18 months...cont'd

I was pretty tired the other night when I did Ruby's little tribute...and I guess at the time I felt like I hadn't missed a thing; but I just keep thinking of more, and I can't shake this urge...this feeling...this need to "finish" what I started. Who can blame me for having so much more to say about this little 18 month bundle of joy?

So here are 18 things - one for every month we have been blessed...simply by knowing her:

1) She's learning the ABC's, and loves to sing the song. She has the tune down perfectly...only the letters have no rhyme or reason to them. just completely jumbled and out of order. In fact, some of the letters are perhaps ones she made up herself. I love hearing her sing the ABC's.

2) She can count to ten, too...only here's her version (it's the same every time): 1,2,3,9,8. I love hearing her count. I think I may even get a little sad when she starts saying 4,5,6. I think it's so cute just the way she does it...her very own unique little way.

3)She always says a long,drawn out "Ameeeeeeeen" after every single prayer...and always gets the biggest smile while saying it. She puts so much enthusiasm into it, too. Once or twice I peeked to see her folding her arms and closing her eyes, but like I said, only once or twice...most the time she's looking at us like we're just super weird parents. This is most definitely something I will be excited to see her learn and grasp.

4)Ever since our trip to Utah, over a month ago, she's been saying Amy a lot. She has an aunt Amy whom we spent some time with while we were there, and also a cousin Amy, who lives here. She sure loves those Amys, as she can't stop talking about them.

5)She has really started talking lately. And mimicking everything she hears. Obviously, some words she says better than others, nonetheless, it's been so rewarding for me to watch her develop these skills.

6) She loves pushing buttons...any type of button. She used to turn the TV on and off every few seconds, until I put a strip of duct tape over the button so that she couldn't tell where it was. I had to do that to the computer too, because she would always turn it off during those times when I was right in the middle of typing a lengthy email, or a document, which of course, I had neglected to save while composing. Recently she has discovered the power strip that the computer is plugged in to. She thoroughly enjoys flipping that on and off, and did it probably at least 3 or four times today alone! Can you tell that she has even learned to push mommy's buttons? (Those are probably her favorite to push!)

7) I can always tell if she likes a certain food by the mmmm mmmm that follows the bite...and if she wants to try something, she says "bite?".

8) She also lets us know when she's done (whether she's actually finished all of her food or not), by saying "on gone" (all gone).

9) She hates having a blanket on top of her. I always put one in her crib just in case she gets cold and decides she wants it...but she usually bunches it up and uses it as a pillow. Sometimes she sleeps in between me and John in our bed. She goes crazy and just kicks and kicks if we try to put the covers over her too. It's pretty challenging for us to try to stay covered ourselves when Ruby is either kicking the blankets away, or sprawled out on top of them.

10) When she gets upset, she takes her pacifier out of her mouth and vigorously throws it across the room. It makes me mad, but it makes me laugh too because it's so dramatic. A few months back, we were sitting in Sacrament Meeting, when completely out of the blue, she removed it from her mouth and threw it at the lady sitting behind us. It made a loud whack as it hit smack dab in the middle of her chest. John and I were mortified...but none of us (including the lady) could stop laughing.

11) She always lets me know if her food is too hot, or if the shower water is too hot...simply by saying "hot". The other day though, as I was pulling the shirt with an extremely small neck opening, over her head- she cried "hot, hot". I realized then that "hot" is her way of saying "ouch", whether it's actually burning her or not.

12) We have been teaching her the name of many of her body parts. I think her favorite to say, and the one that she has had the easiest time learning, would be "eyes". She loves to show us where our eyes are too, while literally poking her finger into our sockets...yep, Ruby, those are mom's eyes.

13) She's obsessed with my glasses. She calls them "gwasses", and takes advantage of every opportunity to remove them from my face. It's our little morning-time game.

14) She loves cell phones, and thanks to her cousin, Christopher, she now has her very own real cell phone...which she loves. She wanders the house, phone to ear, saying "hewo, daddy?" over and over. So cute to watch.

15) She has this weird habit of twisting her pacifier while it's in her mouth. For the most part, just one, 180 degree, counterclockwise turn will satisfy her...and then after a minute or two, she's at it again. We still haven't figured out why she does it, or what it means. Surely the pacifier couldn't taste or feel any different either way.

16) She loves ice breakers sours. They come in a little round container, which she still hasn't learned how to open herself. We keep them in a drawer in the kitchen, which unfortunately, she can now reach. She always brings the container to us and begs "peese, peese, peese, peeeeeese", while shifting her weight rapidly from one foot to the other. A sometimes very demanding, and extremely impatient little child we have.

17) Not to long ago, she switched to only one nap a day. But for a while, we couldn't figure out which nap (her morning or afternoon) she still needed. I continued to put her down both in the morning and afternoon, and even if she didn't sleep, she was perfectly content to stay in her crib anyway. I discovered that if I ever just need a "break", I can usually put her in her crib for some "quiet" time, and she'll just jabber happily to herself. She has always been a happy baby.

18) We have had this cat lingering outside our sliding glass door for a week now. I don't know where he came from, or who he belongs to (I assume he belongs to somebody because he's fat, and we haven't been feeding him). So anyway, we have had this cat outside our door, and he just peers in at us and meows. His meows actually sound a lot to me like cries for help. "Hellllp, Hellllp" all day and all night. Last night we were putting up our outdoor Christmas lights, and of course Kitty (that's the name we've given him), found his way to the front yard where we were. Ruby thoroughly enjoyed following him around and taunting him; but if Kitty started to follow her, she'd scream bloody murder while clinging to my leg. Whenever Kitty would meow, Ruby would too; and they went back and forth meowing throughout the entire night. Kitty was doing the "helllllpppp" meow, and Ruby would do the "rraaaaaarrr" meow. It was pretty entertaining...and hilarious.

That was 18...but I just have to add one more.

This is by far one of the sweetest and most tender things she does. Very often, and completely out of the blue, she'll lean in for a kiss. She seems to know when I need it the most, and takes advantage of those opportunities to make me smile. The funny thing is that most the time she won't remove her binky...so I end up kissing hard plastic. At least her intentions are good.

Seriously, what would I ever do without her? Once again, happy 18 months, my sweet little gem...