All posts by kate.

Conversation

Ruby is really starting to understand the art of conversation. She will even explicitly ask, “have a conversation?” sometimes. Her favorite topics are: her big girl bed, things we did recently, and things we’ll be doing soon. She also has a very caring (and optimistic) way of inquiring about how Steve and I are doing, asking about our moods and injuries. Some recent questions:

  • “How was your day?”
  • “How your working?” [How was work?]
  • “Your back is all better?”
  • “You are feeling happy?”
  • “Your arm doesn’t hurt?”
  • “Your watermelon juicy? You like it so much?”

Operation Big Girl Bed is a success!

This week while watching the napcam, we noticed Ruby doing something new:

Uh oh. Time to accelerate plans for a big girl bed! We had been thinking of upgrading her in a couple of months, but now it was urgent. Yesterday, I talked it up to Ruby all day (she’s very interested in becoming a big girl). We went on a special shopping trip where I bought a vinyl mattress cover, and she selected a quilt and sheets. I gave her a couple of options in each case so as not to overwhelm her (and so we didn’t hate it).

Because of the short notice, we decided to give Ruby the futon in our guest room. This is a temporary hack to give us time to buy her a real bed, but it’s also a good transition bed, since it’s low to the ground. Last night, Steve disassembled the crib and the futon and we set up the futon in Ruby’s room. She was very eager to test out her new bed:

As part of the furniture rearrangement, we were able to create a little reading nook for Ruby in the corner of her room:

After taking a photo of the new bedding, we tucked Ruby in for her first night in a big bed:

 

Ruby was very happy about the big girl bed and didn’t show a moment of fear, hesitation, or crib nostalgia. We told her that she must stay in her room until we came to get her in the morning, and that if she didn’t, we would put up a baby gate. This morning, as asked, she stayed in her bed after awakening and played quietly until we came up.

The real test of the open doorway will be naptime. Today she’s at my parents’ house, so the first naptime in the big bed will be tomorrow.

Reading update

This morning, I did the alphabet puzzle with Ruby and she named all the letters, no problem. For most of the letters, she asked me what it was “for” (meaning, what words start with that letter). She’s starting to remember these as well. The first one she remembered and repeated later was T for Tripping (from her hockey alphabet book). The second was D for Doughnuts (from the doughnuts we had in Hawaii).

Great toy: Lauri Primer Pak

We’re currently in Hawaii with Ruby, and in preparation for the long plane ride, I bought some toys and activities to keep her occupied. So far, the best in terms of time spent and value has been the Lauri Primer Pak:

It is packed full of absorbing activities and only cost me about $15. I haven’t even given all of these things to Ruby yet! So far, we’ve gotten the most use out of the alphabet puzzle. It’s really helping her learn all the letters, and as of today I think there are only 3 or 4 letters whose names she forgets. We play a game where I remove all the letters and put them in a bag, then pull one out randomly. She names it (if she can), and then puts it in the puzzle. It’s fun to watch her learn and get faster.

I should mention that this is a game that she enjoys and asks to play. We play a game where I take all the letters out of the puzzle and put them in a bag, then randomly pull one out. She names it (if she can), and then puts it in the puzzle. It’s been fun to watch her get better and faster at it each time. Afterwards, she usually asks me to spell words for her, so I show her short words with no duplicate letters such as RUBY, CAT, RUN, and MAP (which she remembered from before).

How to brainwash your toddler

In late December, we took Ruby sledding. Although she liked being out in the snow, she hated the sledding. Seeing anyone sliding down the hill upset her, and of course she didn’t want a turn.

Beginning on the car ride home, though, we engaged in some revisionism and began talking about how much FUN it was. Didn’t you have a really great time sledding, Ruby? Remember when we went sledding down the hill and it was so much fun? We kept this up for a few days until she firmly remembered it differently than it had actually happened.

It was another month and a half before we went sledding again (not counting a failed attempt where I forgot our gear). This time, Ruby was excited and not at all apprehensive. Even so, we were surprised by how brave she was. Not only would she ride down the hill with us, but by the end she was happily sledding all by herself! Even falling off at the bottom didn’t deter her. See for yourself:

Due to her small size, she went faster and farther than we did on the sled, and it also made walking back up the hill much easier (since she could walk on top of the snow crust, while we sunk deeply in). All in all, it really WAS fun the second time around.

Sledding

February and March photos

I’ve added some photos from February and March to Ruby’s online album. Apologies for the bad quality of some of the March ones: I included some fuzzy pictures just to show some of the things she was doing. Steve’s parents have also added an album of Ruby’s Canadian birthday celebration.

Finally, I’ve added two new ways for you to keep up with newly posted pictures, if you want to be the first to know about new ones: