A good weekend!

The weather was great here this weekend, in the upper 60's so we went outside to play and to go for a walk. The girls were really happy about it.

Cinco de Ruthie Month 21

I intended to only do 6 month updates after Ruthie turned 1, but she has changed so much in the past three months, I couldn't resist. Plus, a lot has changed in our house in three months, so this is due!

There is one word that best describes Ruthie and it is BUSY! As a new baby, people would always call her busy and I never got it.

Now, I totally get it.

She NEVER stops. She is constantly moving and doing something, she doesn't sit still or stay in one place for more than a few seconds. We're getting to where we can read most of the books we have in one sitting, instead of only a few pages. I honestly can't imagine what its like to have a baby/toddler that isn't busy. I love it.

Over the past three months Ruthie Loves:

-Lainie, or NayNay. Loves loves loves her. It is one of the sweetest things I've ever seen in my entire life.

Ever.

She hears her before I do and loves to bounce her in the bouncey seat, hug and kiss her, show her toys, help me give her a bath, the list goes on. She is the best big sister I could ever hope for.

-Chloe and all dogs. Loves them, big or small.

-Ice. She really loves some crushed ice and asks for it daily. Its a nice, cheap snack thats easy to clean up!

-being silly

-being outside

-anything way up high, spinning, dropping her tummy, adventurous, etc.

-She loves going on the deck

-She loves watching videos of herself or seeing her picture on my camera. This is what happens when I take her picture and she can't see it fast enough.

-she's crazy about the beach and gets so upset if we don't make the turn to go to the beach when we're walking

-She still loves her blankies

-Loves Elmo and Mickey Mouse. She's starting to like Veggie tales, but it isn't quite as good to her as the others.

-Papa. She's definitely Papa's girl.

-She loves the bath and especially the bathtub crayons she got at Christmas. She asks for them every night.

-She loves baby toys, the bumbo, bouncey seat, etc. i think she likes them better now than when she was a baby.

-She really really loves to wash her hands. Its about 75% the fact that it involves water and 25% that she gets to climb up on her stool. She's really proud of that.

Sleep:

We have cut down to one nap. She is going down around 12/12:30ish and gets up between 3-4ish. Most of the time, she spends about 20-30 minutes reading her books and playing with her toys and I love watching her on the monitor. Its so cute.

At night, she is going to bed around 7pm and getting up between 7-7:30am.

Eating:

She's still a great eater. One of her current favs is edamame. It cracks us up that she can eat them right out of the shells just like an adult. She also loves blueberries, gogo squeeze applesauce, fruit snacks, brown rice, cheese, apples which she can also eat whole with the skin on..so cute.

She doesn't love yogurt.

She drinks whole milk and water. She doesnt' drink juice. We don't have any, but the times I've given it to her she hasn't be interested in it.

Mobility:

She's still super fast and runs like a combination of Pheobe off friends and Willow. It cracks us up. We were just talking about how we'll be sad when she doesn't run with her arms flailing anymore.

She also started doing 'handstands', spins, rolls, etc. I think my girl is going to love gymnastics. I'm pretty excited about that!

Words:

Too many to list. She's started to say 2-3 word sentences. Things like more bread please. Which sounds like mo breh puh. I am fluent in Ruthie language, but I don't think many people are. I love the way she says things, her inflections and cute voice. She says Mama and Papa with what sounds like a brittish accent. Cute.

She has really good manners when it comes to please and Thank you. She saids cank cu and what sounds like there you go (for thank you) almost always when she should, its so sweet.

She now says Okay when she means yes. She learned this from her BFF Callie and it is so cute.

Signs:

I think the only new sign in wash your hands, which is something she made up while saying Wash wash. I have no idea what the actual sign is for it, but it works in our house.

Paci:

We have gotten rid of the paci (outside of the crib), which is huge! It has made for a lot more smiling pictures and has been so much easier than we ever thought.

Teeth:

We're still on a break from teeth although I keep checking for those molars.

Hair:

We've had some major growth on the hair front. Ruthie's hair grew in full mullet fashion, and then all of a sudden a mohawk came out! The sides are starting to come in and I was able to give her a Pebbles ponytail last week. I've cut the mullet about 10 times and haven't cut any other hair. She's getting little girl hair! I love it!

Tantrums:

Oh yeah. They've started. We're trying to get our hands around the most effective way to discipline and so far time out has been somewhat effective. She throws the kind of tantrum that engages her entire body by falling to the ground and flailing. Sometimes its just funny and sometimes its really, really not.

Other:

With every day that passes I realize Ruthie is more and more like Joel. Not only in looks, but in just about everything. She is serious, gorgeous, adventurous, energetic, super smart, hilarious (which only a few people will see) and has an inner circle. If you're not in the inner circle, you might get a look like this (only more stink eye) and possibly some tears (which Joel doesn't do :-)). There are a few ways into the inner circle.

First, if you have a dog thats friendly, you're pretty much in

Second, one of the fastest ways in is to completely ignore her and don't put her as your focus. She does NOT like to be the center of attention.

Third, french fries. Can't blame her for that one, she came by it naturally.

A few solid ways to be rejected are to laugh loudly (it doesn't have to be at her, just around her), try and get her to talk to you if she doesn't know you (definite stranger danger here), put her in a confined space with more than a few people. She much prefers wide open spaces with lots of room to run. She likes to play with 1-2 friends at a time, and if we go much over that she becomes my shadow with possibly a few meltdowns thrown in.

One of my favorite things that she has started doing over the past few months is praying. It is so sweet, she'll randomly look at me, fold her hands and call someone out. I fold my hands and say Thank you God for Daddy, then she calls out someone else and we go through the list of everyone she knows not leaving anyone off the list. I love it, she's so sweet. She has also started giving around the neck hugs, instead of just backing up into you and leaning in.

One thing that I love about this stage is that she's starting to help me bake and cook. We have so much fun measuring and pouring and mixing and just have the best time!

The past few months I feel like we've really gotten to see more of Ruthie's heart and it is so sweet. She is so loving, caring and hilarious. I'm pretty sure she loves being a big sister and there is not much that makes me happier. I can't wait to see how she changes over the next three months. I really can't believe she's going to be two!! How is it going so fast! These have by far been the best 21 months of my life. I am so lucky to be her Mom!

My Funny Girl

Ruthie has been so entertaining lately. She loves to put things on her head

Have you ever put a Bumbo on your head? Speaking from experience, its harder than it looks to walk a straight line with it on your head, pretty impressive!

and she loves to sit in Lainie's carseat (and has to be buckled or it doesn't count). Side note, I know those infant carseats say they can hold up to 32 pounds, but give me a break, that would be so uncomfortable!!

She really loves it when her Daddy carries her around in the carseat

One of her new favs is to put on our shoes

Are you all enjoying the pictures with Ruthie Smiling? Its because we had a big change and the paci is only allowed in the crib. More on that in another post, its gone WAY better than either of us expected. I love it when that happens!

Got It!

This past week Lainie has really been changing. She's kicking up a storm and is grabbing and holding onto her toys on the playmat. She loves her playmat (tummy time...not so much...at all).

She was so proud!

Lainie is also starting to get out of the miracle blanket...she was really happy about it also. She is such a sweet and happy girl!

Thank you Grauntie and Gruncle!

Thanks Grauntie Bron and Gruncle Jeremy for my sock monkey hat!! I love it and I look extra cute in it!

For Grandma!

Here is our Christmas morning video for Grandma and Grandpa. You can pretty much go to about 45 seconds and start watching. I love her face and the "whoa" when she sees everything (except the kitchen!).

A new Gem

A few weeks ago, Joel and I decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather and take the girls out to the arboretum. One of my good friends told me about it a while ago and how awesome it is, and how much her little girl (and her) love it. One of the best parts about it is that it is free (which is right up our alley).

It is all fenced in and feels like it is not right in the city (which it is). The best part is each time we've been (we've been back since we love it so much), Ruthie can just run around and loves it. There are cute little houses, chairs and mushrooms which she loves. We love that there are all sorts of plants that grow well in NC. It gives us good ideas for our yard (one day...).

There are also lots of bridges and little ponds are also a lot of fun. Lainie gets a really good nap when we go there too :-). This is the only picture I have to Joel, who looks thrilled :-).

There are great spots for a snack

Thanks so much Trinie for telling us about the arboretum!

Sneak Peek

My sweet girl's first photo shoot!

She's an angel baby

Thank you Lori! We LOVE them!

My Little Lainie-Month 2

My Sweet Nay-Nay, you are anything but little and are a complete blessing and joy to us. We are crazy about you and what are constantly talking about what a good baby you are. Your second month of life has been what seems like non-stop with lots of fun events and lots and lots of growing for you! We are still trying to figure out who you look like and last week Aunt Nana found a picture of your cousin Will that looks the most like you of any picture I've seen. You don't have your Daddy's dark skin and I think that makes you look very different from Daddy and Ruthie.

Eating:

She is (obviously) a very good eater. She is fast and efficient. She is eating every 3 hours, and usually once in the middle of the night.

Size:

I will have to update this after our 2 month appointment next week. Based on our scale at home, she is over 12 pounds and about 24 1/2 inches long. To give you some perspective on her size compared to her big sister, Ruthie was this size at 5 1/2 months. !!!!!!! Ruthie was a pipsqueak (10th percentile for weight back then), but I think Lainie may be off the charts. She is completely filling out the miracle blanket and we are in 3-6 month clothes! We've had to go up to size 2 diapers also. It blows my mind how different my girls are (I'm sure the first of many ways). I think it may work out well in the clothes department. Since they are completely opposite seasons, with Ruthie wearing a little smaller clothes when she was little and Lainie growing at an exponential rate, I think Lainie might be able to wear Ruthie's 6-9 month winter clothes, and her 12 month summer clothes :-)!

Daytime Sleep:

Man, it is much harder to get on a good schedule these days. With Ruthie's schedule, playdates, etc. getting Lainie to nap in her crib during the day exactly when I want her to for the length I want her to, is next to impossible. When we're home, she sleeps about 1 1/2 hours of every three hour block. I would like to get more consistent with her being in the crib for her naps when we're at home. I've been utilizing the swing and ergo carrier more than I would like.

Nighttime Sleep:

We've had some great nights and not so great nights. Overall, she does great and sleeps at night for 6-7 hours, eats, then back asleep. Her usual waketime to eat is around 3am, when she wakes up before 3am, she seems to wake up every 2 hours throughout those nights. Thankfully, this has only happened a few times. I really can't complain, I didn't expect to get 6-7 hour stretches this early.

Swaddle:

Oh Yeah. I'm pretty sure at the rate she's growing, she's not going to fit in it as long as we'd like!

Paci:

Yes, but not that often. We give her the paci when she gets fussy before her naps or nighttime. We know she's really sleeping good when she spits it out.

Nickname:

Nay-Nay. We call her this a lot, Ruthie is always calling her name out and it is so cute!

She Loves:
The playmat. Gigi got her a toy that dangles from the playmat, rattles and has lots of colors and it is her favorite, she smiles away at it. Its so sweet. She's also liking bathtime a lot more now. She of course loves her Daddy and smiles for him almost all the time. After getting in the baby bjorn or ergo, she settles right in and knocks out. She also loves to lay on your chest (like you're burping her). This is the way she prefers to be held now.

She doesn't love:

Getting out of the bathtub! She also doesn't like being held like a baby in the cradle position, its a bad idea.

Firsts:

Again, most everything is a first nowadays, but this month we made the transition from the cosleeper to the crib. It is so much better. I'm not waking to every grunt or movement, and neither is she. It really is so much better for everyone.

She first smiled right at the 5 week mark and it is so sweet. Her entire face lights up, I absolutely love it.

She also had her first road trip to Papa and Gigi's house for Christmas. She did great and loved being held. She also (obviously) had her first Christmas and loved it also. She got to meet all of her cousins, and Noni, Chris and Uncle Scott. I forgot to get a picture of all the cousins!

She also met one of her Great Grandmas.

She had her first photo shoot with my friend Lori (who did my maternity pictures) and she was an absolute angel.

Other:

Lainie is a very easy baby. She cries when she's getting sleepy or hungry for the most part. If I

eat something she doesn't like, she'll let me know (unfortunately pizza did it the other day, what a bummer!), but other than that she is a very laid back baby. I am so thankful for this. She is very cuddly and when you hold her she gets in the nook of your neck and puts one arm around your shoulder like she's hugging you. It is the sweetest. She also makes the sweetest noises and coos. Its one of my favorite things. I think her eyes are still going blue, but time will tell.

It feels like Lainie has always been a part of our family and we can't imagine our life without her. She is an absolute joy. Happy 2 months Nay-Nay.

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