ruby 2 shoes

I’ve been trying to write this blog for ages, but keep being thwarted by various things. The number one culprit is my computer, which is currently sitting in the ‘Geeks on Wheels’ office, hopefully being fixed. It’s actually the first time ever that I’ve had to have a pc repaired, I can sort 99% of problems out myself, but when the nature of the problem means you can’t even log on to Windows itself, I have to hold my own nerd hands up and call in the Uber Nerds. I’m having to resort to internet cafes and if I’m honest, I can’t be arsed to do that too much.
The misery of being back in England is thankfully declining and we are both now starting to climb out of the pit of despair in which we have been wallowing for the last month or so. So what have we been up to? About three weeks ago now, we paid a visit to my sisters to celebrate Ruby’s second birthday and that’s why there’s an inordinate number of photos of an insanely cute little girl on our blog. Rachel has spent a year teaching Rubes our names and now she can confidently say ‘Andy and Pam’ : ) Current favourite words include ‘two’ and ‘mine’, as she wanders around the house, she’s forever pointing at items and then saying ‘mine’. Still as long as she doesn’t grow up to be materialistic : ) If you’re wandering why she’s dressed as some kind of Viking, it’s because we paid a visit to the Museum of Sheffield. Not the first place you would think of visiting admittedly, but it’s a great museum, especially for kids, its very interactive, full of buttons to press and clothes to dress up in. One of the funniest / most disturbing exhibits is a gnarly old lion called ‘Joey’. Ruby has become quite taken by this flea bitten, hundred year old thing and marched around the museum chanting ‘Joey, Joey, Joey’ until it was time to go. I blame the mother. The museum visit was all part of the birthday celebration which of course included a lot of present opening. I am in two minds about presents for very young children, the cruel and logical side of me says why bother? They’re never going to remember it, so why not save your money. Luckily for Ruby, a dance mat style piano, a la Tom Hanks in Big was on hand to save the day and even better, it was annoyingly loud, as a little treat for Rachel and Joe too. It’s funny what kids pick up from their parents. Rachel and Joe are obsessively tidy and if a crumb falls to the floor, it is swept up instantly. Watching Ruby unwrapping her presents it was funny to see her tear a strip off and place it carefully on the ground, then another strip and another, all laid immaculately in a pile. I can see the OCD coming, a mile off : )
As you can see from the pics, she is indeed the happiest kid on the planet and this is largely due to the brilliantly knitted poncho that she received, courtesy of Auntie Pam. Samantha’s knitting is progressing exponentially and she has recently finished a very cute pair of baby booties, very complicated they look to, three kinds of stitch involved I’m led to understand.
More news from the homeland soon.