Week 44

Size: ??

New things: If Ruth holds on to the window sill and gets on her tippy toes, she can see out the windows in our place. She loves this as she can watch Tom as he’s coming home, watch tractors go by, etc. It’s super cute! She gets so excited to see these things!

Ruth is saying the “T” sound even more this week.

Ruth can “blow” her nose now if it’s running. She can actually blow a little bit, but it’s more just like her putting her nose close to the tissue. But, hey, that’s great because it makes it “fun” for her to “blow” her nose. She used to strongly dislike it:).

Tom’s parents are coming for a visit soon. I explained to Ruth and showed them a recently hung picture of them. She was able to say “Pawpaw” (what we call her grandpa). It was precious! Now when I say, “where are Granny and Pawpaw?”, she’ll point to the picture and usually say “Pawpaw”. All the other grandparents start with a “g”, and it might be awhile before we get to making the “g” soundJ. Just a month ago, when we were there visiting, she couldn’t say it. They learn too fast!

Ruth isn’t saying “snack” any more, and she’s saying something different for “banana” (something that’s not as clear). This is very intriguing to me…how words seem to come and go or change.

Ruth has been enjoying playing with her two little stuffed calves. We’ve been pretending to feed them hay, carrots, and water. I’m not sure if she gets the concept of what we’re doing, but it still fun to “play” and for her to try to “pretend”. One of them is named “Daisy”, and she can say “Daisy” nowJ.  It’s super cute!

Tooth #10 arrived this week, and later in the week, I discovered tooth #11 as well!  They’re peaking through…you can fill them! (10 more than 11)

Fun things: Our neighbors moved this week. We will surely miss them! This week, we made peanut butter cookies at their place, made “house congrats” cookies for them (they signed this week), and got to go up to see their new place and enjoy some pizza and pie (my task was the piesJ). They have a beautiful home that is easy to get to. We’re happy for them!

Ruth helped me “decorate” the “house congrats” cookies by mainly eating the sprinkles. She attempted to help with the sprinkling, but the sprinkles seemed to be too inviting for her to pass up!

I had a dentist appointment this week, so Ruth got to go to work with Tom for a few hours. I had been telling her all morning that she was going to get to do this. When I came to pick her up, she exclaimed “Dada”! This was my clue that she understood what she got to do and that she liked it! It was precious!

Our county fair was this week! On Friday night, we attended the food auction on behalf of Tom’s company….meaning we got to bid on cakes, cookies, brownies, etc. and not spend a dime:). It was quite fun actually. This is tradition for the farm. Whatever baked goods we acquire get shared with all the employees. It’s a neat way to support the local 4-Hers!

On Saturday, we went as a family to check out the rest of the fair. We walked through all the buildings, saw lots of animals, got some dinner, and checked out the kiddy area for Ruth. They had mini tractors in there for kids to ride, and she LOVED it! She couldn’t reach the pedals, so Tom and I had to help a little, but she had fun nonetheless. We also checked out the farm equipment (as our daughter loves tractors as you probably well remember), as well as, the 4-wheelers and such. We also got to see a group practicing for a horse show…one where they do all sorts of things standing on the back of a horse (it was super cool, and it was just practice!), and Ruth and Tom watched the tractor/truck pull from a distance just for a bit (couldn’t stay for it, as it was bedtime and another long day at the fair awaited us the next day). A teenager came up to us randomly and said she didn’t want the stuffed animal she won as a prize and asked if Ruth wanted it…super sweet of her; just a fun fair surprise for Ruth. It was a great family outing!!

On Sunday, we joined some our friends for brunch at a local restaurant and then headed to the fair to attend the animal auction (again, on behalf of Tom’s company). Ruth and I tried sitting in the stands with Tom, but she was quite tired, so she and I headed off to explore the fair again, and Tom stayed to bid. Ruth and I looked at the animals, played/talked with some of our friends, watched a cheese carver (and tried the cheese…which she LOVES!), and made our way to the play area again where Ruth chose to push one of the little tractors around a good chunk of the area. She had a great time, and I was a little surprised at her ability (strength, mainly) to do it. After the auction, we met up with our friends from work, and we all had lunch at the auction-sponsored luncheon.  Afterward, we headed to watch a horse pull for awhile and then decided to head home. Our little one needed a nap!!

It was a fun weekend at the fair!

Ruth loves: The little tractors and the big tractors at the fair.

She was quite interested in the rides…we walked through them, and she was rather mesmerized…as they were going up, down, around, spinning, etc….great stimulation for little ones!

Waving to our shadows!

Peanut butter toast! If I give her a choice in the morning for breakfast, she’ll pick toast over cereal. Not sure if she gets what she’s picking of if she just likes to say the word:). Either way, it’s cute:).

Bobcats (not the animal but the brand of machinery)!

Playing with water bottles…she still enjoys this!

Opening and closing drawers/doors in all kitchens…she explored a few others this week.

Black olives. When we went to see our neighbors’ new place, we had pizza, and someone fed Ruth black olives. She devoured them! I think she’s had them before just not frequently.

Sleep: Ruth’s naps seem to be changing. She’s taken a 2 ½+ hour morning nap more than once this week. And one day this week, she didn’t even take an afternoon nap. Other afternoons, she just took a little cat nap. And for one morning nap, I think she slept over 3 hours (I think that was the day after she skipped her afternoon nap). WOW! I like having that big chunk of time! It’s super helpful! We’ll see if this continues or not.

Tom and I: We just enjoyed a fun weekend at the fair and getting to experience some new thing (the auctions). We didn’t try out any new churches this week, as we had the auction commitment. I enjoyed spending a bit more time with our neighbors this week since they were moving. I also entered a pie contest this week; it's next weekend. To be continued:).

Thank you, Lord, for: The friendship formed with our neighbors. Although they moved this week, our friendship will continue, and it’s just a great reminder of how they were just what we needed when we moved here. We’ll miss them; so grateful for them!!