Happy Birthday Ruthie!

Dear Ruthie,


Oh my sweet, sweet baby. I just can't believe you are 1 today! More than with any of your sisters, I truly feel that this year has flown by. While you're only about 10lb bigger than when you were born, there is a lot of energy packed into that little body! You have gone from a baby who was happy to sit on my lap and snuggle while watching the world to not ever wanting to sit still. Everyone remarks on how fast you crawl and I'm pretty sure that within a few weeks you will be a full time walker. I treasure those rare times now when you will sit and snuggle with me...they are few and far between and generally only last a few minutes and then you're off again.
Before you were born we didn't find out if you were a boy or a girl so you were just "baby" for 9 months. Emmie said from the beginning that you were a girl and she and Ellie called you Baby Rosie for about 4 months (so it's probably good that you weren't a boy!). There was so much anticipation when we went in for your induction. We knew what your name was going to be if you were a boy but we still didn't have a girl name picked out and in fact that very week we had gone from a list of 3 names that we liked okay (Charlotte, Evelyn, or Madelynn), then added a few to the list and finally went into the hospital with  a list of 2 names (Ruth and Rose) that weren't on our original list! As soon as you were born we knew you were Ruth (we'd had your middle name picked out for months) and I've never doubted our name choice for a minute...your name fits you perfectly!
Ruthie, you have been a delight from the very beginning. Your sisters loved you from the moment they saw you, as I knew they would...they anticipated your arrival for so long! I think my favorite moment was not them meeting you though, but you meeting them, really meeting them and realizing that they were a part of your world. The day we brought you home and put your carrier on the ground and you just watched them and were so content with the craziness that was your reality. They were squealing and running around and Franklin was popping in and out of your line of sight to sniff you and give you kisses and you just sat there. It is hard to describe what I felt in that moment but I looked at you and knew that you felt like you were in the place you belonged...you knew you were home.
From day one you fit right into our routine. You were content to tag along wherever we went and if your schedule needed to be adjusted a little you went along with the new plan...all you asked was that we let you take your afternoon nap at home. You've always loved to play. Even as an infant if you were fussy sometimes it was just because you wanted to lay on a blanket on the floor and wiggle. I must say this shouldn't have surprised me, you were very, very active when I was pregnant with you! You are a bit of a Momma's girl (and that's a bit of an understatement) although you're starting to warm up to others. You have resigned yourself to the nursery and even though you would never, ever admit it I'm pretty sure you even have fun playing with the other babies and toys. You have also realized that Daddy likes to wrestle and make silly noises...you are quite entertained by this. I'm so glad you are starting to warm up to other people so that they can see your sweet, fun, silly personality!
We're starting to see your personality change and develop. You're generally quite content and you LOVE to play with your sisters. One of your favorite things is to body slam them. Fortunately they think this is hilarious. They're quite tolerant of whatever wrestling move you're trying out on them that day.  In the past few weeks we have started seeing the stronger side of your personality come out. You have the ability to throw quite the temper tantrum (arched back, screaming, etc). Fortunately these moments don't last too long and we dry your tears and you go back to being your sweet, fun loving self! You love to play with dolls and you hug them and pat them. You love to look at books and in sleepy moments will sit and let me read to you. You've started babbling more to us and we try to listen to your babbles..you talk so quietly that sometimes it takes me a few minutes to realize that you're chatting away beside me! You are tenderhearted. You will often get upset if one of your sisters gets in trouble and you're concerned when they cry and you've been like this since you were a newborn. You've started giving hugs and you love to sing and dance and listen to music. You are so determined. When you put your mind to something you work at it until you can do it, whether it's climbing into the rocking chair, crawling, escaping through the doggy door, or your new skill, learning to walk...you are confident that you can do anything the bigger kids do! I am so looking forward to watching you blossom into a toddler this next year!
Ruthie, you keep me running all day and I never know just what trouble you're going to be getting into next but I wouldn't change one thing about you. You are perfect just the way you are and you are perfect for this family.
I love you sweet Ruthie Roo!




Here's our sweet Roo a year ago...