Week 45

Size: ?? Although, I went to put a 6-9 (I believe, it was) swimsuit on her this week, and boy was it too small! It’s funny to me how clothes that are the same “size” vary in “size” so much!

New things: Ruth can say “mailbox” now and understands what it means. I’ll say, “let’s go check the mail”, and she’ll say her version of “mailbox”. She gets so excited! She loves carrying the mail out for me and carrying it back in.  She also enjoys going through the mail with me.

Ruth is signing “thank you” very clearly and consistently now.

Ruth says “sh” for “fish” and “toothbrush” and “ng” for swing.

Ruth was not as interested in walking this week as she was last week.

I noticed that Ruth started pushing herself up in restaurant high chairs this week. Maybe it’s because she has more room to maneuver than in her high chair at home?!?

Ruth can use a sippy cup by herself. I think she’s been able to do this a bit, but we (for some reason) always seem to give her water while we hold on to the cup...one of those things you don’t necessarily realize you do until something “clicks”. We would have her practice doing it, but she wasn’t quite able to do the “tipping” part. She’s got it down now!

I believe Ruth has been doing this for awhile now, but if she does something that makes one of us laugh, she’ll either laugh with us or do it again and then laugh herself. She definitely realizes she’s the reason we’re laughing and thinks she’s hot stuff because of it!!

I have been trying to save interesting boxes/containers for her to play with...just something new to use/explore, but I am finding I can only stand them being in the toy pile for so long before it starts to look trashy. If we had a playroom or something where they weren't out in the open (currently in our living room) maybe it wouldn't drive me so nuts, but it just looks like a recycle area or something! :) So we'll play with something for a few days or week or so and then into the REAL recycle bin it goes! It does change up our play, though, which is fun!

Fun things: My friend Lynn visited this week, and we had lots of fun! We went on some walks  (around town, around the high school, at a local nature center), cooked out and went to our local ice cream shop on Labor Day, tried out some local bakeries and coffee shops, got to talk a lot, went to one of Tom’s farms, tried some local bar food, ate a Culver’s (it originated in WI!!), visited an apple orchard and a couple local cheese shops, and just enjoyed having her company!  We tried going to a beach and a water park but learned that both had closed on Labor Day…we were two days too late! 

We also got to check out downtown Milwaukee a bit before we took her to the airport. We walked around a few stores and went to their public market for breakfast. We’re grateful for our time together!

Ruth loves: FliesJ We left a door open a little too long to grill out one night this week, and so we had a few more flies hanging around than normal. I feel like this was the first week that Ruth really noticed the flies and really took an interest in them. She loves watching them and trying to get them. She can say “fly”, although, I’m currently not remembering how she does so.

Blue moon ice cream! Wednesday of this week (when we tried to go to the beach and water park) was hot and beautiful, so we stopped for some ice cream (perfect day for it)! Lynn’s ice cream was blue and in a cone; mine was brown and white and in a bowl. Ruth was WAY more interested in Lynn’s than mine. I kept trying to give her bites of mine, but she kept pointing to Lynn’s. It was cute!! (note the picture)

Books!!!

Greek yogurt!!

Sleep: Ruth did well with her morning nap on the way to pick up Lynn and on the way back from dropping her off. She also did well during the week with napping even though we kept her out past nap time a few times. She’s doing really well sleeping through the night. She hardly ever cries out during the night any more.

Tom and I: We tried out another church on Sunday…a church we would consider a mega church….the kind where you have to sign in your children, and a number pops up on a screen if they are in need of you. Don’t worry…thankfully, Ruth’s number didn’t pop up! It was a nice church and a good visit. It was about 30-40 minutes away, though.

We also took Lynn to the library, and we made some new friends!

On our way home from church, we stopped at our old neighbors’ new place and had pizza with them for lunch. It was wonderful to see them, again. Of course, Ruth loved it! That was Tom’s first time seeing their new home, and I got to see all the progress they had made since they moved in, as well.

Ruth and I had to drive a ways to pick up/drop off Lynn. This was good for me as I got to explore some new places and learn my way around the area a bit better! I think I did pretty well for a newbie and for not having a smart phone/GPS to guide me. Side note: I WAS grateful for Lynn’s smart phone on the way back as we got to talking and missed a few exits…haha!

I made my apple pie for the contest this week. I didn’t use any sort of secret family recipe or anything. I use my favorite (make in a pie pan) crust with a strawberry pie filling recipe (substituted apples) and a crumble topping that I added sugar cookie dough to. I also added or changed a few things along the way….as I almost always do in recipes. Just how I roll! Tom helped me come up with the name and brainstorm what to use for the stem and leaf! I ended up going with a cinnamon stick for the steam and some bay leaves for the leaves. I was hoping to serve it out of the pie pan, but when I tried transferring it, it started coming apart (thought it was a done deal at that point). But I put it into another pan and was able to salvage it. Part of the contest is post slice appearance, so we’ll see how it “holds up” (literally) in that category! Ha!

Ruth and I dropped the pie off at the festival where the competition was taking place and then very quickly walked around the various booths at the festival as we had somewhere else to be. Therefore, we didn’t get to stay for the competition…I didn’t get a phone call or email this weekend, so The Big Apple must not have won. Maybe next year!

Tom had his hunter ed safety test this weekend, so we all drove to the other side of the lake (not Lake Michigan…ha!) to the test site. He passed! Woohoo! After his test, we went to Target since we were in a city and close to one. I was able to find some things I was in search of, so it was great!

After we got back, we stopped at one of Tom’s farms so that I could learn what to do in a scale house for harvest time. They were currently harvesting beans and corn silage season is just around the corner. They can use some extra hands this year, so I thought I’d learn in case I am able to help out (it’s a little hard with a little one to be able to devote a chunk of time to something like that). Tom and Ruth explored the farm together while I shadowed.

Thank you, Lord, for: Friends…both here and far away! So grateful that Lynn could come!!