We've had a pretty good weekly routine going during the Fall, comprised of classes, playdates, and trips to libraries/museums. By now Ruby knows which class we go to on each day and which friends we will see. One of the best parts for me is to listen to her recount the activities of the day to her dad each evening. She recalls the events of the day in amazing detail and is now coherent enough to convey pertinent information to others. It's very weird to not have to tell Steve what I did during the day anymore because now our child does it for me! It's also really funny to hear the intonations and speech affects that Ruby picks up from adults. For example, she likes to list things that she has done but does so in a very exaggerated way. So when asked what she did that day, she'll say, "We went to Eva's hoooouuuuse, we ate luuuuuunch, we played with tooooooys ...."
Our schedule in the Fall has gone something like this:
On Mondays we've tried to get together with Ruby's bestie, Eva. It's been about a year now since they first met, and Eva is still the little social butterfly, always trying to hold Ruby's hand and smother her with hugs and kisses. Ruby is still much more reserved, sometimes hiding behind my legs, but she talks about Eva all the time and asks to watch videos of Eva over and over again. Every day we get to play with Eva is a very special day for Ruby.
On Tuesdays, we take a class called Fairy Tale Frolics at the Upper Noe Rec Center. The class itself is somewhat underwhelming. It was touted as a class where the children read classic fairy tales out loud and then acted them out, but in reality the entire reading portion of the class lasts about 5 minutes, and sometimes they don't even make it through one book before too many of the kids run off. Most of the class is just random free-play with the rec center's indoor toys and equipment. There is a brief art project each week, and the last part of the class is held in the gymnasium where there are more toys and sometimes a parachute. In general, it moves from one thing to the next a bit too quickly for Ruby, who would be happy to just do one of those activities for the whole class. However, we introduced the class to Ruby's little friend Michael, and now he and his mom take the class with us, which has been fun.
On Wednesday mornings, we take a class called Tot Sports at Eureka Valley Rec Center. The class is meant to be an introduction to organized sports, so each class they will play a sport like soccer or basketball or practice a skill like catching or obstacle courses. It may or may not come as a surprise that Ruby is not very sporty. She will usually participate during the warm-up stretching, but the majority of the rest of the class is spent doing her own thing or taking water breaks. We were able to meet several new friends in the class, all of whom are around the same age. Ruby's favorite part of class is afterwards when they all get together and share their snacks.
In the afternoons on Wednesday we go to our Golden Gate Music Together class in Laurel Heights, which is close to our old neighborhood. We used to be able to walk there from our house, but now we have to drive 20 min and then find parking. However, it's worth it because it is Ruby's favorite class of the week! She has always loved music, and in this class they give everyone a different instrument to play along with each song.
On Thursdays Ruby is still with the nanny and share-care buddy Ian. She is still excited to see Ian every week and asks about him when he's not around. This week, Ruby mentioned that some of her toys were broken. When we asked her who broke them, she said, "Ian already broke my toys." Fortunately, she doesn't harbor any ill will, and the two of them are still two peas in a pod.
On Friday mornings Ruby takes another music class called Music and Movement at St. Mary's Rec Center. This is actually one of my favorite Parks and Rec classes because the teacher is entertaining and engaging with the kids. Ruby also met a very sweet new friend in the class. She is 4 years old and just adores Ruby. She often treats Ruby as if she is her own child! They play together for hours in the playground after class. Once when I had to run to the other side of the playground to get something, she said to me, "You can go; I'll take care of Ruby." The two of them together is one of the sweetest things I have ever seen.
On Friday afternoons I used to take an exercise class called Strollercise at Eureka Valley Rec. The class was meant to allow moms to exercise while their toddlers played around in the room. Ruby was not very accommodating at first. She was ok during the Zumba portion of the class, but would become very upset if I tried to do squats or calf raises. She got a little better over time, but unfortunately the class was very poorly attended. At most it was myself and one other mom, and most weeks it was just me. Therefore, the class was cancelled halfway through the season, eliminating my only source of exercise. Fortunately, the instructor was kind enough to offer some of us exercise instruction for free on Thursday mornings, so I need to start taking her up on that.
After exercise class, Ruby usually has a playdate with Anjishnu, who is the son of two of my former labmates. Although Anjishnu is 4 and a half, he loves playing with younger kids and spends all of his time chasing Ruby around the playground. They always have a blast when playing together!
Of course we cannot forget about Ruby's long-time boyfriend, Julien. Julien and Ruby actually signed up for 3 classes together at the start of the Fall session, but with his extensive travel schedule the last few months, they've only actually attended class together less than a handful of times. However, they still have regular dinner dates which Ruby is always very excited for, sometimes standing by the door and calling, "Come on! Let's go to dinner with Julien!"
I think I will always remember this Fall as the season we spent at Ruby's "new house," meeting new friends, settling into our new routines, and watching Ruby turn from a toddler into a Big Kid.
