Poor Tyler!!!!

Prepare yourself for some sad photos to follow! These are the pictures I took of Tyler this morning as he headed out the door for school - a full 16 hours after the accident took place. But let me start over...yesterday was a beautiful Fall day here in Texas. One of those days that's just a shame to waste by staying inside. Well, Bryan took the boys outside to play one of their favorite games out in the street. It's a homemade game called Bootball, which is a cross between football and baseball. So anyway, they couldn't find the soft T-ball that they usually play with. Of course the boys weren't about to give up that easily, and Bryan finally succumbed to the pressure of two pleading boys to play anyway, with the hard ball. They were having a grand time, Tyler was playing some great defense, and then the scream heard round the world came. Tyler was clocked - and I mean CLOCKED - in the face with the baseball. Spencer missed the ball entirely, and it hit Tyler right in the mouth. I rushed outside to find Bryan running inside carrying Tyler, who is holding a handful of blood. Oh poor Ty! That ball hit him right in the side of his mouth, directly on one of his not-even-remotely-loose baby teeth. That tooth, and it's giant root, is now dangling from his bleeding gums and needing to be ripped the rest of the way out. I've included a picture of the tooth if you don't believe me! It was so sad, and so traumatic for poor Tyler, but honestly he was out in the back playing soccer with Spencer just an hour later. I would be in bed for a week if that happened to me! And really we were so lucky that the baby tooth took the brunt of the hit, since his permanent front teeth were directly next to the baby. But can you believe that his lip still looked that bad this morning?? I was shocked when he walked downstairs looking like that! And he was so self-conscious about going to school like that, too. "I look horrible!!" he kept saying. I hope his classmates were nice to him today!

And speaking of Tyler, I have to post this picture of Tyler from Friday night. The boy's school had their annual Fall Festival Friday night, and Tyler wanted to use one of his tickets to get his hair dyed. He had this whole elaborate striped pattern planned out, but when it was finally his turn he was told that 1 ticket means 1 color. So he scrambled and chose red. Well, as you can see, the "red" looked an awful lot like pink!!! He about died when they held that mirror up for him to take a look! Sheer horror on his face! So for the rest of the night he explained to everybody that even looked our direction, "I asked for RED!!!" I could hardly take this picture I was laughing so hard. It was a rough weekend for Ty!

Ruby's 18 month pictures

I can't believe my little Ruby is 18 months old! Well, and in all fairness, she is actually 19 months old now. But these pictures were taken a few weeks ago, and so I thought I'd post them for all to see. Do you notice what she is holding in the top picture? Yes, that is my cell phone. She dug it out of my purse just moments before we were to begin the photo shoot, and so my options were pretty limited: either take the phone away from her, and have her crying in all the pictures, or just let her have the phone. The phone won out! Plus, really, it will be a great reminder of her at this stage. As I mentioned in my last post, Ruby is all about the imaginative play. This morning she was walking around the house with plastic Cinderella heels on, pushing a stroller, and wearing a knight's helmet. I should really have my camera with me at all times, because by the time I go get it she has moved on to something else. At her 18 month appointment, she was saying only three words: yeah, uh-oh, and hot. Well, in the month that has passed since that appointment, she has mastered several new words, with new ones cropping up each day. Here are all that I can think of right now: ball, baby, bubble, uh-uh, mama, mommy, dada, daddy, car, and "go go" (let's go). She waves good bye, gives kisses and loves, uses the "all gone" signal, and will occasionally throw kisses (although she's a little stingy with those). Oh, and I'm pretty sure she tried to say "mine" the other day when I tried to get her to leave Ella's lunchbox at Ella's pre-school. She held it close and said, "Ma!" I'm no dummy...I knew exactly what she meant! Even when she is not talking, she manages to make her wishes known! And she knows exactly what she wants. She is in the 5th percentile for weight (20 lbs. 3 ounces), and about the 60th for height. So she is destined to be built like Spencer - long and lean! I can think of worse fates. :) She is, and always has been, a joy to have in our family. We love you Ruby Jane!

My Little Helper

That little Ruby of mine. She is just the greatest thing ever. She is now 18 months old, and she has entered the phase of imaginative play - which I love!! And she is a multitasker! A usual day of play for her always involves a phone of some kind (preferable my cell phone - it seems to be her favorite) and a purse on her shoulder. She is usually carting around a baby or a stuffed animal, either in her arms or in a stroller, and she also really likes wash cloths. She can either "clean" with them or use them as a blanket for her baby or stuffed animal. So she strolls around the house, with a purse on her shoulder and a phone on her ear, while pushing the stroller or cleaning the house. Oh, and she is usually wearing mismatched shoes, which come from all the members of our family. So this morning I was realizing that I very rarely take pictures of her in these get-ups! So I decided to just put the camera in my pocket while I cleaned. I was not disappointed! True to form, she quickly grabbed that wash cloth, a phone, and a purse and got to work. Her outfit varied, as she found one of my shoes, and she also added the baby and stroller (and a different purse, of course) when we went upstairs. I just want to remember this phase!!! I also want to note that Ruby recently broke the 20 pound mark at her 18 month check-up!! She's on the chart!!