6 Months

Ruby is a half-year old! So hard to believe she is 6 months already, but also so hard to remember life without her. There have been so many changes in her 6 month that its almost like we have a new baby … she acts different, looks different, plays different and even eats different! One thing has stayed the same though – she’s still the best baby in the entire world.

Ruby’s current stats
(as of her 6-month well baby appointment):
14 lbs., 11 oz.
(50th percentile, average)
27.5 in. long
(75th percentile, doc said she’s a “long & lean healthy machine”)

Current likes:
Making a mess Eating in the highchair
Cruising in the stroller while mommy & daddy run
Drinking out of her sippy cup
Slapping Petting the kitty

Current dislikes:
Being in the car seat (STILL)
Getting out of the bath tub

Notable events:
*Started solid foods! She didn’t really like that icky rice cereal, but she’s loved carrots, squash and especially sweet potatoes so far.
*Sitting up on her own now.
*We have TEETH! Two bottom teeth cut through at the end of this month.
*A visit to Tanaka Farms for Strawberry Picking
*A visit to the Museum of Contemporary Art
*Celebrated Mother’s Day with not only Mommy, but Grandma and Halmoni as well
*Went swimming for the very 1st time at cousin Mikayla’s birthday party

 

Another important breakthrough this month was finally getting over whatever fear she had of her two Grandpas! Both Ed & I felt terrible that everytime Ruby saw Papaw or Harabuji she would cry … and we know it was breaking their hearts. So in honor of this great change – and proof that she really enjoys them both – here is a very happy Ruby with her Harabuji and her Papaw!

And, just because it never gets old, here’s a little clip of Ruby on her way to doing one of her favorite things:

A Day at the Farm


On Sunday, we headed out to Tanaka Farms in Irvine with Ruby’s future BFF’s Berlin & Violet to take a Strawberry Tour! It was so much fun and we even got to pick our own strawberries.

 


First things first – you get to go for a ride around the farm in a tractor! Very exciting, especially for the kiddos. As you roll along, they stop to show you the different types of crops – and you even get to sample the produce!

Ruby was very into her carrot!

Violet sampling some celery …

Berlin double-fisting wax beans and celery!

Once we got to the strawberry fields, we all got off the tractor and got to pick our own berries. Each person got to fill their own clamshell. Ruby was into the picking – those pretty red berries definitely caught her eye!

Tanaka Farms rules! We’ve already talked about making plans to go back in August for the Watermelon Tour … and I want to go again in October to check out the pumpkin patch.

 

Click here to see more pics at the farm!

Carrie Runs Her First 5K!

Carrie and I both want to be good examples to Ruby when it comes to diet and fitness. To that end, Carrie and a few friends had started doing these aggressive hikes up and down nearby Signal Hill a couple times a week. Later, they heard about a 5K happening here in Long Beach, so it sounded like fun to walk it.

But wait…Carrie wondered aloud why she should walk it when she could run it? Well, here’s a reason: she’s never really run before, and running without proper training and equipment can have really adverse effects. So, Carrie and I spent several weeks training, using a step by step program to make sure we wouldn’t hurt ourselves.

She did it. Day by day, her distances got longer and by raceday, she was ready!


Warming up…


Our friend Jen did it too! Runners ready to kick butt.


Ruby ready to cheer mom on!

Carrie flew out of the gate, listening to a custom music playlist I had created just for this run. The course entailed lapping part of El Dorado Park four times, and she quickly got out ahead of the walking crowd.


By the time she was finishing the first lap, she was so far ahead of the pack that she was nearly alone!


She’s in it to win it…


And here she comes in toward the finish line! Random pedestrian in the way…


And she finishes! Blurry pic, but you can see that her makeup and hair were still perfect.


Just after Carrie came Jen…so Carrie went back to run through the finish line with her.


The babies are proud of their mamas!


And here’s the sign me and Ruby made to cheer Carrie on!

Ruby and I are so proud of Carrie! She is STRONG!!

Art in the Streets at MOCA


To celebrate Ed’s birthday, we headed over to MOCA’s Geffen Contemporary Building to see one of the coolest exhibitions ever, Art in the Streets. This show is HUGE and it shows just how far street art has come from back in the day when people just called it “grafitti” (It’s so much more!). If you really wanna get a good look inside the people who’ve helped catapult the Street Art movement, check out the documentary “Exit Through The Gift Shop” – you won’t be disappointed.

Here are a few highlights!
Hard to see, but this is me standing in front of a bunch of teensy pictures of grafitti art on trains.

Ed and Ruby in front of one of the Shepard Fairey walls

(Does something look familiar about his work? You probably know him from this hugely popular poster!)

Banksy

Mister Cartoon’s Low Rider Ice Cream Truck

Day-Glo room

Fun alley

Spray paint retrospective!

God Save the Queen!

And finally … after all that art … over-stimulation!

Its really tough to put into words what an impact that exhibition has, even if you wouldn’t consider yourself a street art enthusiast. You should see it in person, too!

Check the album for more pics:

MOCA – Art in the Streets