough is when she is crying - we'll have to remember to check when she is in the tunnel at swimming.

Ruby has also just started letting go of furniture and is standing up by herself. She doesn't stand for very long and we aren't sure if she realises what she has done but all this standing and stepping around furniture is very scary.

Oh yeah, mummy has her little side kick back. Ruby has all of a sudden gone from happily playing by herself to following you around the house and getting distressed if you are going to quickly for her to keep up or if you have gone out of sight and she isn't sure where you are. Ruby is getting much to big for mummy to be lugging around everywhere now, so hopefully she will get over this again soon.

So Big

2008-10-16T11:55:00.003+10:00

Ruby has hit 9 months and is flying..............

Weight: 9.5kg

Height: 74.5cm

Head Circ: 43.7cm

In the past 3 months Ruby has jumped from being on the 75th percentile with her height and weight to nearly being off the chart for both. She is now on the 95th percentile for her height and the 90th for her weight. Soon she will be bigger than mummy!

This week Ruby started swimming lesson and absolutely loved it. There was lots of kicking, splashing and smiling. Mummy was unimpressed about the fact that she had to get her hair wet but overall the 30 mins was a blast. This week daddy is going to get in the pool and have the lesson with Ruby. He is very excited as this is the week where they start to dunk the babies.

Ruby is also back to her usually bubbly chatty self again and seems to be over her illness. She has a whole list of words she has just started saying in the last day or so, "Mumma", "Bubba", "Dadda" and "Nang Nang"?????

She has also started playing indians - well sort of - mummy will show her what to do, open your mouth, say ahh, and pat your mouth with your hand. Then it's Ruby's turn and she will open her mouth and you have to do the rest. She's not silly, if you are going to do it for me then I might as well let you!

She liked it, honestly

2008-10-09T19:28:00.006+10:00

On the weekend we had a house swap with Grandma and Grandpa and spent the night at Kingscliff. Ruby had a great time playing in the sand (eating the sand), swimming in the water at the creek and enjoying the sun and the salt air. Ruby was so worn out that mummy and daddy had to wake her from a 2 and a half hour afternoon nap on Sunday so that we could go home.

Mummy has also been taking Ruby to the new playground in Mt Cotton (it hasn't officially opened yet....shhh) in the afternoon after we get home from work and grandma's house. The playground is huge and has 4 slippery slides to choose from. Mummy and Ruby have only ventured on to 2 so far as we can't get to the other ones without daddy's help - maybe on the weekend. After going down the slides on mummy's lap and getting helped up the stairs on Monday, Ruby worked how to do it by herself on Tuesday. Ruby climbed up the stairs and slid down the slippery slide all by herself!!! She would climb up, sit down, slide down and then crawl back over to the stairs and go again. She had a great time, going around and around the park and she was too excited about all the climbing and sliding that she didn't eat any of the sand!! Mummy did have to hold her hand going down the slide as she kept trying to go head first....crazy, just like her mother!!

Ruby has also started to be picky about her food. She has gone from loving everything and getting cranky if you were going too slow with the spoon, to screaming the house down because she is not impressed with what you are feeding her. Meal times have become a bit of a mission, with food being thrown everywhere as the only way to calm Ruby down is to let her try and feed herself. We're not sure how much she is actually eating but she is still gaining weight weekly so we will just try to be patient with her. Although, this all may pass (fingers crossed) when the snot finally clears from last weeks cold and her teeth stop bothering her (her gums are terribly inflamed).

Ruby starts swimming lessons this Saturday, hopefully she won't scream the place down like mummy did when she was a baby. We'll keep you posted.

Party time

2008-10-04T09:36:00.004+10:00

This week we celebrated Great Grandma's B'day by having a picnic in our park. Ruby and Isabelle got to show off their svelte bodies in their togs while having a ball in a blow up swimming pool.

Thank goodness Ruby didn't cry this week for Great Granny and Great Grandpa. She had big smiles and kisses for everyone. If you haven't seen this or had the experience of a Ruby kiss it is something not to miss, she will lean all the way in and open her mouth and purse her lips like she is going to give you the biggest french kiss. It is so cute that everybody kisses her all the time. This could be one of the reasons that she came down with a head cold on Tuesday this week.

Ruby was leaking from everywhere, her eyes where running, her nose was running and the dribble was chronic. Mummy had to nurse Ruby two nights this week so that she could get some sleep, as soon as she would lie down the snot would choke her and she would wake up. Another trip to the doctors some more antibiotics and lots of panadol and Ruby is back to her happy self again now. Although, mummy has managed to catch the bug - of course.

Ruby is cruising everywhere now and she is fast. All rooms of the house and every little thing you don't want her to touch she is into and if you put them up then she is climbing up and all over the furniture to get to it.

Still no sign of her teeth, not that we have been looking this week (to much else going on) but she is still putting everything in her mouth - another reason she could of got sick. Even the magnets off the fridge made it into her mouth this week.

Oh yeah, and before Ruby got sick her favourite word to say was "mumma" :)

Strangers.......

2008-09-25T19:56:00.003+10:00

Ruby has visited or been visited by her Great Grandparents almost every week since she was born. So why would she all of a sudden take to crying every time we visit them? It all started a few weeks ago on a visit when Ruby started crying when Great Grandpa came home from the shops - which Great Granny thought was very funny. Now it seems we can't even make it through the front door without her crying.

Apparently babies can start to get scared of strangers at around 6months of age, sure, but these aren't strangers and better still, they are the only people she does this to. She will smile and giggle for people she doesn't know at the shops, big smiles for friends she only sees every now and then but take her to see Mummy's grandparents and the water works start. Mind you, she will have a cry and seem all stressed out and then you put her down to play and she then turns into their best friend. Crawling backward and forward between them.

Mummy has taken a recent photo of GG and has put it in Ruby's family book which she looks at everyday, so hopefully next time we see them she will react a bit better....fingers crossed.

It seems Ruby's teething has subsided. Nothing has popped through yet but she has stopped screaming at night and is sleeping better during the day - if only she would start sleeping better at night.

Ruby is also being a bugger when she is in the car, being held or restrained. All she wants to do is be on the ground and going. If she is wide awake and ready for a game and we are in the car or going for a walk or even in her high chair, you wouldn't believe the carry on. If you give her something to play with she will throw it back at you, laugh and then start whinging when she realises that you aren't going to give it back or can't reach it cause it is under the accelerator. If the car trip is a short one you can usually get away with stuffing a number toys around her seat and hope she wont throw them all before you get to where we are going. Otherwise, singing Old MacDonalds Farm or 5 Little Ducks is a sure fire way to keep her from whinging. Only problem is that 5 ducks usually isn't enough and will sometimes turn into 25 ducks.

Ruby has also developed a thing for her bath time rubber duck. She will try to jump out of the bath to get it if you haven't given it to her first. She cries and cries if you take her out of the bath without it and if you try to take it off her to get her dressed, she carries on like you've cut off her arm.

This week is also the first week ever that Ruby hasn't put on any weight. After 3 weeks of massive weight gains - 200 grams each - Ruby didn't put anything at all on this week. We think this could be due to all the extra activity of pulling herself up and crawling everywhere. It's not like a little less weight could hurt her - Little Miss 90th percentile!

Slow down Ruby!

2008-09-18T19:23:00.005+10:00

Guess who has worked out how to pull herself up this week

Unfortunately Ruby is not the best at landing....just yet. Yep, we are in for some spectacular falls over the next few weeks.

Ruby has also started clapping hands this week and is back saying 'bubba'. Everything is bubba, which at the moment sounds more like 'baa baa' and sometimes sounds like 'dadda'. She will jump up and down on her one legged stance and wave her arms around and yell 'baa baa baa baa'.

On top of this Ruby has had the worst week with her teeth. Mummy can now feel the molars like hard lumps under her gums. Poor little muffin has not been sleeping and has been screaming and screaming at night when the panadol/bonjela wheres off. Mummy and daddy are a little worse for wear with the lack of sleep also. Fingers crossed they pop through soon.

Ruby had all her measurements down this week as she was 8 months old on the 13th of this month:
Weight - 9,150grams
Height - 72cm
Head circ - 43.5cm

Ruby's height and weight have remained on a fairly regular scale but her weight has jumped from being on the 75th percentile to the 90th percentile in the last 4 weeks. Must be all the good food mummy is making for her. At least she is still on the scale.

Happy Father's Day!

2008-09-11T19:07:00.009+10:00

Finally we get to celebrate a day for the best daddy in the world....

Well, daddy went fishing and the girls went to the beach but an afternoon BBQ at Kingscliff topped off the day a real treat.

Cyril and June have now gone home and life as we know it can go on as normal. We can catch up on some sleep and the house work. I think everyone was exhausted after the three weeks of touring but Ruby is really going to miss her new playmates.

Last weekends touring involved a trip to DFO, to Manly harbour side (for another supposed festival) - the highlight was the gigantic blow up slippery slide - and to Kingscliff for a beach BBQ.

If you get a chance to enlarge this photo from within her album, it's worth checking out Ruby's 'go fast' hair.

Ruby has started trying finger food this week. This is very scaring for mummy as she nearly looses a finger every time Ruby looks like choking - as soon as you put your finger in her mouth down come the teeth and try to bite it off.

Ruby's latest trick is to blow kisses - this is random and only occurs when she wants to. She is also making weird throaty noises that sound like she is speaking Arabic. Soon we are hoping she will go back to saying words.

Oh yeah, and her hair is starting to look decidedly strawberry coloured!!!

Termite Protection

2008-09-05T10:47:00.005+10:00

Ruby's new nickname from Daddy - Termite. She is in to everything, the pot plants, your shoes, a dead bug on the ground - she will find the tiniest piece of dirt on the ground and will be after it from across the room.

Ruby has also started having big girl meals now, mummy has made her Tuna Bake, Shepherds Pie, Chicken and Veg Pasta, Porridge and Banana Pudding. Yep, you guessed it, she loves it and her weight gain this last week is a massive 250 grams and that's with all the crawling.

We all had a exhausting time last weekend touring around Brisbane with Cyril and June. We took them to Mt Tamborine and checked out gallery walk, did a bit of shopping, eating and wine tasting. We also went to South bank, to see the supposed River Festival - not much going on there, so we headed up to Mt Cootha to check out the view of Brisbane and see the gardens. All in all a massive weekend for everyone, especially Ruby. Ruby just took it all in her stride and napped when she could and was a treasure both days. Who'd of thought 6 months ago that mummy and daddy would be able to go out and enjoy themselves without Ruby screaming the place down .......not mummy!

Some family news, It's only been 10 years coming but finally Uncle Jamie proposed to Aunty Emma and they are getting married on the 18th of April at Kingscliff.....hooray!

The poms are here

2008-08-28T19:24:00.005+10:00

Daddy's uncle Cyril and Auntie June have arrived from England for a 3 week holiday and Ruby has been spending lots of time with them as they are staying with Grandma Sheila. (Mummy has started a photo album especially for the trip - in the family section)

Ruby is back to her normal happy self again and well over what ever she had the week before....thank goodness. She has been a treat while we have been touring around the countryside showing off our beautiful part of the world.

Our first stop was Kingscliff, of course. Daddy took Cyril and Grandpa Lindsay fishing while mummy, Grandma Dianne and June hung out at the caravan catching some rays. They enjoyed themselves so much that they are keen to go back for a BBQ before heading home. This is fine by mummy as she loves going down to Kingscliff.

Uncle Cyril turned 70 the following day and we all got to celebrate with a feast at Grandma Sheila's house. Ruby also got to meet daddy's aunt Ede and uncle Gerry for the first time.

Today was a big day tripping around Mt Cotton and Vicky Pt. Ruby and mummy got to play on the grass hill at Sirromet Winery while Cyril and June did a tour and wine tasting. Mummy also took them to the very top of the mountain where she and daddy got married and then back down to Vicky Pt to check the ferry times for a trip to the Islands tomorrow. Ruby and mummy wont be doing this one as Mummy has work and Ruby is going to see Great Grandma and Grandpa with Grandma Dianne - another big day for Ruby.

Progress notes;

Ruby is definitely teething again and looks to be getting her top canine teeth on both sides of her mouth. Her sleeping is crap again and she is pulling on her ears all the time.

Ruby has gone back to blowing raspberries, all the time. She will be happily singing away and then she will add a raspberry to the end of the tune - not very lady like.

She is also trying her hardest to pull herself up and can now stand up only holding on to one hand. The good news is that she is still very unco-ordinated with walking but man can she crawl. The days of her staying in the play area with her toys are gone. One minute she will be sitting playing, the next it has gone quite and she missing from where you put her - majority of the time you can find her crawling over to something she knows you don't want her to have - the phone, the camera, the stereo.

She is also rolling from her back to her front like a pro and you have to nearly sit on her to get her dressed.

In short Ruby is now insanely mobile.

Germs and sickness

2008-08-20T12:59:00.006+10:00

Mummy thought she was sick with food poisoning, but poor little Ruby has had a really rough time of it. On top of the lack of sleep and the whinging, Ruby has had two days of fever and two days of spots. Yep, after the fever went away out came the rash. She had pale pink dots all over her torso which started on her lower tummy and worked their way up and around to her back. On top of this all her food was going straight through her. We have had two trips to the doctors, with one doctor putting her on antibiotics and the other taking her off them. Once they have left her system he has asked mummy and daddy to get a urine sample. Sounds like fun hey!

Oh yeah, we went to see our nurse this morning and she said that her top gums are swollen. So it looks like she is teething again as well. The nurse seemed to think that Ruby might of had Roseola.
On a positive note, Ruby hasn't been off her food and has miraculously managed to put on 30 grams this week.

As mentioned in the previous post we don't have many photos this week but we did manage to get a cute video of Ruby trying vegemite toast for the first time....enjoy!

mmm... sand, tasty!!!

2008-08-17T17:11:00.004+10:00

Last weekend Ruby had a great day at the beach visiting Grandma and Grandpa. Ruby got so sandy at the beach that we had to strip her down and give her a bath in the sink at the caravan. Not sure what she enjoyed more???
Ruby also had a day at the park with mummy and daddy's friends. Ruby got to dress up as the cutest fairy to meet the gang for the first time. Daddy warned Ruby before we got there that she would be eaten up by everyone and that she was. Lots of loving all around. Ruby also got a go on the kiddies swing, which we thought she might be to small for but she loved it of course.

All of Ruby's measurements were taken last Wednesday as she turned 7 months. She is now:
weight - 8,350 grams
height - 69cm
head circ - 42.5cm

On top of all the excitement from the weekend, the week was just as eventful with mummy getting food poisoning during the week and Ruby being rushed to the doctors last night with a fever. Turns out she has a throat and ear infection , poor muffin has been very upset the last few days and is now on panadol every 4 hours to keep the fever down and antibiotics to kill the germs. Due to this Ruby's album this week is looking a little bare as mummy has only remembered to take a photo of Ruby today. We will make up for it this week....promise

Music in the park

2008-08-07T10:38:00.006+10:00

Ruby's friend from music class, Eva Grace, turned 1 last week and Ruby got to help her celebrate with a music party in the park. Ruby had a ball and was just beaming the whole time as she recognised all the songs. Mummy and daddy will have to save hard so that Ruby can go back to classes.

Grandma and Grandpa lodged at our house on the weekend while they got to check out their new house being built down the road. Ruby got a grand tour and also got to check out the room which has been allocated to her.

Mummy's first week back at work has been easier than expected. The hours vary daily, with the longest days being Monday and Friday at 5 hours each. Ruby has been a star for Grandma, even having 2 naps a day. Mummy is a little tired at the end of the day but it's all worth it when Ruby meets you at the door with a great big smile and a giggle.

Ruby is still only crawling as far as the toy she wants and hasn't worked out that there is a whole house to explore. She has this week started pulling herself up to standing while holding your hands - surely she won't walk for a few months????

Camera shy?

2008-08-01T10:39:00.006+10:00

I don't think so. Ruby is so used to the camera being out that she stops what she is doing to pose and smile.

Mummy has a job! She will be starting back at work next Monday and Ruby will be off to play with her Grandma four days a week. Mummy is trying really hard not to think about it but I'm sure there will be a few tears on Monday - from mummy, Ruby will be fine.

Ruby has broadened her vocabulary this week and is now saying mumma as well as bubba, we are working on dadda so daddy doesn't feel left out. I'm sure it wont be far off as she gets a big smile on her face as soon as you mention daddy. Although, I wouldn't put it past her to say Rusty first, she just loves her hairy brother.

Mummy also found Ruby's first freckle. It's on her belly, strange place to find a freckle considering her belly has never ever seen the sun. Daddy is very keen for photo evidence of the freckle.....stay tuned.

Ruby has also graduated to meat and fish this week. After having a week where she was off her food with being sick, she is now back into the swing of things and eating everything again.

Mummy's friends came to visit last week and had a picnic our park. The girls took lots of photos of Ruby - hence the 65 in her album this week - yep, she was spoiled again by Porsha and her mum with a new book and a hand puppet that she thinks is hilarious.

ABBA ????

2008-07-22T10:16:00.005+10:00

Lots of news this week. It's just as the nurse said, once Ruby stops worrying about her teeth she will just take off in her development.

Earlier in the week, Ruby started grabbing her toes while laying on the floor, sitting in her jeep and anywhere really. She looks like a contortionist when she manages to get her toe in her mouth. Daddy has a great story about an incident on the change table.

And then Ruby said her first word, 'bubba'. She started off saying 'Ah ba' over and over and Daddy thought she was saying ABBA with a swedish accent. Mummy managed to record this on her mobile and will try to work out how to post it to the blog. Then it turned in to 'bubba'. It's a random thing, she says it when she wants to and will not be coaxed by anyone to say it on que.

Mummy and daddy now have to think about Ruby proofing the house. Yes, she is mobile. She has been trying so hard to get off and going for the last few days. She has been doing two crawls and then launching herself at the toy she wanted, then on Sunday she had to go just that little bit further and did four crawls and then launched. This morning she followed mummy to the front door. It's like watching a turtle trying to get across the room - very slow - but she got there. And doesn't she love it when you cheer her on. There is no footage of this yet, but as soon as we get something decent it will be posted. Mummy and Daddy's little fairy in action:

Ruby has been having 3 x 200 gram meals a day for a couple of weeks now and is still only putting on 100 grams at her weekly weigh in, not that she's turned into a skinny minny, she's still our little muffin. She loves her food and nearly jumps out of the high chair when she sees her bowl coming with the food. Oh and the tears if mummy doesn't go fast enough. This last week Ruby has tried yogurt, corn, cauliflower, avocado and loved all of it.

Ruby managed to pick up a bug from somewhere this week, she is all snotty and dribbly, not very nice. She has also managed to pass it on to mummy and daddy. Hopefully, it will pass as quickly as it came, but a warning to all, don't come near us, we are all miserable!

Mummy you're crazy

2008-07-14T09:43:00.003+10:00

Crazy mummy and Aunty Taryn finally got to jump out of a plane and loved it!!! The jump was from 12,ooo ft over Caloundra beach and it was a very cold minus 5 degrees when the plane door opened. Everyone survived but poor mummy got car sick on the way home - can jump out of a plane but can't travel in a car, go figure. All the photos of the jump are being posted into the family album, you can check out mummy pretending to be clown at the show or as daddy said 'a blow up doll in the air' (with her mouth open for the entire time).

I know we have been saying this for weeks but I really think Ruby will be mobile soon. She is now transferring her weight from one leg and arm to the other and is going from being seated to all fours and back again. If only she would stop hitting her head on the floor.

Ruby is an old hand at eating solids and is now eating anything you will give her. She even ate broccoli yesterday - must take after her father. Oh yeah and she is biting mummy. Mummy isn't very impressed but we are persisting at least until she bites the nipple off.

Grandpa Norman as promised brought Ruby her first train, he has been threatening this since she was born. As you can imagine she loves it - it sings, flashes and moves, what more could a girl ask for.

What's in your barrow grandpa???

2008-07-08T13:53:00.006+10:00

Finally Ruby has worked out how to roll from her back to her front. Mummy has been trying to teach her this for a few days and she worked out how to do it all by herself on Saturday. She hasn't done it since but that's not the point.

Ruby got her top two teeth through last week and it now looks like her top fangs are here as well. That's 6 teeth before she is 6 months. At this rate Ruby will have all her teeth before she is 9 months. Ruby has also started to copy people, after spending a day or two with Grandpa Lindsay, who has been coughing for 5 weeks, Ruby now coughs when she wants someones attention. There is absolutely nothing wrong with her in anyway so Daddy and Mummy decided that she is just copying her Grandpa - of all the people she decided to copy, she picks him ??????

Ruby is now loving playing rough, you can swing her, throw her upside down, into the air and grab her belly and shake. She will laugh, giggle and chuckle and if you do all of this while singing to her she will just loose it. She has also just worked out that mummy and daddy have long hair (it's ususally tied back to avoid a Ruby tug), she thinks it is hilarious when you flip your hair in front of her face.

On top of her having issues with her mouth with all the new teeth, Ruby also has sore legs. She has been for her 6 month injections this morning. Ruby was very brave and only cried a little when she was getting stabbed but on the way home she wailed and wailed. She also got weighed and measured and is now:

Weight - 7,750 grams

Height - 67cm

Head Circ - 42.5cm

Oh yeah, did I mention how she loves her reflection.....

Look Mum no hands!

2008-07-01T13:23:00.003+10:00

Ruby can sit up all by herself. Mummy started working on this with her last week and by the second day Ruby had it down pat and she is loving this new angle she has on the world.

Ruby's top two teeth are very close to coming through, Mummy and Daddy can feel the first one now and Mummy can see the second one ready to come as well. Ruby is chewing on everything again and even finds mummy tasty. Mummy has bite marks on her chin and neck.

Ruby's friends from mothers group, Sophie and Baxter came to play last week. Ruby was a little irritable while they were visiting - we are blaming the teeth and not the fact that she may be anti-social like her father - Ruby even had a nap while mummy played and chatted.

Mummy has increased Ruby's menu this week. Ruby now has pumpkin, pear, potatoe, carrot and rice cereal on her diet list. Ruby was not fussed on pear but still ate it up and will only eat carrot if mixed with potatoe.

Mummy also had her first job interview this week. This was a little scary for mummy as the thought of leaving her side kick and heading back to work draws nearer. Ruby was really well behaved for Grandma Sheila while mummy was at her interview and from all reports they both had a great time.

Mummy and Ruby also spent the day at the beach with Grandma Dianne and Grandpa Lindsay while daddy went fishing. Ruby loves the beach! She ate the sand, got her toes wet and watched everything - the ocean, the seagulls, the surfers walking up the beach (this was a little embarrassing).

Rock and Roll Baby!

2008-06-25T14:30:00.004+10:00

The big news for this week is that Ruby is trying her hardest to get going. She has caused herself an injury by pushing herself around the room - with her head down - she has carpet burn on her knees and on her head! Mummy will have to buy her some head gear.

Ruby has also had a great week with her solids and is now eating two meals a day. Mummy had to increase the amount she was giving Ruby as she couldn't stand the tears when the bowl was finished. Ruby loves her rice cereal and potatoes but is not fussed on carrots. Mummy is going to try mixing the carrots with her favourite potatoes to see if that will help. With all the eating, Ruby has put on another 200 grams this week, taking her up to 7.5kg (that's naked Sylvia, she would have weighed at least 8kg on Sunday when your sore back was ignored for a cuddle!!).

There also looks like there is a third tooth on the way. Mummy found a cut in her top gum on Monday - still no sign of the tooth. Ruby is not to amused with people looking in her mouth, mummy thinks that the more you look the slower the teeth come.

Ruby has had a big week with mummy taking her all over the place visiting friends and family. Ruby even had a trip to the Gallery of Modern Art to see Picasso with Aunty Porsha. Not sure how much Ruby took in but she shocked everyone and just sat in her jeep and kept quite the whole way around. Although, mummy got in trouble by two security guards for having her water bottle open in the gallery. Gosh could you imagine the explanation for how a Renoir or Picasso got wet or better still ended up with Bonjela on it.

Here's a cute photo from a visit to Great Granny and Great Grandpa's house

Go the LIONS!

2008-06-18T20:06:00.005+10:00

Earlier this week mummy dressed Ruby up as the cutest Lions supporter ever and then took lots of photos and entered her in a competition she has no hope of winning. Is this child abuse????

Ruby has finally remembered how to sleep at night, hooray! She is sleeping from around 6:30pm until 3:30am and then back down until 7:30am. It wasn't just a one off either, she has been doing this since last Thursday. The only downside is that she didn't put on any weight at all this week. We determined that this was due to the fact that she wasn't having a feed every 2 to 3 hours at night like she had been for the past 2 months.

Ruby also had her first try of veges today and loved them. She had a huge couple of tablespoons worth of pureed potatoes. Ruby gets very excited now when she sees mummy preparing her food and tries her hardest to grab the spoon off mummy to feed herself. We also gave Ruby a rusk to munch on and help wear her top gums down. The rusks don't last long, she chews so hard that they are soggy and broken in a few minutes, never mind mummy gets to finish them off and she doesn't think they taste to bad either.

Check out the photo of Ruby in the tub in her album, to cute to miss and little to rude for the blog. Here's another cute one from the last week....

Watching T.V. with Daddy and Teddy...

Meet Nigel......

2008-06-11T12:53:00.005+10:00

This is Nigel, the only fish that was caught on the fishing charter Roger and the boys went on for his 30th B'day

To celebrate mummy and daddy turning 30, mummy organised to have a weekend away at Noosa with her whole family so that the boys could go fishing with daddy and Aunty Taryn could jump out of a plane with Mummy. The jump never happened and the boys only caught one fish, all due to the crappy weather.

Otherwise, the weekend was a blast. Ruby got to spend lots of quality time with her Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles and even came away learning how to blow raspberries after watching Isabelle. Ruby was a star all weekend, (even with an eye infection that mummy gave her - bad mummy), sleeping in her jeep while everybody else paced up and down Hastings Street looking for somewhere to eat and even sleeping in daddy's arms at a cafe.

Ruby has had all her measurements done this morning as she is now 5 months old.

Weight - 7 300 grams / 16 pound 2 ounces

Height - 66 cm

Head circ - 41.3 cm

Ruby is just above the 75th percentile for her height and weight and dead on the 50th for her head circ. She has grown 4 cm in 4 weeks, which is alot according to the child health nurse. There hasn't been any more teeth showing up but her top gums are looking very swollen, so we don't think they are very far off.

Oh and check out the hair....

Starting solids

2008-06-03T10:27:00.003+10:00

The big news for this week is that Ruby has had her first try of food other than mummy's milk. Ruby has taken to this like a duck to water. Mummy has only given Ruby rice cereal in the morning after she has had her first drink, this is just to see how she goes with the new texture and eating from a spoon. So far there has been no dramas but then the cereal is just a tiny bit thicker than milk, we will see how she fairs over the next couple of days when mummy thickens up the cereal.

Mummy is also very impressed as Ruby doesn't seem to be a messy eater (yet), unlike her cousin who's latest trick is to blow raspberries with a mouthful of food, very funny to watch but not so funny for Aunty Emma who gets to clean up.

As promised mummy has taken a video of Ruby in the jolly jumper, daddy also took a video which mummy is not very impressed with, both of these have been uploaded to Ruby's album.

Ruby loves the jumper and is now jumping everywhere, in your arms, on your legs and even when she is one her tummy. She gets her little knees underneath her and then she starts pushing up and down (hilarious to watch from the back of her), apparently this is the precursor to crawling, if only she would lift her head off the ground at the same time.

She is getting stronger in her back and neck and is now reaching for things above her, mummy and daddy really don't think it will be long before Ruby is moving around.

Teeth!

2008-05-28T13:57:00.009+10:00

Ruby has shocked everyone and cut 2 teeth in the last week. Mummy wasn't expecting them to show until she was at least 6 months old....and now we know why she hasn't been sleeping at night!
Last night was the first in weeks that Ruby only woke twice (12am and 4am), the previous night mummy slept on Ruby's floor due to the hourly calls. It's amazing what a mouth full of Bonjela will do for a girl! Even though the bottom front teeth have come through Ruby is still carrying on like there is something going on in her mouth - all dribble and hands in the mouth still.

Ruby is also rolling over more often - especially when you are not watching - mummy and daddy caught Ruby at the top of her cot, upside down playing with her stuffed animals when she was suppose to be asleep.

This morning mummy found Ruby at the wrong end of lounge room rug, after leaving her on her tummy on the play mat at the other end. She has worked out how to push (it's not quite a crawl) herself backwards - almost like a baby style moon walk.

Ruby's child health nurse has stopped talking to mummy about formula and has now suggested mummy start Ruby on solids/rice cereal in the morning. In the last fortnight Ruby only put on 200 grams in total (even after sucking the life out of mummy at night) and the theory is that Ruby is burning up all her food with all her activity. We will keep you posted on this as the W. H. O. recommends not starting solids until 6 months - not 4 and a half months. But then they don't know Ruby and how she thinks she is older than what she is!

This week Ruby had her first experience in a high chair (by accident). Grandpa Lindsay put Ruby in one at a cafe when mummy wasn't looking and guess who loved it. Sat there like she was Queen Bee, loving every minute. Mummy would never had thought that she was ready for a high chair.

Here are some cute photos from the last week:
Hanging out with Aunty Porsha at Kingscliff

Knackered after helping mummy with the vacuuming

Cutting teeth

2008-05-21T18:47:00.003+10:00

Not the best photo but probably as good as we will get for a while......

Just a quick post to notify everyone that mummy found Ruby's first tooth today!!!

OMG it's cold.....

2008-05-20T11:28:00.006+10:00

Ruby is in a whole new wardrobe at the moment due to the recent cold snap, which we have been having a lot of fun with. Mummy hasn't been very impressed with the early morning calls for food and a change but hey when you are lying in pants full of wee and it's less then 10 degrees then you would be yelling too.

Mummy was recently reading about her development and found out that she was crawling by 19 weeks. When mummy told Ruby she had two weeks to learn how to crawl she took notice and has been getting those little legs pushing. The only thing is that as soon as the bum comes up the head goes down and she looks like she is steam rolling her nose around the room.

There is nothing wrong with Ruby's weight gain, she had put on another 250 grams last week. This takes her up to 6,750 grams / 14 pounds 14 ounces. Mummy thinks that the impending teeth could turn into an issue soon. Ruby is chewing on everything and is getting a little moody. Mummy went to see a tarot reader last week with Grandma (not that this quantifies it) and when he started talking about Ruby and her teething the devil card came down - yikes!!!! He also said that Daddy would have a new job soon, fingers crossed!!!

Happy Mothers Day!

2008-05-13T13:09:00.007+10:00

It's been a big week for both mummy and Ruby. We've had a trip into mummy's old work (before she got made redundant), went to the beach to see Grandma and Grandpa, had a picnic with daddy at the park, had a party at Uncle Jamie's house for mothers day, went shopping at DFO all day with Grandma and Ruby got her 2nd lot of injections today. After all of this she was still smiling and talking to the ladies in the reception area at the doctors (after getting stabbed) - such a trouper.

Ruby has gotten an adorable giggle in the last week. She has a big smile - mouth wide open, like she wants to eat you - and chuckles about everything and nothing. She loves standing up and playing aeroplanes.

Her dribbling is getting worse and she is constantly putting things in her mouth. Ruby has rolled over a few more times and has finally found her toes. Ruby grabbed her toes for the first time on mothers day. The funniest thing is watching Ruby in the Jolly Jumper. Ruby wont bounce unless there is music on and she spins around and around with her legs going like she is an Irish Dancer. Mummy will get a video of this for the next blog.

Ruby is sleeping much better during the day. Mummy gave up with putting Ruby down on her back and tried putting her on her tummy like Grandma used to do for her babies. Ruby is sleeping for hours now - Ruby and mummy missed half of the mothers day party due to her sleeping. Though, mummy is paranoid and has to check on Ruby all the time due to the SIDS factor. Unfortunately, nothing has changed at night and mummy thinks that Ruby is needing a bit more food to help get her through until morning (like she was doing). Mummy is adamant about not trying formula but has brought some potions to try and help her milk supply increase - everyone keep your fingers crossed!

Ruby had all her measurements done last week and she is now:

weight - 6,500 grams / 14 pound 5 ounces
height - 63.5cm
Head circ - 40.4 cm

This puts Ruby on the 75th percentile for her weight and height and the 50th percentile for her head circ. (little pin head!). Speaking of her head, has anybody else noticed how fair she is going? She is getting snow white fluff in all the spots where her long dark hair used to be....don't anyone dare tell me she looks ginger!

Papa would have been proud

2008-05-06T09:48:00.004+10:00

Ruby attended her first Anzac Day Parade last week. She was very excited by the band and all the clapping. Maybe next year she will understand why nobody else is smiling and giggling. Ruby also rolled over for the first time on Anzac Day - from her tummy to her back - she did it 3 times that day and hasn't done it since.

This last week Ruby and mummy have been sick with colds, all runny and dribbly. Poor Ruby was having a lot of trouble sleeping with her nose being so congested. Both Ruby and mummy are feeling better now, however Ruby still hasn't gone back to sleeping through the night.

Ruby is doing a lot of growing - this could be due to all the extra feeds she is getting at night - and has put on another 250 grams. This takes her up to 6,350 grams / 13 pound 15 ounces. Ruby is due to get all of her measurements done this week, it will be interesting to see how long she is, as mummy thinks she is starting to look like a toddler.

Oh and the hands, they must taste soooo good. Ruby hasn't spent a minute without them in her mouth. Mummy has been looking but can't see any teeth.

Sleep, who needs it.....

2008-04-23T10:11:00.003+10:00

This is the product of Ruby moving to her own room.....

Ruby decided early on that she wasn't happy about the move and after hourly call outs to mum, she eventually went to sleep in the big bed.....thank god, mummy was sick of camping on the floor in Ruby's room. It is getting better, Ruby only woke a few times last night, Mummy and Daddy are hoping she will be back to sleeping through the night by the end of the week.

Ruby is also getting used to sleeping in her cot during the day. Majority of the time she will go down without a drama and has now slept through for a two hourly stint - way to go girl.

Oh and fatty got weighed this morning, she has put on another 300 grams taking her up to 6100 grams / 13 pounds 7 ounces. The child health nurse suggested that we supplement Ruby's milk with formula to see if that will help her get through the night. Mummy is not to keen on doing this, not only for the fact that breast is best but I don't think Ruby is having any issues with weight gain. God, could you imagine the size she would be if she was having formula as well.

Her nickname would have to change from Muffin to Teletuby....

Mummy my bum's sore

2008-04-17T20:15:00.003+10:00

Poor little Ruby has a very sore bum. Mummy thought she had a bad case of Nappy Rash but it just wouldn't clear up and kept spreading. When we got it checked out this week it turns out that she has thrush. Poor muffin!!!

On a brighter note, Ruby has started singing....all the time! Daddy thought that mummy had spiked Ruby's milk the way she was carrying on. Mummy and Ruby went to Kindermusik today, which Ruby really enjoyed. There was lots of singing and dancing and Ruby even got to play with some drums. Ruby was the star of the day, showing everyone how it is done after everyone else had finished. The music would stop and everyone would stop singing and the instructor would start to explain the next thing when Ruby would start her own version of the previous song. She was so loud that no-one could hear the instructor.....that's my girl.

This week Uncle Jamie had a B'day BBQ at his new house. Ruby got to wear her party dress and play with cousin Isabelle's toys. Ruby had a go in Isabelle's Jolly Jumper but didn't quite work out what was going on. You would think with 15 people telling her to bend her knees that she would understand the concept. Maybe next week.

Ruby was weighed yesterday and her weight gain has decreased, only putting on 50 grams last week. It's all in the cheeks.

Tonight is the first night Ruby will be sleeping in her own room. So far so good, she has gone off to sleep no problems. I'm sure Ruby will be fine, mummy is the one who will be up all night worrying about her.

There is no good news on the day time sleeping. We have been trying all week to get Ruby to go to sleep in her cot. She has gone off a few times but will wake screaming like she is being murdered after 30 mins. You can time her, it is exactly 30 mins!!! She will not win this, mummy is going to keep trying!
Singing to Grandma Sheila in her party dress

Standing up straight in the Jolly Jumper

Whoa mamma!

2008-04-10T12:21:00.005+10:00

Last month Ruby put on a total of 500 grams.....as it turns out, in just the last week Ruby has put on 300 grams.

My little fatty now measures:
weight - 5750 grams/11 pound 12 ounces
height - 62cm - that's a centimetre a week
head circ - 39cm

Ruby is now loving tummy time - the last 11 weeks she whinged and whinged whenever you put her on her belly. Now you get big smiles when you flip her over...check out that cute butt.This week Ruby had a visit from Joylie, her mum and Dusty the dog. Ruby was on her best behavior and even had a nap while they were visiting. Ruby has also had two play dates with the babies from mothers group. Next week the group is starting Kindermusik, it's quite expensive, mummy is sort of hoping that she isn't going to enjoy it.

Ruby is still being a pain in the butt with sleeping during the day and using her cot. We are still working on it but with no joy so far....although Rusty seemed to enjoy his nap in it today! Mummy isn't complaining to much as Ruby is being a champion with sleeping at night time. mummy and daddy have decided that it might be time to move Ruby into her own room. This is something we hope to start next week.....everyone keep your fingers crossed she continues to sleep through the night.

Vocal cords are go!!!

2008-04-02T14:11:00.004+10:00

Ruby has become very talkative this last week. She will gibber away to Mum and Dad most of the day and also to the picture of Bob Marley on the wall - she has great conversations with Bob!!

Ruby also loves the new games Mummy is playing with her. She does sit ups now without any prompts, as soon as you put your hands in her hands she gets a big smile and tries to sit up herself - she's not quite there yet. This week Mummy has started trying to strengthen Ruby's back and neck muscles by putting a rolled up towel underneath her armpits while she is lying on her tummy. Ruby lifts her head without any trouble but just hasn't got the knack of using her arms to hold herself up. Mummy is also giving Ruby ideas on how to roll over. While lying on a rug Mummy lifts one edge to help Ruby get the idea of how to roll. After two days of playing these games Ruby is now rolling off the rolled up towel (from her belly to her back) all by herself.

This week we are also working on Ruby going to sleep by herself in her cot. She will do this no trouble at all in the vibrating bouncer but put her in the cot - no hope. This is mainly due to the fact that Ruby has a lot of trouble with wind and majority of the time will wake up when lying flat on her back needing to burp. So far we aren't having as much joy as we are with the games but she managed to go off to sleep today in the cot for 30 mins before waking and crying for a burp. Mind you she has no trouble sleeping in her cot at night - go figure!

Ruby also got weighed this morning and has put on another 150 grams in the last week taking her up to 5450 grams/12 pounds. That's 500 grams in the last month. She will be 12 weeks old next week and will be due to be measured head to toe etc. I guess we will get to see where that 500 grams has gone then (not just in her belly Aunty Debra!!!)

Dinner with Daddy!

Getting herself ready to sit up - legs up, tummy clenched (showing off at Great Grandma and Great Grandpa's house!)

Happy Easter!!

2008-03-27T09:31:00.003+10:00

Ruby's first Easter entailed a trip to Kingscliff - of course - and a visit to see Grandma Sheila and Great Grandma Alice and lots of quality time with Daddy. Ruby didn't get any chocolate (if she did, Daddy ate it) but she did get a new outfit, a dancing chicken, a pink bunny and a Sherrin Footy money box (from uncle Simon and Aunty Taryn).

Ruby's latest trick:

She is sleeping through the night and has been for the last 2 weeks - that's right, the last 2 WEEKS!!!! Most mornings Mummy is having to wake her up so that she isn't going longer than 12 hours without food.

We have been doing the same routine at bed time for a while now and most of the time Ruby seems to enjoy it.

1. Bath

2. Massage

3. Dress for bed

4. Feed

5. Sleep

This week Daddy has been giving Ruby her last feed from the bottle (this is milk Mummy has to express early in the morning as her boobs look like they are going to explode). Ruby wasn't very impressed to begin with but is slowly getting used to it.

Ruby also has this new thumb sucking technique that started about the same time she started sleeping through the night. Basically, she sucks one thumb while the other hand gropes her hair. She looks like she is making out with herself. The only way Mummy is able to wake Ruby up in the morning is to take her thumb out of her mouth.

The only draw back to this great sleeping is that Ruby has decreased her weight gain. She has only put on 350 grams in 3 weeks and now weighs 5350 grams/ 11 pound 13 ounces. Which means she is constantly feeding during the day to make up for it.

Developing, developing...

2008-03-11T12:19:00.009+10:00

Due to computer issues we missed a week of Ruby, here's an update:

Ruby now measures:

Weight: 4.950 grams/10 pound 15 ounces

Length: 58cm (that's 10cm in 8 weeks)

Head circ: 38 cm

Ruby is loosing her hair and has bald patches around her little noggin. Mummy has been counting the strands on the back of her pj's in despair every morning. Ruby started opening and closing her hands a fortnight ago and loves having new things touching her palms. Her sleeping pattern is great - she is now sleeping 5 - 6 hours in the first part of the night and then 3 - 4 hourly stints after that - Mummy is starting to look a bit more human.

She is recognising people and their voices and gets away with murder with her cute smiles - even at 1am. Ruby is still struggling with the day time sleeps and will go off no trouble at all if she is moving in her Jeep or in the car but put her in the cot and she will just cry until you come and get her - this is when you see the smiles. We have borrowed a vibrating bouncer which will calm her and help her get off to sleep majority of the time.

Ruby has also started drooling, initially we thought this was due to the vibrating bouncer but she does it all the time. It was just a coincidence that she started it when she was sitting in the bouncer. She has also started putting her fists in her mouth (mostly her left one) - apparently this is a motor skill???

Yesterday, Mummy and Daddy took Ruby for her first injections. She's tough like her father and cried more when the nurse had to remove the band aide, then when the needles where going in. She was a bit irritable in the afternoon but nothing a nice warm bath couldn't fix.

Ruby has been very strong ever since she was born and has been lifting her head from day one. Lately, when Mummy pulls Ruby up to a sitting position (by her hands) her little legs straighten and the next thing you know she will be standing there looking at you face to face. This is very cute and also quite scary when she gets the wobbles.

Here are some cute photos from the last fortnight:That's the cute smile I mentioned.

Playing rough with Grandpa and the caravan.

Family photo 'Andy Warhol' style - taken at the Gallery of Modern Art

I'm a new woman...

2008-02-26T14:22:00.004+10:00

It's like someone swapped my baby in the middle of the night (not last night, I would have noticed, we were awake for most of it).

Ruby has gone from being irritable most of the day and screaming most evenings, to being happy - even laughing (mostly when her pants are off).

Now we could put this new Ruby down to a couple events that happened this last week:
1. 3 trips to the Osteopath for alignments and tummy manipulations
2. the use of the best invention ever - the dummy. Yes, she finally took it.
3. Ruby has hit the magic 6 week mark that everyone talks about.
We have even been able to get her to go in her stroller, with a trip to the shops and the Coffee Club for 3 hours on Sunday....Hooray!

Ruby has also got a new nickname - Muffin! This is due to the size of her tummy that hangs over the top of her nappies. She has put on another 350 grams in the last week, taking her up to 4.5kg or 9lbs 9 ounces....check out the rolls in her arms and legs.
We also celebrated Uncle Simon's 23rd B'day by having a BBQ at our house on Saturday. Yes, that's the same day the temperature reached 38 degrees. Both Ruby and Isabelle survived to the surprise of everyone, especially since her Grandpa had gone silly from beer and was very keen to play rough games with the girls.

Quote of the week comes from Uncle Simon (see photo from previous post for reference):
'Who's that black baby laying with Isabelle on the play mat.'

I'm a big girl now!!!

2008-02-18T12:37:00.001+10:00

This post is well over due, and we now have a bit of catching up to do. I'll try not to bore you with the minor details.....

Ruby is 5 weeks old now and has put on 500 grams in the last fortnight which brings her up to 4.2kg or 9 pound 4 ounces. Finally big enough to fit the 'All In One' cloth nappies we brought for her.

In the last fortnight Ruby has had a couple of trips to visit Grandma and Grandpa at the beach. Aunty Porsha dropped in for a visit at the beach and also came to hang out on the couch with us to watch some girly DVD's. Great Grandma Betty and Aunty Gai got to nurse me while I screamed the caravan park down with a tummy ache last Saturday. We have also been to a mothers group, where Ruby was the youngest by a few weeks, and a picinic where Ruby slept for the entire day....mental note, go on more picinics!

My poor little girl has had a lot of trouble with her tummy the last couple of weeks and has had days were she just cries and cries and then screams and screams. She doesn't like to be put on down to sleep (unless she has already been asleep for over an hour), and will generally only fall asleep when someone is nursing her upright. She won't go in her stroller for longer than 8 minutes (that's the longest so far) and has only recently been getting used to being on her playmat and bouncer - neither of these have had lasting effect, yet! My girl just likes to be cuddled. Which is why I am two weeks behind in doing this blog (and everything else).

We are off to see an Oeseopath tomorrow to see if and alignment will help her - fingers crossed. Otherwise, I have been told this should all pass when she reaches 3 months of age.

Here are some cute photos from the last fortnight.........check out Ruby's photo album for the rest.

Ruby's first trip to the beach

2008-02-04T14:34:00.000+10:00

My girl is getting so big now. She weighed in on Wednesday at 8 pounds, that's another 300 grams in a week. Still not big enough to fit the cloth nappies we brought but it shouldn't be far off.

Ruby has had a few trips out and about this last week.....

On Monday we all went up to Grandma Sheila's house for dinner with Uncle Jamie, Aunty Emma and Isabelle. Poor Aunty Emma was very sick from a bug she picked up on their weekend away but both girls were very well behaved.

Tuesday we took a trip into the city to see all the people mummy worked with. Ruby woke up just as we got there and immediately went looking for the boob. Luckily there was an empty office we could use.

Thursday was a bad day. Ruby screamed and screamed most of the day with a sore belly. Eventually, she wore herself and mummy out at 3pm and they both slept (together) right through until 7:30pm.

On Friday Ruby had her first trip to Kingscliff to visit Grandma Dianne. Apart from a few cries on the way down in the car and a tantrum in the car on the way home, the trip went really well. Due to her bad day the day before, Ruby was so tired that she slept for 5 hours - which gave mummy and daddy and Grandma the opportunity to go to lunch and hit the shops and catch up on some sleep (for mummy). In the afternoon when the sun went down Ruby got to put her feet on the sand and get up close to the waves - while being awake. After waiting for Grandpa Lindsay to get home from work we eventually came home. Mummy says that we can go to the beach every day if Ruby is going to sleep like that.

On Saturday we went to see Great Grandma Alice and Grandma Sheila. Ruby cried and cried until mummy fed me (lots) and then I slept until all of mummys friends from AAA arrived. Then Ruby cried and cried some more. Poor mummy, everytime someone comes to visit, Ruby gets cranky and seems to constantly need feeding. It was lovely to see Kay-Lynn, Dorene, Adele and Andrew, it's just a shame that Ruby isn't very sociable yet.

It's daddy's first day back at work today, mummy wasn't looking forward to it at all. But so far so good..... or until daddy gets home.

We have a check up at the hospital first thing on Wednesday morning and then immediately after a visit with the Physio to check on Ruby's feet - they are turned in from being compacted in the womb. Mummy is a bit anxious about doing all of this on her own. Hopefully, Ruby won't be in a mood and scream the place down. Wish us luck.....

Mummy I've found my lungs!

2008-01-28T10:24:00.000+10:00

Well, this week started off soooo good......

Ruby weighed in at the Nurse on Wednesday at 7 pound 6 ounces. She had put on 500 grams in a week. Mumma has the goods!

Ruby also had her first trip to the shops on Wednesday were she was awake for the whole time. Mummy had to feed Ruby at the Coffee Club in front of the whole shopping centre. That was an experience.

Aunty Porsha and her mummy came to visit on Thursday, that was nice to have a normal (non baby) conversation for mummy. I hope that they come to see us all the time.

Then on Friday Ruby showed us what she is made of.....

Poor Ruby had a belly full of wind and screamed most of the day. Grandma and Grandpa who were visiting from the coast couldn't believe I was the same baby. Ruby eventually went to sleep at 8pm that night and went back to her normal feeding pattern of 3 hourly feeds.

But, since then Ruby just wont settle the same and has been having waking periods for hours where she just wont stop crying unless her Daddy has her. Mummy is only good for food (apparently).

We also had a fleeting visit from Grandpa Norman on Sunday and Great Grandma Betty and Great Grandpa Alton came to see me for a few hours - all I wanted to do was suck on mummy the whole time.

On a brighter note Ruby's eyes have gone a sapphire blue this week - just like Mummy's and her hair is getting lighter and lighter around the edges.

We are suppose to be visiting Mummy's work tomorrow but if Ruby is acting up in the morning like she has been, we might have to postpone the visit until we get into a better routine. Or mummy goes insane from being stuck in the house all day with the T.V.

It's a girl!

2008-01-21T15:40:00.000+10:00

INTRODUCING.........

Ruby Alice Abbott
Born, 13th of January 2008 at 2:30am.
6 Pound 14 Ounces
48.5cm long
34cm head circ.

To view my album, click on the photo

Gosh I'm cute!!!

Well this post is well over due, we have been home almost a week now and have so much to post about.

Lets start with my first day.......the day before really

Mummy's waters broke at 2pm in the afternoon and due to her having the Strep B infection Daddy had to take mummy straight to the hospital so that she could get an IV in her arm so that antibiotics could be given to her every 4 hours. As the contractions hadn't started yet the doctors told mummy that they would have to induce her to get things moving (which would mean labouring on her back in bed), mummy cried and asked the doctors if she and Daddy could leave it an hour to see what would happen. Mummy and Daddy went for a walk and did a few natural things that they had read about to bring contractions on (really they were hiding from the doctors).

When they were walking outside the hospital Mummy and Daddy found their first visitors, Great Granny and Great Grandpa had come to see me....but they had a long wait, so Mummy sent them to see Aunty Emma, Uncle Jamie and big cousin Isabelle.

While Mummy was organising her visitors her contractions started getting closer together and by 7pm were in full swing. At 9pm Mummy and Daddy were taken to the Birth Suite and mummy had her first internal examination and found out she was 5 -6cm dilated.

All Mummy wanted to do was be in the shower with hot water on her back, cause that is where she was getting all the pain. So Daddy sat with Mummy in the shower and held the hose on Mummy until 1:30am when Midwife Marnie came to check my heart rate, give Mummy more antibiotics and do another internal. Midwife Marnie told Mummy that she should be having 4 contractions every 10mins and Mummy was only having 2 (a little disheartening for Mummy) but when Midwife Marnie did the Internal, there I was waiting to come out.

After a few pushes my head came only a little way down and Midwife Marnie told Mummy that I had to come soon or they would have to get me out. Mummy was really clever and got my head out soon after. The midwife's were a little concerned as I had pooed on the way out, but I hadn't taken any in (Daddy got to go with me when they tried to clear my nose and throat). Not long after my head came, I was born into the world. Mummy got to catch me (due to the way she was birthing) and held on tightly to me until Midwife Marnie asked her if she was going to see if I was a boy or a girl. Daddy was sure I was a boy just from looking at my big hands and feet (I get them from him) but he was wrong. Daddy also got the job of cutting my cord.

We spent 2 days at the hospital and came home on the Tuesday, we had lots of visitors at the hospital but my worst night (for mummy) was the first night when I just wouldn't settle after seeing my new family and friends all day. All poor Mummy wanted to do was sleep. The nasty midwife sent Daddy home cause he fell asleep in Mummy's bed.

This week I have been to see Mummy's doctor where we both had a check up (everybody is perfect), been to visit Great Granny and Great Grandpa - where I shit all over their carpet and all over Daddy (for the third time this week) - Mummy was a bit cranky that day - and I have been on two shopping trips - I slept through both.

Mummy's milk came in on Thursday and Daddy changed her name to Jordan that day. He thought it was very funny but Mummy looked like she was in a lot of pain and kept waking me for feeds (I think she was leaking).

Grandma Dianne and Grandpa Lindsay have been staying with us all week. Mummy likes to give me to Grandma when she needs to sleep. They have gone back to their home at the beach today, I am sure Mummy is going to miss them. I have also been to see Great Grandma Alice today, she didn't want to give me back to Mummy but gee she is comfy to sleep on.

This week we are going to see the Nurse at the chemist to get weighed and checked. Mummy thinks I have put on a heap of weight due to all the eating I have been doing..........we will keep you posted.........

Where's Wally.....I mean Rusty!

2008-01-11T10:40:00.000+10:00

Even the cat is feeling sorry for me and pretending to be my baby.

Not long now puddy cat, after visiting the hospital yesterday the nice doctor who "made my baby angry" by poking it in the head, said that our little bundle of joy could arrive any day now. For some reason the doctors are all too keen to do internal exams and induce me even though I am only a few days over. But I was very determined not go down either of those paths and said that I would think about it for my check up next Tuesday (if we make it that long) .

As long as baby has a strong heart beat (which it has) and isn't distressed at all, I don't see what the big rush to get it out is. I will have to come up with a good excuse between now and Tuesday to avoid the ever keen doctors messing with me.

Hopefully my next post will involve a baby......

Does anybody else think my belly has dropped???

2008-01-07T10:33:00.000+10:00

Today is baby's due date and just about everyone is ringing, texting, emailing or dropping by to see how I'm going. Unfortunately, I have nothing to report. Bubba has stopped wriggling around - I guess it has finally run out of room - and at the last hospital visit it's heart rate had dropped down to 120 beats, when it had been up around 160/140 for most of the pregnancy. Otherwise, I'm not getting any of the pre-labour symptoms nor am I at the "over it" stage. I don't think we are going to be in the 5% that arrive on their estimated due date.

We tried a few things yesterday to bring baby on (bumpy car rides etc) so that baby could celebrate it's birthday with Aunty Gai and so that Roger didn't have to go to work today - but no go :( The hospital will let me go until the 17th of January before they start talking induction, hopefully baby won't take after it's father, who came 3 weeks late.

We made it...I'm still fat!!!

2008-01-02T16:41:00.000+10:00

As hoped, baby has managed to stay put until 2008! Baby is still active and moving around like crazy, so I really don't think it will be coming any time soon (5 days until ETA). We are off to the hospital this friday for our weekly check up and look out if I see the doctor that told me I will be having a Xmas baby.

Well, New Years came and went and I slept through it. God it was good! Roger and I spent 3 days at Kingscliff hanging out with Mum and Dad (Grandma and Grandpa). The weather has been horrible this last week but I still managed to get a couple of walks on the beach and a float in at the creek. Aunty Porsha and her mum also came for a visit :)

Roger copped a fair amount of grief from his family and some of mine about letting me be so far from the hospital with baby's birthday being so close. After having to go back to work on Monday and then going to visit his mum and my ever knowing brother, below is a photo of what greeted me the next day when it was time to go home from Kingscliff.

After talking with Jamie, the boys decided that this is a sure fire way to save the car in case my waters break while we are driving. What you can't see is the six large plastic bags that are also hiding under the mountain of towels. This is all a little extreme (I hope)!