The best of both

Start your day as a dragon... (Yep--she went grocery shopping like this.)

and finish up as a princess, or as a"tall-tall princess" as Ruby called herself when she stood up on the table as asked me to take her picture. "Mom, I a tall, tall princess."


I know it just comes with the territory when you're an only girl and your biggest role models are two older brothers, but I'm pretty confident that this girl can hold her own in both the dragon and princess crowds. The boys love her rough and tumble side and, much to my chagrin, Max has even called her a tomboy at times. (However, I shouldn't care too much since Max also thinks that boys with long hair are tomboys, too. I kept our cart rolling quickly at Walmart when we passed a large biker man with a pony tail and Max excitedly shouted to me, "Hey look Mom. It's a tomboy!")

She can hike and skip rocks withe the best of them.






And then delight in performing ballet moves while insisting that everyone preform with her.


She squeals with delight at new clothes and has been known to fall in devastation when she realizes that shoes on the pages of the book will, in fact, not fit her feet and, even worse, will not be leaving the pages of the book anytime soon. Below Ruby looks to be dying a slow death caused by a shortage of shoes.


She doesn't mind making a mess of herself. (Spaghetti, not face paint)


But also demands a bath every night--usually about 5 minutes into dinner.


She certainly doesn't limit herself to the "cheerleader" roll. When the boys play football or basketball, she's all about getting in on the action.





Sometimes she is very particular about her hair--ponytail only or just "hair up, mom".


and sometimes she fights me and my brush wanting to run wild with hair styled only with what appears to be syrup.


She loves to accessorize...


but hates it when people get in her shot and is not afraid to take matters into her own hands when they do.


Sometimes the accessories come before breakfast....or even before complete consciousness. I remember Ruby woke up very groggy the morning I took this picture. She wasn't sure if she wanted to be awake or not, but she did know either way she wanted a hat.


Watching Ruby and her flip flopping ways does keep things exciting. I never know which version to expect--the dragon or the princess, and usually it's a little of both.