Thirteen Years of Ruby

In the blink of an eye, my gorgeous girl has turned thirteen. THIRTEEN!  I’ve no idea how it happened.  One minute I was changing her bum, and the next, she’s making me cups of tea.

It’s a definite bonus.

I’ve spoken before about the benefits of having a big age gap between my babies (Here) but it really is so lovely to spend some time with Ruby, who is now taller than me and wears bigger shoes.  That’s not hard at 5ft 1, but it’s a huge milestone.

The biggest thing about having a teenager is watching the world they live in today.  It’s slightly scary, I have to admit, and it’s one of the reasons this blog post isn’t a letter to Ruby, all gushing.

You see, apparently, I’m slightly embarrassing.   Ruby’s got to that age where I’m not allowed to do my crazy car dancing, and kissing on the lips in public is a no-no.  But that’s okay; I get it.  I can remember that feeling of dread, wondering what your Mum was going to say next and she’s on social media too now, so, you know, I’m being cool.

So instead, I’ve decided to post thirteen photos of my big, little girl, who is everything and more that I could have wished for.  She is brave and funny, courageous and kind and every day I think how lucky I am to have this beauty in my life.

Enjoy…

This is one of my all-time, favourite photos of Ruby.  It just captures her impish beauty.  Look at her eyes.  I bought this dress for a formal photo, but she was poorly and the photo was terrible, so we did a little photo-shoot at home  a few weeks later and the series of shots is precious.

The next photo is of Ruby, age 3, taken in her bedroom, which I had recently painted with Pongo and Perdita, along with Dalmatian print border.  I used to love this Joules T-shirt on her.  It was so colourful and suited her so much!

How cute is this one? She was playing with the ukulele Auntie Heather brought back from Hawaii for her.  I had plaited her hair; she loved it when I did that.  She’s wearing a little Mini-Boden dress.  I loved this brand on her.

This photo was taken on the morning of her first day in Reception class.  She’d only turned four two weeks prior to this and was so excited!  What a sausage! (I obviously sized-up on the blazer!)

And fast-forward three years to the day Ruby started in the Junior School.  This was exciting for us both, as we would be in the same school building. She loved her hair in bunches at this point.  She still had all her baby teeth here, and didn’t lose the first one for a while, far later than all of her friends.

This was summer, 2013, in the year David and I met. We’d enjoyed a lovely week-long holiday with him in Tenby and then headed down to Christchurch in Dorset, to stay with my parents.  I absolutely love this photo.  It epitomises everything about Ruby; the colours and cheeky smile.  Can you see the little bee?

Look at Ruby’s hair in the next photo, and you can see her big front teeth have come through, and they are beautifully straight.  She’s wearing a little crushed-velvet, navy dress with Peter Pan collar, from Marks and Spencer and we were off to a party, hence the curls.

Ruby’s flowing locks are a running theme in all of these photos.  It’s a thick mop of hair and always has been.  I took this photo within a series and they’re some of my favourites.  She’s about eight here.

We were on South beach in Tenby here.  Just Ruby and I.  David was working during the week, so we spent some time together there before he joined us for a long weekend.  I love this little bag!

The same summer, and we headed off to find a good picnic spot.  It was so cold, we had to hide in the sand dunes!  Look at Ruby’s gorgeous face and I love her hair blowing in the wind.

The next photo was taken on an early outing with Hugo at Cardiff Bay.  the sun came out and we were so glad.  I’d trimmed Ruby’s hair and it looks really healthy here.

Age 11, nearly 12, in the summer of 2017.  This was the day of my Grandad’s funeral, so we were dressed for the occasion.  I remember thinking how grown up she looked on that day. 

The last photo is of Ruby in one of our favourite places, Tenby.  Not so keen on having photos anymore, but I still love this one.  It reminds me of cosy times there, and time as a family.  I love her effortless beauty here, just a pair of jeans, jumper and hat and she is gorgeous!

Thanks for reading my mush!

To you, Ruby Doo, happy birthday, my darling, keep blossoming the way you are. We are so, so proud of the young lady you’ve become.

Did you know Ruby is an IVF baby?  Read our post here