Here's some what Ruthie's been up to:
The Johnny Jump Up
Jerod tells us that this was his favorite thing to do when he was a little boy, so he was very excited for Ruthie to get big enough to use her Johnny Jump Up. When we first got it out, she looked like this in it.
Now she's an old pro and LOVES to hop around in it.
Solid Foods
We've begun attempting solid foods, so far with fairly little success. Here are the first two attempts.
Try #1:
And try #2:
Last night we tried bananas. I mashed up a small piece of a banana and mixed it with some water so it was nice and easy for her to eat. (I think some of the previous failed attempts might have been because the food was too solid, and not liquid enough.) For the first time, she ate all of the food and was quite excited about it. Unfortunately, immediately after devouring her banana, she broke out into bright red hives. We called the nurse line and they gave us instructions on how to watch her for a more serious reaction. In the end, everything turned out fine...except for the fact that she's allergic to BANANAS! Who has ever heard of such a thing? When we looked up information on this last night we learned that people with banana allergies are also likely to be allergic to avocados and latex. And we learned that in the allergy world, avocados are considered a nut. So...between the bananas, and my family's nut allergies, I think we will also be avoiding avocado, which is also supposed be a great first food.
Ruthie Found Her Feet (and her shadow!)
Finding Ruthie on her back with her feet in the air and her hand stretching to reach her feet is a common sight these days. She likes to try to eat them too. A few weeks ago I was changing her diaper and she started chewing on her little elf hat. I decided to put it on her and caught this cute picture of her. Possible Christmas card picture?
And then last week while I was changing her diaper she discovered something else while playing with her feet.
Two New Tricks in One Day!
Ruthie has recently been having some sleep issues. We moved her out of our room and into her own crib at the beginning of December, which seems to have improved things greatly. Then last week she had a terrible night of sleep. We were worried that she was reverting back to the bad sleeping. But then the next day she did two new things within about an hour's time. We've heard that babies will often have a night of bad sleep before learning a new skill. That seems to have been the case with her, thankfully. Look at her new tricks!
(Sorry this one is on its side...I don't know how to rotate it.)
And here's a picture of her showing off her sitting skills in her crib. Isn't she a little chunk?!
Bath Time (of course!)
I think Ruthie truly might be the happiest in the tub. I almost can't help but video tape her while she's in the water - she's always so talkative and CUTE!
Look at the difference between her in the tub July and now in December.
It's actually kind of crazy...I barely recognize that baby from July. Gosh, I can hardly stand how fast she is growing! Good thing I love the little smiley, roly-poly girl she's turning into!
And here are two bath videos: one pre sitting, and one post sitting.
Christmas Card Photo Shoot
We bought Ruthie a ridiculous Christmas dress and hat because we think she has little elf ears. Target sure knows how to prey on new parents who think their baby is the cutest ever... I attempted to take a picture for a Christmas card. Here's what I came up with. What do you think?
So where's the Christmas card? That's a good question. Maybe we'll have to send out New Year's cards...
Opening Christmas Presents
We had our own little family Christmas earlier this week before we leave for Detroit to spend actual Christmas with Jerod's family. Here are some pictures of Ruthie's first experience with Christmas presents.
Trying to open her first present.
Decided that eating the paper was pretty fun too.
Ruthie got some new books, and a crazy light up toy that plays music from
Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Dave.
Grandma and Grandpa also gave Ruthie some fun little balls that we think will be
really fun when she can crawl.
Ruthie with all of her goods!
And here's a video of Ruthie and her new toy from Grandma and Grandpa. She LOVES it!
***I would like to make a disclaimer that I am aware that I improperly identified the composer of Fur Elise as Mozart, when it is really Beethoven. I really should know that, seeing as how I won 1st place at the Polk County Fair playing Fur Elise when I was 12 or so...how embarrassing!***
As you can see, it has been a busy month for us. We have one day of work left tomorrow before we fly to MI to spend Christmas with our Lucius family. I will try not to wait too long before the next post. Until then, enjoy all of these pictures and videos!
