Baby Steps

At 13 3/4 months, Ruthie's mobility has progressed to speed-crawler, speed-climber, and soon to be speed-walker. She'll walk holding on to things and she'll walk holding our hands, but she hasn't yet taken the leap to walking on her own. But, who needs to walk when you can proficiently reach your destination in some other manner? We know Ruthie will eventually reach her walking milestone. In the meantime, we are enjoying the baby steps she's taking in that direction.

Remembering Bridget

Today was one of immense sadness as we said goodbye to our beloved dog Bridget. But, while we grieve our loss, we know that in death we can also celebrate the life that was. So, here's to our "bigger than a Whippet but smaller than a Greyhound" Bridget...

-the "leaner"
-shivering even in a warm breeze
-alpha female
-mother/big sis to Hirschel
-squirrel catcher
-hating Greyhounds, loving Vizslas
-red and black turtleneck coat
-bad teeth and bad breath
-standing up in the car
-dignified and classy
-unconditional love

Catching Up

Ruthie's life continues to unfold at the rate of a speeding bullet, with mom and dad desperately trying to follow somewhere remotely close behind. First off, I should catch everyone up on Ruthie's stats. At her 1 year appointment, Ruthie weighed in at 20 lbs 4 oz- a mere 37th percentile. She seems to have caught up in height, measuring at 30 inches, putting her in the 79th percentile. Of course, that exactness may not be anywhere near correct since we are pretty positive that Ruthie scooted about an inch while the nurse was measuring her. What we're saying is she's potentially an inch shorter, not taller!


For those of you who have not seen Ruthie in a while, she now has six teeth- four on top, two on bottom. It is no longer cute to try to get her to suck on your fingers. OUCH!

She is talking (okay, babbling) up a storm, climbing stairs, and crawling and cruising all over the place. And boy is she fast! Somehow, in the blink of an eye, she disappears from one end of the room and is already on the third step. Or we find her in the dog bowl... We're just constantly trying to catch up!

Busy as a Bee

Ruthie has had quite the whirlwind lifestyle these last two weeks. She spent a week traveling around North Carolina (about 900 miles of traveling, to be exact!), visiting Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Charlotte, and Wilmington. She visited lots of Mommy's friends and grandma's friends. She visited her aunt, uncle, and cousins in Charlotte. She saw the house where Mommy grew up, saw Mommy's high school, and met her grandpa Henry. She toured Mommy's university (go 'heels!) and watched her "Aunt" Betty complete a triathlon. She joined in a wedding shower and a knitting group. She thoroughly enjoyed some key Nawth Car'lina restaurants, including Fat Daddy's, Bojangles, and Golden Corral. She smelled an array of blooming azaleas. She waved to ducks at the lake and and ate sand at the ocean. She had her first surprise party and her first cupcake. And that was just the first week!

This past week included a Passover seder, Ruthie's first birthday, her one-year check up, and her one-year birthday party. Phew! Needless to say, Ruthie is taking an extra-long nap at this very moment. She's earned it!

Enjoying a moment at Wrightsville beach










Admiring the flowers










Looking pretty for Passover

Birthday Girl

It was exactly one year ago.... All day long I've been reminiscing to myself and to friends about the sequence of events that unfolded on April 4, 2006.

7:00am- I'd had a couple "signs" the night before, so Jon and I decide to carpool to school- JUST IN CASE!
12:00pm- Seems like a normal day. Nothing out of the ordinary.
2:45pm- School ends. I'm feeling fine. Jon decides to go to his class in Boulder.
3:30ish pm- I"m still at school. My stomach feels a little crampy. I figure it must be something I ate. I joke to a couple friends "What if it's contractions?" Their response- "Oh, you would definitely know." I figured the same thing.
4:00pm- I need to stay and get more work done, but my last resort home is about to leave and these annoying stomach pains are coming a little more frequently.
4:30pm. Get home. Decide maybe I should write down times JUST IN CASE they might be contractions. Times vary. Nothing consistent. I'm sure it's just something I ate.
4:45pm- Get a phone call from a friend. Cramps are coming more often and I'm having a hard time breathing through them. Tell friend I need to go call the doctor. Maybe they are contractions!
4:46pm- Kaiser main line (K)- "This is Kaiser. How can I help you?" Jen (J)- "Ummm, is this the right number to call if I think I might be having contractions?" K-"YOU'RE HAVING CONTRACTIONS??!! HOLD ON AND STAY ON THE LINE!" transfer... Kaiser Nurse (N)-"You're having contractions? How far apart are they?" J-"Well, it's nothing consistent. 9 minutes, then 4 mintues, then 10 minutes, then 5 minutes..." N-"Um, yeah. Those average 5minutes, so you need to get to the hospital RIGHT AWAY!" J-Well, my husband's on his way home from Boulder. I"ll just wait for him." N- "If he'll FOR CERTAIN be there in the next 20 minutes then okay. If not, you need to get someone to drive you now."
5:00pm- Call Jon, expecting him to be on his way home. Instead, this is what I hear. "Hey, class went a little late tonight, so I'm just now walking out of the building." This is where I freak out and start bawling hysterically and hyperventilating.
5:02pm- Call friend to take take me to the hospital.
5:15pm- Friend arrives. We're on our way. Contractions are exactly 3 minutes apart.
5:30pm- Grandparents call. "Hi there. We were just thinking about you. How are you?" J-"Actually, I'm on my way to the hospital. Don't call my mother!"
5:48pm- Arrive at the hospital. Get checked in and go back to be monitored. I"m dilated to a 7. I wonder what happened to 1-6. Call some friends. Call my mother. Wonder if Jon will make it on time.

JON MAKES IT- PHEW!!!!!

6:59pm- Into the world comes the most amazing little person.

Our lives are forever changed.

First Words

Like many babies, Ruthie's babbles of "dada" and "mama" to anyone and anything began months ago. Slowly but surely she has begun to associate words to their objects. She looks at Daddy and says "dada." She looks at the chair and says "mama." She looks back at Daddy and says "dada." She looks at the wall and says "mama." Back to Daddy. "dada." Then over to Bridget. "bridget." Now she's looking at the ceiling. "mama." Finally she looks at Mommy... and she starts crying. Hey, I never said she was associating ALL words to their objects!

In the following video, are a few rare caught-on-tape moments of some of Ruthie's very first words. Make sure the volume is turned up- this is not a silent film!

Standing Tall

Ruthie has finally made it into the world of the standing. Yes, she's taken her sweet time reaching this point. Maybe it's because we kept wanting and willing her to stand. We would lift her up, hold her out, and wait for her to stretch her legs down long so we could plant her feet firmly on the ground. In reality we would lift her up, hold her out, and Ruthie would do one of two things; a) stretch her legs out in front of her (the "I'm sitting in midair' position), or b) tuck her legs up underneath her (the "I'm in mid-jump" position). Neither led to standing so we stopped trying.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, I was sitting on the floor with Ruthie and up she went. All by herself. No help from anybody. She stood right up like she'd been doing it for years. And that was it. We didn't see her stand again until tonight. Maybe she stopped standing because we've been egging her on every time we set her down. Maybe she stopped because, when she stood up the first time, I yelled "YAY" so excitedly that I think I scared her half to death because she sat right back down and started crying hysterically. Or, maybe she stopped because she just wasn't quite ready to transition from infancy to toddlerhood. Whatever the case, it seems that now she's ready.