Week 42

Size: Not sure, but she did eat a whole banana and half, on top of more food, one night this week. Growing spurt? She just must have been hungry that night! I thought we might have to go get a banana from our housemates as we were down to our last one!

This doesn’t have to do with size, but a friend told me this week that Ruth has good posture. I had never thought about Ruth’s posture or any baby’s posture for that matter before. And it struck me as funny because I’ve always thought Tom has good posture, and he says that that’s the first thing he noticed about me…my good posture (although, I think I lack in this area now).  Interesting…

New things: Ruth got to spend the weekend with her grandparents (my side) this weekend. She learned all sorts of new things with them such as being able to say the following words: donutJ, thank you, and tractor.

They also taught her how to sign cookie (only grandparentsJ).

Ruth is able to walk holding onto only one adult hand now and does pretty well! It makes her look so big!

Ruth says “banana” now; it’s more like “nan”, but that’s a great start!

Ruth started saying “Momma” this week!

Ruth started opening and closing doors this week. She quite enjoys doing it (no smashed fingers or anything). She’s just exploring and figuring out what different things can do!

Ruth is not taking her bib off any longer at meal time but is playing with her  food more. She’ll try dropping it over the edge of her tray onto the floor, or she will take her hands and wipe them over the tray making her food move and fly off sometimesJ. We’re working on it. She definitely knows what she’s doing though. She’ll look right at you, hold the food in her over the tray, and just stare at you before dropping it. These acts are not acceptable in our house, so we are continuing to learn how to instruct and redirect our 10-month-old appropriately.

Ruth can stand up in her crib now. When I go to get her out of bed, she will more than likely be standing up holding onto the rails. It’s rather cute! Sometimes she’s gotten herself out of her swaddle (we still swaddle her arms free), and sometimes, she’s still in it but still standingJ!

Ruth can show you her hair (by touching it) and her tongue (by sticking it out) when asked. She can also point to her nose (not just “sniff” with it) when asked. It’s so cute!

This one has been cracking us up…at the end of Ruth’s bedtime routine, we sing to her, and then Tom gives her a kiss goodnight, and then I nurse her. Well, she has figured this out, and once we’re toward the end of the song, she leans over and reaches to start giving Tom a kiss goodnight because she knows what comes next. She’ll try to reach for this cheek; sometimes, she’ll give him multiple kisses or kiss his arm or just do an air kiss. It makes me chuckle just thinking about it. They sure learn fast!

Fun things: Ruth and I went for a walk with a new friend this week. We started at the library and walked around town. It was a nice day to be outside! She introduced us to a new park, and we got to meet some more locals that she knows while walking around, too!

Ruth and I headed into the library after our walk and ran into some of our friends there who invited us out for ice cream. Of course we accepted their invitation! J We enjoyed catching up with them as it had been awhile since we had seen them, and the ice cream was a nice treat that day, too!

Ruth and I also got together with another new friend this week…a mom and her two sons. We went over to their place for lunch and talked and played. Even though her boys are elementary age, they still had some baby toys, so Ruth enjoyed playing with those, exploring a new house, and being around kids! They also had a little lap dog that was just her size which was of interest to her of course. She especially enjoyed watching him from their glass door when she was put outside. I think she liked looking at the dog but not being touched by the dogJ. They also have quite a collection of animals – horses, chicks, goats, so we went out to see and pet all the animals, too! That was fun!!

Grandma and Grandpa took Ruth to the park. She got to play in the sand and with the trucks! They also took her to a little petting zoo. They said she kept a solemn face the whole time until she got to the sheep; then she started baa-ing right along with them. They said she got a lot of people laughing. Apparently, she gets her solemn face from me…that stare with the droopy cheeksJ.

While they were here, she got ice cream and donuts and cookiesJ. She also got her own meal at Dairy Queen...ha! She got lots of play time, swing time, book time, and attention! My parents said she did super well! YAY, Ruth!

Ruth loves: The doorstop behind the bathroom door. It makes a cool sound! She knows right where to find it!

Ruth really loves the pictures we have up around the house of us…whether it’s our family pictures or Tom’s and I engagement/wedding pictures. She loves looking at them and asking “that?” (for “who’s that?”). She could do it all day probably if we’d let her.

Loves the hanging plant we have up in our place. She will point to it and start “blowing”. She likes to blow it and swing it and smell it. I think she got the “blowing” from me teaching her that we don’t eat grass, flowers, plants, etc. The sound I made when teaching her that we kind of spit them out is similar to her understanding of blowing. It’s one of her favorite daily activities (multiple times even) to “play” with the plant.

Her new bookshelf in her room! She loves waking up to seeing books; she loves playing with the items on the shelf; and she loves pulling the books off of the shelf.

LOVES LOVES LOVES her book “Happy Easter, Peter”. It’s a Peter Rabbit pull-the-tab book. We read it over and over and over again. She can pull most of the tabs herself. She likes to bounce up and down to Peter’s hopping, and she holds her hands up sometimes at the points where we ask “whose house”?

Ruth had a peach with our neighbor this week (she always seems to get treats when we go down to visit with them), and she LOVED it! That was her first time having a fresh peach, and she devoured it. She was a mess! We took it upstairs to her to finish with lunch, and she finished it on her own. She was able to say “ch” for peach. It was cute!

Ruth enjoys reaching for and getting items off my nightstand…lip balm, alarm clock, etc. She gets as close to the edge of the bed as possible but realizes if she goes further, she’ll fall (don’t worry; I’m right there, usually holding on to a leg or something). It’s interesting to watch as she maneuvers herself to still get herself to the stand to get what she wants.

Sleep: Ruth woke up during the night one night this week (still happens periodically) and struggled with her naps one day this week as well. She still isn’t able to go back to sleep is she falls asleep either in the car or in her crib for a bit and then wakes up.
My parents said she did great sleeping and napping for them this weekend (I think she was exhausted every time they put her down from all the playing and attention:))! Yay! So glad! Also, she sometimes took a bottle from them, and sometimes wasn't interested but still did fine! Again, so glad and grateful!

Tom and I: A few things that I’ve noticed that seem “Wisconsin-y”…farm or home family name signs (like the ones out front of people’s homes or farms that say “Smith Family ~ Bob, Sue, John, and Mary” or something); I feel like they are everywhere! Also, it seems around here that they say “Aunt” using the short vowel sound “Ont” or “Ontie”. Another thing…chocolate covered angel food cake. I’d never even heard of that till coming to WI. I’ve seen it in multiple shops now! One more…American fries. Ever heard of them? They are like a combination between hash browns and steak fries. I’d never heard of these either till I saw that both the restaurants we ate at served them.

Tom and I went on our anniversary trip this weekend. We went about 1 ½ hours north of us to a lake town. We explored the town, checked out the lake, enjoyed a couple dinners at local restaurants, got caught up on some computer work, and just enjoyed a weekend away. We definitely missed Ruth, but it was healthy for all of us. 

Thank you, Lord for: A weekend away and that Ruth did so well! That was so encouraging to both of us! Also, grateful that Ruth got to spend some time with family. That's always special!