Week 21...

Size: We find it interesting that some people will see Ruth and say how big or old she looks for her age while others will say that she's small, and they thought she was younger than what she is. Being around so many people in the last few months who don't know Ruth or have never seen her before leads hearing both sides more frequently in a short amount of time. :) 

New things: Ruthie can follow your finger when you point at something and see what you're pointing at. She can't do it perfect every time, but she is getting really good at it. It makes it fun to point out things because then she'll actually look at them!
Ruthie likes to "slap: her tummy with hands.
Ruthie seems to be sticking her tongue out more and more. 

Fun things: Ruthie is now quite the flyer. She flew four more times this week. She likes the planes better than the car. Out of all the flights, she only screamed for 1 hr on one of them. It was pretty bad. She didn't just cry; she screamed. She was OVERLY tired, and I think it just caught up to her. The flight attendant tried calming her multiple times (walked her down the aisle). The captain said over the intercom "Hush, little baby". 
The people around us were so supportive. She wouldn't eat. None of our tricks were working. Finally, I started throwing her up in the air (flat and swaddled), and she fell asleep. We were all grateful. Can't complain though. We toted her across the country in one week. I think an hour of screaming was justified. It was also a good lesson in humility for mom and dad. 
Ruth got to go down a slide for the first time and visit a park (makes me so excited for warm weather!). 
Ruth enjoyed her DVD player on the way back to NY! It entertained her for quite some time! She also did so well coming back home. She didn't cry that much before falling asleep and took all of her naps. 
Ruth got to experience her first Easter egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa Lewton's. She loved the baby in her basket more than anything. She also enjoyed all the objects around which we found the eggs more so than the eggs themselves, but she did a great job! It was fun! She got a couple new toys which she LOVES. 
We got to stop in to say good-bye to Great Grandma Lewton before we headed back to NY and while there got to see some of our cousins!
Ruthie loves: The little luggage cars at the airport. She and Tom watched them for a LONG time out the window. She just loves those things!

The SUN!!! She LOVED being in the sunshine. At one point, she was laying back in the sun and closed her eyes, smiled a little, and just soaked it up; it was rather cute. She enjoyed looking at the sun as it shown on things, as well as, the shadows that resulted. She LOVES watching shadows!! 
Having windows down in the car. Because we were in such warm weather this week, we drove with the windows down. Ruth enjoyed the noise that resulted (she also enjoyed watching the window go up and down). A few times, when she was getting tired, we rolled down the windows, and she went right to sleep. 
Still loves the song "My Jesus I Love Thee" (that might not be the correct title). Sometimes it will help put her to sleep. Other times, it just calms her down. 
Ruthie has LOVED this for awhile, but I don't think I've put it on here yet. I will say (while looking all over except at her), "Ruthie, where are you? Ruth? Ruth, where are you?" (or something like that) Then I'll look at her and squeal, "Ha! There you are". She smiles almost every time, and while I'm "looking" for her, she'll just stare at me waiting for me to "find" her. Even if she's crying, it will calm her down enough to still listen and wait. It's so cute!! 
I think she also enjoyed the WIND in TX. She's not used to that kind of wind or being out in the elements like that. It was just a new stimulation for her. 

Sleep: Ruth did well going to bed and napping while at the hotels. Naps in the car and the planes were still short. She seemed to be waking up quite a bit throughout the night, but we don't really count or check the time any more. 

Thankfully, we were able to disassemble her swing and pack it in our suitcases, so we had that wherever we were. THANK GOODNESS! Although, the swing is loosing its magic, I think...Mom and Dad: More interviews this week! And lots of traveling! 
We remained in TX for a few days. Spent dinner each night with the main vet and his family/other vet-related people. Got to check out his cool "trophy" room and got to hear about some of his cool adventures. 
I had lunch with his wife one day and helped prepare dinner and helped make some cookies on St. Patrick's Day. 
We also toured about the vet clinic and the area. It was a nice little town. 
Next, we flew to California (from TX). We got to go to an Open House at the vet clinic, stopped in at the clinic and met the nice staff there, visited a local milk store, had dinner with the vets, drove through the foothills of the Sierra's, toured the town and a nearby one, visited a couple of dairy farms and a walnut "farm", and stopped at a part for lunch and play. My favorite was the little milk shop we visited. It is owned by a local dairy. They make their own milk and bottle it in glass jars. They also make their own ice cream. We went in to sample the milk (Tom had already been to this place; that's how we knew about it), and we got to sample all their milk and 12 ice cream flavors as well! The milk they sale comes in the following flavors: white, chocolate, orange cream, strawberry, and rootbeer. I liked the rootbeer the best. Ruth rather enjoyed the little tastes of ice cream we gave her:). 
It was in the 80's while we were there...amazing!
After California, we flew back to Indiana, visited with my family that night, packed the next morning, stopped to see Tom's family on the way, and then finally made it back to NY! 
It was a SUPER fun adventure!! 

Thank you, Lord, for: The swing! I am SOOOO glad we were able to take it! Warm weather...it was so refreshing! Meeting some really kind and generous people. That I was able to go with Tom. If I wasn't on maternity leave, I'm not sure how much traveling I would have gotten to do with him.