Week 43

Size: ??

New things: Ruth started walking on 8/19/14!!! She went from holding onto a chair to me and took quite a few steps. Then, later in the evening when Tom was home, she walked a few steps from me to Tom! In the past, when we’ve practiced walking, she would take a few steps but usually was so exciting that she would just throw herself or basically run between the two of us. This time, her steps were much more intentional and well-balanced. You could tell she was concentrating. It was so precious. It made her look like such a big girl!

Here and there, I’ve been singing the “Hokie Pokie” to Ruth while getting her dressed. Now, when I say “shake it all about”, she’ll shake her arms (even before we get to that part because she knows its coming). Then when I get to the “do the Hokie Pokie and turn yourself about”, she’ll put her finger up (because that’s what I do) and then clap when I get to the end (because that’s what I do)! It’s cute. Since she’s not always the most fond of getting dressed (or being on her back on her changing table), it’s a fun way to distract her and make the experience more enjoyable for both of us!

Ruth can say and sign “butterfly” now. We were outside one day and saw a butterfly, and she said it and signed it…I didn’t teach her that. I asked my mom if she had taught her while they were here…YES! She had!!

Ruth learned to bounce her bouncy ball this week. She LOVES doing it! We bounced it on our hard wood floors which seems better than carpet and makes lots of noise. She’ll bounce it and then bounce her body up and down with it.

Ruth can now sign “thank you” and “please”. Please doesn’t exactly look like the “real” sign, but I see where she gets her version, and she consistently does the same thing for it.

They learn this concept young….when passing gas, she will look at me like she did something ornery, try to do it again, or burp because she knows it’s funny. I was not expecting that at this age.
Ruth is saying "Amber" more instead of "dog" for our housemate's dog. 
Ruth seems to be little more picky about her food this week. She still eats everything, but she definitely has been wanting her favorites. I've noticed over time, too, that if you ignore her for a bit, walk away (like into the kitchen), or start cleaning her up, that she'll start to eat more of her food. It's interesting...
I hope this is not a new habit but just something for this week!
When we're in the bathroom, she'll see her weather cards hanging up on the fridge through the mirror, and she'll start saying "weather". It's interesting the things they pick up on and learn without being taught!
While Ruth is swinging, I've started turning around and telling her "not to get me". Once she bumps me, I turn around toward her and say something like "hey, you got  me!". She almost immediately will signal for me to turn around again. She puts her finger up and moves her hand around. She could do this again and again and again. She enjoys this game. 
Ruth started making the "T" sound this week...just the "T" sound. She'll just go "T", "T", "T". 
Ruth will open her mouth signaling that she wants "her dog" to give her a kiss (don't worry, we don't encourage this, but sometimes the dog will give her kisses before we can really get her away). Ruth seems to like it sometimes but doesn't at the same time. It's just interesting because she knows what the dog does and even though she doesn't always like it, she does at the same time because she's asking for it. 
Ruth has been noticing our shadows more! I've taught her to wave at them, so she'll do just that! She even seems to know where to look if you say, "where are our shadows?". 

Fun things: We went to play at the library this week…the day they have all the toys out!

We tried on the ring that her Grandma Cully got for her! This was our second time getting it out and going through her memory box. This time, it fit much better. She was very interested in it and looked at it just like you would picture a little girl looking at her pretty ring.

We took a family date to a new park this week (the one our friend introduced us to last week). It was fun! It’s a great park!

We’ve been playing with stickers a lot more recently. She likes picking them out and trying to eat them before having me help her put them on the paper:).
Tom's work had a company picnic on Friday night at a local park. They had food, bouncy houses, ice cream, and volleyball and basketball. It was fun! Ruth and I got to meet lots of people and their families which was so special and much anticipated. It was a fun evening out, and of course, Ruth loved being around all the people! One of her little elementary friends and a friend of his played with her quite a bit. They adore her. I would show them one of Ruth's "tricks", and then they would try to get her to do it. It was funny!
Sunday was our housemate's birthday, so we went down there in the afternoon for cake and ice cream. We got to see/meet some of their family (some we had already met), gave him the card we made (we all played a part), and just enjoyed celebrating with them. Ruth enjoyed the dog, exploring, and the people!

Ruth loves: Mooing like a cow! If you ask her, “what sound does a cow make?”, she’ll “moooo” for you! It’s adorable. I think she especially likes doing this with her daddy because he’s really good at making cow soundsJ!

Her Little People bubble book that includes a tractor and wagon on one of the pages. She’ll go right to the page and point out the tractor. She LOVES the tractor page! She gets so excited for you to read the book. It’s so cute! She can say “wagon” now, too.
Ruth loves playing in the fridge! If I open it to get something out, she makes her way over to it and starts trying to get things out...her favorite is the yogurt. She's really been enjoying this activity. 
Ruth still LOVES her "rabbit" and "tractor" books. She even says "rabbit" now for her rabbit book. 

Sleep: Must be going ok because I don’t have any notes:).

Tom and I: Tried another new church this week.

Went out to dinner for a date…with our daughter…but still, it was nice to go out! I had the best burger I've had in a long time! We tried a few burgers while in NY (ones that claimed they were the best), but this one surpassed them all. It had the taste of the smell that I craved while pregnant. I just had to put a shout out to it on here! It was that good!

Thank you, Lord, for: The joys of parenting…getting to experience Ruth walking, getting excited about tractors, learning to bounce a ball. We enjoy every day!

43 weeks!!

One of her new favorite things:)...pulling books off shelves!

Playing at the library!

She LOVES LOVES LOVES this book and can pull most of the tabs herself. 

Playing with stickers:)

See?

Trying on the ring from her grandma. 

I just love her face here. 

She wants Daddy to read her favorite book.

And she's super excited about it!

This is what Mommy and Daddy are starting to think of the book...

But Ruth still wants us to read it...again and again!

Family park date!

We had to stop to check out the water, too!

43 weeks!

This is another favorite book right now!

I love her cheeks here;).

Our little girl!

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!

42 weeks!!!

Our anniversary weekend away...
Stopped at a local bakery and got a treat to share...

Took it to the lake!

Happy 3 years!!

Reading with her grandpa...her new favorite book!

Hmmmm...I wonder what's going through her little brain...

Fun at the park!

On her own!

Walking holding on to one hand only!

She's so relaxed in her swing:)

Trying coffee...grandparents will be grandparents:)

One handed...

No handed...

From her grandma...it's nice that she can stand and play at the same time. She loves this thing!

Standing on her own!

Her other new favorite book:)

42 weeks!

Petting farm...note the face:). They said she maintained this solemn face the entire time except when the sheep (or goats...can't remember) were "baaaa-ing". She "baaa-ed" right along with them!

This is how Ruth pets...with one finger:).

You can just tell she is taking it all in...those wheels are turning!

"What is that thing, and what is it doing?"

Can you tell what she's doing?

Having fun:)

Ice cream date with our friends!

Our friend let Ruth finish her cone:).

Daddy time!

We had dinner with them before they headed back to Indiana. 

LOVES swinging...

See her #55 sticker? It's from her cousin who does dirt bike racing.
Ruth says "he's #1" in her book!

Daddy and Ruth played in the mud:). 

Our little girl...