New toy for whom?

As a "gift for Ruthie," we bought a used jogging stroller.
In reality it is gift for Daddy who always wants to take Ruthie with him when he jogs after work, and a gift for Mama who always wants Daddy to take Ruthie with him when he jogs after work!

Rolling Ruthie!

Just 3 days shy of her 4 month birthday, and today Ruthie rolled over from tummy to back!! The amazing thing is that she hates being on her stomach--she screams and screams whenever you put her down like that. However, this week at her 4 month doctor check-up, the doc said she really needed to try and be on her belly more. She said Ruthie was plenty strong enough to be rolling over, she just needed encouragment to try it. So, yesterday we worked with her a little and then today with a little more work she did it about 3 or 4 times in a row! Hopefully she will remeber how, so she can show Daddy when he gets home tonight ;-)

In addition to the rolling over homework, the doc gave Ruth another round of vaccines and a clean bill of health! At 4 months, she is long and lean: just under 13lbs and a loooong 25.5 inches!! She's so active that she burns fat as fast as her little body can collect it!

In light of this, the doctor did reccomend that in addition to breastfeeding every 2-3 hours, we start giving her sppon-fed rice cereal once a day in order to help her get some more fat on her body-- oh if only we all had that problem! So, last night we started the rice cereal and she did great- very little spitting out. Of course we shouldn't be surprised, since we call her our "little black hole." Anything that comes within an inch of her mouth gets sucked into it: toys, hands, clothes, blankets, daddy's arm, Mini Coopers!

More photos soon!

Ruthie Talk January 2007

At three-and-a-half months Ruthie gets vocal...She has recently realized that she can "communicate" with those around her. Enjoy!

Cold Nights

Finally it is cold enough to wear hats to bed-- well, for Ruthie at least!

(FYI: tonight it supposed to get down to a chilly 50 degrees! Last night it got down to 48 degrees!)

3 Months Old...or young!

Everyone says, "As a parent, you won't believe how fast time flies." Well, it's true--three months has come and gone, and we can't believe it! Ruth looks every bit a baby, and no longer a newborn. She now sleeps about 8-9 hours at night, wakes up and eats breakfast, then goes back to sleep for another 3 hours. After that, she is up for almost the rest of the day, with just 2-3 very short naps before going to bed around 10:30pm.

Ruth is extremely social. She really doesn't like to be by herself for more than a couple minutes. Even if she is in her bouncer or under her activity gym, she likes to be in the same room as other people.

Man, is she is strong! She will stand for 10-15 minutes at a time on your legs, or the floor, or a table, and think nothing of it. She bears the weight all on her own; you just need to hold her hands or her arms to help her with balance. Also, if you have her laying down on your lap or the couch, it's not uncommon for her to lift her head and shoulders up and try to sit up on her own. (abs of steel already!)

Her strength transcends to her personality--she is still very strong-willed. It makes us laugh how quickly she gets REALLY upset. If you take just a minute longer than she thinks is necessary to get her fed or changed or picked up, she lets you know how unacceptable that is! She has in fact been called a "drama queen" on more than one occasion. We look forward to watching her use her energy and emotions in a more God-glorifying manner! ;-)

As for her size she is right on track with the clothing companies. Just last week she started wearing a couple of her 3-6 months outfits, but she can also still fit into most of her 0-3 month clothes. She is about 12 lbs and 22.5 inches. Those measurements are about two weeks old; we go to the doctor again in about a month.

She also already has really good taste, as she picked out the most beautiful little gold bracelet to give to Mama for Christmas! ;-)

Hope you are enjoying watching her grow as much as we are!!

Closing 2006

Just a few picutres we took over the last days of 2006...

(click on any picture to see it larger)

Our pastor, the babysitter

Ummm... Daddy?
(take a look at Ruthie's eyebrows--PRICELESS!)

Trying out for the waterski competition

Hanging out with Daddy
(aka "Ruth with Bunny Teeth"--probably just a spit bubble,
but it looks like bunny teeth!)