Curiosity and the Crawler

Momma Post: A few milestones happened this week, starting with Ruby now reaching seven months. She is now jabbering up a storm, with a lot of "dadadadas" and "babababas". And, as the pictures taken this evening show, we now have our work cut out for us as Ruby's taken her mobility to a whole new level. Ruby's been scootin' for awhile now, but mainly gaining the most distance in reverse. Earlier this week, we baited Ruby with the tv remote or her shiny starfish to urge her forward. Well it worked and now our little one is on the move (follow the photo sequence from the bottom, then clockwise). I have to say it has been interesting seeing what attracts her curiosity...

Baby and the Beerfest

Momma Post: Yesterday we met our friends the Alvarez's with daughter Stella and the Hauck's (Tom shared these photos with us) at the Oregon Brewers Festival down at the Waterfront. Ruby enjoyed the MAX ride downtown, digging in the sand and hanging out with Stella.

The Good Life

If You Can Make it in NYC, Then You've Made it!

daddy post: good times in NYC at mark & cindy's wedding. a RED red eye flight with grandma alice, amy, and joe turned out alright when we got a ride to our hotel in a stretch limo. trips to the empire state building, katz's deli, and central park complimented the beautiful wedding. also congrats to cousing steve and his now fiancee carrie on their engagement atop the empire state building. they're also expecting a child come february and we can't wait for ruby to have some cousins to play with. throughout the trip ruby was a champ and we're happy to be home even if it's supposed to hit 104 degrees tomorrow. many thanks to zor, joan, and grandma alice for the making the trip possible for us. in other news ruby is crawling much more efficiently now. as i type this she's managed to traverse our room and make it to my table where she has managed to promptly rid it of magazines and remotes. she's rather proud of herself as are we. hope everyone is doing well.

Ruby's New York Safari

Momma Post: A description of our New York trip and Mark & Cindy's wedding will be fourth coming. Until then here's a photo of our little traveler gaining a three-foot high perspective of the Asphalt Jungle.

Summer Love

Momma Post: Ruby's becoming her own little person more and more each day. We're having a wonderful time getting to know her personality and falling more deeply in love with our daughter. Ruby's very inquistive, spends long moments taking in her world and finds joy in interacting with it. We love how she chuckles as friends and family engage in conversations with her. This week she's discovered the following: the fun of pulling grass; had to slowly climb up on mom or dad; spitting out cheerios, bananas and bites of pancake; and that it's more fun to stay up late than go to bed early, like the preferred 8:00pm timeslot.

We had an eventful weekend. If there was a theme it was the continuation of our Portland Parks tour...exploration in Cathedral Park and St. Johns; a New Orleans style concert with the Fitzpatricks, Tiffany and her cutie Tage in Fernhill Park; and Carson's 1st Birthday in Sellwood Park. The picture above of the moms and babies (Mommas' Loves), include from right to left: Ruby and me, Beth and Carson, Kara and Conner, and Marta and Elysa. In the other photo, Ruby is wearing her McMenamins' Ruby Ale t-shirt thanks to Meg Maitland. Plus, a big thanks to Dad and Janet for hanging out with Ruby, while we had a much needed date night. Also, a thank you to Anne and Peter for a lovely World Cup breakfast.

Happy 4th O'July

daddy post: a worthwhile way of losing one's independence. thanks for 7 (4 official) great years marty. ruby and i are very lucky.
love always, -hubbers

Summertime and the Living is Easy...

Momma Post: Summer has arrived in Portland with 100 degree heat at the beginning of the week. Laying in front of the fan, licking popsicles, and walks at dusk were all strategies in keeping cool. Today, Ruby got her first taste of chlorine and what Portland Parks have to offer during the summer. We joined our friends and their kids at Sellwood Pool for a dip in the water. Ruby was full of giggles, enjoyed frog-kicking, and proved to be quite the little water baby.

The Monster Under the Bed

Momma Post: Ruby's scootin' migration has taken her to some interesting places. Earlier this week, I watched Ruby back up about four or five feet until she was under the bed. She was pretty proud of herself until she realized that her headroom was greatly impaired and she could only continue to move in reverse. Before getting swallowed up by the monster under the bed, she was dragged out (rescued) by mom.