Ruthie Grows

Ruthie is asleep in a baby sling, wrapped tightly next to my chest. It's how she sleeps best.

After a few weeks of what felt like blissful happy social engagement, Ruu seems to have reverted to her prior stage of avoiding eye contact (while eagerly looking at every interesting thing in sight), smiling less, sleeping more erratically, and being generally more cranky.

So I'm slowly but surely working on training Ruu (or Roux, as my french-loving friend Emily likes to spell it) to actually take naps. It makes her a much happier baby overall, although it can sometimes take as much as 20 minutes for her to give in to sleep. I don't let her scream and wail the whole time, of course... I set a timer for five minutes so that I *make* myself give her the chance to settle down on her own. If she's not settled after five minutes, I go in, check her diaper, see if her swaddling has come undone, pat her, comfort her as needed, and start the process again.

This year was our first year toting a kid to church for the whirlwind that is Orthodox Easter, or Pascha. Holy Week was daunting; services every night from 7pm on, and activities during the day in preparation for Pascha that kept us running around crazy!

The past few days have been a bit of a strain. Ruthie only wakes up once (around 2 AM) for her nightly feeding, and so logically (or so I tell myself), I should be on the gravy train. Yet in the back of my mind mumbles the suspicion that she's drinking more at each feeding, and therefore taking a lot more of my energy. The reason? I'm inexplicably hungry ALL THE TIME (I've already had three full meals today, as of 4 PM), and RIDICULOUSLY TIRED (though I'm getting fairly decent stretches of sleep at night).

It's gotten to the point where I'm not sure what constitutes Ruth News anymore, since everything she does FASCINATES me. All I know for absolute certainty is this: I love my daughter, deeply and completely.

There's really nothing like this romance and intimacy. Like marriage, it's a unique bond formed by hormones, time, will, and emotions. There is so much touch, so many hours, and so much effort put into the relationship that I can't help myself: I'll jump in front of a train for her.

It's been quite awhile since I've written about Ruth, so here I go!

Tomorrow, I start teaching photography at Park Camps. It's a day camp, and the session I teach will last for three weeks. While I'm teaching, I have to leave Ruth behind.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a TOOTH.

Last night I felt it--a tiny scratchy sharp thing on her bottom jaw.

Today we saw it--the tiny peek of white!

TEETH = TRIUMPH!

Ladies and gentlemen, the craziness has begun.

When she gets up in the morning, she can now peek over the edge of the playpen and make noise until we notice her. It's wicked cute.

Awhile back, Kristin Putchinsky (also known as ellen cherry), who I met while teaching at Park Camps, was telling me that she thinks the most important thing to teach kids is not to be smart, or to change the world, but to be kind.

I couldn't agree with her more. I don't care if my little girl gets a degree from Harvard and starts a foundation for some grand cause that's guaranteed to tug at people's heart strings and solve world hunger. If she's a nasty person, it's not going to mean much in the end. If, in everything she's done, she's steamrolled over others and ignored their needs for her own agenda, I will be a very sad mother.

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.

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.