6 months

I think the fact that I'm almost a week behind with this post is evidence of how fast time is flying and how quickly this girl is growing. Last Wednesday Ruby turned 6 months old. Six months is actually one of my favorite ages/stages. I'm not sure exactly why-- maybe it's because it's so much fun to watch her start to gain control of her body and simultaneously start to let her personality shine.


At 6 months Ruby....

1. Eats. She's only tried a few things so far, but she seems to love it all (especially carrots). She gets so excited when the she sees the food is on it's way. So excited in fact that you've got to be fast with the food once she knows it's coming. Ferocious might be a good word to describe how she attacks the spoon sometimes. (As a bonus her meal of prunes gave me a sneak peak of what she might look like in 16ish years if burgundy lipstick comes back in style.)


2. She's really starting to play. She is no longer just content to watch the boys do their thing. She does her best to get in on the action too. They of course love her interest in them. Her favorite things seem to be balls and guns. I was looking forward to a little bit of a girly girl so I think I need to get her a few more dolls or something.


3. She's ready to say, "Bye-bye" to the Bumbo. Whenever we put her in the bumbo seat she immediately shifts herself to the side and hangs over the edge. I guess she finds that more comfortable or maybe she's just looking for a way to wiggle out.


4. She sits like a champ. Almost overnight she started sitting for long periods of time without tipping. I always love it when they hit the age when they are so happy to sit and explore a box of toys, knock over block towers, or fold themselves in half like a sandwich trying to get something out of reach. How do I not have a picture of this? Here is a random cute picture of her instead.


5. She does yoga. She's got the plank pose down at least. I've always thought she had pretty strong ab muscles for a baby. The plank pose may not be too impressive, but I've also seen her with both feet over her head---never long enough for me to grab the camera, but impressive none the less.

Speaking of feet...

6. She likes to eat her feet. I know babies do this, but my babies have never done this so it makes me laugh whenever I see her chewing away on her toes.


7. She's trying to get a move on. This girl wants to go. She seems too little to me to be working towards crawling already, but don't tell her that. She's already started scooting a little (backwards mostly). All she needs is the right motivation. The little flaps on the game, "Guess Who" really get her going.


8. She laughs. She has the sweetest little laugh. Sam thinks she's the least ticklish of our kids. I don't know if that is true or not, but maybe the infrequence of it what makes it that much sweeter to my ears. I can almost hear her laughing when I see this picture.


9. She's got a mohawk. I guess Ruby was jealous of her brother's St. Patrick's Day styling, because her hair has fallen out in such a funny way that uncombed she looks like she has a little mohawk of long hair right up the middle. Her hair really is crazy. Without a headband she always reminds me a little Cindy-Lou-Who from "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" or any of several of Dr. Suess characters with crazy hair that sticks up just in the middle.


10. She has stopped screaming non-stop in the car seat. Don't get me wrong, she still doesn't love it and we will definitely not be planning a road trip anytime soon, but she has found a way to deal with her time in the car seat. Usually she will cry for a minute, start sucking her thumb and then be mostly content or asleep for the rest of the time. This is probably the biggest and best change we've enjoyed during the past month so I'm not sure how it ended up as number 10. I guess I was saving the best for last.


We sure love this girl and can hardly wait to see what she has in store for us at 7 months.