Favorite Books

You are certainly a bookworm.  Every night we read 3-5 books.  Not just 5 page board books anymore.. Nope, those, you tell me, are for babies, like Baby Charlotte.  You read big girl STORIES.

Your favorites right now are anything with characters you know, like Curious George, Princesses, and classic stories I've introduced to you that you've grown to love.  Your favorites of those are "Little Red Riding Hood", "Goldilocks and the 3 bears", and "The Princess and the Pizza". You also still love anything with rhymes or songs, like "The 12 days of christmas", "Rudolph the red nosed reindeer", and "Over the river and through the woods".

My favorite, which we haven't checked out from the library in a month or so now is "Where the wild things are".

Potty Training Champion of Chester

It is AMAZING!  It is INCREDIBLE!

You are nearly all the way potty trained!!  You wear big girl pants starting yesterday all day while we are in the house and only wear pull ups for when you take naps, go to bed, or go out of the house. 

I am SOOOO proud of you!  I can't even put into words how happy I am every time you use the potty all by yourself.  After you go, we flush it and then you get to put a sticker on your potty chart, which you get very excited about.

My baby girl is getting to be so grown up!! Like Daddy says, now you can go on BIG adventures!  AHoo!! 

Maymont Park

Dear Ruby, 

  Yesterday Dad was helping Uncle Dave so we had an all girls day at Maymont Park.  You loved running and playing with the other kids, climbing rocks, splashing in puddles and playing with sticks.  You payed only minimal attention to the main exhibits: the animals and were much more interested in just having a good time stretching those long legs of yours and playing with the children.

  It was Charlotte's first time at Maymont, so you showed her the ropes.

One funny thing is that when we got to the animals the the barn, I said that it would be fun to see the sheep and the goats and the chickens. You cried and said you were "scared of the goats".  I said why and you said "No boo".  I realized you thought we were going to see ghosts, not goats.  I explained that there would be no ghosts, only GOATS that say "meh" and have long horns, to which you were much more agreeable.

A Playground For Katie at Huguenot Park

We spent the chilly morning playing at a park off of Robious called "A Playground For Katie" at Huguenot Park.  It's such a neat playground!!  The pictures I took of you are from when we first got there and were the only people there.  Not long after my camera batteries died, the real fun began.  Kids showed up in droves and you had an absolute blast running, screaming, and playing "dinosaur games" with the other kids.  You are so very social!  You have no problem joining into other kids' games, who readily take you on as their friend.  One mom at the park today even called you the "official greeter" because of the way when anybody new came in you'd shout "friends!" and yell "hi!".

Playdate

Wonderful Words

You are mostly speaking in 2-7 word sentences now.  However, you are in an experimental stage.  You figure out what a word means and try to use it in different situations to see if it applies correctly.  For example, you understand the concept of "light on".  You often request for me to turn a light on in a room, since you can't reach the switch.  You have also used the term to mean "in", such as when we're pouring noodles into a pot for macaroni, you'll ask to do the pouring yourself by holding the box and saying "on".. Then, when you don't get the response from me you are looking for, you will clarify as best you know how by saying " pot on", and "my turn".  I will try to help you with your vocabulary by saying "You'd like to help me pour the noodles in the pot?"  To which you will smile and say "Uh huh!" , obviously glad that I understood what you were trying to say.

Another example of this is with baby Charlotte.  You'll say "Bottle. (unintelligible) ah burp."  Another thing you do is put an "oh" in front of any word you want to express an idea about, but don't know how to put all the words together.  You'll say "Oh bottle" to mean : Charlotte needs a bottle now.  You'll say "oh juice, mama please" to mean "I'd like some juice, mama please".

"It Happens"

Another incident of your emerging sense of empathy has surfaced.  Daddy was trying to fix a toy for Charlotte and accidentally threw away batteries that were new- he didn't know I had just changed them.  He smiled a silly smile and I just gave him a kiss and said "It's okay."  You chimed in with a shrug of your shoulders and a shake of your head with a sweet "It happens."

Even Daddies need encouragement sometimes. :)

Encouragement

Dear Ruby,

The other night at dinner, we were playing the game that we made up, called "Ducky".  We were going around the dinner table saying the name of a noun.  You are cute because you say Mama's Turn or My Turn.. or Daddy's turn.  Well I said something.. I think it was "bear" and you said "Good one, Mama!"  Actually, it was hard to make out what you said, but that's what we always say to YOU when you think of a new word, so it was clear that you were trying to give me encouragement!

I know this sounds like a little thing, but it actually shows how well you're developing your social skills!  You are moving out of the egocentric stage and into a stage where you are able to understand that other people have feelings too, different from your own feelings.

Backwards and backwards and backwards and backwards.

I love you, little duck!
-Mama

Valentine's Day Decorating

Just for the record.. yes, you are wearing your swimsuit while there is snow on the ground outside.  In your mind though, this was your "mermaid suit".  Who am I to argue with genius?

Superbowl, Sawyer Girl Style

Pre Packaged

When he was little, there's nothing your daddy liked better than a big old box.  So naturally, when we bought some shelves for the garage,  he knew you'd appreciate these, and helped you put them to good use.  You had a ribbon latch window and even a telescope.  You also had a peekhole at the bottom!  Can you find Ruby in this first picture?

Yum.

The best part of making brownies is definately licking the bowl.

Backwards and Backwards. And Backwards, and Backwards

LOL!  Not sure where you picked this up, but now while I'm cooking dinner or doing something and you're entertaining yourself, it's often that I hear you either walking forward and backward or pushing a cart or stroller forward and backwards chanting rhythmically "Backwards and Backward and Backward and Backwards". 

Either we've been watching way too many exercise videos together or your preschool teacher has been trying to teach you "forwards and backwards".  Thank You Mrs Grimes!