Moving Ahead

For a while now, Ruthie has been quite the roller, rolling from one end of a room and back, gathering along the way anything that might be in her way. It's been just in the last week or two that Ruthie finally began the "army crawl." You know, the one where she drags herself across the floor by her elbows and forearms. In just the past week she discovered how to do planks, where her forearms are on the floor and she lifts up on her toes (it's great for the abs!). While she has had this range of movement, she never really seemed to care where she actually ended up. We would put a favorite toy out of her reach, she would eye it, maybe move forward a couple inches, then proceed to roll on her back or turn around and inch away in the opposite direction.

But it was just last night that Ruthie finally figured out how purposeful crawling can be. It was like a light went on and suddenly Ruthie realized that by crawling she could actually reach the object of her desire. She even got up on her knees for the very first time and I have to say that I almost cried when she did it. I didn't think it would be so emotional, but I was just so darn proud of her!

What's in a Name?

As we think about what we want to name our children, there's so much that goes into the process. Origin, meaning, does it sound right, are they going to get made fun of? It's a huge decision, and a huge responsibility, providing someone with the name that she will take on for the rest of her life.

While we certainly explored other names, and the most dreadful possibilities at that, we both liked the name Ruth from the start. Biblically, Ruth is a cherished and loved member of the Jewish faith. Being the first convert to Judaism, this is a profoundly strong connection to Jon and his family. And, the name is also deeply connected to me, being that there was a Ruth some generations back in my family who was also a twin.

We also like that the name Ruth seems to always conjur up good people. All the Ruths or Ruthies I have known or have heard of have all been truly well-loved people. In fact, just about everyone I know has said to me, "My (grandma/aunt/mom's best friend) Ruth was just the greatest most sweetest person I ever knew." And, while I don't believe in relying solely on the meaning of a name to predict any sort of future characteristics for a person, I do think that it must effect everyone someway, somehow. But it is just one more reason for us to love the name Ruth, because only good things can possibly come to a person whose name means friend.

Baby Ruth, on the other hand, just means chocolatey-covered peanuts and nougat.

Generations

This past weekend, Ruthie and Jen were lucky enough to be able to abandon snow-ridden Denver for a brief jaunt to abnormally warm Chicago. Ruthie got to visit with her grandma Barb, uncle Rick, aunt Joni, cousin Jori, and most special of all- great Grandma and great Grandpa. How fortunate we are to have four generations of family still going strong!

Ruthie with mom, grandma, and great grandma


Ruthie had a blast with great Grams and Gramps and she captured the attention of everyone in their building. In fact, Ruthie was equally in awe of them, which is evidenced by how quickly she picked up on some of the tricks they taught her!

Sharing

Who doesn't believe in sharing? We may not always like sharing but we do at least believe in it. Even at her young age, Ruthie, too, seems to understand what it means to share. In fact, we think she even likes it!

I Love You

Woohoo!!! Jen has finally figured out how to post a video!!! I would like to start with one of my favorites. Many of you have seen an alternate version, but not this particular one.

Pint-Size Beauty

Although we still have two days to go in the bottom of the eighth month, we took Ruthie in today for her 9 month check-up. It wasn't a necessary check-up, since there are no shots between 6 and 12 months, but our doctor gave us the option at her last appointment. "You can wait until 12 months, or you can bring her in and get her measurements..." Since we are not ones to pass up the opportunity to get Ruthie's weight and measurements, and we happen to like our pediatrician, of course we took her in!

Here's the results... We like to think that Ruthie is very headstrong and smart. In fact, just this morning, she managed to get an entire newspaper out of its bag (this often proves difficult for many adults) and she opened a tub of Butt Paste all by herself (the lid is bigger than both her hands). And, she did all of this without anyone actually seeing her. Some might call this sneaky or naughty. We are going to use the term "smart!" And, this goes right along with Ruthie's 9 month head size which came in at 68%. That brain's a growin'! For weight, Ruthie is doing great. She started at a mere 6lbs7oz and she is now 18lbs11oz. She's tripled her birth weight (okay, not counting in the ounces), and is smack dab in the middle at 50%. You go girl! Then, alas, there's Ruthie's height. If you refer back to the title of this blog, you'll have an idea of where I'm going. Ruthie measured in at exactly 27 inches. Strangely enough, that's almost half of mom's height, but for a 9 month old, it's only the 33rd percentile. Maybe mom's only in the 33rd percentile, too...! So, maybe she won't get the tall genes. We're okay with that!

By the way, Boudreaux's Butt Paste is a popular brand of diaper rash cream!

New Year's Resolution

Okay, I know we should have started this long ago but, hey, better late than never. Let's call it a New Year's resolution!

The purpose for this blog is to have a place where we can share smiles, laughs, and tears as our family faces each new day. And it is a place for those who are reading this to catch up on our life through words, pictures, and videos.

For now, I think the main focus of our blogs will be dedicated to our incredible daughter, Ruth Elizabeth Olson- aka Baby Ruth or, as most people refer to her, Ruthie. She is, obviously, the most amazing and fun piece of our lives!

If you've been unintentionally left out of the loop, Ruthie was born on April 4th, 2006, at 6:59pm. The whole birthing process was fairly quick. Mom worked a full day at school with nothing out of the ordinary occuring. Around 3:30, she had what would soon be determined to be a contraction. She checked into the hospital at 5:48pm and out came Ruthie one hour and eleven minutes later!

Hopefully, we will figure out the video thing soon. Until then, here are a couple of pictures to enjoy.


Here's Ruthie on her first day in this world.

And here's Ruthie now, almost 9 months later.