Week 38

Size: Tom and I both had a dr. appt this week, and we stuck Ruth on the scale there, and it said she weighs 18.6 lb. We were guessing she was around 20. She’s still a petite little thing, but she does still have nice thigh creasesJ.

New things:  Ruth’s crawling has really picked up. She is much faster and uses her new tool way more frequently. I like that she can follow me and get to what she wants. I don’t like that what she wants tends to be the shoes on the shoe mat by the door and outletsJ (don’t worry, we have plugs).

During or after a feeding, Ruth has enjoyed just laying back with her head on my lap or in my hand and having me run my finger across/around her face. It’s quite funny to watch her “relax” while I give her a “face massage”. Ruth doesn’t stay still for too many things, but she does for that (at least for a little bit). It’s really cute!

Ruth can sign “milk”. I’m not sure if this word has meaning yet, but she can do it.

If you ask Ruth, “where are your hands”, she’ll move at least one (maybe two? sometimes). It’s the same movement as signing milk, but she can respond to the commands. She doesn’t respond each time, but that seems to be the norm. She learns something; does it a few times; then over the course of a week or two, she really starts to pick it up.

Ruth is pulling herself up from sitting to standing more frequently now!

Fun things: We used some household items as instruments this week…we played drums and a guitar’ish type thing. It was fun!

Ruth and I “played” with stickers this week. I tried showing her how to put them on paper. She did a pretty good job, and I think she liked it. She quite likes stickcers.

I put Ruth’s cereal in a bowl instead of on her tray this week. If I’m remembering correctly, it lasted for a bit, but then she became more interested in the bowl as a toyJ.

Ruth loves: She has been doing this for awhile, but I don’t think I’ve included it on here. She loves to help me “carry” things. If we go to get the mail, she’ll put her hand on top of what I’m carrying like she wants to play a part. It’s so sweet. And I really do think she thinks she’s helping because normally she would want to have the mail to herself to keep/eat/play with.

Touch and feel books! We’ve checked out a couple of these from the library in the last couple of weeks, and she has really taken a liking to them. She has some of her own, but she’s never shown this much interest. I think it’s just because she’s older now. She understands that there’s something different to touch, and she likes doing so.

Sleep: Ruth started sleeping with a “lovey” this week…her Chewy Cow. He’s been around for a while, and Ruth has always loved him (note that cows are actually femaleJ), but with teething and not feeling well, it just kind of happened this week. It made me feel better sending her to bed with something that comforted her, and I hope it did. It’s so cute to watch her hold on to him. She really does love that thing and treats it as a “lovey” rather than a toy in bed. It’s intriguing to me how that’s just kind of a natural bedtime thing.

Tom and I: Got to go on a couple dates this week! A few of our friends offered to watch Ruth for us, so one night, we went out to dinner and the other night we just spend doing normal things just without a little one. We’re so grateful for their generosity!

I got to have a moms’ day out this weekend! Tom watched Ruth, and I did some shopping for myself and ran a couple of errands. It was a nice afternoon out and about (a shout out thank you to my friend who gave me the opportunity for a moms’ day out!!).

I had a flat tire this weekJ.  Thankfully, I realized it only a few yards away from home.

We visited another church this week. We liked it and hope to go back sometime. We met some people who lived in Ithaca for ten years…so cool!

Thank you, Lord, for: For friends willing to watch Ruth for us, so we could enjoy some time together. We’re so thankful! For meeting some people who knew about Wegman’s and Cornell and Ithaca Bakery…just things that are still familiar. Healthy dr. visits and grateful for the recommendation we were given!