Ruby appears to have undergone a burst of development over the last couple of months, and she now seems much more grown up than at the beginning of the year. Even though many of her new milestones and abilities are typical for a toddler of her age, I never cease to be AMAZED when Ruby learns to do something new. Perhaps it's because I've known her since she was one cell, but I am constantly shocked that what once was little kicks in a belly is now a kid sitting next to me eating a banana.
In the last couple of months, the list of words Ruby can say has grown too long to record as she is now repeating everything she hears. The other day, share care buddy Ian was running around in circles like a chicken with its head cut off as per usual, and the nanny exclaimed "Ta xiang feng le yi yang!" (He seems like he's gone crazy!) And Ruby piped up with "xiang feng le yi yang!"
Another major verbal breakthrough was when she began to put words together into phrases. So now she will say, "Bye-bye Da-da!" and "Ma-ma bao bao" (Ma-ma pick me up). Today the nanny went to the bathroom, and Ruby said "A-yi got peepee?" (A-yi is the Chinese term for nanny/auntie).
What's cute is she will still sometimes use sign language, but more for emphasis. For instance, if she requires assistance, she will shout, "Hap! Hap!" while making the sign for "help." The other day she came up to me with her dolly and said, "Hap, hap, wa-wa!" It turned out she wanted me to help buckle her dolly (wa-wa in Chinese) into the swing so that she could rock her to sleep.
Ruby has also become a great help around the house. In fact, she is now in charge of the household laundry, although sometimes she requires "hap."
It is really amazing how much can be absorbed and remembered at this age. Somewhere along the line, Ruby learned to count to 10 in both Chinese and English! This has been extremely difficult to capture on video because she does it spontaneously and then is too interested in trying to grab the camera once it comes out to do it again. However, we have finally been able to record the Chinese version.
Subtitle: yi, ar, san, si, wu, liu, qi, ba, jiu, shi!
Despite all of this growth and maturity, Ruby has yet to grow out of her sweet baby phase. I know I shouldn't jinx it by saying (writing) it out loud, but she has yet to throw a real tantrum or even exhibit any fussy behavior on a regular basis. Most days she is happy from sun up to sun down. She wakes up chatting and singing and spends the day dancing and giggling. I know I've felt this way before, but this really is the BEST phase of her life so far. Every day is surprising and hilarious and achingly adorable. I feel like I want to roll around in this phase and swish it around in my mouth so I can savor every last drop of it because I know that it's not possible for her entire childhood to be this easy. It's funny that I'm always wishing for her to stay the same, but then it's the changes that amaze me.
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