Fresh Figs!

Our fig tree produced mountains of deliciousness over the weekend. At first, Ruby was reticent to try one but she was soon asking for "More figs?" and loves plucking them off the tree and sticking them right in her mouth. Is there anything more satisfying than seeing your child eat fresh food that she picked herself from your own yard? I think not!

Summer Pics

Oh, I am so remiss in posting but here are a few more pics from July and early August. We had a great visit from Stellie, Ruby's cousin this July. Every morning, Ruby would go in and look for Stellie and keeps asking where she is. Unfortunately, Stellie was rocking crutches because she broke her leg, so we were more slow moving on this trip than normal. However, we still managed to pack in the zoo, trips to Stellie's favorite eateries and lots of trips to the park!

Ruby and Stellie at the park

Grandma Genie also came to town and gave Ruby some lovin'. Here they are reading a story together (Crazy Hair by Neil Gaiman):

We were also lucky to have a spur-of-the-moment visit from my friend Luke and his daughter, Annie. I hadn't ever met Annie so it was great to meet her. Ruby and Annie hit it off right away!

We have been having lots of fun with the kiddos in the 'hood. Ruby and Carden regularly ask for each other and love to play together. Here they re-enacting The Carpenters:

This past weekend, Ruby and I took a trip to the zoo with my friend Shannon. Ruby kept asking for Koko so we spent a lot of time at the gorilla exhibit where we watched mama gorilla eat her own throw-up over and over (yeah, nice but the kids were lovin' it!). Ruby kept saying, "Ew! Gross!" but we could barely tear her away from watching that and the baby and the big silverback. She was also very impressed with the penguins and, though a little nervous at first about sitting near these little windows, warmed up to it as she watched the little guys swim right by her face. More summer fun to come!

Beautifying

Ruby was awfully quiet this morning. Turns out she found the lipstick!

A Few Oldies From This Month

Here are a couple of photos from our trip to Boise that I haven't gotten around to posting. This first one is of Ruby's big goose egg from her tumble on Grandma's bed where she clocked her noggin on the head board. It was not a good fall and she still (nearly a month later) has a little dent in her head. We gave her a bubble bath to help her calm down after and you can see the wound in all its glory. And, I just really like this pic of her in her new visor from Grandma Rita:

Two of Ruby's Favorite Books

So, there are two books that Ruby is OBSESSED with and I have to say, I don't mind because they are both fun to read and she's actually getting a lot out of them. The first is Don't Lick the Dog by Wendy Wahm This is a rhyming, frolic in how to act around dogs. Not only is it fun to read, it's really fun to hear Ruby recite the book, pretty much verbatum. Ruby LOVES dogs and when she sees one while we are out and about, she goes nuts. Now that I have this book for reference, we can work on asking, "May I pet your dog?" and how to hold your hand out to let the dog sniff it first. Also, she now knows that "Whap! Whap! Whap! Dogs hate that!" and "It's ok to say 'Enough'..." Great for toddlers learning how to make friends with dogs.

The second is Shape by Shape by Suse MacDonald. A book of cut-out shapes that ultimately (SPOILER ALERT) reveal a dinosaur. Thanks to this book, Ruby finally knows square, circle and triangle as well as crescent, oval and diamond. She requests the "dinosaur book" every night and even knows that it's a brachiosaurus. Good fun!

So, if you have a two-ish year old, I highly recommend that you get thyself to your local library and check these books out and see if they are as appealing to your young'un as they are to mine. Me, I think I am going to have to buy copies of these books since I can't renew them anymore!

I-D-A-H-O

The three of us took a trip to Idaho to spend the fourth with the grandmas and cousins. We got to meet Hannah, Jack's little sister for the first time and Ruby got to see some fantastic fireworks.

We arrived on the evening of the 2nd after a short little flight and settled in. The next day, Jack, Hannah and Auntie Amy came over and the kids went to feed Grandma Genie's chickens and played with bubbles. It was so hot that we didn't spend too much time outside in Grandma's beautiful yard but we did see all of her great flowers and partake in some yummy veggies. We had a big dinner at her place on Friday with Grandma Grace and Grandpa Jack, fresh from a trip to the Netherlands, as well as Grandma Rita who came up for the weekend. Then on Saturday, the actual 4th, we had a great dinner at Amy and Bruce's house. There was a pool and a tent set up in Jack's yard and Ruby and Jack were having a ball. It was the first time they've actually played together rather than alongside each other.

Uncle Harley and his girlfriend, Danielle, also joined us. Ruby was SO excited to see Uncle Harley! As it got dark and the kids got tired, we gave them a bath and took Ruby home. There were fireworks going off everywhere as we went back to Grandma Genie's. Ruby kept saying, "Where are the fireworks Daddy?" When we got back to the house, the neighbor had a bunch of fireworks he was setting off so Ruby and her Dad sat out and watched them. Ruby LOVED it. "Oh my gosh!" and "Awesome!" were her two most popular comments as she ate a creamsicle and enjoyed a fabulous 4th. At 11pm she crawled into her bed and fell sound asleep.

It was a fun little vacation. Now we await the arrival of Cousin Stellie and Grandma Genie to our house! Yay!

Ruby's Gonna Have a Whole New Role...

...starting in early January 2010!