HAPPY 11 MONTH BIRTHDAY RUBY!!!
Each month my little sister posts updates on my niece, complete with weight, height, favorite foods, people and interests. Each month I read it I think "I should do that" but then another month goes by and I haven't.
But today is a new day!
Some tidbits about our little Ru.
Nicknames: Rube-a-dube, Dubes, Rubers, Ru
Favorite past times: crawling, standing in the crib, pulling herself up on any furniture to stand, playing with her big brother and sister, riding the "horse" on mommy's knee, being bonked on the head with a balloon, chewing on anything and everything, scratching things that make noise with her fingers.
EATING: Ruby caught on to nursing as soon as she came out of the womb. Pumping and bottle feeding is my feeding method of choice. For me, that just works well. From about 2 weeks old, I was able to pump twice a day and have enough milk for her. I didn't pump exclusively. I also nursed when it was convenient and she did fine with both. Once I had my surgery though it was a definite struggle to keep my milk supply up, because my body was focusing all it's energy on my healing. But I prevailed, even after both surgeries and was able to continue nursing. And then I sabatoged myself by taking Sudafed when I had a cold and gone went my milk supply when she was 6 months old. Blast! She was fine and didn't care. I was the sad one.
At about 6.5 months I started Ruby on rice cereal. I may be considered a bit freakishly conservative with when I start my children on solids. I just really don't want my kids to suffer from allergies if it's in my power at all. Allergies terrify me-- mostly because they are such a foreign concept. I've never dealt with them nor have any of my siblings. I read years ago that there was a correlation between when solids were introduced to the child and allergies. The sooner babies were introduced to solids, the more likely they were to develop allergies. So a good week or two after their 6 month birthday I finally get around to doing it. At 11 months she still eats baby cereal and every pureed form of fruits or veggies. She's also in a love affair with Kix, which just started Saturday. I'm also slow at introducing my kids to "real people food" -- nothing I'm proud of. It's something I should work on!
SLEEPING? The night before her 2 week check up, Ruby slept for a 7 hour stretch. I sheepishly asked the doctor if it was okay that I didn't wake her. I felt so guilty because I didn't even wake up! I slept right through the feeding. My doctor smiled and said it was no big deal. She was healthy, gaining weight, as long as she made up for it during the day, it was okay. 8 hours would be pushing it, but 6-7 was fine. I breathed a sigh of relief. I don't recall her doing it again for a while so I had to go back in my e-mails and from about 6wks months old she was doing a 7 or 8 hour stretch.
When she was 4 or 5 months, we put her in the guest bedroom downstairs to cry through the night (the more children I have, the harder it is for me to hear them cry) to eliminate her early morning feeding. That one night cured her! She sleeps from about 7 to 7 now and takes 2 naps during the day.
She had to be swaddled to fall asleep until she was almost 7 months old. I had such a hard time finding a babysitter for her because we needed one that could swaddle her well if she was going to sleep. Once she grew out of the swaddling, she resembled Savannah in her need for no distractions in order to fall asleep.
I think the day after I wrote this, the cave method had to be retired. Ruby can now stand up in her pack 'n play and pull the sheet off and have a hay day. We tried her crib {imagine that. A baby sleeping in her actual crib in her vey own bedroom. What a concept!} for a few days, but she was taking so long to wind down. Her bedroom is in some serious need for black out shades, but in the mean time, I'm choosing to be impatient. I know after a few weeks of crib life in her bedroom, she'd get the idea that it's NOT playtime. But I don't want a few painful weeks. So, I developed the Modified Cave Method. She now sleeps down in the guest bedroom in the pack n play. It gets nice and dark down there, kind of like a cave, minus the sheet over the crib. She continues to go down pretty well. She cries for a few minutes and falls asleep.
Rolling over: Uhhh???? I swore I was going to remember, but alas, I don't. I think around 6 or 7 months. She was old. Definitely wasn't in any hurry to get around. (i was thrilled with it). She reminds me a lot of Cade-- he was about 7 months when he rolled over for the first time and started crawling at 10 months. He wasn't in any hurry to get into things. Savvy on the other hand was an expert crawler at 6 months. They both walked the week after their 1st birthdays. Go figure! We'll see if Ruby will follow suit or start her own tradition.
Crawling: 9ish months. Kyle came home for a weekend and basically "taught" her. It seems every time he comes home, she learns a new trick.
Other Tricks: Kyle just "taught" her how to clap and kiss-- the adorable open mouth ones. They are her favorites now. She claps all day long and gets the biggest kick out of it. Sometimes when she is being held and doesn't have access to one of her hands, she smacks herself in the face. It's a little disturbing to watch her do it over and over again. I give her access to her other hand and then she realizes "ah, yes. That's what I've been trying to do!"
Teeth: Her first two bottom came in at 5 months. Now her top two and bottom four are in. She will gnaw on anything she can put in her mouth. She deliriously enjoys having her teeth brushed with this and we always play a little game each night with it. After I'm done brushing her teeth, she bites down on my finger. I fake an "ow!" and she laughs and does it again. I could play this game all night with her.
Other observations: She prefers me (mama), but I think a lot of that is just circumstantial. Between my foot surgery and Kyle traveling, she has seen an awful lot of me in the last 11 months. She is VERY well cared for by Cade and Savannah and they both crave playing with her. Today, in fact, Savannah reported, "Mom, I haven't had my special play time with Ruby yet. Can I please dance with her now?" Yes, now that Ruby can "stand" Savannah likes to pull hold her hands and sway Ruby's body side to side to the music. Ruby squeals and loves it, but it's hard to watch. I"m waiting for the day when Sav lets go accidentally and then.....
Temperament: Stranger anxiety? Affirmative. Our other two would go to anyone at any time. Ruby is more cautious and if I'm around she's usually not too excited for someone else to hold her. If she's hungry or tired, don't mess with her. But, she is a pretty content child otherwise. She isn't too demanding and pretty happy. I'd say she's a mix of Cade and Savvy as far as personalities go. She has Cade's more mellow nature and Savvy's cheerfulness. Ruby smiles a lot and loves to laugh, but she's also relatively low-maintenance and easily soothed. The nurse who took care of her the night after I delivered her told me this. I wasn't sure if it would really be the case, after all-- babies change so much. But she was indeed right. Ruby is a good baby who is easily soothed.
Someone asked me the other day how Ruby compared to my other children in regards to "easy" or "hard." I think all 3 of my children have been the same. I can't say one baby was more difficult than the other. It has more been the circumstances going on around the time of their birth that has made the transition in motherhood either more or less difficult, not the child. With Cade, him being our first was number one difficulty. We were both in college, transient, and didn't know what we were doing. With Sav, we weren't transient, but had a great deal of responsibility between Kyle's growing business and my calling. Ruby, we had just moved and were trying to get settled. I had foot surgery, and my mother-in-law became very ill and passed away. All very different experiences, each tricky in their own right, but none because of the child. I feel blessed to be able to stay home and watch each of my children grow, learn and discover the wonders life has to offer.
I've made an earnest effort to cherish and soak in the small moments with Ruby now that I am fully aware how fast time flies with little ones.
She really is our precious gem.
Even when she makes her sour face.
4 comments:
Love the update!! And those are GORGEOUS pictures!
Such a darling. I'm looking forward to the day when I can hold her and not have her start crying. :-)
Those pictures are amazing! It's so fun to see your kids help out with her, they are real pros. And I still love you even though your baby slept through the night early.
This is the cutest picture ever!!
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