10 months

It seems like I never get around to doing this until I feel Ruby's next month landmark coming up. Ruby turned 10 months a couple weeks ago. Here are a few things I want to remember about Ruby at 10 months.


1. She loves to play peek-a-boo and is just now learning to do it herself. It's probably my favorite thing that she does right now. It's so cute I don't even mind when she uses my newly folded laundry to hide.


2. She loves to help out. Whether it is putting laundry away or washing the floor, Ruby likes to get involved.




3. She does not like to be left out. The boys are very good about letting her be involved in whatever they are doing, but on this particular occasion they were making a pile of chalk dust (really boys?) and did not want her to ruin it. I should have taken a picture, but Reed had drawn a chalk line and written "Do not let Ruby past this line." Ruby did not approve.


4. She's great at waving. Whenever she hears someone say "Hi" she's quick to start swinging her arm to return the greeting.


5. She has started this new tongue thing and it's kinda driving me crazy. If her mouth is open, her tongue is almost always hanging out. I don't know if it's a teething thing or what, but she looks like a little puppy dog all the time.


6. Here favorite game is to pass things back and forth. "Ruby....give me the_____", "Thank you". "Here's the ____." She will play this game over and over and over again. Thankfully, the boys enjoy playing it with her, too.


7. She's got four teeth...two on top and two on bottom. I think she looks like a cute little hippopotamus with those two new top teeth.


8. She wore her first pair of jeans--skinny jeans to be exact. My mom thinks it's ridiculous (and maybe it is), but I just couldn't resist.


9. She loves to clap her hands and is happy to do it on command.


10. She loves her little playing table. It was Reed's favorite toy at her age, too. I have actually started to notice some similarities between Ruby's and Reed's personality as a baby. It will be interesting to see if it continues.


I can hardly believe that my baby girl is edging closer and closer to being a 1-year-old. These past 10 month (O.K. almost 11) have gone way too fast.

Hello Fall

Fall has always been my favorite season and that has been even more true since moving to North Carolina. Not only do we get to enjoy the lovely changing of the colors, but it's the time of year when we get the most perfect weather. I love North Carolina, but when it comes to "perfect weather" it's no California. Since you never know how many perfect 72 degree weather days you are going to get we decided to join some friends for an impromptu trip to Raven Rock.


Max and his friend Leah enjoyed a picnic lunch before the hike.


My Ruby--looking like a big girl.


After our lunch we headed out on the trail. 1.5 miles doesn't sound like very far, but when you are carrying a baby and motivating a three year old up and down hills it starts to feel a little further. Max did need to rest here and there, but he actually did great for most of the hike.

Towards the end of the hike his legs "stopped working"; however, when he realized that me carrying him on my back while holding Ruby wasn't going to work well for too long he found some more energy. We finally made it back to the car by running for 10 seconds and walking for 5 seconds. For some reason Max loved that method and finished our adventure without another complaint.


I kept calling Ruby's name to get her to smile, but I think I confused her a little because she just kept waving to me as if to say, "Here I am Mom!" It was pretty cute.


We're glad fall's here. Let's just hope it lasts.

Max's Umbrellas

Last week when we had a few rainy days we discovered that our umbrella had gone MIA. Max was disappointed about not having an umbrella to use and took matters into his own hands.

Apparently for Max an umbrella is not so much about keeping you dry as it is having something to put over your head.

Here he is with a plastic orange cone "umbrella".


When he couldn't find his orange cone the next morning he found what he considered a suitable replacement. He seriously would not get in the truck to take Reed to school without an "umbrella".


I love to see how satisfied he was with his solution. Max has always been a "problem solver". It is not uncommon for him to be upset and crying about something and then stop mid whine and, "Oh, I know what to do." I may not understand his thought process, but I adore his efforts.

Basketball Boy

A couple weeks ago, after bouncing the basketball outside with Sam, Reed decided that he loved basketball and wanted to get really good at it. Reed hasn't really found a sport he loves yet, so I was surprised and thrilled when he was excited about this one.


After his first day of working on basketball skills he was already planning on what his practice schedule should be. He decided he wanted to practice three times a day. Once before school, once before dinner and once after dinner. I was skeptical of how serious he was, but he surprised me with his commitment, rushing to get ready in the morning so that he could get the basketball out before school. It's only been a couple weeks, but except for a few rain days, he's stayed interested and on track.

Here he is showing me how fast he can dribble down the driveway. Always a student and a teacher, Reed loved teaching me how to do the crossover dribble. He explained, "So you pretend like you are playing the accordion but then you remember there is a cat that you don't want to wake up so you only go half way with your other hand." (What?!!)



Reed is happy to do the skill drills, but playing "real" games (or as real as you can get without an actual basketball hoop) is what he enjoys the most---and he takes it seriously too. Just look at that face.


When he was having difficulty getting around Sam he said, "Ah ha... I know. Think Small, think Small...." and then tried to go through Sam's legs.


Reed loves that he and his dad have the same shoes--so do I. (Nice calf muscles, Sam!)


My favorite part of this whole basketball experience so far is one day when Reed came rushing in looking looking for tape and a Sharpie. When I asked him what he needed it for he said it was because he kept forgetting to pass the ball. I was confused until I saw this...


This is Reed's new thing, but Max is not about to be left out. All Max needs to hear are the words "ball" and "outside" and he's running to join in.

I'm not sure how long Reed's passion for basketball will last, but I'm going to try to make it last as long as possible.