Oakland Zoo with Ruby and Aurora

It was so cold out! But since it was the first non-rainy day in a while everyone was outside anyway. We went to check on the animals at the zoo, who were also out playing.

Ruby and Aurora negotiated a share arrangement with Ruby's tiny white kitty (no help from grownups) so that each took turns holding kitty in their pocket. See the picture of them discussing it.

Direct toddler-to-toddler conversation is new, and so fun. Ruby and Aurora also had a very cute conversation over dinner at our house the day before. Aurora asked Ruby why she uses a fork for her macaroni instead of a spoon. Ruby gave a delightfully detailed answer. ("I use a fork because I'm not using a spoon but sometimes I use a spoon but you're using a spoon so I can use a spoon too but I'm using a fork.")

The video is of Ruby and Aurora sharing Aurora's doughnut. I'm going to try to put both videos up. Two minutes of doughnut eating video! This mommy thinks they're too cute to post only one.

Memories!

Visiting baby Spencer, handing down Ruby's old baby stroller and showing Thuy and Amos how to carry Spencer in the Ergo carrier brings back memories of Ruby as a baby.

Here are pics from my recent visit to LA, of Spencer Daniel Hartston (3 weeks old) and family.

And here are some old pictures of new born Ruby in the stroller Spencer now sleeps in. And here is Ruby the first time I put her in the Ergo carrier. She was three weeks old, exactly the same as Spencer was when I helped Thuy put him in for the first time.

Toe Nail Polish

If Ruby lets me clip her nails she gets to pick a color as a reward (or a TV show). Its still a hard sell but we got through it. And guess what color she picked? Purple, of course! She also enjoys grouping all the bottles into color piles.

Happy Valentine's Day!

After pancakes, we shared stickers and danced all together. Ruby likes the marching song best ("Ta ra ra boomdeay"). Watch Ruby stop and stare at the stereo when she hears Elmo say her name on the CD.

Playing Candy Land with Aaron and Ellen

We have some new friends in the neighborhood. Aaron (age 7) and his family have 7 cats. We met them on one of our evening walks looking for cats and dogs. Now we visit each other and Ruby is enthralled by all Aaron shows her, like how to play the candy land board game.

Ruby's Jumping Dance

Watch Ruby explain and demonstrate her new dance for you.