Rubyisms

Here's what it's like to live with a 2-year old.

Me: "I love you Ruby Dawn."

Ruby: "I love you too Sweetheart."

___________

Ruby: (very loudly in a crowded public bathroom) "Good job Mommy! Good Job going potty Mommy!!"

Me: ...thanks Ruby.

___________

Me: "Okay Ruby, the timer went off, so now you can come out of timeout."

Ruby: "Okay! Now I can get a prize!!"

Me: "A PRIZE? You don't get a prize for coming out of timeout! You were in timeout because you were bad!"

Ruby: Okay, can I go in timeout again? We can set the timer!"

Me: No, you don't get to go in timeout right now... wait... did you just reverse psychology me?"

___________

Ruby: (up to her elbows in whatever meal we are eating) "I have to go potty RIGHT NOW!"

Me: "Okay! Hold it for just a sec while I wipe off your hands..."

Ruby: (happily) "I peed in my chair. Want to get some new pants?" 

Me: (grrrrrr...) "You already peed or you need to?"

Ruby: "Yep, I peed in my chair."

BON IVER "Holocene"

We were Skyping with Chris the other day and he shared Bon Iver's new video with us - I can't stop watching it.

BON IVER "Holocene" from nabil elderkin on Vimeo.

That kid is really good at skipping rocks.
Also, I need myself a cozy nordic sweater.

"I have Daddy all over my face!"

Last night Ruby and I had a great time playing with chalk on our driveway. I would draw stuff, then she would run around like a crazy all over everything.

I drew portraits of everyone in our family, and when I drew Ryan, she kept kissing his picture.

During her bath while I was washing off all the chalk dust she said, "I have Daddy all over my face!"

Potty Training - Part 3

Don't worry everyone, this will be my last  of one, two, three posts dedicated to potty training. Today was awesome. Ruby went every 45 minutes-2 hours instead of every 15 like yesterday. She told me when she had to go and kept her pants dry all day!

I am totally impressed with my little lady! The whole "potty training in a day" thing actually does work. It's a TERRIBLE day, but after that they seem to have a good grasp on what it means to keep one's undies dry!

Nap time isn't clean and dry yet - but that gives us something to work toward.

For those of you who will be embarking on this journey soon, let me tell you about my favorite tool, the Potette Potty. This thing is awesome! It can sit on top of toilet or the legs can flip down so you can use it as it's own free-standing potty wherever it's needed. I can't wait to try it out on the road over Labor Day weekend!

Look how happy this kid is, doing her business on her pottete potty on the side of the road. 

Clara's a Scootcher

This is where I set her while I ran upstairs to put Ruby down for her nap.

This is where I found her 6 minutes later.

Potty Training - Part 2

I learned 2 things today.

1. Ruby has the incredible ability to pee every 15 minutes all (the live-long) day!
2. Potty Training might be the best workout I've done in a while! I'm EXHAUSTED!

For those of you who want me to get to the point and would rather not read the words "pee" or "potty" more than twice (cough... uncle matt, cough): Basically, her last accident was a 10:25 this morning and she told me when she had to go and went successfully in the potty for the rest of the day! Yaaay!

For those of you who want to know the details:
Here's the first part of the potty training story. The morning started off rough. After changing her "last" diaper she excitedly put on her big girl undies and we began the potty training process.

photo from pottytraininghub.com

8:20 peed in her chair during breakfast (which was a bit if a wake-up call as I realized what the rest of the day/week/month might look like).
9:30 peed in the potty!
9:40 peed on the floor... yes, that was just 10 minutes after peeing in the potty.
10:00 peed on the couch (luckily I had her sitting on a towel!)
10:15 peed in the potty!
10:25 peed a tiny bit on the floor and asked me for some new undies.
10:30 peed in the potty.

At this point I realized we only had 2 more pairs of undies and I was going to have to do laundry during her nap to get her through the rest of the day! AHH!

10:45 peed in the potty
11:00 peed in the potty
11:15 peed in the potty

11:16 Clara's diaper leaked onto the couch since I had been so busy with Ruby all morning I hadn't changed poor Clara! I am a terrible mother.

11:25 peed in the potty
11:50 peed in the potty
12:05 peed in the potty
12:20 peed in the potty

When I put her down for her nap I put a pull-up on her and asked her to call me when she has to poop so she can do it in the potty. She said OK... then 5 minutes later she called me (with her lips squished under the crack of her bedroom door) to let me know that she pooped. grrrr.

So I cleaned her up, put a new pull-up on her and put her back down for her nap. 15 minutes later she called me (from under the crack under the door) again, so I put her on the potty again, and she did pee a little... but I don't want her waking up from her nap to pee every 15 minutes, I just want her to give me some peace and either stay dry or pee in her pull-up during nap time.

She finally fell asleep which gave me time to wash a load of peed on laundry.

The rest of the day I couldn't keep track of how many times we went, but she kept her undies dry by telling me she had to go (pretty much every 15 minutes) and now she is sleeping in her "special princess pull-ups" and I am going to go to bed immediately after posting this.

I'd welcome any advice on how to help her hold it longer between potty breaks. Here's to completing day 1!

Hopefully tomorrow I won't have to let Ruby flush our toilet 45 times.

Potty Training - Part 1

Tomorrow is our Potty Training day! It's going to be crazy, but I am feeling prepared and based on recent conversations with Ruby, I know she is more than ready.

Conversation #1

Ruby: Mommy, this is uncomfortable. This is uncomfortable!

Me: What is uncomfortable?

Ruby: My diaper is uncomfortable!

Me: I know honey. You don't have to wear diapers for much longer.

Conversation #2

Ruby: Mommy, I can go potty in the big girl potty!

Me: Not yet hunny. Mommy isn't ready yet, but pretty soon you can go potty like a big girl.

The anticipation is building. Potty training is going to happen... up to this point, I simply haven't had a couple of days in a row to just focus on potty training, but starting tomorrow I've cleared my calendar, stocked my shelves with incentives treats, and even set the standards a bit too high for myself by making a prize box filled with little individually wrapped baggies of toys/jewelry/stickers from the dollar store. 

So the book I read talks about taking a teddy bear through the steps the evening before the big day so your child knows what's coming and can be the teddy bear's "teacher" the next morning. After Ruby's nap today we put some little undies on her bear and Ruby took her through the steps. In the end, Ruby got to give the bear and m&m for staying clean and dry... and of course, Ruby got an m&m for being such a good teacher.

The problem is, we have 2 more hours before bedtime and now she wants to potty train, but according to the book, tomorrow is the big day, not tonight. I'm sticking with the plan! I told her tomorrow is the day that we will potty train and since I said those words, the following statements have been flowing out of Ruby's mouth as her tantrum grows bigger with each passing minute.

"Mommy to keep potty training the bear? Mommy to potty train the bear some more?"

When I told her we would potty train tomorrow and she can teach the bear how to potty she started saying crying, "The bear wants a treat! The bear wants a treat!"

A few minutes later she had transitioned to the truth begging, "I want a treat! I want a treat mommy!"

Then she removed her shorts and was working hard at taking her diaper off as she cried, "I want to be potty training!! I want to be potty training!!" followed by sincerely asking, "Can I potty train me? Can I potty train me?"

And another minute after that she was flailing around on the floor yelling over and over, "I want to potty train myself! I want to potty train myself! I WANT TO POTTY TRAIN MYSEEEEEELLLLLLLFFFFFFF!!!!!!"

Hmmm... I'll let you know how tomorrow goes. Maybe by then she will have potty trained herself.

A Visit from Nana and Papa Cox

We've had a whirlwind few days of fun with Ryan's mom and dad in Columbus! Their first day here Ryan gave them a tour of the Pediatric Gastroenterology Department at Nationwide Children's Hospital so now they have a good idea of where he works.

Then we strolled through the North Market downtown and had a fresh and delicious lunch.

Ruby enjoyed the steel drum band at the entrance.

The girls loved having Nana and Papa here to read them books and have fun with them all day.

The Columbus Zoo was another highlight of their visit. Ruby encountered many animals and was quite happy running around acting like a monkey and jumping like a kangaroo.

Ruby backed up every time this tiger walked toward her. She is a smart one.

She touched a starfish. The worker girl had to remind her a couple of times to touch with one finger instead of giving the little guy a squish.

She was keeping her eye on this gorilla. He was a lot bigger than he looks in this picture.

Other than the stroller, this is becoming a good way to move Ruby along. She's a bit of a lollygagger and loves to stop and check out every little thing she sees along her way.

Color Coordinated at Jeni's Ice Cream

This afternoon we had ice cream before lunch! It was awesome. The best part was that none of us realized until late in the day that we all had color-coordinated shirts on. Everyone in Dublin probably thought we were some kind of traveling band or something!

I'm not sure if Ruby liked her ice cream. haha.

Papaw was singing songs about ice cream. 

Young at Heart

This is my Papaw. He is 86... and yes, he is going down Ruby's slide.

Beard Magic

Trim from Petey Boy on Vimeo.

Love you Tracy!

To celebrate Tracy's last day with us in Columbus, we ventured to the North Market downtown. We walked up High Street and checked out beautiful Goodale Park. Ruby was dying laughing when Ryan was running under her while she was on the swings.

I couldn't be more thankful for the time we had with Tracy this week. It meant so much that she came up to visit even though Aaron couldn't come too. I've loved her since I knew Aaron was in love with her... but the more time I spend with her over the years the more my love for her grows. It's not a wonder that Aaron is so smitten by her. She is really something special. We love you Tracy. So so much!

Friday Night Fun in Dublin

After Ryan got home from work last night we had dinner at our new favorite local establishment, The Rusty Bucket. It's our favorite because so far it's the only sit-down type restaurant we've been to so far. Ruby was a very pleasant dinner guest about 1/4th of the time we were there. I'd rather not talk about the other 4ths.

 Ruby loves her Aunt Tracy! Here they are strolling down the streets of Dublin.

Jeni's Ice Cream is incredible - if you come to visit us, we will take you there for a tasty frozen treat.

I'll take a Morning with a side of Sand and Tacos Please

Yep - this morning was another morning spent at the Homestead Park. It's becoming like our 2nd home since we go there a hundred times a month. Today Ruby and Tracy played in the sandbox. It's Ohio's version of a beach.

While Tracy played with Ruby at the park, I took Clara back to the pediatrician for a follow-up appointment to check out her dry skin. About a month ago her skin was so dry it was red and cracked and painful in her elbow pits (I know you know what elbow pits are!) and behind her knees and in her neck rolls - they diagnosed her with eczema. "Just to be sure" they suggested I stop eating dairy for a month to figure out if she has a milk allergy. I was a bit devastated because cheese is a major food group for me, and I love to drink gluttonous amounts of milk... but for the last month I've been dairy free. Today the doc told me it isn't a milk allergy, so I came home and drank a few tall glasses of milk. DELISH!

As a special treat this afternoon, we bravely ventured to Taco Bell for lunch where Tracy took this picture of me and my girls with her phone.

Ruby's Ruby Red Kitchen

Ruby's Nana and Papa got her this cute kitchen for her birthday when she turned 2. Tracy is my hero because today she spent time putting it all together for me!

Here's the kitchen "Before"

...and "After"

Ruby absolutely L.O.V.E.S it! Thanks Nana and Papa!

Aunt Tracy Visits the Midwest!

My awesome sister-in-law Tracy is here with us a few days visiting from Florida and we couldn't be happier! This morning we went to the Homestead Park (yes again... we go there a lot) and played all morning. Ruby spent a lot of time "going on an adventure" in the jeep.

Lucky for Tracy, she is here for the best weather the midwest has to offer! Sunny skies, a cool breeze and temps in the 70's. GLORIOUS! Kinda like Florida in the winter I suppose.

Ruby was very interested in pointing out the goose poop on these rocks.

We miss you Aaron!

Cooing Clara

Clara has so much to say lately. I love the sound of her little voice co-co-cooing away. Thought you might enjoy hearing it too.

Cox Family Reunion

Here are a few of the million fun pics from the Cox Family Reunion over the weekend.

So great to see everyone - but we really missed Christopher! He's studying in New Zealand for this semester, check out some of his pictures at chriscoxphotographer.com!