The Linns in Minn

Happy Holidays to everyone! We've been having a nice morning of opening presents and sitting around in our pajamas while watching the snow fall and the wind blow outside. Right away this morning Ruby ran to the tree and exclaimed "Presents!", so we think she's catching on to the idea. Ruby has been playing with all her new toys and trying to sneak a bite of chocolate whenever she can. Melody and I are relaxing, snacking on stocking treats and listening to Christmas music. So it seemed like a good time to get caught up on the webpage.

We traveled to Michigan for Thanksgiving. We spent a couple days with some friends of mine who just moved back from New Jersey. We got to meet their daughter, Morgan, for the first time and she and Ruby had a great time playing together. After that, we finished the drive up to Flint and stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Blake. We got in visits with Ruby's great-grandparents and Papa Ron and Nana Micki, but time always seems to fly while we're there.

When we got back it was time to haul out all the Christmas decorations and set up the tree. Then it seemed like all our time was spent squeezing in shopping trips whenever we could. Our neighbors asked me to help them finish part of their lower level so they would have the space available before their new baby arrives, so I spent most of last week at their house. But we managed to get everything done in time and Melody took a couple days off work so we've been able to slow down and enjoy a nice long family weekend together.

This Halloween Ruby got to go trick-or-treating for the first time. She was a little shy about saying "Trick-or-Treat!" but she wasn't shy about reaching into candy buckets when they were offered. She was good about saying "Thank You", so that was nice. We just went to a few houses near ours and got back home just after dark and started giving out candy to the other trick-or-treaters. Ruby had more fun giving out candy than she did getting it. She would laugh and say "Hi!" to everyone at the door. In fact, when a doorbell rang on TV, she got upset that there wasn't anyone at our house. We let her eat some Junior Mints and a Dum-Dum sucker. Mostly, she's not as interested in eating the candy as she is in crinkling the wrappers and rattling the boxes. That might all change once she gets a better idea of what's in all those wrappers and boxes.

Ruby was sick last week, and Daddy is now dealing with his second round of aches and coughs and trying not to get Ruby sick again. So Melody has two babies to take care of now, but she's dealing with it pretty well.

We are lucky enough to know a professional photographer who offered to take pictures of Ruby for us. She did a great job despite Ruby's constantly running nose, and even got some pictures of our whole family. After snapping tons of photos, she loaded them all up and added some nice effects to some of them. She even put together a very nice slideshow with music and posted it on her facebook page here - just follow that link and click the button near Ruby's picture. She sent us a few samples and posted the rest on her website - www.sernaphotography.com - where we or anyone else can look through and select individual photos for printing. If interested, let us know and we'll give you the password to access Ruby's pictures.

We're getting ready for Halloween. Ruby gets to wear the same costume as last year, but this year she'll actually get to go out trick-or-treating. We'll probably just get together with her friend Sophie and hit a few of the houses near ours, so they better not skimp on the good stuff 'cuz we know where they live. Ruby may even be able eat some of the candy she gets...after daddy taste tests it to be sure it's safe, of course.

Great-Grandma and Grandpa Linn were here visiting the Mayo Clinic. They were in town for about a week and a half and we were able to visit them a few times at our house and at their motor home. Ruby had a lot of fun crawling up on their bed and playing with Grandma's curlers and jewelry. She calls grandpa Pee-Paw, and even though she was scared of him at first, she eventually warmed up enough to give him a couple goodbye kisses.

In other news, we've been wanting to repaint our downstairs bathroom pretty much since the first coat of paint dried about 4 years ago. But before we can paint, I have to try and fix the horrible drywall mudding job I did the first time. So far, it seems like my skills are about the same. Maybe even worse after a few years of neglect. I feel pretty good with most of the construction process, right up until the parts that require a little style and finesse. The hardest part so far has been trying to make sure Ruby doesn't learn any new words that she shouldn't repeat.

Summer is gone and I finally got around to updating photos after dealing with a crashed hard drive. Also, we haven't been taking as many photos as we used to. Ruby got her second official haircut and got it shortened from the middle of her back to about shoulder length. She is saying all kinds of words, and can count and say parts of the alphabet - her favorite letter is 'W' and she'll run around the house saying, "Dub-a-yoo! Dub-a-yoo!"

Perhaps what I am most proud of is when we go into the garage and she runs up to one of my motorcycles and says, "Sickle! Up, up!" and holds her arms up until I sit her on the seat. And whenever she sees a motorcycle, or even when she hears one, she'll say "Sickle! Sickle!" So now I'm counting the days until she's big enough to ride on the back with me. And I'm already planning our first several Daddy-Daughter motorcycle trips.

Summer has gone by fast. We've been spending a lot of time outside enjoying the nice weather while it's here. Ruby really likes going to the park a few blocks from our house. When we get close she starts saying, "Swing! Swing!" She also likes going down the slide. It's pretty funny watching her sit down at the top of the slide then scoot, scoot, scoot until she starts sliding. And she always says, "Weee!" on the way down. The only thing she doesn't like about the park is leaving.

In an attempt to de-clutter the house, we've been packing away some of the things Ruby has outgrown. It's kind of sad to things away and think that she'll never use them again. She doesn't seem to mind, though. We're keeping all of that stuff in case we need them again, so maybe we'll get to do it all over again.

As I write this, Ruby is helping Melody with the alphabet...or the other way around. Usually we try to get her to repeat the letters, but she'll surprise us sometimes be saying the next letter, like she's trying to help us along. Same with counting. We'd like to take credit, but I'm sure Sesame Street has something to do with it.

We've had a busy last few weekends. Over the 4th of July we traveled to Michigan to visit Melody's sister. The weather didn't exactly cooperate, but it wasn't too bad. We got enough sunshine to enjoy their pool for a little while, then just spent the rest of the time hanging out and visiting. Ruby did very well in the car, but just like us she gets anxious to get the trip over with. Then this past weekend Grandma and Grandpa Blake came to vist and brought out a couple or Ruby's cousins. Once again, Ruby got to play in the pool at the hotel they stayed at for the first two nights and had a very good time. Hopefully she doesn't expect to get to play in a nice pool every weekend.

The summer is flying by. The one big project I wanted to get done this summer was to build a patio, and we haven't even started it yet. The problem until now was just coming up with a design. We finally have an idea of how it should look, at least we have a good idea of how we're going to make it and we hope it doesn't look to strange when it's finished. It's really hard to find good examples of a practical design. Anyway, the real problem now is that now that we've got the idea, and I've got the time, we don't have the finincial security to build it. I guess life is full of little Catch-22's like that. This must be one of the most poorly written paragraphs of my entire life.

Not much has changed here in the past month. Ruby is still growing. At her last check-up she weighed in at 22lbs 4oz and 32.5" tall. That makes her tall and skinny according to the baby charts. She certainly doesn't get that from me. It seems like she's learning more words everyday and is getting better about using them at the right times. She seems to use Mama and Dada for Melody and me interchangeably.

Melody is getting ready to fly to Chicago to visit her friend Michelle, so Ruby and I will be alone all weekend. Not sure what we're going to do on our Daddy-daughter weekend. Maybe I'll try to get her used to the bike trailer we bought for her to ride in. On the couple trips we've taken so far, she doesn't seem all that impressed. She just slumps over and seems to pout until I take her out...then cries if I try to put her back in. Apparently, she likes exercise as much as I do. Or maybe we'll invite Ruby's friend Sophie over for a baby pool party in the inflatable pool Ruby got for Christmas. I'm pretty sure Ruby will like the pool considering how much she likes to take baths.

Well, we finally got the page updated. It took lots of subtle (and not-so-subtle) hints from friends and family who kept mentioning to me how often they look at the page and didn't see any new pictures. The photo albums were updated a while ago, but I've just now gotten around to updating this page. Ruby wants to thank all of her fans for their patience.

Last time I mentioned that she was taking a few steps, and it wasn't long at all before she was walking all over the place. Occasinally, she'd get tired of picking herself up and start crawling. Then we noticed a couple weeks ago that she'd given up crawling altogether. Learning to walk outside with shoes took her a little longer to pick up, and walking in grass was a little scary for her at first, but now she is trucking all over. Walking her down the sidewalk is like going on a cattle drive because you have to keep moving to get into position to cut her off from running out into the street or up onto our neighbor's lawns. Besides walking she's also started dancing. Her favorites are reggae, world music, or other things with a strong beat, but she'll occasionally kick up her heels to bluegrass, adult alternative, classical, and even commercial jingles.

One of the things we have been most excited about is that she finally started using the sign language we've been teaching her. Like most things it seems like she just starts doing it out of the blue. She knows "more" (which she also uses for "eat"), "all gone", "milk", "diaper", "bath", "nap", and "book". Something interesting regarding this: For many signs there is an American Sign Language (ASL) version and a Baby Sign version and we have been sticking with the ASL version because we figured if she learns those she might be able to use them later on. But for two of the signs (more and all gone), she has been using the Baby versions even though we never showed them to her. Maybe they adopted those versions because babies naturally use them. Anyway, the amateur psychologist in me thinks that's pretty neat.

Ruby is also turning into a real bookworm. She has built up quite an impressive library and one of her favorite things to do is haul out each book one-by-one and have someone read them to her. If that fails she'll sit and flip through them on her own, making whatever sounds she feels appropriate for each page. As a result of her literary pursuits, she has picked up a few animal sounds. When we read her books, we make noises for the animals and basically do a bunch of other things that parents do that make us look like goofballs but that we think are fun for the kid. So now we can ask her what sheep, puppies, birds, rabbits, and gorillas say and she can make all the sounds. Gorillas are my personal favorite.

By the way, Ruby did not win the Cute Baby contest from March....clearly it was a rigged competition.

It's time to vote for Ruby's picture in the Star Tribune Cutest Baby contest! Follow that link, then go to page 4 to find Ruby's picture. She should be on the middle of the second row. One problem; You'll have to register and create a user account to be able to vote. If you don't want to, then that's okay. Also, the link I put in the last update had a typo, so it was not going to the right spot. I fixed that one, but the link above should take you right to the voting page. It also looks like you can vote every hour, so vote early and vote often!

After all the excitement of her visitors in the last few weeks, Ruby has started taking some steps on her own. We have to kind of trick her to get her to do it. If we make a big production she decides just to sit down. But if you can surprise her while she's standing around, she'll take a step or two towards you. As I said before, I have mixed feelings about all the new things she can do. While it's exciting to see her grow, it also means she is getting farther away from being our sweet little baby...and she's also harder to catch. Speaking of growing up, she's now riding in a forward facing car seat (thanks to Gramma Janet and her Babies R' Us discount!).

It seems spring is coming to Minnesota. The last few days have seen temps in the upper 50's and even into the 60's, which seems like swimsuit weather after months of below 0's. Of course being Minnesota, and especially where we live, it also means it's windy season. I've learned that when I see "Breezy" in the forecast that it's time to batten down the hatches since that means 25 mph winds gusting to over 30 mph. Still, Ruby and I braved the cyclonic winds and took a walk to a small playground in our neighborhood. Ruby got to swing, slide, and crawl through tubes for the first time. She seemed to have a good time, but it's hard to enjoy yourself when your cheeks are flapping in the "breeze". We've also been trying to enjoy some more outdoor time by putting Ruby in a Pack n' Play in the driveway while I work in the garage. However, she cries when I get too far away and I don't want all the neighbors thinking I'm neglecting her so I can't get much done besides sitting next to her in the sun...which isn't so bad.

Ruby is a year old! Hard to believe, but it's true. We even checked her birth certificate to be sure. We had a party for her with pizza and birthday cake. All her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins from Iowa made the trip up to join us. Grandma and Grandpa Linn also came over from Michigan and brought along her cousin Andrew. She had lots of fun obliterating a piece of cake and chasing around her cousins. She got a lot of new outfits, toys, and books so she should be set for a while. To top of her birthday week, Grandma and Grandpa Blake are coming from Michigan and bringing along another cousin, Jordan.

In other Ruby news, she is walking (with help) and has started saying "Hello" and "Hi" while waving her hand. It seems like she is doing something new every day, and it seems like she uses all her new skills to get into things she isn't supposed to. We kept sliding things farther and farther back on the end table to keep them out of reach, but we eventually had to clear them off completely. She's also started testing us to see how much she can get away with. Her biggest thing is trying to keep herself awake when we try to put her down for a nap or at bedtime. Luckily, you can't fight sleep forever and she eventually succumbs to the sandman.

Finally, we entered a photo of Ruby in a "Cutest Baby" contest in the Star Tribune from St. Paul. For ten straight days, they will post 200 of the 2,000 submissions for voting. The 10 daily winners will be entered in a final vote for the overall winner. Ruby's photo will be available for voting on March 19th. Go to www.startribune.com and follow the links for "Cutest Baby" to vote or preview all 2,000 entries. Of course, we'd like you all to vote for whichever photo you think is the cutest....as long as it's Ruby's.

Ruby got her first hair cut a couple weeks ago. Don't worry...we didn't cut much off. The most was taken from her bangs and the back was trimmed just enough to even things up. We made sure to keep a lock for her baby book. Ruby did really well and sat quietly the whole time. Melody's stylist (whose little girl is just a few weeks older than Ruby) was very impressed and also happy to have a new customer.

Last weekend, Melody and I were invited to a friend's party so we had to find a babysitter for the first time. Luckily, we have some neighbors with a 15 month old daughter and we had talked to them about trading babysitter services. They were happy to take Ruby (we could tell they were already planning their next night out knowing we were on the hook to watch their kid). We dropped her off at 6:30, went out and had a good time, picked her up around 11:00 and walked her back home. Ruby cried a little bit when we had to wake her up to get her bundled for the walk home, but she went back to sleep pretty soon after we got her home. I'm happy to say that neither Melody or I felt compelled to call the neighbors to check on Ruby every five minutes...or even once for that matter. Ruby and the neighbor girl had a great time playing with each other and having toy baby stroller races down the hallway. Supposedly there are pictures of the events, and I will post them as soon as we can get copies from the neighbors.

Next month will be Ruby's 1st birthday...amazing. Sometimes it's hard to believe it's already been a year, and sometimes it's hard to believe it's only been a year. It seems like it was ages ago that we brought home a tiny little baby that has turned into this 'big' girl, but it's all happened so fast. We aren't planning anything overly special for a party, but she will be getting a visit from Nana and Papa Linn who are coming all the way out from Michigan the weekend before her birthday so we'll be doing something with them (and probably Grandma & Grandpa Asfahl) on Saturday. And if Grandma Blake can get time off work she may come to visit just after Ruby's birthday and bring along Granny Crawford, so Ruby can look forward to about a solid week of spoiling. Of course you know what Melody and I are thinking....

...free babysitters two weekends in a row!!

Click Here for the graphic pictures of Daddy showing Ruby how to write her name in the snow.

Happy New Year! It's a new year and a new page. If you want to see the posts from 2008, just scroll down to the bottom of this page and click on the "Archive" link for the year you want to see.

We are all enjoying 2009 so far. Ruby is getting harder to keep up with everyday. She is pulling herself up on just about anything she can get her hands on. As a result, we have to keep moving things we don't want her to get into higher and higher. I don't know what we'll do once she figures out how to open all the cabinets and drawers (some of which she's already figured out). She's also been taking steps with help, and alone with the little stroller Grandma Janet got her for Christmas.

I am still searching for a job and hoping things pick up with the new year. We've pulled Ruby out of day care so I am a stay at home daddy for the time being, which is one bright spot in this whole unemployment deal. However, it does make it harder to spend a lot of time searching for jobs so I've had to shift most of my searching to the evening when Melody is home and after everyone has gone to bed. In the meantime, I've been trying to get little projects done around the house when I can. We have a cabinet with glass doors that we realized was not safe to have around, so I am going to cover the glass with wood and then paint the panels with a "chalkboard" paint so it will be safe and something fun for Ruby to play with.

Melody is also working on a project, which is getting all of Ruby's pictures organized into an album. Every few months we send off all of the digital pictures to be printed, but they come back completely out of order so reorganizing them is quite a job. Then getting them put into albums is a whole other ordeal, but she is plugging right away. It's scary though to look back at the old pictures and see just how much and how fast Ruby has grown.

Merry Christmas everyone! Ruby is enjoying her first Christmas morning. She got a few presents and a full stocking from Santa, although I don't think she knows that. She got a sled, a stuffed puppy dog, and finally got a present that Santa had left for her at Grandma and Grandpa Linn's at Thanksgiving. She is really enjoying herself, using her newfound forward gear for crawling to get around and get into everything. We like to draw out the gifts and festivities throughout the day, so I'll keep the photos coming as we go along. For now momma is cooking up some bacon for egg samiches, Ruby is drooling out part of an animal cracker that she got in her stocking, and daddy is updating the web page...of course. Check back for more pictures!

Ruby got her sled and her Little Snoopy pull toy. She liked sitting in the sled to watch Christmas movies until she slid over on her side and couldn't get back up. For Christmas dinner, Melody and I had steaks and potatoes while Ruby took a nap. For her dinner, Ruby got mushy vegetables...not very spectacular but she'll do better next year. But I still think she is enjoying her first Christmas. There's lots of paper and boxes for her to play with. I told her tomorrow I would take her outside and show her how to write her name in the snow. Maybe we'll get a picture of that to post here.

- 2007
- 2008