5 months

This is the first month of Ruby's life where I feel like, "What??? Are you really _____months already? This past month of my little girl's life has flown by and we are starting to wonder what we ever did without her.

Here are some things I want to remember about Ruby at 5 months old.

1. She loves her chains. Amazingly enough I never had these little baby chain links with my boys. For Ruby they are a must have. He talon-like fingers like to grab onto them whenever they are in reach.


2. She's a fan of the exersaucer. She will happily play with the toys for quite a while. As long as some one is talking or running around her she is pretty content to enjoy the toys and the company.


3. The drool continues to flow. I love how in this picture the drool looks like it's coming right at you. I get this same view just about everyday...except it actually does get me.


4. She is very interested in her feet. I remember when the boys were babies all the books said that they should be playing with their feet at this stage, but when it came to feet they were only mildly interested. Recently, this girl can't get enough of her feet. I don't know if it's that she is more flexible then the boys or if she is just thinking about the shoes she will wear soon (I know I am), but she loves to check out her feet.


5. She's a wiggle machine. She's becoming quite agile with her rolls from side to side. In fact she amazingly enough fell off the bed in only a few minutes while I was disciplining Max even though she was perpendicular to the edge of the bed when I left her. I still don't know how she did it, but I did feel awful and am much more careful now to avoid those situations.


6. She enjoys her rice cereal. This is another big difference between her and the boys. Both boys were happy to pass on this entree, but she has grown quite fond on it in the past week or so. It's not the strawberries, yogurt or quesadilla she was drooling over today, but for now she has decided it will do.

Here she is excited to get her hand of the cereal. The only thing Sam looks excited for is bed.


7. I still hold her a whole bunch, but she has started to hold me back. I wish I had a picture of how she hangs onto me as we work around the house. I'll have to remind Sam to take a picture next time because that is something I definitely don't want to forget.


8. She continues to hate the car and screams whenever we even think about putting her in the car seat (which is less and less these days). I'm convinced it will change at the very least when she's a year old and gets to turn around. I told Sam this might be the year we remember as "the year we went nowhere." Although I must note that on Sunday she gave me the most wonderful Mother's Day present ever when she didn't cry to or from church. It was nearly miraculous. I think the fact that it was on Mother's Day was no coincidence.

Here she is in car seat agony. Yes..it's been hot here, but most of that is "cry-sweat"


9. She's got her first doll. My cousin Lisa sent it and she actually really likes it----mostly for sucking on, but still it's cute to see her with it. It's our first official "girl" toy.


10. She is starting to be a part of our daily family life instead of just a cute accessory that we carry around. Here she is enjoying the trampoline..and the trampoline static


I have to include this bonus picture of Ruby because there is something very funny to me about the way she is standing. I am not sure exactly what it is, but I feel like I'm getting a little bit of flash forward of what the future holds for us with her and I can hardly wait!