Happy Birthday Ruby!

A couple months ago--December 9th to be exact--my baby girl turned one year old. Even two months after the fact I stumble over the words when people ask me how old she is. I truly can't believe how fast this past year of life has gone. It's even harder to believe how our family ever felt complete without with this wonderful and feisty little girl. Here are a few things about Ruby at 12 months.



1. She loves to wear scarves...not that she has any, but for a while now Ruby's favorite funny thing to do is to pull clothes out of drawers and drape them around her neck. The truly funny part is that this action is very intentional and she she keeps her "scarves" on as she plays around the house.



2. She folds her arms to pray. No photos of this for obvious reasons, but it's by far her best untaught "trick". When she hears the start of a prayer she stops whatever she is doing and puts one hand on top of the other one. They certainly don't stay folded the whole time, but it's a very cute start.




3. She loves pasta. Hands down this girl's favorite food. One night she even brought me a box of Hamburger Helper to show me that that was what she wanted to eat.


4. She had her 9th ear infection. Since her 6-month appointment this girl has been one ear infection after another. This has been a trial for both her and me...especially in the sleeping department. When she finally does get some rest it is heavenly.



5. She got a black eye. I'm not sure how after two rambunctious boys it is my little GIRL that gets our first black eye. It wasn't too bad, but still pretty sad. Of course it was right before I was trying to take pictures for our Christmas card.



6. She seems to have an affinity for sports. If there is a ball in sight she is after it.


7.She loves to keep pens, pencils, crayons and markers in her hands throughout the day. She hangs on to them like a security blanket and even likes to have them as she falls asleep in my arms. Future artist? writer? We'll take either one.


8. She loves the couch. The couch is her favorite place to be. She loves to walk along the cushions, occasionally bold enough to take a step forward before launching herself into a prone position.


9. Ruby celebrated her big day with her four favorite people. I have always heard that December is a hard month to have a birthday and now I know that even early in the month that is true. By the first week of December life was already so crazy that we had to squeeze her celebration in over several days. Cupcakes one day, presents one day, a balloon the next. After multiple days of celebrating Reed said, "Hey--Ruby's birthday is kind of like Hanukkah!"







We gave Ruby a box of tissue for her birthday. I wish I would have taken more pictures of her "enjoying" her gift. It was perfect and was certainly the gift that just kept giving.




Happy (belated) Birthday Ruby! We love you!!!