10 Months

This little lady is only two months shy of a year, and I can't believe it. She cracks us up with her budding personality. She's shy but fierce, demanding but sweet, firm but gentle, and always ready to smile. Here are some things you might not know about Rubi:

1. She has the best legs. And by best, I mean the most soft, gushy and floppy-loose legs ever. I swear there is no collagen in those limbs because she can bend them in every direction at the same time. When she gets tired and just needs a little break, she'll spread them into the splits and then lay down face first in between.

2. She thinks Gabe is the shiz. Anytime he whizes by or goes in for a kiss on her head, she explodes with the giggles.

3. Her hair. C-R-A-Z-Y. However it dries after her bath is how it will stay until the next bath. Straight up on top, fuzz ball in the back, curly swirly on the sides and ever more red.

4. She loves to wave hi and bye.

5. She will only take her binkie for sleeping. And only if she knows that she's ready to sleep. Imagine this: You are snuggly warm and pretty solidly asleep around 4:00 am. All of a sudden, you hear, "Aaaaaa.  Maaaaaa. Maaaaaaa. Maaaaaa!!!!" Not much of a build-up, you think as you stumble around in the dark. Literally. It's very dark since you have to flip the breaker at night to keep Gabe from turning the lights on all night long. You enter the kids' room and catch a whif of you-know-what. You try to sneak Rubi from her crib swiftly enough so that Gabe doesn't wake up too. Because that would mean another diaper change and a drink of milk and probably whatever pieces of fruit he can kife from the fridge while you are trying to make Rubi a bottle and dispose of her waste. But, alas, since Gabe doesn't sleep in his bed, but on the floor (and in a different spot on the floor each night), you accidentally kick him on your way to Rubi. So...after two diapers, a bottle, some milk and strawberries and "find your blankie and get back to bed!" later, you finally lay Rubi down and try to put the binkie in. Usually this is a simple process. Her head hits the pillow and her mouth forms an 'O'. Not tonight (or this morning, if you will). She just giggles and kicks her legs and throws her blankets and rips the binkie from your hand and throws it as well. Ok, you foolishly assume in your still groggy state, I guess she just doesn't want it. Maybe she's done with it for good. You leave the room and go climb into bed only to hear "Maaaaaa!!" as soon as you curl up into your favorite position. So, you stumble to their room again, open the door and Whoosh. You smell it again. Stronger this time. Quietly and quickly change the second diaper while fending off Gabe from the door, and eventually the fridge, lay Rubi down, stick the binkie in the 'O' and leave. See what I mean. Needs the binkie and knows that it means "sleep." If she's not ready to sleep, no binkie. Get it?

6. No crawling yet. We keep thinking she's just on the brink, especially as she's reaching for that chocolate granola bar, but her flexibility can usually get her whatever she wants.

7. She loves baths. And she loves loves to eat bubbles. What is it with my kids? One likes to eat soap (still to this day) and one likes to eat bubbles.

8. She is a smacker. The whole time she's eating, she smacks her lips and says, "omm-yomm-yomm."

9. She looooves being around people - being talked to, smiled at, played with. But, I've sensed a bit of timidness in her too. Maybe it's from the whole not crawling thing, but she tends to just watch all the other kids play. Unless it's Gabe. Then she wants in on the action, and whatever he's playing with belongs to her.

10. Don't ever ever, in any circumstance, wipe her mouth or her hands. Oh the hands! The hardest she ever cries (this is not an exaggeration, for those who might be thinking that I'm stretching the truth) is when you wipe her down after eating...or put her arms through the sleeves of her shirts. Yeah. Just don't try to move the top half of her body at all. Leave her alone!

11. She brightens the mood wherever she is.

Love you Rubi!