11 months!

Ruby turned 11 months on 6/9. My how time is flying! She's a true delight...easiest baby ever...and we are so thankful! Here are a few things from the past month.

-She uses her arms to rotate around and around when sitting up. She can get to what she wants really easily this way! She isn't moving forward or backward, but just around and around in circles. She makes herself go from sitting to laying down on her tummy when she wants something she can't get to in.

-She gives high fives and says uh-oh appropriately! She was sitting beside me on the sofa with a bunch of toys in front of her and started dropping them off the side of the sofa and would say uh-oh after each one, then lean way over the side to see where it went! She has also just started doing this with food off of the side of her high chair...and so it begins! And once she gets going on high fives, she does it over and over!:) She holds her hand out and she is hard to ignore!

-She's mommy's girl (not just this month, but I want to note it!) and fusses for me and cranes her neck to see me when someone else is holding her. When she is playing, and we make eye contact I get the sweetest smiles and waves. She melts my heart-I'm glad the feeling is mutual!She says "mama" all the time. Oftentimes it is lovingly, and sometimes she's yelling MAMA!!! And then sometimes just "ma!" like she's from Boston or something:) But that is her go-to word right now. She loves her siblings, but she has started seeing them coming in with their love and neck hugs, and she fusses pretty quickly about it!

-She's gone thru a phrase of not being thrilled to be left in church nursery on Wed night. I think she's tired and knows it's going to be a  long night! They have to work to keep her happy on and off I think. Otherwise, though, she's happy to be dropped off at church in the mornings and also was always happy at school. I hope she will be that way when we return!

-Sleep is interesting with Ruby. She lays down at about 7-7:30 each night and has an early wake up time around 5-sometimes earlier! I try to let her fuss or go in and just soothe her if it is earlier than 5, and this works for a little while, but she always wakes back up so I just feed her if it's after 5am. I would love for this to stretch further especially since I am getting closer to weaning her, but I'm also weak in the early morning and just want to pacify her so I can go back to bed  myself. I will have to work harder next month to get this all figured out, but in reality it's really not that bad. She still takes 2 naps a day-one around 9:30 and another around 1:30. Sometimes these are spread further apart and sometimes she does not get a morning nap which she handles just fine. She reminds me much more of her sis than her bro in that way.

-She blew her nose into a tissue this month! She watched me, and then I put it up to her nose and she blew into it. So cute and she just grinned and laughed each time afterward. She was really proud of herself!

-She is totally into Maggie and every time she sees her she pants big and we talk about "dog" and say "woof woof". It is one of her trigger words, because we will be saying dog in passing conversation, and Ruby will evidently hear and start her panting and smiling as soon as she does! I was nursing her and Henry was right beside me talking, and he asked me if Maggie was an adult. I said, "Well, in dog years, she's 70" and Ruby pulled away from eating when she heard dog and did her panting and grinning at me. We both died laughing. She is both curious and nervous about Maggie. If I am holding her she will reach out more for her, but if Maggie makes any sudden moves Ruby jumps! The few times Maggie has laid down beside Ruby on the ground have made her fuss look for me. Maggie IS a big dog, after all, so I don't really blame her!

-She signed "all done" on 5/27 and does it quite a bit now! She also raises her arms up to show "so big!!" when we ask, "How big is Ruby??"

-I trimmed the sides of her hair on 5/28! Her Jewish man sideburns are no more! She is looking more and more blonde now, too.

-Ruby is basically eating everything now. She got a special little bite of donut from Daddy this month and also a bite of cupcake at our friend's bday celebration-also from Daddy! He held it right in front of her face, and she just stared at it and grinned so big and looked up at him! Then she eventually took a bite and loved it of course. I am holding out hope that she might go for her cake at her first birthday. Grandpa also has already introduced her to vanilla ice cream this month! We got blueberries this month and she eats them like candy!! So fast, and I love watching her pick them up from her tray and put them in her mouth. It is absolutely AMAZING how fast babies develop. Just to think a few months ago she was exclusively nursing and a few before that and she couldn't even sit up and a few before that she couldn't hold her head up! I am also having LOTS of memories of Annie at this same phase of life-probably bc they are both summer babies-I vividly recall Annie picking blueberries and then gobbling them up at VBS which is exactly what we phase we are in currently. And they are wearing so many of the same clothes. I don't think the actually look much alike in reality, but these types of similarities cause me to do a double take. Crazy!
 
-She had her first ear infection on 5/26. She and Annie had had runny noses for a few weeks, and I thought we had skirted ear infections, but as those symptoms subsided she started to act less like herself and then after a night of waking up several times, which is uncharacteristic of her, I took her in and sure enough she had one. She also had a low fever on and off for a few days that caused me to think it might be ears, too. They are all 3 different when they are sick, so I am having to learn her specific cues!

Oh, you are a precious baby, Miss Ruby Jane. We all just could eat you up! You have an adoring family watching to see what sweet thing you will do next!

10 months!

Ruby turned 10 months on 5/9. She's had a sweet month of new developments and is starting to communicate a lot more this month.

9 month check up stats from 4/20: 28 inches (75%), 17lbs 14oz (50%), head circ 43.5 (40%)

-Waving, clapping (after us-imitating at first, now does it on her own), and saying bye-bye (baba). Slow wave, often delayed, sometimes with fist clinched, sometimes like a princess. Claps when we say "yay!!!!" and when she hears music. Says dada all the time. Points and often points to me and says mama. Sometimes she points and then reaches and it looks like she is using the force! Also says mama when she's sleepy, when she's nursing and switching sides, when she's being put into her carseat, and at the doc when she was feeling like she was being violated! She signed "more" for the first time when we gave her lasagna!! She has quickly picked up that one and often does it. She gives a big grin when she hears "more?" and sometimes she sounds like she is saying it with a "mah!" sound that comes out. She shakes her head back and forth (like no, no, no, no) and smiles and smiles!

-1st easter-got sippy cup, puffs, yogurt melts in her basket, got to participate in church egg hunt (Henry took in upon himself to fill up her basket). She did not appreciate being set in the grass with a dress on.

-LOVES food-pouches and real food too!! Has basically tried everything we eat! Some new things are yogurt melts, cheese, hash brown casserole, chicken, green beans, pasta salad, baked beans, fries, strawberries, grapes, yogurt, broccoli cheese soup (loved!!),

-Loves tub/pool. Gets so animated and is happy the whole time. Fusses when we get her out.

-Got a long weekend with just her while siblings went to grandparents (my bday weekend-5/6). We ate out a lot, and she was LOUD and demanding for food!! We think she might have volume like her sis! Kind of funny because it was almost like she found her voice when she was finally alone! She was also a little more vocal in the car than normal at first because she was alone back there, but she quickly settle down, and we said it was like she went into a "trance" in her seat with her hand up in her hair and sucking her tongue. We had a fun time with just her-sweet baby.

Can't wait to see what next month holds, baby girl! Maybe it'll be your month to start crawling! I'm in no hurry; take your time! We love you, precious!

Annie is **THREE!!**

Our Anne girl turned 3 on May 26. I think time flies by the most with her since she is in the middle. I just can hardly believe how big she is getting. She's at a really fun age and has such a sweet, spunky personality. Below are some things about her from 2.5 to 3, including the questionnaire I started with Henry when he turned 3. I love hearing what they answer for these!

1. What is your favorite color? PINK!!
2. What is your favorite toy? shopping cart, baby stroller (she loves to stuff all kinds of things in these and push them around the house and also outside)
3. What is your favorite fruit? blueberries (she really  loves all fruit-she's a great fruit eater)
4. What is your favorite tv show? Daniel Tiger (also Doc McStuffins, Minnie Mouse, Curious George)
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? sandwich (pb/honey), cheese/crackers, yogurt (not sure these are actual favorites, but they are the kinds of things she eats daily!)
6. What is your favorite outfit? jammies
7. What is your favorite game? hide and seek
8. What is your favorite snack? Cheese-Its
9. What is your favorite animal? monkeys
10. What is your favorite song? Hey-oh, itsy-bitsy spider, Frozen CD (she calls it Elsa Anna and begs to listen to it)
11. What is your favorite book? Hide and Seek, That's Not My Dad, Corduroy
12. Who is your best friend? Owen and Connor
13. What is your favorite cereal? Rice Krispies (aka "Krispies"), Cheerios (aka "cheer-wha-woes)
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Push the Zebra riding toy all the way down the driveway and then sit on it and ride it back to the garage. She is fast! Also loves chalk, bubbles, and playgrounds. She could swing for hours! She spots playgrounds everywhere as we drive and wants to go to them.
15. What is your favorite drink? milk (LOVES), juice (rare, so it's a big treat-she calls lemonade "lemon juice")
16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? pink blankie, Minnie Mouse stuffed animal
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Cereal (Krispies, Cheerios), doughnuts (rare, so it's a big treat-favorite is chocolate with sprinkles). She's not a big breakfast eater. I can usually get her to eat part of a banana and sometimes graham cracker or certain granola/breakfast bar type things. Usually just a few bites, though, and I'm kind of making her. She's not big on muffins, toast, etc.
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Chick-fil-A
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? a mommy  

-Finally fully potty trained at Spring break (3/17). It just clicked! She had peepee down before 2.5, but resisted the other for a while. We finally got her little system worked out, so I think that helped a lot. We put the frog potty in the back of the car, and used it a ton at first, esp on that trip. I wish I had counted how many times she went on our way to/from Iowa. As we drove north, it got FREEZING. We drove til like 2am, so at midnight we had to stop for gas and all the kids were asleep. Annie woke and said she needed to go potty. She had on footie PJ's so we had to go to the frog potty, fully unzip, and potty with freezing temps and wind while I wrapped a blanket around her. She was crying her eyes out and it was terrible! You may not fully understand that if you've never experienced their weather, but it's forever in my memory! She is quite self-sufficient  now and can pull down/up her pants, get on the potty herself, flush, wash hands, etc. In February when I was desperate for her to have poop success and treats, bribes, punishments weren't working, we put the undies away. She earned her princess undies back when she used the potty. She also got to use her make up when she went, and that was a BIG deal for her!:) I was teaching class on 2/8 and heard a little knock. It was her teacher bringing Annie by to report to me that she'd had poop success (teachers never come, but they knew how hard we'd been working and that Annie and I BOTH needed to celebrate this success), so Annie said it really loud and  my whole class heard the report!!! She was so proud and they all got the biggest kick out of it! In a few years I hope they don't use that for blackmail!:) She also will sit and go sometimes when she is not even trying and will look in the potty and say, "How did that happen!!??" She loves it when she goes a lot and will squeal in delight and talk about how it's a "daddy one!!" and say "I love the big ones!!" That is a lot of potty info, but it was a big deal in our lives over the past 6 months!!

-Annie had a great (last) year in school nursery. It's neat that she and Ruby got to be together daily, and her teachers say she was always sweet and loving to her sister. She has not shown jealousy like I thought she might, but instead it just a little mamma all the more. Next year she will fully transition to the Pre-K class, and she visited there some this year. I think she will really flourish there. She says she's excited to "sit a chair and and do work and color". That is Pre-K from her perspective anyway! She already loves circle time when she gets to go, and she knows several of the songs they sing. I don't work at all with her on academic stuff, but I noticed her touching and counting accurately at Christmas (to 5), and she can just count aloud to 25. I also noticed her using Henry's scissors great on 1/19. She cut little slits all the way around a piece of paper like fringe. She loves to color and is very intentional about it-she makes little concentrated marks all over the paper with different colors. She doesn't do wild scribbling. She notices the letter "A" everywhere and says, "Hey! That's MY letter!"

-When we get home from school about 1:15, Annie lays down for nap right a way. She has started to sleep shorter lengths of time and is usually awake by 3, but she goes to bed by 7:30 each night, so she's not needing a huge nap I guess. When she wakes, she calls for us right away (mommy! I'm ready to get out!!) rather than playing in her bed like I'd prefer. :) She usually sits on my lap and watches a show with me and Henry. She loves to snuggle! When she watches shows that ask questions, she always answers the TV:)

-Annie is a sweet, loving girl. She always says, "I love you SO much!"and loves to be held and to cuddle. She wants to give everyone in the family hugs and kisses before bed (hug. hug. hug. kiss!) and wants to hug and kiss her teachers when she leaves school (often her kiss lands at her eye level which is right at the teacher's tummy-haha!). She wants to hug AND kiss her bestie Owen before she leaves, too. When I come in to nurse Ruby, the bigger kids are in high chairs eating snack, so she talks to me from there. She is turned so she can't actually see me, so she just says, "Mommy?? I love you SO much!" Her teachers get the biggest kick out of it. She was saying it so much there for a while that Henry was getting fed up. He would say, "Uhhhh! I KNOW that! Why do you keep saying that??" But often times they will be at the art table or playing together in silence, and I will hear her say, "Henry? I love you SO much!" and he will say, "I love you, too". She will then sometimes come back with, "I  love you so much again". She also sometimes says, "I want to tell you a secret. I love you SO much and God loves you SO much!" One day after a rough time of bumps and falls, I had picked her up and she said, "Mommy? When you hold me it feels better."

-She is very much a girly girl and loves all things pink, princess, makeup, chap stick, lotion, nail polish, etc. She notices every booboo and blimish on others. She loved her cousin's Nutcracker performance and talked all about it afterward. She is a little mama and loves her play babies as well as her sis. She wraps them up and carries them around, shushes them and puts them to sleep, cuddles them, pushes them in the stroller and pushes them around, etc. She has a particular "pink baby" at school that she keeps up with all day. I am AMAZED at how innate this is. I haven't taught her any of that, and a lot of it began way before we had a actual baby in the house! She comforts her babies and will say, "Oh sweetie, sweetie! It's ok sweetie!" She has several names for her babies including-Roast Beef (from this little piggie went to market), Charis (the other baby in nursery that is Ruby's age) Anna, Hans, and Elsa. She also likes to rub noses with us and say, "Uggamugga".

-That being said, I must also share that she has a spunky attitude and will take up for herself in a minute! She has a LOUD voice and knows how to use it! We often have to get her to re-say something using her "nice words" which she can easily do. Our friend Ben says she reminds him of a "sassy Precious Moments doll!" She is the reason there is a cardboard barrier between her and Henry in the car. She has to fight to talk half the time, so she will start a story with 'one time' then brother will start talking and she will scream 'no!!!!!!!!!! it's MY TURN!!' She has a serious independent streak and will often re-do what I've just done if she wanted to do it herself. (like pull up her pants after pottying. If I do it and she wanted to she will pull them back down and then immediately back up!). If my attention is divided she will say, "Mom, listen to my story!!" and when she want me to watch her do something, and I don't give her 100% of my attention, she says, "No! With your eyes! Look at my face!" While her attitude and sometimes trying personality can be a challenge, I think she was a lot like I was as a kid! I can appreciate that she will be a strong, independent girl one day and just try to remind myself of this in the  midst of time-outs and tears!

Here are a few random things that will mean something to us years from now, but they may not make much sense to others!:)
Secret place (often we have "lost" things bc she has put them in a 'secret place')
Actually... (often how she starts a story)
Princess no-night for Snow White
Schmar-mellow for Marshmellows
Check-up for ketchup (Steven tried to help her with this one time and she said, "I can't say that word. I'm just a little girl")
Huh?? Huh?? Huh??
Will sit and "pick her toes" (ie clean out anything between them)
Good hide and seek player! Quiet and still for a long time!
Little banshee-running wild before bed. Acts like rules don't apply.
Prays "and I not hit and I not say bad"
She gets in trouble for talking about poop and also for calling others "bad" and of course for hitting.
You gonna punishment me? You gonna spank me?
Donald Duck for Donald Trump
Kay-rowns and colorings are her words for crayons
Can I play a little bit?
LOVES the windows down in the car and the wind in her hair. Will grin and squeal about this!
Says, "Amazing!" from Frozen
Sometimes sings "we will rock you" from her bed
Shortens words (uniquely Annie)-Danny Tiegs, Gramps, Pegs, I need to go pot, toilet pape, 
Favorite part of Chattanooga trip was riding on the luggage cart at the hotel
Hey, we got a problem
I'm gonna cut you with fire!! (not sure where she got this, but she she pretends to fight and slices the air with her hands and says this kind of like karate! It's hilarious!)
So guys. What do you want to do this summer? (Said this sitting at the table with Henry and Steven one night)
Uh oh to the spettie ohs (for uh-oh spaghetti-o)
You're a cutie, daddy. You're a sweet girl, daddy.
I got a booboo. I think it was the jets! (hates our jets in the tub and blamed them for an unrelated booboo!)
Special time with Ms. Faith (her most fave teacher) after school. Spoiled her with playground, ice cream, and time at her house. Asks every morning, "Faif uh be here?" When it is a yes on Wednesday, she squeals "Yay!! I love faif!"
Hippie toes for tippy toes
Went to pick strawberries and she kept referring to it as "strawberry field forever"
Just a little bit some more, ok?
Hallelu, hallelu, hallelu, halleluja, crazy the Lord! (instead of praise ye the Lord)
Happy cake, happy cake-for patty cake, patty cake baker's man song
Oh, no. What we gonna do? What we gonna do, mom?
The word "poohey-gee-on" is one she made up and uses all the time. It has become normal in our house, and Steven even made up a game to go along with it. She says it all the time and for all kinds of different things. We all get a kick out of it.
She slept late recently and woke up asking, "Are the bad guys gone?" Steven realized she had been dreaming and showed her around the house. She looked around dismayed and said, "There aren't any bad guys here!" I asked her what did the bad guys do, and she said, "Fight!"
We can give her several tasks in a row to do (clean up xyz) and she can do it all easily without asking again what we said (ie can multi-task) whereas Henry can only hear one thing at a time and has to ask us over and over again what we said. Typical male/female thing!!

9 months!

Ugg! It is breaking my heart to write that our baby is already 9 months old!! Geez. Where has the time gone?? This sitting up but not yet crawling age is officially my favorite. I could watch her sit and play for the longest time. And I have vivid memories of the other kiddos at this age. They start to become little people, but can't really get into things yet since there's no mobility. A 9 month old just seems like the classic bouncing baby image to me. I could eat Miss Ruby up right now. She's just precious. Here's a bit about her past  month. She turned 9 months old on 4/9. Her 9 month checkup is on the 20th, so I will have to put stats info in the next post.  

-This month has held LOTS of runny nose/drool for Ruby because of teething. Her face and shirt are constantly wet, and her poor little nose is constantly red and raw. She now has 8 teeth (!!). Last post I said she had 5! No wonder she has had some fussy (for her) days. She's had several days with low fevers and has seemed more tired than normal, and I think all these teeth are the culprit. I even took her to the pediatrician one day because I thought she might have an ear infection, but she was all clear. When I look back at the stats for her siblings at a year, Henry had 7 teeth and Annie had 6, so she is certainly ahead here!

-Over Spring Break, we took our Iowa trip, and she was an amazing traveler. I cannot say enough about how perfect she was. Not ONE peep in her car seat the ENTIRE time. Not to say she was hungry, tired, bored, sore from riding so long, needed a change of scenery....nothing! And with over 12 hours in the car there and back, that is saying a lot. Even I wanted to cry for part of it! We had to keep asking Henry-What is Ruby doing?-because she was so quiet. We thought surely she had fallen asleep, but he would say-she's just staring at me! or she's just looking around! She was an angel during all of our visits, too. Totally happy and go with the flow.

-She's been introduced to lots more food. Traveling so much facilitated this, too. Among other things, she's had water from straw (like a bird dropper) and sippy cup, cheerios (whole ones-her siblings love to feed her these), pancake, biscuit, fry, banana (loves!), tortilla...she seems to really like food and I'm thankful! She now loves the pouches and also food from a spoon and gets animated when those come out and also any kind of cracker/mum mum type thing.

-She has started putting her hands together and clapping on her own and it is so cute! She just watches us and smiles when we do it, but sometimes she will just impromptu clap herself. I've been working on "so big" with her, but she's not doing it on her own yet. She also sits so happily in front of the toy basket pulling stuff out. She will sit and play for the longest time.

-One time this past month I went to pick her up at school and she was in the exersaucer so I just left her in there while I gathered up all of our stuff. After I walked by her I looked back and she had totally lost it-she was crying and so upset that I had just walked on by and not gotten her! There were 3-4 adults in the room and she got all of our attention at the same time-they all thought it was so sweet and cute that she made her wishes so obviously known-especially since she is normally so chill!!

-I have to put her hair up in pig tails most of the time now. She gets attention from so many people in public and they say stuff like-she looks just like a little doll! The bad thing, though, is that she kind of resists me messing with her hair now and pulls away. I have to give her something good to distract her so I can deal with it. I kind of want to cut it, but every time I mention it people act like I'm terrible and I can't possibly cut it before she's 1! We will see if I can resist or not...........

-The kids are so cute to love Ruby and notice all of her firsts. Henry especially does and will say, Oh, Mommy! It's Ruby's first time in a car wash! Or It's her first sunburn! (Yes, that did happen! It was just pink cheeks after being outside all Saturday, but I felt terrible. I don't know why it didn't dawn on me to at least put a hat on the kid. Summer comes early in Alabama!). Annie is a very sympathetic sister and anytime Rubes gets upset she will sound like a little mama and say, "Sweetie, sweetie, sweetie...it's ok! Awwwwe! It's ok, baby!"

-We were out one Saturday and Henry had his new tball hat. He gave it to Ruby to play with after asking if it it was ok. There were a few times later on that she gagged in her carseat, and we thought she might be getting a stomach bug or something. After it happened again, we pulled over and I got her out to look at her. I almost missed it, but caught a glimpse of something in her mouth I thought...I had to work hard to pull out the shiny round baseball sticker that was on the bill of his hat. Ugg! Babies are so resilient-it's amazing more stuff like that doesn't happen-but I'm so glad she was ok!

You are growing so fast, Little Girl! Slow down a little, OK?! We love you and want to cherish each sweet day. 

Hands in mouth a lot this month from teething

8 months!

This has been a big month for Miss Ruby Jane! I guess every month is big when you are a baby! She's so much fun and a bundle of sweet joy! We all love her so! See below for a few notes about her month...she was 8 months old on 3/9.

-It's official! She sleeps thru the night! This started on 2/13  like a little early Valentine for me! Ugg. I thought the day would never come!:) She has done some solid sleep night and also sometimes wakes up and fusses, but now I don't go in anymore and she self soothes just fine. She takes 2 daytime naps (about 10-11:30 & 1:30-3:330 or later) and goes to bed with the bigs at about 7 or 7:30. She wakes early to eat (5 or 5:30), but I lay her right back down and she sleeps until I have to go in and wake her for school at 6:45.
-She had a couple of fussy days which was very unlike her and then I discovered it was teeth coming in. She now has 2 top teeth and 3 bottom teeth.
-She's been introduced to several new baby foods this month and seems to like most of them! She gagged on peas but I think it was bc it was thicker. She has gotten to gnaw on pizza crust, mum-mums, teething biscuits, and has had a bite of real mashed potatoes. I send baby food to school now and she gets it around lunch and at home at dinner, too. She has been introduced to pouches (3/4) and she did ok, but they kinda frustrate her. She seems to like a spoon better which is fine for now! She does NOT appreciate getting her face wiped afterward, though! She sat in a restaurant high chair for the first time this month during our Chattanooga trip.
-We retired the lay down bathtub, and she sits up with her siblings now inside the ring thing we have. So BIG! She LOVES the tub and any water and gets all animated and squealy when she sees water nearby. She got to get in the hotel pool in Chat and was definitely a fan! She's gonna love the summer!
-She also sat in a shopping cart for the first time this month while she and I made a trip to TN to meet our newest family member Jake. She looks so little and cute in the cart, and she's so happy about it.
-She is not mobile. She is really happy to just sit and hang out and when she does get on her belly she will do push ups, but that is about it. She kinda just pushes herself backward and slides around on the hardwood floor. When she's sitting she will clasp her hands together and shake them up and down and bop her whole body up and down so happy! Her very favorite thing still has to be strings on a sweatshirt or jacket! And paper if she accidentally gets some! She is getting more grabby and will go for things that she never would have a month ago. She leans WAY forward to reach for what she wants and also fusses when something she has gets taken away (usually paper or plastic-go figure). She has such a happy personality and is loved by all. She gets lots of different people taking care of her at school everyday, and they all say this about her, and I tend to agree! She's just a pleasant baby, and I am so thankful!
-We get a kick out of all of the things she does with her mouth-clicking, talking, making bubbles, moving her jaw up and down. Most of the time that bottom lip is sucked in, though, and it takes a lot to let it go. She will smirk and make a smile while simultaneously sucking in that lip. It give her a unique sweet look all her own. She has such a sweet little voice and we all love hearing it.
-We had her baby dedication at church on 2/26 with family in town for Henry's bday, so that was a special sweet time with her. She wore the same dress that was made my a relative for Annie's dedication and looked precious, of course!

We sure do love you, Ruby Jane. You are a sweetie.

Her hair has to be out of her face somehow. These pigtails have ended up being the perfect do for her because it is so long on the sides! When it is down she looks like a Jewish man with his side curls! Plus just a mop of hair in her face!

This is her trying to figure out what her siblings are playing behind me on the ground while I took pics. So serious!

Steven playing peek-a-boo with her.

Where's Ruby??

There she is!

Peek-a-boo!

Love those chubby cheeks and bright eyes.

And finally she figured out she could lunge for my phone, and there was no going back!