Merry Christmas Everyone........

Hello Fans,
Merry Christmas to all my lovely friends & family - we have been thinking of you all.

We had a lovely Christmas here in Sydney, the weather was not too great, a little cloudy and overcast but that didn't stop us from having a great day. The morning of Christmas Day, Mummy, Daddy & I all got up together and opened all our presents. I had loads to open, and with Daddy's help I managed to open them all and I got some really cool presents - I got a little people airplane a pink one, a tupperware shape sorter, some books, some lovely Beatrix Potter letters that spelt my name, a cool Christmas Stocking and some nice cutlery & I even got some clothes.
After the present opening we all had Christmas breakfast together - cheese and ham croissants yum yum and a glass of sparkling merlot except I had milk and all that excitement just wore me out so it was nap time for me.

After my nap it was then onto the delightful "Freemans" for our Christmas Dinner - my Godmummy Mel had invited us round and all together there were 12 of us for Christmas lunch, drinks and goodies and before lunch we had another present opening to do and I got a fabulous Christmas Dress from my step-god-daddy Chris, as you can see, I am modelling it in the photo and I got some more really cool presents, but the best was the dress. We had an absolutely fabulous day at Mels I even had Turkey and the trimmings for my lunch and I got to play all day long - what more can a toddler want on Christmas Day - I was even allowed to stay up a little later than normal - I was spoilt just a little.....

What a great Christmas Day had by my Mummy, Daddy and little me Ruby

I hope yours was a special as ours.

Love to you all

Ruby Doo x x x

Playgroup Christmas Party

Hi My Fellow Fans,
I'm so lucky, I have a wonderful mum who fills my week with lots of fun things to do (mummy told me to say this) and today was no exception. Every Friday Mummy always takes me to the Annandale playgroup for under 2's and I have great fun playing with all the toys I don't have at home and playing with the other bubs, my favourite game is to chase the boys and play in the cars - mummy has to push me around though as my feet don't touch the pedals (it's a great workout for mummy).

Today though, was a special day at playgroup, as it was the playgroup Christmas Party and as there are different playgroups on through the week, we all came together today to party..... it was great fun, Mummy had never seen so many babies, children and parents. There was little farm and Santa came to visit, a buffet of goodies, Mummy made some Raspberry muffins to contribute, I saw my friends there Abbie & Finn, and I played and played, and as you can see, I am a musical maestro, look out world, but the blowey thing had me puzzled, maybe it was because, as mum pointed out, in two pieces but still I found it interesting.

Oh and my other news is I am officially walking (in a fashion Mummy says) but I don't think I'm doing too bad, it's great fun Mummy will post a video of me soon for you all to see, but Daddy was the lucky one to witness it first whilst Mummy was at work and today I'm 13 months old so I've had a pretty good day.

Take Care everyone

Lots of Love - Ruby Doo x

A Day Out At The Beach

Hi Fans,
Today Mummy took me over to Manly for a day at the beach. At Manly we met up with Mummy's friend Sharon and she looks after 2 boys called Jack & Will they are both just slightly older than me but that didn't stop me from bossing them around.

We had a picnic on the beach and I played with a bucket and spade for the first time in the sand which I thought was great fun, Mummy took me for a paddle in the sea too but I didn't enjoy this and clung onto to Mummy like a little monkey oh and of course being a girl I annoyed the boys for a while and played with all their toys, but the best part was, Mummy went to get an umbrella to keep the shade of us toddlers and I thought it was great fun to play with as you can see. Mummy & Sharon laughed at me when I started dancing whilst holding onto the pole don't know what they were laughing at though.......

On the way back to the ferry Mummy & I enjoyed an ice-cream together, then it was a mad dash to board the ferry and before we knew it we were on our way home after a brilliant day out.

Love Ruby Rubster x

More Birthday Party Photos

Hello,
Here are some more photos I thought I'd share with you of my birthday party as you can see I'm having lots of fun.

Love Ruby x

My Birthday Party

Hi All,
Today was my Birthday Party in the Park, Daddy had been hard at work all day Saturday baking and organising food for my party while Mummy was at work and today together they made it all perfect for me, Mummy was up early to secure the Pagola in the park, she put up balloons, red balloons of course, to mark the occasion and to make sure no one stole our spot as it was nice and shaded with lots of tables - ideal for a party.

Daddy made my birthday cake and iced it all by himself and he made all the cupcakes but Mummy helped him ice and decorate them, there was more than the photos shows but Mummy forgot to take a photo of them all, they look nice don't they and tasted delicious.

It was a lovely day nice and hot, and I was so pleased lots of people came to help me celebrate my 1st Birthday, we had lots to eat and drink, Champagne and Cupcakes - everyone sang Happy Birthday to me after we passed around the Champers then we all tucked into the cupcakes and birthday cake it was so much fun.

I even managed to stay awake for the whole party, you see too many people to entertain and so little time, I could hardly fit in an afternoon nap could I at my own Birthday Party I am a Sydney girl after all.....

There's more photos to come of my Birthday Party so stay tuned it was a great day.

Love you all - The Rubster xxx

More Birthday Photos - Having Pizza at Vicini's

Hi,
Here I am eating Pizza just like Daddy - isn't he silly.....
Daddy took some great video of me today celebrating my birthday so we'll get this posted as soon as we can.

Love to you all - Ruby x

It's My 1st Birthday Today - Happy Birthday to Me

Hello My Lovelies,
Happy Birthday to me, happy birthday to me.... I'm one today and what an exciting day I've had. Daddy woke me up at 7am so I could open all my presents from my Mummy & Daddy, friends and family and boy did I get alot - I got some little people toys, books, clothes, lots of cards. It was so much fun helping Mummy and Daddy open them all.

After I'd opened all my pressies, Daddy went to work and left Mummy & I to party, no only joking, Mummy & I ate breakfast I had weetabix, a drink of milk and a fromage frais, then I got to play with my new toys again, Mummy changed me into a little shorts set my Great Nanna & Grandad bought me as it was a lovely hot day in Sydney today and we played some more. Mummy took lots of phone calls on my behalf, then I crashed, the excitement just wore me out, so after my morning nap, Mummy and I went to Broadway to shop for my Birthday Party on Sunday - we're going with a Red theme (funny that!!!!) so got lots of red balloons, plates, dishes etc.

Tonight Mummy & Daddy took me out for a birthday dinner at Vicini's(it use to be called Zenith)and downstairs it's a pizza place, yummy yummy Pizza, Daddy's favourite,even though Mummy had already fed me my dinner, once they ordered theirs, I decided I would some of theirs of course, so I tried Mummy's Prosciutto, Rocket and Smoked Cheese Pizza, then I tried Daddy's Margarita Pizza and this I much preferred. My first taste of Pizza and it was delicious I'll be having more of this.

And that everyone was my first birthday it has been a very exciting day - thank you all so much for all your gifts, cards and phone calls I really loved them all and feel very spoilt. I'm really looking forward to my party on Sunday wish you all could be there but we'll eat a few cupcakes for you instead and I'll post all my news of the day.

Lots of Love - Ruby now 1 year old (I'm a big girl now!!!!!) xxx

The Things I Am Doing - Part 4

Hi Fans,
Here we are on the last part of The Things I Am Doing and yes I'm climbing the stairs - I can all the way up on my own and I'm just learning to master coming down backwards on my own too.

Every morning and night before nap time or bedtime Mummy lets me climb the stairs to my bedroom and I love it as you can see I am pretty good at climbing the stairs too and can reach the top quickly that is if I didn't have to stop to wait for Mummy following me.

So I hope you've enjoyed a snap shot of the things I am doing now - there are plenty more and I'm sure we'll get to them eventually but Mummy wanted me to get my blog up to date as it is my birthday tomorrow the big number 1.

So tune in tomorrow to see how I celebrated the big number 1

Love to you all - The Rubster x

PS Mummy says this time last year wasn't much fun for her

The Things I Am Doing - Part 3

Hi,
Here I am playing with my toys as you can see I start out neat and tidy wondering what to play with first (I have just had my breakfast) then after a few one legged push ups I get straight into it and after pulling apart my alphabet tile set I decide to eat my Fisherprice blocks this is after I have taken them all out of the box. thrown them around the room, collected them back up and placed them back in the box - it's a great life being a baby.

Part 4 to come the last installment in the Things I Am Doing

Love Ruby x

The Things I Am Doing - Part 2

x

Hi Folks

Part 2 as you can see is me first learning to use my walker Mummy & Daddy bought me - now I am a dab hand at pushing it around

Part 3 is on it's way

Love Ruby x

The Things I Am Doing - Part 1

Hi Peoples,
I thought I'd let you know and see some of the things I have been getting up to recently....

I've been spending time with my Godmummy Mel - she's been looking after me whilst Mummy goes to work and to help Daddy out too this gives Mummy & Daddy a chance to see a movie and go for a meal - I get to play with Jamie & Ally and the dogs Emma & Charlie and I have vegemite sarnies at Mel's and I even get to play in their big bath before Mummy and Daddy come to collect me

I've been eating blueberries in my highchair straight from the packet I love blueberries

I've been playing in the park with my little friends - we share our toys and usually our food and drinks whilst our Mummies natter about us.

And that's the end of part one

Part two to follow after this break

Love Ruby x

Sydney Things

Hello Fans,
Mummy & I have been out and about again since we arrived back - I got to see all my little buddies at Mother's Group again, can't believe it's been 3 months since I last saw them all, it was great having so many little people to play with and Mummy was happy she caught up with her Mummy friends.

We've also had a trip over to Manly and a picnic on the beach with our friend Sharon, she lives and works over on the North Shore so it's a great excuse for Mummy & I to go over to play.

What else have I been up too - I've had picnics in the park with Mummy, and played on the swings, I like pointing out all the dogs we see to Mummy, I've even been in a Wiggles car on a little merry go round but I wasn't as keen as Mummy thought I would be and now I regularly go to playgroup in Annandale so I get to play with more toys and meet new babies too.

There's lots more to come about what I've been up since we got back from the UK so stay tuned.

Love Ruby x

Home

Hi All,
Here I am on the plane home to Sydney - yes I kicked Mummy out of her seat and soon took hold of the controls to play games. It was a great flight, no problems and I was very good.

We arrived a little worse for wear, well Mummy & Daddy did, into Sydney airport on the 4th September we quickly retrieve our bags & joined the never ending queue through customs - luckily a customs officer took pity on my Mummy as she was carrying me in my pouch and let us through ahead of the queue, what Mummy didn't see was I used my cutest smile on him to get us through, and with no problems at customs we had arrived home.

Annie our cat was very pleased to see us - she had been on her own for 4 weeks and we all quickly settled back into life here with Mummy finally getting a flat white coffee she had missed for 3 months.

I was a little naughty once we arrived home and that was getting Mummy up at midnight for a few nights wanting to play and no going back to bed till after 3am, whoops......but it didn't take me long or it didn't take Mummy long to get me back into sleeping through the night.

So now we are back in Sydney I'll have plenty of other adventures to report on so keep watching my blog....

Love to you all - Ruby xxx

More Photos from the Festival

Hi All,
Just a few more photo's from the festival - Mummy wanted to show everyone the blackboard which she thought was a fab idea- the idea behind it is you choose something you would like to erase like World famine, poverty etc and write it on the blackboard and then at the end of day the blackboard is wiped clear therefore erasing all that is written on it - Mummy and Lesley thought it was so cool they had to take a photo.

We ended our day at the festival with a good old coffee and later that evening we all went out for an Indian meal at Ruchees - our last meal out in the UK, My Nanna & Pops came, along with my Uncle Gary and Auntie Lisa. It was a great night, everyone had plenty to eat and I apparently slept through it all, then I went home to bed whilst some of the big folks mainly the young ones carried on into Chapel Allerton for a few more drinks.

Lesley & Steve stayed over so we were lucky to be able to have breakfast with them in the morning before they went back to London (via York) and Mummy & Daddy finished off all their packing, whilst Grannie and Grandad went to Hymns in the Street.

Then we had a lovely Sunday Dinner before departing for Manchester Airport to catch our flight home, Mummy got a little upset along with Grandad Paul, as everyone was there to see us off, Nanna, Pops, Uncle Craig, Grannie, Grandad Paul, Uncle Gary, Auntie Lisa, and Auntie Lisa's parents popped down to say hello and goodbye too. Mummy said it was a very sad time.

And away we went back to Sydney.

My adventures in England are over for now - thanks everyone for a fabulous, brilliant time in England we loved it.

See you all soon - Lots of Love

Ruby the Rubster x

My Last Few Days in the UK - Chapel Allerton Arts Festival (30th Aug - 2nd Sept)

Hi All,
Well Mummy tells me it's my last few days left in England - So after visiting the Great Grandparents we only had 4 days left and on Thursday Mum went AWOL and escaped back to York (via M&S to check out the sale) on her own to sort out a few things leaving me with Daddy.
Friday saw Mum packing our suitcases and wondering how it was all going to fit in and be under our weight allowance, without her having to actually wear half her clothes.

Saturday though was a great day as the weekend we were leaving was the Chapel Allerton Arts Festival and it was great. My Godmummy Lesley and Uncle Steve came over for it and so did my Grandad Steve - so we all went into Chapel Allerton to check it out - firstly we went to see my Grannie's stall she was selling Jams and Marmalades and Lesley bought 4 jars of the delicious homemade Jam & Marmalade, after nosing around the other stalls we fell upon the Beer tent and of course Mummy said it would be rude not to have a drink and so they did - all of them boozing on Chapel Allerton Ale - Mummy said it tasted mighty fine but wouldn't share any with me.

There was all sorts going on at the festival - lots of stalls in the streets, live music, Mummy bought an environmentally friendly bag so she can use it in Sydney, there was lots going on it was a great festival.

More to pictures to come of the festival and our meal out.

Love Ruby x

Time with Great Grandparents (28th Aug - 29th Aug)

Hi Fans,
Well it's getting to that time when we are soon to depart the shores of the UK for the shores of home, so my last week I spent seeing my Great Grandad and Great Nanna over in Flamborough on the Tuesday, we went out for yet another pub lunch. Mummy said she needs to get plenty in to last her, so this time we went to the Seabirds in Flamborough and it was delicious. Daddy finally got his giant Yorkshire pudding for his lunch. Mummy got a bit upset saying goodbye to my Great Nanna & Grandad because she won't see them now until March.

We stayed overnight at Nanna's that night and then Grandad & Grannie came to pick us up and take us through to Bishopthorpe to see my other Great Grannie and we had a pub lunch out in Bishopthorpe at the Woodman. Again it was a great lunch and we had a great time with Great Grannie as we went for a walk along the riverside and back through the houses to Great Grannies house, then we took a leisurely drive back to Leeds and back to Grannie & Grandad's.

And that evening Mummy & Daddy sneaked out to go to Rhiann & Michaels house for a few boozy drinks and a curry. They had a great night out with me....

Love to you all - Ruby x

The Big Family Camp Day - Sunday

Hi,
Sunday is big Family Camp Day this is the day where we have the big family BBQ and all those who are not camping or caravaning come down for the day so we get to meet even more Chaplins. So far we've met loads as a few more arrived on Friday and Saturday to camp.

I met Molly who is the oldest living Chaplin (by Marriage) and I'm the youngest, and I met Grandad's Brother John and his wife Sylvia to name but a few. Daddy played volley ball with the kids and a few of the fitter adults. Mum & I just chilled out. There was plenty to eat and the dessert table was full of lovely goodies of which Mummy said was delicious.

By evening time a lot of the day Chaplins left and the campers left too, we stayed until Monday then packed up and then headed home via Hemel Hempstead so we could go and visit Alex & Zoe as they have moved back to the UK permanently from Oz. It was lovely seeing them and Sasha the dog. We had a lovely lunch, Mummy & Zoe did lots of talking and then Zoe's sister Louise arrived with Ben, it was lovely to see them too.
Then we did the long journey back to Leeds and had pizza for dinner from Daddy's favourite Pizza shop Mamma Mia's.

Not long till we leave now to go back home.

All my love Ruby x