In 2008, shortly after she began talking, Steve and I started capturing Ruby’s funny quotes in a Twitter account (@areyoubewhy if you’d like to follow it). I posted early tweets about Ruby in previous posts, and am now catching back up. Here are the rest from 2009 – all are her exact words.
| Did you know? The sun is in space! | 3/26/2009 |
| I got to go on a bike ride with Papa! I liked the freeway noise when we were on the bike. | 3/30/2009 |
| I’m the blocker. I block people. I’m blocking you! | 3/30/2009 |
| I’m not rock ‘n roll. I’m Ruby. | 4/4/2009 |
| Mama should change me because she’s beautiful and you’re not. | 4/9/2009 |
| When I grow up, I wanna be a teacher. | 4/9/2009 |
| I don’t have any patience. | 4/12/2009 |
| I really like purple things, cuz that’s my favorite color. | 4/15/2009 |
| Parts of the body are ON YOU. Bones are on you. Bones are in your mouth. | 4/16/2009 |
| I once celebrated my birthday and I like balloons. | 4/17/2009 |
| I dreamed about baconnaise. | 4/23/2009 |
| Ham makes me run around! | 4/28/2009 |
| I wish I lived in Toronto with Aunt Ni. | 5/1/2009 |
| I like your haircut. It shows your forehead. | 5/2/2009 |
| Cold tigers say “BRRR!” [ed note: this is a pun on “GRRR.”] | 5/5/2009 |
| Mama, I’m Batman. What does Batman do? | 5/12/2009 |
| I’m going to climb higher than you want me to! | 5/24/2009 |
| This screw represents the building that I’m making. | 5/30/2009 |
| I grow when I get undressed. I get bigger. | 6/3/2009 |
| I didn’t want lots because I’m not in lots mode. Sometimes I’m not in lots mode. | 6/7/2009 |
| The green monster upstairs doesn’t have a tongue. I don’t know his name. He’s in the shelf, in the corner. | 6/9/2009 |
| Oong Goong Goong’s on her trip, that I telled you. And she’s flying a really long way. She actually has a big, big airplane. | 6/14/2009 |
| Oong Goong Goong is Manoa. I call people all different names. | 6/22/2009 |
| Firecrackers are SO LOUD. They’re like somebody yelling. | 6/29/2009 |
| Life is boring. It really is boring. | 7/15/2009 |
| The Beastie Boys are my favorite. The Beastie Boys seem so sweet. | 7/18/2009 |
| It’s so fun to ride the train. And they have big windows. I like to look at the train tracks. | 7/18/2009 |
| How do you play “I’ve Been Workin’ on the Railroad” on this drum? | 8/3/2009 |
| Eeeeew! Smurf berries: eeeeew! | 8/9/2009 |
| I’m just an anchor. I’m stopping the boat. I’m stopping the boat. I’m stopping the boat. | 8/16/2009 |
| Even after I die, I’ll still be happy. | 8/16/2009 |
| It’s getting hotter and hotter. I can do all of my voices. I have lots of voices when it’s hot enough. | 8/17/2009 |
| When I’m a grownup, I wanna operate a bridge. I want a bridge operating lesson. I want to see all the boats going in the water. | 8/20/2009 |
| This is my lemon face. And this is also my lime face. | 8/30/2009 |
| Now I know my A B Cs, next time you should wash your hands. | 9/3/2009 |
| I keep the pleases and the thank yous in my belly, and also the love. You just have to squeeze them out. | 9/8/2009 |
| Who knows the sign for “shake your body”? | 9/10/2009 |
| You’re getting old, Mama. | 9/14/2009 |
| Papa, tell me about the robots on other planets. | 9/23/2009 |
| Know how fast I can run? Super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super fast. | 9/29/2009 |
| I’m a math lizard! We should do some math. I like math. | 10/3/2009 |
| We’re going to Canaderdada! | 10/10/2009 |
| My name is Farty Pants. Excuse me. | 10/14/2009 |
| My bat doesn’t have a face. The daytime gives him eyes. My bat is awake all day and asleep all night. | 10/16/2009 |
| We can listen to the quiet rain! | 10/17/2009 |
| Please don’t take my sunshine away, punk rock girl. Punk rock girl takes the sunshine away. | 10/17/2009 |
| My kisses soak into your skin. | 10/18/2009 |
| Sometimes, when I’m mad I say “damp!” But it doesn’t count. | 10/19/2009 |
| I want to go in the mirror so I can see what my sad face looks like. | 10/23/2009 |
| Flunderpants! | 10/27/2009 |
| I love to do Rock Band! I wanna be the guitar. | 11/1/2009 |
| Mama, can there be cheeseballs? Are cheeseballs dessert? | 11/3/2009 |
| Papa, what is time? | 11/4/2009 |
| I’ve got two talking babies in my mouth. | 11/17/2009 |
| Mama, we’re poisonous snakes who buy things. | 11/23/2009 |
| I don’t like capital ‘i’s. And when I say that it makes me think of the eyes I see with. | 11/24/2009 |
| I’m going to have two dreams tonight. One is a fishy dream and one is a phone dream. And I’m not very good at drawing numbers. | 11/24/2009 |
| I love you, sunshine out there. | 11/27/2009 |
| Oong Goonggoong is at Papa’s house. She’s looking for bad guys. Once you see her, she’ll get more used to you. She’ll love you. | 12/1/2009 |
| I brang Ruby back to the store and now I’m Sleeping Beauty. | 12/3/2009 |
| I don’t want to be a scientist. I want to be a math person. What’s three plus three? | 12/6/2009 |
| Mama I’m Oong Goonggoong. I AM. I just like to be names. I’m still the same person, but I changed my name, but I have the same kind of hair. | 12/6/2009 |
| Five plus zero is five. Ten plus zero is ten. Red plus zero is red. | 12/9/2009 |
| Shake it baby, shake it, yeah, shake it, alright baby shake it, yeah, shake it alright. | 12/9/2009 |
| Oong Goonggoong and me are parents now, and we have a grownup PEPS to go to every day. They have beds there and you can sleep there. | 12/14/2009 |
| I wish I had a flamethrower. | 12/18/2009 |
| Mama, today on the solstice I have a big wondering, about the stars and lullabies and everything that’s at night. | 12/22/2009 |
| Nana, you should make a baby. | 12/24/2009 |
| No, that was a WINTERsault. It’s too cold for somersaults. | 12/28/2009 |
| When I grow up I’m going to be a super builder. I’m going to be building and creating. I’m going to be busy every day. | 12/31/2009 |