No comment really needed; it's just a cute pic.

Ruby has been growing up fast lately--although she doesn't quite know how to read! She doesn't lack the interest though. A few days ago she was pointing to words and asking me what they said, which means she gets the concept of the printed word now. A few moments later she did turn said-book upside down to "read" it herself, so we'll need to work on right-side up. She recognizes the "O" letter and she's started working on the "Q" (which we call an O with a tail), mostly because we often take the Q train into Manhattan.

She's also been picking up more and more expressions. Some from the movies she's obsessed with--the Lion King (or King Lion as she calls him). Yesterday she told me, "No worries. Hakuna matata." I was pleasantly surprised; not because she had picked up that phrase, but because she had changed the "Don't worry" into "No worries" which is just an awesome Down-Under mannerism which I clearly use enough for her to have adopted it!

All that said, this is just a prelude to a longer post I need to write on toddlers and school. Ruby has been desperate to go to school and talks about it all the time. We are going to start doing research this summer about where we would like for her to go. I think she'll end up starting something when she's 4 (yes, we need to apply this fall or next spring to get her into something for the fall of 2010). We don't know whether that means she'll be with Marie until then or whether we'll find a preschool/daycare before then. As we go into that process of figuring that all out, I'm sure I'll be writing more on our decisions. Stay tuned!