Middle America

The day before we left for our trip to Kansas City for Nate's cousin Chris's graduation, Ruby tripped on the playground and scratched up her nose. You can see the injury in this photo of her chowing down on Kansas City-style barbecue:


And here she is with Alysha:
We had a great trip. Nate's parents and a bunch of other relatives and friends were there for the festivities. It's hot in Kansas. In some ways, it was like visiting a giant sauna -- but with bbq wings and beer and chocolate cake, and the thrilling sensation that at any moment, a tornado might blow the roof off.
Here's Ruby snuggled up with her airline pillow. This is how you want your toddler to travel. Most of the time, she didn't.

This is the way the ladies ride...

Ruby loves to ride on our knees while we recite that game about the ladies/ gentlemen/ cowboys: "this is the way the ladies ride," etc. But you don't need to worry about gender stereotypes suppressing her inner cowgirl.

This is the way the Ruby rides:

Here are a couple other photos we took in the backyard the other day. It was hot!

Refreshment:

And art:

Record-low rates

Lest you think my Mother's Day was all parade waves and handprints, I should add that Ruby has been carrying around our mortgage broker's business card, pointing to his picture and saying, "Mama."
Don't get me wrong: our broker was efficient and got us a great rate. Referrals are an important part of his business, so he sent us a whole stack of cards. But after going through all that trouble of giving birth, the sleepless nights, the spit-up, the pureeing of vegetables and nose-wiping... I had hoped for a little more consideration from my own daughter on Mother's Day weekend.

Psst.

In this photo, Ruby is studying the Mother's Day gift she made me at school. (We call daycare "school." It makes us feel better about the whole thing.)
And here she is at the baseball game:

And heading into the game with her dad:

This morning -- Mother's Day - I woke up to find Ruby's little face peeking over the edge of my bed. It was 6:30. From the other room, Nate said, "Ruby, come in here and leave Mommy alone." So she grinned at me, gave me a parade wave and said, "Bye!"
Ruby's really into "Bye" and says it when she wants to leave (holding her coat by the door), when she wants us to leave, and when we put her in her crib.
Even though she's saying more words all the time (this week: "hippo.") Ruby mostly talks in gibberish. I think it's hilarious, and it makes for funny exchanges since she seems like she's trying to say something but, of course, there are no words in there. This afternoon I heard this exchange while we were getting ready to go to the Mariners game.
Ruby: bla bla bla blaba.
Nate: (packing the diaper bag) This is in case you crap yourself.
Ruby: bla bla bla bla.
Nate: Don't give me that. You know exactly what I'm talking about.
But the funniest thing, to me, is Ruby's newest game, whispering gibberish. She takes it very seriously: "whisper whisper whisper..." If you whisper something back, she responds with a big, loud, fake laugh.