Ruby hasn't made up her mind about water

     We weren't sure if Ruby would take to the big swimming pool so well, given that she didn't like being in our little orange swimming pool at home. But she was really excited watching Kuya Alex, Kuya Theo, and Ate Tim (see how excited she looks in that first picture?) so we thought we'd let her have a shot at it. Dad slowly got her used to it. At one point she was riding a kickboard, with Dad pushing her around on it. We have pictures of that, but I'm not sure I should publish them. When taking action shots in a public swimming pool, you don't have time to frame the shot so some random person's butt isn't in the background.

Ruby is still afraid of grass

When she is standing and it is only touching her feet, sometimes she can ignore it. But sometimes she ends up sitting in the grass, and then she doesn't know what to do, because in order to stand up again, she would have to roll in it with both her legs touching completely. Having that much skin contact with grass is too gross. And so the following ensues:

Notice how she tries to keep one leg off the grass at all times.

Mom is a doctor

Well, we made it. Graduation was Sunday, May 21.

Our graduation speakers:

After walking across the stage, we were supposed to sign our names in the official university registry of graduates. I forgot to put "MD" at the end, and someone had to remind me. I gotta get used to all of this.

Ruby is taking steps and falling down a lot

Ruby is going to walk so soon! Ruby has been able to stand on her own for a while now, but just this past week I've noticed her taking a lot more chances. She can't stand up from the floor, but she only needs something 5-6 inches high, and she can do the rest. She can stand for a very long time on her own, more than 30 seconds, and she can play with a toy while standing completely unsupported. Yesterday, at Grampa's house, Grampa called to her and she took about 5 steps towards him before crashing into his arms. She was so excited. She really seems motivated to learn how to walk. If you say to her, "Walk Ruby?" She smiles, babbles, and obliges.

She's climbing onto the couch and figuring out how to get down butt-first rather than head-first. She recognizes oranges and will wiggle when she sees one. She and Theo are starting to fight for toys. She is picky with her foods: she is not crazy about spinach and potatoes, but will always make space for peach banana oatmeal. In fact, for a while we could get her to eat the spinach and potatoes by alternating it with bites of fruit, but she caught on and now will only open her mouth a little bit until she has tasted what is on the spoon.

Naked babies eat watermelon

Ruby undergoes systematic desensitization therapy

Ruby is afraid of many things.

First we discovered that she is afraid of the vacuum cleaner when it is on. No big surprise there, lots of kids are afraid of things that make big noises.

Then we discovered that she is afraid of grass. If I try to set her down in grass, she will raise her feet up to avoid having to step in it. If I lower her far enough that she has no choice but to touch it, she will only stand on one foot (holding on to me, of course) with her other foot raised up, like a flamingo. The other day, we wanted to set Ruby down somewhere safe where we could see her while we worked on the garden in the backyard. We put her on a blanket in the backyard, and sure enough, she never left the blanket. I saw her scouting the edges trying to find an escape through something that was not grass. She stayed on the blanket for about 45 minutes, until finally she began crying in earnest, and we rescued her.

We also discovered that she was afraid of sand. We found this out in Duck, NC. She has a similar reaction to it as with grass.

Then, my mother discovered that she is afraid to touch very crusty breads. Yes, you read that correctly. We went to the Cheesecake Factory, and my mother let her hold one of the rolls that they give you while you're waiting for your food to cook, and she looked at it with concern, and thereafter refused to hold it.

Finally, this past weekend I discovered that she is afraid of the garden hose when the water is coming out. She cried when I was watering the plants while I held her with the other arm. Then, another day when Dad was watering the plants, she watched from the screen door and cried at him.

So now, I am starting a process of letting her know that all of these things are actually safe. Which leads me to this picture:


We went to a state park and my brother held her hands while helping her walk in the sand. You can see that she was not enjoying it at first. But later she realized it was not so bad, and she started enjoying herself.


The next task is going to be grass. I tried it two days ago, and it didn't work. She cried.