Ruben's Reading

Ruben is addicted to reading. Seriously. He's like a little drug addict that just needs a fix or he just may die. He'll grab the nearest book, come up to you, hold out the book and grunt with much enthusiasm until you let him sit on your lap and read the book.  If for some reason you make any kind of movement away from the book, then you are in trouble.

Other Ruben-isms of late are the new found love of sitting in kid-sized seats particularly this little rocking chair in his room.  He'll find a chair and sit in it for 5 minutes at a stretch just sitting there and looking so proud to be sitting in a chair. He also wants to be part of the crowd at the table and not sitting at his own high chair. We borrowed a little clamp on chair for our table so he will stop spending meals standing on the seat of his high chair leaning back and forth as the conversation at the table allows. 

He and June are really starting to fight over toys. This mostly occurs when June realizes that Ruben has a cool toy and she wants it. It used to work to distract Ruben with another toy, but he's caught on to that rouse and refuses the boring toy that June offers and does not relinquish his hold on the "cool" toy. Just a note, the fads in coolness make absolutely no sense to this mom.

Do not try to put pants on Ruben. Diaper changes and getting dressed are two of the most stressful parts of my day, and are also the reason the waistband of my jeans isn't fitting more snugly after all those cookies. It is a workout to hold this kid down while you try to diaper him.  Most of the time I break it into two workout session.  First the diaper then 20 minutes later the pants. It is awful cold in the house to be running around without pants, but he just doesn't like them. Socks only stay on if the shoes are on to hold them.

Ruben's vocabulary is also growing probably due to the copious number of books he ingests each day. He can now say Mama (mostly when I show up after having been gone), Dada (only used at church to yell across the sanctuary when Dad is leading worship), dog, Baa Baa (did you know that sheep are not the only animals to say baa baa - according to Ruben most farm animals say baa, except cows who say mmmmaaaa, pigs who say (silent) oooiii, and ducks who make a tongue clicking sound), Buh (that means bye), Papa (actually he doesn't vocalize the sound yet but he makes the p sound with his lips), Baby (amazingly this sounds exactly like baby and he knows what it means too), and he knows the sign language for more, milk, water, banana, and please (but he doesn't do it). 

Did I mention that Ruben has the most genuine and beautiful smile that any 14 month old child can possess. Seriously. This kid is a looker and if you catch his eye and make him smile it will be sure to give your entire day a huge lift.