Tomorrow Ruby will be 15 weeks old. Here’s a random collection of facts about her:
- She weighs about 13 pounds. She seems a little shorter and pudgier than other babies her age.
- Her eyes are generally a cool gray-blue, but they vary a lot depending on the light. This morning Kate thought they looked a little greenish.
- Her hair is very short, very fine, and blonde. She’s got longer, darker hair along the nape of her neck; she was born with it and it hasn’t rubbed off yet. She’s got a bald patch on the back of her head from sleeping on her back. We’re expecting blonde curls eventually, but Kate’s hair was late to sprout so Ruby’s will probably be the same.
- She loves to stand up. The first thing she does when she gets upset is make her body stiff as a board, because she wants to stand. People marvel at what a masterful stander she is. She can stay standing for ten minutes or longer, just relying on me for balance but not to carry any weight. She’ll topple right over if I’m not there to balance her. While standing she’ll look around, look at me, or chew on an offered finger.
- She’s going through the long teething process and is constantly drooling. She loves to bite on my thumb if I put one in her mouth, and sometimes she bites hard enough (and on the right spot of my finger) to make me wince. She’ll chomp a few times on the finger, making sure to get some work for the molars in the back, and then spit it out all covered in drool.
- She spits up all the time. My shirts smell like baby cheese by the end of the day. She smells like baby cheese all the time. Baby cheese is not a very nice smell, although I admit it’s growing on me because, well, that’s Ruby’s smell. By “spits up all the time” I mean, she’ll spit up varying quantities of cheese (from dribbles to a tablespoon or two) several times a day, without warning. So far, no permanent stains.
- She loves to be on the changing table and is all smiles and giggles, especially once her diaper is off. She starts fussing while I’m putting the cotton diapers back on, but usually adjusts to the diaper’d life again in a few seconds.
- This week she’s starting to grab at toys, hold onto them, and bring them to her mouth. Our favorite play toy is her O Ball. This toy is very light and very easy to grasp. She just wishes it had more chewy appendages.
- Yesterday she officially rolled over for the first time. She managed this feat from her belly to her back, starting with her elbows under her chest. If she ends up with both arms out to the side while on her stomach, then she’s stuck there. She rolls over by getting tilted to one side and then arching her back.
- Just today she started arching her back while lying on her back on the changing table.
- While she’s on her stomach she’s able to lift up her head almost 90 degrees and hold it there for a several seconds. Yesterday she was doing this and dropped her head suddenly onto the hardwood floor under her play blanket. Unhappy baby. From now on, she’s only allowed to do this on the carpet.
- She’ll smile at us whenever she’s in a good mood (and her mood can change rapidly). Silly faces, silly sounds, or just getting up close to her can make her smile and giggle — especially first thing in the morning.
- A new game we’ve started playing is “biglittle”. She lies on her back and we grab her hands. We stretch her arms out wide (“big”), and then pull them together in front of her chest like she’s clapping (“little”). Repeat this very fast, and she’ll start smiling.
- I’ve been playing the piano and singing for Ruby (current songbook: the Beatles greatest hits). She’ll lie on her playblanket and listen to me for about 10 or 15 minutes before getting bored.
- Ruby generally sleeps between 10pm and 7am every night. She’s started to fall asleep around 9pm or 9:30pm very regularly the past few weeks, and putting her to bed is no longer the hours-long ordeal that it used to be. Just pop in some milk, wait ten minutes, and drop her in the crib. She’s actually been sleeping on her changing table cushion for the past few weeks. This helps her to stay asleep at night by keeping her arms and legs from flailing about too widely.
- I’ve been reading The Wizard of Oz to Ruby before she goes to bed, but since she’s pretty fussy until she gets her bedtime snack, this hasn’t been a hugely enjoyable experience yet.
- Ruby and I go running around Green Lake several times a week. She’s quiet when she’s in jogging stroller and generally falls asleep once we get going. She can be fussy when she first gets strapped in, but as long as we’re moving she’s fine. Sometimes I take her to the park and kick a soccer ball around while she’s in the stroller, but this isn’t as effective since the stroller isn’t moving and she usually gets fussy after twenty minutes or so.
- Ruby will look at herself in a mirror for five or ten seconds, but doesn’t seem terribly impressed one way or the other.
- Her favorite consonant is “G”. When she’s hungry and crying she says “mmm gay”. When she’s crying with a soother in her mouth, she says “gleek gleek gleek”. When she’s happy and feels like slaying those around her with cuteness, she smiles and whispers “agoo”. When she’s just generally unhappy, she’s whines forcefully.
- Her feet are ticklish.