Ruthie Grows

The Party

2008-12-25T00:38:21Z

Ruth was such a crazy girl at her party. Here are some photos to prove it.

She said hello to all her friends!

She had her first taste of sweets!

And her favorite present was a big rainbow silk scarf that we waved in her face.

One Year Ago

2008-12-07T16:41:49Z

Ruth turns one today. A year ago, I became a first-time mom. A squealing little five pound bundle was handed to me, and I got lost in a whole new world. Today, Ruth turns one. She's walking, jabbering, interacting, giggling--her own little miracle of a person. Today I am lucky to be her mom. I am lucky to have her in my life. Who knows what other worlds-within-persons I may get to meet as time goes on. The road ahead is hard but beautiful and full of love. Ruth, happy birthday!

walks, talks, and grabs

2008-11-11T15:08:25Z

This video starts out kind of slow, but the end is really funny.

three photos of the cutie

2008-11-10T15:42:21Z

Some of my favorite photos of Ruthie of late:

Loves sticks.

Eats with THREE spoons.

And she's the cutest baby ever.

bathtime fun

2008-11-09T21:33:13Z

What's great about this photo is that it's the complete antithesis of Ruthie's attitude in the bath, coupled with a Rembrandt-like style of lighting.

We are oh so seriously clean.

Eleven Months Today

2008-11-07T14:43:33Z

In the last month, I haven't been so great about updating the family and all about Ruth's progress. Let me just say that it has been astounding.

]]> In September, she was walking assisted. In October, she was standing independently. And now, she is full blown walking on her own. Before she was even 11 months old.

It almost makes me want to forgive her for waking up twice at night, having no words, and being a stubborn eater ("I'll do it mySELF, thank you!).

Now that most of the busy-ness that took place in October is over with, I've been reflecting on how wonderful it was (and is) to have Ruth to come home to after a long day photographing weddings. She'll turn one a month from now, after which I will stop chronicling the life of a baby, and begin chronicling the life of a toddler.

It went by so fast!

The Long Walk, and Exile to the Living Room

2008-10-17T12:21:01Z

Ruth is definitely walking now. Absolutely, undeniably walking. She doesn't always initiate it, but it's clear that she's got a new kind of balance. Please forgive the scary facial expression at the beginning. ]]> Ruth sleeping (mostly) through the night? Oh, how premature that celebration was. I don't know what prompted her to rescind her position of "crib = awesome" but boy, we had a few rough nights since then. So Steve and I have made a radical decision: we are sleeping in the living room now, on the futon, in order to see how much her waking is sheer habit, or exacerbated by our proximity to her in the bedroom. So far, we've had mixed results. Ruth is obviously more distressed in the morning when she wakes up and sees we're not there. At nighttime, we're both sleeping a little easier without worrying about waking her up. We're trading off night duties now, too. First waking is Steve's job to calm her down and see if she'll go back to sleep without nursing. Second waking, she's probably hungry and I get up to feed her. So I've had a few nights with relatively undisturbed sleep, and then a few nights where I wanted to poke someone's eyes out right after waking up for the umpteenth time. I don't want to make this a power issue, but I had become so resentful and angry that we had to make some kind of change to preserve my nighttime sanity. Last night went beautifully, if bumpily at first. She woke around 10:30, very inconsolable, but daddy got her back to sleep. Then, at 2 AM, she wanted to eat. Finally, at 7 AM, she announced it was time to start the day. Not too bad. And now I leave you with this photo, an adorable shot taken by Stephen back in August, with my toy Diana camera. I love how misty and dreamy it is.

Unbelievably gorgeous

2008-10-06T21:16:34Z

Daddy likes to help me walk around!

Into the crib, out of our bed

2008-10-06T18:25:57Z

I've been reluctant to write about Ruth's latest milestone, mostly because I've been waiting for the spell to be broken. But here it is. Ladies and gentlemen, for the past 4 nights, Ruth has slept in her pack-n-play the entire night through, getting up only once to feed. ]]> so strange to go to bed without her next to me, her little body a twitching furnace. But it's wonderful to snuggle up next to my husband now, without Ruthie trying to make an "H" out of our sprawling, sleeping bodies. We're into a new phase of nighttime parenting. She still wakes occasionally, but for the most part can settle herself back to sleep in five minutes or so, only persisting if she truly is hungry or needs a diaper change. Last night she needed both at two separate times, so today I'm dragging a bit, but I'm still pleased. Naptimes are much easier now, though she still naps no more than a maximum of three hours a day, total. We're lucky if she sleeps a full twelve hours at night, but usually it's more like ten. She's the most energetic, wakey baby, it seems. Here she is, squawking and trying to eat ramen noodle packets.

Let me have that camera

2008-10-02T15:55:23Z

Now that Ruthie can move around, she's very interesting in grabbing my camera, whereas before she used to just ignore me and smile at it.

Isn't she adorably monstrous in this fisheye shot?

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It's posing a new child-development/photographic challenge for me, and I look forward to using the new knowledge in my photography business.

Ruthie News Reel

2008-10-02T02:05:45Z

Today's pediatrician stats: 16lbs. 10oz / 26.5"

She got a flu shot, the first of two (yes, I vaccinate). And soon--too soon--she'll be an entire year old! I already miss her early babyhood. While waiting in the pediatrician's office, Steve played a few videos for me on his cell phone--videos from before she could roll over and crawl. She laughed and screeched and made long whining noises. Perpetual motion. The tornado of activity that she is now has been in place since her birth. It's like she never stops to take a breath. ]]> very nice to get a full night's rest for the first time in ten months. But I'll miss that little warm body snuggling next to me. And when she wakes up next to me in the morning, she has the goofiest drunken smile I've ever seen. She doesn't wake up happy in the crib. I can't snuggle next to her. I can't smell that intoxicating hair. And I feel like a wuss for getting dewy-eyed about the whole thing.

Sandy diapers, here I come

2008-09-27T13:00:08Z

Daddy wrote my name! ]]>

Why am I in the air?

Sun naps on daddy are nice.

CUTENESS OVERLOAD: The Ruth Chronicles

2008-09-27T01:47:21Z

*falls over ded*

Pretty in pink / Triumphs in sleep

2008-09-22T21:30:31Z

Isn't my daughter gorgeous?]]> so incredibly social. "Ba ba ba" "Ra ra ra" "Da da da" and "Ma ma ma" all day long. She blows bubbles, makes raspberries, and loves to screech and go "AAAAAH" really loudly in echoey kitchens and bathrooms. This is always accentuated when she's around other kids. She loves her little cousins, and has on more than one occasion crawled up to them and hung on them in order give them a kiss (also known as an open-jawed head-butt maneuver). It's cute, but they never know what she's doing, and it looks frighteningly like she's about to bite them with her four (!!!) sharp teeth. And she CANNOT GET ENOUGH OF SWEET POTATOES. But here's the icing on the cake. For all the sleep drama that pervades my life, tonight is the best night EVER. She got fussy, so I brought her into the bedroom, started the fan & music box, and began rocking and humming. She put her head down on my chest, and started nuzzling. I put her down in the crib, eyes open, nuzzling, and kept humming. Then, I let go. And she stayed there. No fussing, no getting up and screaming, no nothing. I kept singing, grabbed my PJs, and left. She's still in there. Peaceful as ever. I feel like I've had a MASSIVE triumph. YATTA!

SLEEP: Epic Fail

2008-09-19T09:27:50Z

Ruth woke up at 4:30 this morning to nurse. Lately she's been waking up at least three times a night to nurse, which hasn't been too bad, since we co-sleep and we both wake minimally. But this morning was different. She kicked and slapped and mumbled and all kinds of I hate you, and then refused to settle down afterwards, getting up to play. Steve took her and tried to soothe her, but no go. So into the crib she went, and cried for a solid 15 minutes. I picked her up, and she was instant silence. At first it seemed she would sleep again, but when I brought her back to bed, it was playtime all over. "All right, that's it, we're up." I said. Steve protested vehemently, but I didn't see how we were going to force her to be sleepy if 15 minutes of full-fledged screaming, followed by nursing and cuddling, didn't do it. "That doesn't make senes, honey," I said. "She'll cry for who knows how long, we'll both be awake, and then where will we be? Go back to sleep. I'll stay up." Poor guy didn't get to bed 'til 2 AM. Granted, I'm wicked tired, and this is going to simply KILL my functionality today, but at least she will eventually tire and then we can both go back to bed. ... Addendum: Other than this episode, things sleep-wise have been slowly but surely progressing towards more independence. She cries at naptime sometimes, but usually settles within 10 minutes. Going down at night is infinitely easier--maybe a little crying here and there, but she settles on her own. And sometimes she doesn't even wake when I bring her into bed with me around 11 at night. Sometimes, I guess, she just wants to shake things up.