Cinco de Ruthie-Month 9

Wow, how has 3/4 of her first year gone by? I really can't stand it. I feel like I was just pregnant, then in the hospital, then home with a brand new itty, bitty baby and now we have a 9 month old crawling, standing, cruising girl! Again, this is where the sap in me comes out. I guess if you can't be sappy about your children, really what can you be sappy about?

Let me start out saying that AGAIN this has been my favorite month. I realize this is getting repetitive and again it is true. Life with Ruthie gets better by the day. She is so much fun and sweet. I just love her.

This month she loves:
-her crib at night
-Chloe
-Standing
-crawling and panting
-saying Da da da da, dah dah dah, la la la (zero Mama, of course), duck duck
-Water! Especially out of her sippy cup or any cup i'm drinking out of
-real food
-walks
-singing/dancing
-whenever I do handstands (yes I still do handstands, but now pretty much only for Ruthie's entertainment, they hurt my wrists too much....pathetic!) Once it warms up I'll have to break out some old gymnastics and hope I don't break anything in the process, I think she'd enjoy it.
-walking holding our fingers
-spinning around, being thrown in the air, being dropped
-her kitchen
-measuring cups
-any stuffed animal
-animal sounds
-WAVING!
-high chair

-Where's Ruthie game
-itsy, bitsy spider


Size:

We had our 9 month check up this morning (reason for the delay in posting this), so these measurements are accurate.
Height: 27 1/4" (43%)
Weight: 17lbs 1oz (23%)

When I see my friends babies who are 2-3 months old and bigger than Ruthie, it shocks me every time! Joel and I are both thankful she is tiny, especially when we're getting the car seat in and out!!

She is pretty much in 9 month clothes. She can still fit in 6 month onesies, tops and dresses, but the pants have all become capris! She's definitely skinny enough for them, but just too long. The 9 month clothes are still big, but long enough. She's our pipsqueak, I love it!

Night time Sleep:
And the heavens opened and Ruthie sleeps! When we got back from Christmas she started sleeping at night from around 7pm-7am, sometimes 30 minutes on either side. Its amazing. Incredible. The best. I love it. Please don't ever stop. Now that I'm working til 11pm at night, not having to get up until 7am is awesome. Thank you sweet baby.

Naps:
I have no idea. I thought we were dropping a nap and going to one, longer afternoon nap, but she won't quite give up the morning nap and sleeps for about 30 minutes or so in the morning, and will take a great afternoon nap.......if I'm holding her (which I'm not going to lie, I love, but I can't get anything done...which is okay). She's totally rebelling against napping in her crib during the day. She's sleeping great at night, so I'm just counting my blessings there.

Eating:

She's eating great. We're on a 4 hour(pretty much) nursing schedule at 7am, 11am, 3pm and 6pm. The difference between 3 and 4 hours has been amazing to me. I can get so much more done! She loves real foods. This month she has eaten: pears, apples, bananas (she still isn't a banana girl), green peas, carrots, sweet potatoes (Her fav), avocados, noodles, cheese (I think she could eat cheese until she exploded, definitely my child),

cheerios, puffs, grapes, we tried a piece of chicken...she wasn't thrilled, pancakes, applesauce, yogurt. Her menu has opened up a lot this month. Shes still eating 3 meals plus snacks. I'm still making her food except when we travel and it really has been great. Its easy, much cheaper, and is fresh.

Mobility:
A fast crawler! She can move quick and stand up on about anything. She loves to climb over legs, boxes, under things. The saucey now has become a tunnel, She's on the move. She's cruising from pieces of furniture, but I think right now she prefers crawling. She starts huffing and panting when she wants to get to something quickly. Its cute.

Nicknames:
I think Ruthie Lou is the winner for now. Sometimes its little lou still, but Ruthie Lou is the primary one. A friend heard me call her that and thought it was her name, so I thought I would clarify! Her middle name is Grace (chosen by her Daddy). Lou is something that just came out and stuck, and we all know I love a nickname.

Teeth:
Five total!! For my own records here is the order they've come in: bottom left (from Ruthie's perspective), bottom right, bottom second left (???), top right, top left. She's handled them like a champ and again we really didn't know they were coming and then bam, a mouth full of teeth! The bottom three are really through, the top ones are slower coming in.

New Phrases said at our house:
-No Ma'am! Ruthie is learning the meaning of No, and will often stop what she's doing, turn around and look at you, then decide either to be naughty or nice! Some days I feel like all I say to her is No. I think she is going to be quiet and confident in her opinion ;-).

Other:
-She can now point out your nose, mouth and ears. This isn't 100% of the time, but if she decides she wants to play with you, she's pretty much spot on when you ask her. Otherwise, she completely ignores you.
-She is starting to "play" more at playgroup and is loving the other kids toys. How cute is this kid! Van is our little love muffin and wants to hug everyone!

-She's also enjoying hanging out with other cute friends too. Look how tiny she is! Callie is 7 months older than Ruthie

-She is a studier and really takes things in. I'm pretty sure this is a definite sign she's a genius right ;-)


This month has again flown by, I want it to slow down. We're so thankful for a sweet, happy, healthy girl.