Ruthie is Ten Months Old

Seriously, ten months?  It’s no wonder I’ve generally been pregnant with new babies when the other girls were this age; all of a sudden my baby doesn’t seem very “baby” anymore!  Ruthie is beginning to resemble a toddler, and I’m a little sad about it.  And yet, she is so delightful -- I can’t help but adore this new stage, even if it means I have to be constantly on my guard.

 

At ten months old, our big girl Ruthie is:

• generally sleeping around twelve hours at night.  Last month was a doozie for middle-of-the-night wake ups, and I was certain they were due to teeth; however, we still have no teeth!  She seems to be leveling out a bit and waking less, which is wonderful for her and for mommy.
• taking an hour-and-a-half long nap in the morning and a two hour nap in the afternoons.  I usually need to wake her from her morning nap so that we can have a great afternoon nap.
• a great eater!  She still takes four bottles a day (usually between five and six ounces) every four hours or so.  She also is nearly off baby food, although I’ll sneak a few bites of fruit that way if I can.  (Soft fruit in winter is hard to come by!)  I don’t think Roo has met a food she doesn’t love, and we literally have to cut her off most meals.  Spit-up has returned since we’re evidently having a hard time figuring out when to stop her.
• signing “more”, and attempting to sign “all done”... although, I think she infrequently feels like she’s all done!
• drinking sort of efficiently from a cup
• not a fan of diaper changes.  At all.  She will now lay still, most of the time, but this isn’t exactly her happy time of day.
• loving the bath even more now that she gets to bathe with her big sisters.  They love it too, except when Roo decides she needs to get extra close or touch some hair.
• getting fuzzy!  Her hair is growing at a rapid clip, and I literally see noticable growth on a daily basis.  I’m thinking she might be able to wear a bow on her first birthday!
• speed crawling, pulling up, cruising on furniture (a few steps at a time), standing on her own (for a few seconds at most), and walking behind something that she’s pushing.  She’s found a stool in the house that she likes to push around, and I’m always shocked to see her do it.
• sharing her nay-nay, sniffing her Mousie (and sharing that, too!), and giving kisses on demand (most of the time).
• loves to have her back rubbed, especially to help her fall back asleep.  She also really loves to be rocked in the middle of the night...
• a fan of chewy toys, some flower rattles that we have (she’ll put one in each hand and shake them around), her new stack and roll cups (we play with these for a loooong time at a stretch), baby dolls, and the big girls’ doll house.  She also really likes to dump baskets and shelves; I forgot how much fun they have leaving a path of destruction!
• totally into the potty.  Seriously, any “alone time” she gets -- she’s off crawling to the little bathroom to see if someone left the lid up or if there’s toilet paper for her to yank on.  She also likes standing at the edge of the tub to try to find treasures there.  She also likes to climb on Nora’s bed and fiddle with the light on the table... oh, how she is into everything right now!
• totally happy.  Ruthie’s fussy moments happen when she’s hungry (usually if supper is late, she’ll let me know it) or tired -- and sometimes that last hour and a  half of the day is a long one.  But she is one happy little Mouse, especially when she’s with her Mommy or sisters!

Ruthie is so much fun!  It’s especially neat for me to have glimpses of her as a “bigger” girl -- I can already imagine her playing dolls with her sisters or twirling in the kitchen.  Time passes so quickly; I’m thankful that, for now, she’s only ten months old and still such a baby!