Theo and Ruby Make Four

We have been out of commission here at Theo Makes Three (now Theo and Ruby Make Four!) headquarters for two months! The blog was hacked, and infected with malware. Between Jay working a lot of overtime, and then also working on a side job from home, the blog was seriously neglected. I have to admit I was a little terrified there for a minute that all of the work I’ve put into documenting our lives with Theo and Ruby were gone forever. The good news is… Jay fixed it and we’re back! I have lots to update, so stay tuned!

Theo hit the amazing milestone of five.

We threw him a bowl-a-rama birthday party at his favorite bowling alley, Melody Lanes. About ten friends were there, and the party was complete with pizza and cake (which Theo helped me make!). Theo was so happy.

Theo with June and Evelyn from Pre-K. (I wonder what they are discussing?!)

On his actual birthday, which was Labor Day this year, we BBQ’ed in the park with a few of our closest friends.

He loves this crew so much.

He got to start his day with lots of gift opening and his favorite bagel sandwich, a toasted everything with egg and cheese 😉 and end his day with his favorite dinner, calamari. Theo got a ton of presents, of which I have no idea where they will go in our house. All in all I think he had an awesome celebration.

Theo’s current extracurricular interests seem to be in soccer and hockey (sounds familiar, right?), although he would like to also take more swimming classes, but we can’t do everything at once. He took more soccer lessons during this past spring and summer, and will resume taking another session of ice skating this fall. This will be in preparation to begin a beginner’s hockey session this winter. Eeek!

Theo, we love you so very much. You are curious beyond words. You know what you want and exactly how you want it. You tell us your vivid, interesting dreams each morning. You love to learn about how airplanes fly, about space and electricity and I think you would watch any machine intently as it’s functioning if you could. You love books, borrowing books from the library, you recognize words and soon you will be reading on your own. This summer you became brave enough to put your face in the water, and therefore you became more comfortable learning to swim. You love Coney Island and tried several new rides this summer, including a bigger kid roller coaster!

I think five has a lot in store for you, my sweet goose. Happy Birthday, Theo!!!

19 months has brought a load of personality to this gem of a gal.

All of a sudden she is saying everything, scaring us with her “boo’s!”, giggling with the most adorable squeal ever and giving us a super cheese smile for photos while she says… “cheeese!”.

Some new words that are frequently used… down, done, water, spray, boo-boo, bite, cheese, milk (which sounds more like “gaga”), thank you(!), cookie, apple, off, ice, more, door, scooter, helmet, stroller, rock, chips (aka chppy chppy chp), more-more cheese!, goggles, tattoo, paper, no (in addition to the regular head nod now she really says the word with conviction), lemonade and… Ruby! She can pretty much say her name. Too sweet.

Ruby hides behind the kitchen island and pops out… “boo!”. And pops up to scare Daddy in his office when he’s sitting in his chair.

She kisses boo-boo’s in the cutest way possible, and kisses her baby doll in the stroller.

Ruby has the most amazing green/grey eyes. I’m not quite sure where they came from, but they are wonderful.

Ruby loves trying on clothes and can put some skirts and shorts on by herself. She likes to try on shoes. An extra bonus if they are Theo’s clothes or shoes. Above all, the girl LOVES a pool and any chance she gets to wear a bathing suit. She is so happy when this is even mentioned. She runs to her dresser and pulls out her suit and squeals until I put it on her. “Pool! pool!”.

Jay has been off work for most of August so Ruby and him have had a lot more time to bond and she loves that Daddy loads.

Ruby still loves her some watermelon!

And she is finally starting to fit into some of Theo’s old shoes from when he was one. Ruby in his first converse!

We had our first family of four airplane trip across the country. Jay’s brother Andreas got married and we were lucky enough to get to take a week long trip to Portland and Hood River, Oregon. I have family in Portland, too, so it was a fun trip to plan as we knew it would include a lot of family time along with some time for just us four to explore Portland. My mom flew out there during our visit to stay with her brother at the same time as us so she could help us and spend quality time with the kids. It was a nice balance. The kids got to spend time with my Aunt and Uncle, as well as my cousins, and then their two little cousins, Elizabeth and Emily. The four of us were able to spend some time in Portland eating at food carts and ice cream parlors.

And the rest of our city time sampling the local splash fountains. The weather was unseasonably cool that week, but that didn’t stop these crazy cats one bit.

I wish we could’ve had more time hanging out in the city itself, but the bulk of our time was spent 60 miles away in the adorable town of Hood River. Our first day in Hood River, we left the kids in Portland with my mom, aunt and uncle and high-tailed it up for some much needed kid-free time. The kids got a trip to the Portland Zoo while we were away. Once we checked in, I spent several hours BY MYSELF in the town while Jay was at the rehearsal. I shopped, ate lunch and just slowly walked around the town. We celebrated the rest of the day with everyone on the Columbia River waterfront in Hood River. It was a truly magical evening celebrating Andreas and Amara.

I drove down the next morning and picked the kids up in Portland and we spent time at the hotel pool and BBQ’ing with everyone else staying at the lodge. The wedding was Sunday and absolutely gorgeous. It was at the Mt. Hood Organic Farm so how could it not be? It was the most beautiful setting I’ve ever seen for a wedding.

And who was the dapperest almost-five-year-old at the wedding?

Here, Ruby is saying, “booberry?”.

Theo ran around for a bit with my phone taking photos of the scenic view. He captured a truly epic shot of Andreas’ friends.

The kids were awesome overall with the time change and the go, go, go of it all. The flights on the other hand…we had issues both directions starting with a canceled flight on the way there, which added a third flight to our trip. Then on the way back a missed connection got us home later than planned, and no yet again no luggage upon our arrival (both times it was delivered to us the next day). Ruby was pretty squirmy on the long leg out there, and it was probably the longest 3 1/2 hours of my life. We made it, though. The flights back to NYC were better for sure. It did take the kids several days to get back on track with sleeping. Theo slept until almost 11am the first day back, and about 9am for several days thereafter. We won’t be taking any long flights anytime soon, but it was well worth it and a great time was had by all.

Ruby had her 18 month well visit today. She weighed in at 19lbs, 2oz (9%), and her height is 31.3 inches (30%). She had her first Hep A shot, which she will complete when she goes back to the doctor for her 2 year well visit.

I’m trying to take note of the new words she has been saying…corn, bottle, pasta, broccoli, cheese, chips, doggy, poop, diaper, water, ice.

She likes to roar like a tiger and vroom, vroom like a motorcycle. She tells me when she has poop in her diaper, she climbs a lot and I think she said her first 2-word sentence yesterday, “bye dada”.

She is just great.

We visited our friend’s beach house on LBI a couple weekends ago. They usually invite us once a summer and it never disappoints. For the first time this year, though, we got to go out on their boat and go clamming! I’ve never done this before so Theo and I went with the other kiddos and mom while Jay stayed back with a napping Ruby and the other dad. Theo was so very excited about all of it. The fast boat ride, the engine, the waves and hopping in the water in the shallow part for clamming.

He picked out a special clam for Daddy.

Theo loves everything about water activities. He loved digging in the sand and frolicking in the waves with Daddy. Ruby on the other hand was terrified to step foot in the ocean despite her obsession with pools. Theo got along gloriously with his two friends, save for one incident. It was a great weekend getaway with friends.

Cuties in Cleveland on the 4th of July!

Ruby girl is one and a half! She is growing and learning so much everyday. Our life has been go, go, go ever since school ended for Theo and it’s been a little hard to keep up. Ruby has become quite the traveler. From camping in Pennsylvania to our friends house in the Catskills, from Austin to Cleveland to the Jersey Shore and most recently Portland, Oregon. This girl has seen it all in the past 8 weeks. She has learned how to adapt to a new environment and to stay (mostly) consistent with her daily routines. She has been able to nap and sleep well in other places, and she has learned a bit about long drives and airplane rides. They are not always fun!

Ruby has at least ten teeth, that includes two molars on the bottom. There may be more popping through the top I just haven’t been able to really get in there and peek around. She is repeating many words we say, and succeeding at some. Her cute little “hellaaaalo” kills me when she picks up her toy phone. She will repeat “taco!” and “enchilada!”. I can’t wait until she is really talking! When she knows we are going somewhere, she bolts off for the door “go! go!”, grabbing her shoes. She loves to go out and about. If there are a couple, small steps she will walk down on her own with no hand or railing. She has gotten good at this.

Ruby gives amazing hugs and is into kissing everyone right now. When we say bye bye, she will always try to lean in for a kiss. Or she will blow a huge kiss… “MWAAAH!” (very loudly). It’s the sweetest.

I thought I was only having to worry about Theo getting jealous of Ruby, but I’m realizing now it goes both ways (duh). When I’m having a moment with Theo, or he’s on my lap, she gets very agitated and territorial. I realize now we have really entered the age where she understands everything and although she isn’t communicating fully with us, she is learning every second and we need to teach her sharing and patience and saying her please and thank you’s and all of that good stuff.

I need to read books with her more. The second sure gets the shaft is this department. Ruby enjoys looking at books and pointing to animals, objects, etc. but we don’t do it enough. We did this ALL THE TIME with Theo. It was probably his most favorite thing to do. Perhaps they are just different people, but I still feel like I need to incorporate this more. We are SO BUSY all the time. She gets carted around from place to place and just plays and enjoys wherever we are. She NEVER complains. Unless she’s hungry, or asking for milk, the girl is content wherever. Ruby rules. Easy going, sweet baby girl.

Ruby is napping 2 – 2 1/2 hours per day and sleeping from about 6:30 – 7 until 7 – 8am, still with a nursing or two during the night. She has her well visit next week so I’ll update her stats then.

Love you Ruby girl!