thirteen month little chica

well, here we are. 13 months and then some. ya know, when ruby turned a year it was such a milestone. i thought it would feel bigger, though, honestly. i thought i would cry at her birthday. i thought i'd choke up singing her "happy birthday" with our friends and families. but none of that happen. on her actual birthday, i was, just... happy. i was reflective and grateful for the year we've had together as a family. i was content.

but.

i'm finding the weeks and month(s) after ruby's first year are actually more emotional for me. there is no missing ruby's personality at this age and the developmental milestones that she's reaching now are almost always specifically related to her becoming more independent. i know, i know, you're thinking i need to relax, take a breath, and stop freaking out. i know that she's not about to jump in the car and drive off to the mall to hang out with her friends. but some days, it is so clear just how quickly time goes by. and every time ruby learns to do something new on her own, something that she used to need me to do for her, i have to admit that a tiny part of me is a little sad.

sigh.

(and ya know, as an aside, i love when i'm blogging and that happens - something comes out that i haven't actually said out loud. and maybe i didn't even know it, but that i actually needed to say it.)

so, now that i've gotten that out, let's talk about what totally rocks. and that is 13-month-old-rubinski. she is crazy. like, straight-up. she's loud and, as of late, kinda all attitude all the time. she is clearly testing out limits. it's like she hit the year mark and all the sudden ruby has decided she owns this house and all those in it. (and let's be honest, she's probably not that far off.) and actually, it's pretty hilarious. loud and hilarious. she actually yelled at terence this morning. of course, you can't understand much of what she's saying, but trust me, if you were in our house this morning, you'd have known that she was not thinking of something nice while she screeched in his direction.

ya know, as i re-read this, it doesn't sound like 13 months rocks at all. but seriously, ruby acting more like a little person, for the most part, is so much fun! when she tries out hollering at me about something she's mad about and i tell her to pretty much chill out, she totally knows what i'm saying and often times will start laughing as though to say "aww man, that mama. she called my bluff again." i have a good time with her. truth be told, it's probably b/c i see a lot of myself in her. from the stories that my older sisters and my mom's told of me when i was little, it sounds like ruby may be following in her mother's spunky little footprints. and yeah, i'm pretty much a proud mama.

so, verbally, ruby's really growing. she says "mama", "dad", "bye-bye", "ball", "uh-oh", and "whoa" (i'm serious with that last one. it's usually "oh, whoa!" i'm trying to teach her "yeah, baby" too.) oh, and - this is so freaking exciting! - this week, she started signing "more" when she wanted more to eat. i've been signing "more", "eat", and "all done" since she was 6 months and it's pretty sweet to see her starting to pick it up. of course, i just think she's a genius. ha.

she's still not walking, just cruising along furniture and standing up for short periods of time on her own. but this morning, i had put her on the couch to put her shoes on and she flipped on her stomach and slid off the couch, feet first, to get on the floor. T pointed out that she'd done it a couple times before and i was surprised. i actually think it's a small miracle. she's pretty darn good at climbing up on to things, but it's the falling-to-her-death-or-seriously-painful-end part that worries me. now hopefully we can transfer this new found skill of hers to the stairs.

ruby still loves her usual loves - singing, reading, anything involving music. and lately, she's also been loving throwing balls. she totally geeks out everytime she throws one. so it seems she has some athletic ability. loves to read? can throw a ball? this kid has some serious skills. :)

alright, on to some ruby-love in photos...

hey there, not-so-little girl!



these are my feet. aren't they cool?

so this is a little blurry, but this! this is her oh-no-you-didn't face.
i think it's hilarious. which isn't the effect i think she's going for, but ah well.

lovin' up on her purple horsey.