Look Who's Talking

We are finally winding down from all of the excitement involved with Ruthie taking her first steps. Jon started walking at 15 months. Ruthie's first steps were at 15 months and 2 days. She is, quite literally, following in her father's footsteps. That's not to say that Ruthie is running around doing cartwheels or anything. She is still taking steps here and there, but only when she lets us let go of her.

While Ruthie is still certainly in the normal time frame of learning to walk, I have heard some positive thoughts referring to those who take those first steps later rather than sooner. One thought is that kids who walk later turn out to be more athletic due to the much needed coordination it takes to crawl efficiently (this is, of course, assuming that the child who is not yet walking is, in fact, crawling). In regards to Ruthie, you know that she is already quite the little swimmer. She also has quite a knack for climbing onto and off of various objects (stairs, boxes, sofas, etc) without any help. She has even mastered getting out of spaces in which she was initially buckled down (highchairs, changing tables, shopping carts, etc). Thank goodness she's stopped doing that last one- for now, at least! Needless to say, Ruthie is clearly showing signs of athletic ability, or, at the very least, that she has strong coordination skills. For Ruthie to ski, walking is not important. However, knowing how to coordinate one's arms and legs together into the right movements and rhythm, like crawling, is.

Another positive spin on those who walk a little later is that they are focusing more of their time honing in on their language skills first. As you will clearly be able to tell in the video below, Ruthie has a lot to say and she has obviously been working hard so that she says it all in just the right way. It makes perfect sense that while Ruthie could certainly have been practicing balancing her upper body while putting one foot in front of the other, she instead chose to develop her speech and vocabulary. She must know that this will be an important skill in life- not only for the purpose of communication, but if she has any hopes of ever beating me in Scrabble, she needs to start practicing now!

Yes, of course I know they're just thoughts. Just because Ruthie didn't take her first steps until 15 months doesn't mean she'll be a star athlete or a guru of language. But, when you're in a room full of babies and toddlers, and everyone 9 months and older is walking, except your daughter, it's nice to have those thoughts to go on.

For those of you who might have been wondering about the race between Ruthie and her cousin Jake, Ruthie was the first to take steps on her own. As far as who will be running and doing cartwheels first? That's a whole other race!

SHE FINALLY DID IT!

I can't quite put my feelings into words yet, so... just watch the video!

It's a Girl!

That's right! We have a new mouth to feed here in the Olson household. She is definitely as good an eater as Ruthie, although I think her mouth is definitely bigger! She also has a little more hair than Ruthie. She's playful and cuddly and loves to give kisses. Here she is... Miss Gertrude (Gertie) Olson!



Gertie is a German Wirehaired Pointer. She is 12 weeks old, born April 13, 2007, in Llewellen, Nebraska. The family is very excited about our newest arrival, and everyone is doing well.

Going Places

Ruthie's many travels continued last week as she visited both Chicago and Minneapolis. Among her many adventures, Ruthie gazed and giggled at the colorful fish and other sea creatures at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium, let her curls blow in the wind during a boat tour of the Chicago skyline, bobbed with the waves amid one Minnesota lake, and laughed at the chimps wrestling playfully at St. Paul's Como Park Zoo. Perhaps even more importantly, Ruthie had the great pleasure of visiting with many friends and family in both cities.



Ruthie enjoys some down time in Chicago.









Here we are standing next to a statue of Mary Tyler Moore in downtown Minneapolis, memorializing the exact spot of her famous hat toss from the opening scene of The Mary Tyler Moore Show.





In Chicago, Ruthie spent time with her great-grandparents, her uncle and cousins, and even met up with her Denver friend, Adeline, for some afternoon tapas. Having the great fortune to be able to watch Ruthie with her great Grams and Gramps brings nothing but sheer joy. And, Ruthie had nothing short of a blast entertaining all the folks in their retirement community. In the dining hall she brought smiles and laughter to everyone as she crawled and walked (still holding on!) to greet everyone at their tables. Ruthie even met two more Ruth's along the way. In fact, one of them said to me, "You know, Ruth is not a very popular name." I looked at her and said, "Well, we love it." Her response? "Well, I do, too!" So there!




Ruthie takes great Gramps for a walk!









In Minneapolis, Ruthie was able to spend time with friends Wes, Maureen, and Eric and, of course, with grandma Kate and grandpa Charlie. Ruthie received the royal treatment from grandma who knew how to spoil her in all the right ways!! She also really enjoyed being around g & g's three whippets- Emma, Hilo, and Kona. Emma is Bridget's sister but looks the least like her. Kona could be Bridget's stunt double. Everytime Ruthie saw the dogs (which was about every other second) she would get very excited and joyfully say "DOG!" A couple of times, I caught her calling Kona "Bridget."



Ruthie watches Hilo and Kona.








While we absolutely love traveling and taking Ruthie to visit friends, family, and new places, we are definitely experiencing the exhaustion of traveling with a toddler. We have one more trip next month but then we're staying put for awhile. So, anyone who wants to visit us out here in Colorado, we will be here!

The Race is On

VS





The race is on between Ruthie and her cousin Jake. The winner? The one who walks first. Who's it going to be?

Ruthie's off to a strong start. She's five months older. She's a speed-demon crawler, she climbs stairs with no fear, and she's an experienced cruiser. But, wait! Here comes Jake and, wow, is he coming on strong! He may be younger but he sure is determined. He's a Jumparoo Master, he pulls himself up, and he's starting to cruise. His biggest advantage- he's got his older sister, Alyssa, to show him how it's done.

This race is a close one. Ruthie and Jake are neck and neck. It's just too tough to call right now. Who is going to win this race?

Then again, does it really matter when they start walking? Clearly they have found much more sophisticated ways for getting around!

Funny Girl

Ruthie is endlessly making us laugh as she sports her adorable faces and her silly noises. She can do it standing up, she can do it in her highchair. She can even do it with sweet potatoes all over her face!

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.