Ruby pronounces her name "Wuby". When I call her kiddo, or baby, or anything that she is not pretending to be, she says, "I'm not ______, I'm Wuby!" And this post is all about her.
Right around Christmas Ruby decided that she no longer liked the feeling of a wet diaper. Every time she would wet her pants she would ask to be changed. So it was time to begin the potty training process. I hate, hate, hate potty training! When I was potty training Lyda I was already pregnant with Kode and thank heavens or I may not have had any more children. So since it was Christmastime I decided to kind of give it a try with pullups and really potty train her after the holidays. This little girl did remarkably well. I learned during this whole process what a little negotiator she is. She initially would get a treat after she used the toilet, one treat. She would sit on the potty doing her business and talk to me about the treat. She would say, "you have candies?" I would say yes, and she would say, "two candies", not a question but more of a you're going to give me two candies this time kind of a statement. Kind of had to be there, but it was so darn cute. I have always heard of kids who basically potty trained themselves and I never believed it until Ruby came along. So here we are in February and I don't remember the last time she had an accident. She amazed me. Now if I could only get her to use public restrooms we would be set. Those darn automatic flushing toilets scare her to death. At least she can hold it for what seems like forever.
Ruby is speaking so well now and says the funniest things and makes the most hilarious faces. She gets in my face, squints her eyes, uses her pointer finger and tilts her head to tell me things. Some of the cutest things she says these days are, "soupy soupy pitty"(super, super pretty), "so boo-i-ful" (she says this about everything, even if it is just some sort of food she really likes), "I'm barbie" & "seepin booty" (Sleeping Beauty, who happens to be here favorite princess). Ruby loves to dress up and one day she was wearing the sleeping beauty dress and she said to Kode, "I'm seepin booty". Kode said back to her, "Its not seepin booty, this is your booty" He says this as he points to her behind. I love overhearing conversations like this.
Ruby is obsessed with Barbie movies and songs. Every night when Steve and I put her to bed she requests barbie songs. I finally broke down and bought a barbie sing-a-long so that I can do more than just mumble the songs to her. My favorite is when she tries to sing with me. She's so little to be singing these words she doesn't even understand.
She is the noisiest little kid we've ever had. She doesn't like to be told that she can't talk or that she needs to be quiet. She can scream such a high pitched scream it is truly amazing and deafening. One afternoon as we were driving in the car I had reached my breaking point (little xylophone pianos are not a great idea right behind the driver's seat just fyi). I asked the kids to be quiet for the rest of the drive. Ruby did not like this and said, "Every time I have to be quiet, I have to talk". So she kept talking and Lyda kept hushing her. Finally Ruby asked Lyda why she needed to be quiet and Lyda said, "So mom doesn't go crazy". I do appreciate these conversations even when I'm grumpy. But Ruby kept up the noise and I didn't appreciate that. She is definitely more defiant than our others have been. She is quick to say, "I don't have to" when she is told to go to time out or to quit doing something. It is pretty funny to watch her stand up to her tall daddy. I don't think he knows quite what to think of this spunky little toddler.
She has recently quit taking naps. Not my favorite time because she still really needs them but it just isn't worth the fight anymore. And I do like the freedom it gives us. But by 6:30 she is ready for bed. She'll sleep about 14 hours at night though and I do really love that. She loves her bed for an occasional break. When she gets really grumpy or upset about something she'll ask to be put in her crib. She'll play in there or just rest for 10 or 15 mins and then call me to get her out. Every once in a while she will accidentally fall asleep.
Ruby does not like to be dirty. She always asks for a napkin when she eats and she doesn't like to be sticky. I'm with her. But recently she has had issues with wearing her shoes because they are dirty on the bottom. I think we may have made it through that hurdle but now we have problems with bare feet in certain places. Fortunately not everywhere.
Ruby loves princesses, barbie, tea parties, dressing up and putting on makeup, she plays so sweetly with her baby doll, she loves to dance and she sings constantly. She is the girliest girl. She asks to wear a "pitty dress" every morning. She plays pretend like I've never seen a little kid do before. Lyda has trained her well. I often hear her yelling "Mom!" When I go to see what she wants she says, "Not you mom, Lyda mom". My mistake. I am typically the babysitter. One night Lyda put her to bed, pretending to be her mom. The next morning Lyda ran in to get her when she woke up and Ruby tilted her little head and looked at Lyda and asked, "You the mom?" Lyda couldn't stop laughing about it. Ruby loves to color and to paint and she has somehow figured out her colors. Steve and I used to flip through the colors of her night light and talk about each color with her, so maybe she actually learned something, who knows. She is so fun and smart and I love her to pieces. I feel like I could talk about her forever. She is so happy and makes everyone around her smile. So glad to have her spark and energy around our home.
