she's 10 - scratch that - 10 1/2 months!!!!!

well, i'm a bit behind on posting ruby's 10 month pictures. as you can see the we've been busy - busy keeping after this crazy crawling chica! she is on the move for reals. it all happened pretty quickly. ruby seems to tackle all milestones the same way. meaning that she doesn't do a darn thing until she has figured out exactly what she's going to do in her head first. and then when she takes the first move, she pretty much does it like she's been doing it for years. it's pretty awesome to see her figure stuff out and try something new. so, now she is crawling. fast. and pulling herself up on to everything. once she gets up, she starts moving around the furniture and all of her toys. she's cruising right along. she loves a bike that my co-workers bought her. we have it set up so that it's more like a rocker right now than a bike. she loves it. she gets on that thing and rocks it like crazy. and she may or may not have fallen off. more than once. and fake-cried after like she was terrified of the thing. it's pretty hilarious to see. i imagine that ruby will be walking within a month or so.

let's see, what else is new? ah yes, here are her specs: i suspect she's approaching 20 lbs and she's is wearing sizes 9 months - 12 months clothes. she's still in size 3 diapers. she (we) are still nursing! she's been getting a little bit of formula on some days, depending on how often i'm able to pump at work. i'm still pumping 3 (!) times a day at work and counting the days (ahem, 22!) until i can drop the work pumps. she usually nurses when she wakes up in the morning (early, around 6) and then has three 4 ounce bottles at daycare. then she nurses sometime around dinner and before she goes to bed. she's been eating pretty much everything we eat now, too, which is fun. she still loves pretty much everything she tries which makes me happy. ruby's pediatrician wants her to start on cow's milk a few weeks prior to her one year appointment so towards the end of march, we'll start offering her whole milk and see how it goes. *sigh* new milestones left and right.

ruby has started practicing some new words, too. she still says "mama" the most, but has added "bye" and sometimes tries to say "dad" which usually comes out as "da". it's pretty adorable. i can really tell that she's starting to understand more and more what we're saying to her. i can tell her to crawl to me in the kitchen or living room and she will. it's such a blast to interact with her and to watch her play games with T. they wrestle each other and this giant teddy bear she has and she ca-racks up! she considers herself quite the comedian. she will grab any small object and toss it acrosss the room, then break out into giggles, then crawl over to it and do it all over again. she totally rocks and is more fun every day.

ruby still loves to read. she was given a baby, baby grand piano for christmas from her sun grandparents and she often crawls over to pound on the keys. she has started dancing when the music starts up on any of her toys and she claps her hands. her laugh is infectious. her smile is huge and until very recently, just a gummy one. that's right, boys and girls, ruby has her first tooth! we had seen the beginnings of it, red and swollen just under her gums. (and certainly noticed how it was disrupting her sleep!) and then today, i finally felt it peeking through. gah! like i said, *milestones* (!!!) and i have to admit, i am a little terrified that it's only her first one and there's a whole slew of them to follow. so, i'm preparing for more teething-induced craziness and interrupted sleep.

well, i better finish this is up. until i post next, i'll be working on my next big project: ruby's first birthday party!! only hint is: rainbow theme party. hecks yeah, people, it's gonna be so dope!

and now, some sweet ruby-love...