12 months

Oh sweet Ruby, I can't believe that you have been a part of our family for a whole year. We love you so much and can't imagine life with out you.

Ruby loves to play Pat-a-Cake and claps all of the time. She has started playing Peek-a-boo and loves to try and cover her own eyes. Occasionally you will hear her trying to say boo. Her favorite song is If You're Happy and You Know It. She also is really into books lately. She will sit and look at the pages, squealing in delight. In the mornings, she likes to watch Mickey Mouse with Olivia. And by watch I mean, occasionally glance at the TV and scream in delight.

She loves stuffed animals and baby dolls. For her birthday Olivia picked out a pink Kitty Cat at the Pharmacy gift shop and Ruby loves it. She hugs it tight up close to her face, it is so cute. She also is still on a baby kick. She got a baby of her own so Olivia doesn't have her dolls being stolen all of the time. Olivia loves to push Ruby around in her baby stroller, and Ruby loves it just as much. {I remember when Ruby was a newborn and I would see Olivia pushing the stroller around with her bitty baby in it and I'd panic thinking it was Ruby.}

She is getting stronger and stronger everyday. She will walk when we hold her hands, but it has to be both hands. If I drop one hand she instantly falls down. She isn't standing on her own yet, but I am sure it will come soon. I think she is perfectly content to keep crawling. She is so fast and can get anywhere she wants pretty quick.

Over the last month, I have dropped a nursing feeding each week. A couple days before her birthday she was completely weaned from nursing and is now drinking whole milk from a bottle or sippy cup. Because of how small Ruby has been, I decided to go for the bottle so I could see how much milk she was drinking each day. {With Olivia when she went to a sippy cup I remember that she didn't drink too much and I didn't want to worry more about little Ruby.} She has been drinking 3- 5oz bottles a day. If she is thirsty and in the carseat, she will down the whole bottle during a 10 minute car ride. But normally she'll drink a couple ounces here and there throughout the day.

Ruby generally goes down 2 hours after waking up for her morning nap. It usually lasts around an hour. And then I put her down around 1:30 and she will sleep anywhere from 1-2 hours. When she wakes up from her afternoon nap (she naps in our room in the pack n play) and we walk past the girls room, she points and talks in her little baby language. I assume that she is telling me that she wants Olivia to come out and play. It makes me so happy to see how much they love each other. I can't wait for Ruby's vocabulary to develop so they can talk with each other. Ruby goes to bed around 7:45-8:15 depending on the night. I try to put Ruby to bed 20-30 minutes before Olivia since they are now both sleeping in the same room.

Her favorite foods are currently: macaroni and cheese, yogurt, beans, oranges, french toast, sausage, applesauce, and any treats. She loves ice cream and her favorite thing is to share some with Bob. She got her first taste of chocolate milk and loved it.

Ruby loves all animals. She loves to go downstairs and chase Grandma and Grandpa's dog Bogey. She gets so excited when she sees animals in real life and in pictures.

Because Olivia is in and out of the bathroom all day long, the door is open and little Ruby takes advantage. She loves to unroll all of the toilet paper or put her hands in the water and splash away. Other favorites are pulling all of the dishes and utensils out of the dishwasher. And chasing me while I sweep. I now can only sweep when she is in the high chair or napping.