New Family Pics

We recently had more family photo's taken. We are very impressed with our local Yuen Liu. For being a studio that doesn't really have a lot of diversity, the price is good and the prints are quality. We were very happy with the results and could barely choose from all the truly good ones that were taken! I hope you all enjoy them!

Ruby is really interested in cows. She thinks all living, breathing, furry creatures bigger than a dog is a cow. Horses are not horses, goats moo, giraffe's must too. Yesterday we had a deer family stop in our pasture and graze. Ruby yelled excitedly to me from the living room "MOM!!! MOM!!! COW! MOM, MAMA, MOM, MAMA, COW!!!! COW!!!" I ran in to see if the neighbors herd had gotten loose (which has never happened)...Ruby is pointing out the front window and exclaiming that there are cows out there! I said "No, those are deer". Ruby answered very sweetly "No Mama, COW!"

Ruby still only has a few teeth. Late bloomer for sure. She turned 2 on the 10th of this month, yet, she only has six teeth. I can feel that her gums are very hard but those teeth can't be seen yet. Preparing foods that she can truly chew is still an ongoing endeavor. That girl will eat cheese for every meal...all cheeses! Just like her big sister, Chloe! If anyone reading this has some recipe's they'd like to share with me, please pass them along. Ruby is picky (except for cheese!) and I'm having a hard time getting her to try things. She will not eat banana's, apples, eggs, cooked carrots, oatmeal (any hot cereals) or potatoes (in any form) to name a few. I'm happy to say she will eat avocado!

Potty training is going really great. Ruby goes pee pee every time she tells us (3-4 x's per day). She does not like to go poop on the toilet yet though. She has twice, but she appears a bit scared when doing so. I believe she would be even further along, but in my old age...being a "been there, done that" mama, I'm not as on the ball as I once was. Chloe was potty trained at 16 months and Elliot was at 2. Roman will not even be ready for a long time. He is just discovering he has something dangly down there! :) Hee hee. But BOY! Does he enjoy running around naked. What boy doesn't?

Ruby's vocabulary is exploding. She will say just about anything after she hears it. Her newest words are Pizza, Miss you!, See You!, Ciao, I love you (but she only whispers this for some reason), Down Kitty kitty!, Daddy bye bye, Daddy work, Chloe, Elliot, cold, hot, balloon, coffee (she can recognize a Starbucks a block away & all mugs are "coffee"!) etc....every day she is saying something new or a new *almost* sentence. She had an entire conversation with my friend Jennifer last night. She told her that "Daddy bye bye, work, Daddy, car". She is putting wooden puzzles together well and she enjoys playing make believe. She will have conversations on anything that she can pretend is a phone and she even holds whatever object of choice on her shoulder while she "multi tasks" on the phone. Another fun thing she likes to do is pretend she is sleeping...snoring and all. Ruby and Roman LOVE playing with pillows from the bed and jumping on them, covering themselves up in them, wrestling on them, etc. These are their newest toys!
For her birthday, she got a toy guitar. Oh, what fun! Ruby loves the guitars from Rock Band, so her daddy got her one of her very own (Fisher Price style). But OH MY, the fighting between her and Roman!!! He wants one, too! They are a very typical brother/sister! Ruby is the most musical toddler I've ever seen. She loves to sing, dance and keep the beat. She can keep the rhythm better than most adults. She will sing and keep rhythm by smacking her leg to whatever she is singing. I'm truly amazed. And DANCE. That girl can dance. She's got moves like crazy.

Roman is my precious little monster. He is not yet taking off in the vocabulary department. He can say Bye Bye, Hello (and he holds his hand up to his ear while doing this usually), bath, dad, daddy, mom, mama, kitty, all done...He still knows what he wants and goes after it, unyielding. Lover of books, he enjoys playing with all of his toys, but books are his favorite. He will sit down next to the basket and "read" all by himself for long periods of time. He also loves the cat. Sometimes he gets the wrong end, but he kisses and hugs that poor cat to death. We always cringe when we see him at the tail end and he's attempting to give kisses. Ugh...at least he is a gentle little guy with critters. He also loves our little dog, Sammy. Romy actually loves the outside dogs, too, but he hasn't been able to play with them yet.

Bath time is really a monsoon in our home with the two little ones taking a bath at the same time. I cover our floor in towels and let them have fun for the most part. They still have to be reminded constantly to sit down...you know...standing in the bath is so much more fun/dangerous. But the splash fest is unbelievable!! I also have to remove all the soaps and shampoo's. Otherwise they would be pumping them into their hands and throwing them out onto the floor! Ruby and Roman both know how to pump the lotion and think they have to be a part of slathering after bath time! I always give them a little bit to rub on their tummies and they think this is THE BEST. Romy does still try to lick it, though. Something about the smell of that cucumber melon baby lotion, I guess! :)

As I write this, it is pushing 11pm and I need my beauty sleep! No kidding! The gray hair is getting thicker and the red is turning apricot. Good thing being a mommy is so grand. I truly have THE BEST job in the world. Andrew and I had our 19th wedding anniversary today...but we actually celebrated on Saturday night. I planned a date to the local roller derby! What a hoot! It was so much fun. Then dinner at one of our favorite places afterwords. It was wonderful to be out on a date...we don't do it enough...but when I'm back to the daily routine, the reality is no employer, no co-workers, no employees could ever be better than what I get to do every single day with my family! I thank God that He blesses us with a life that I am able to do this and be home with my children.

Drubek