Dear Ruthie

Happy 6th Birthday sweet Ruthie! I can't believe how fast the time has flown. This year was a big year for you as you completed OIT for your peanut allergy and you started kindergarten.
You my sweet Roo are my little fighter. You are one of the toughest kids I know and you are incredibly brave. This past year we asked you to do something really scary. We asked you to eat peanuts after we had spent years teaching you not to eat them and to question every single thing you put in your mouth. My little warrior, you were a little nervous and unsure but you stepped up and trusted us. You were amazing through all of OIT. Even with OIT I was so incredibly nervous sending you off to kindergarten this year. Fortunately you have an amazing teacher who I knew was looking out for you and the first time I picked you up from school and you were telling me about who you ate lunch with and you made no mention of what anyone else was eating it made me so happy. I can already see you forgetting what life was like before OIT but I hope you always remember a little bit of what that anxiety felt like. I hope you can remember how you faced something scary and it changed your life forever!
Speaking of taking on scary things, you were pretty nervous about starting kindergarten this year. However, the first day came and I walked you to class and you walked right in and never looked back. You have two wonderful teachers and they always tell me how fabulous you are. They talk about what a hard worker you are and how focused you are on every assignment. They recently told me about how you there is a little boy who has been struggling and you have taken him under your wing. They said you always help him and you always pick him as your partner when you have partner assignments. I'm pretty sure you're just happy to have someone you can boss around but I am proud of you for looking out for those around you. I laugh every time I see you at school. You always seem to have some little boy by the arm and are dragging him around talking 90 miles an hour (no doubt telling him all the things he needs to be doing). You are a force to be reckoned with!
Ruthie I will never forget the day we brought you home from the hospital and set your carrier on the floor and your sisters ran over to look at you and your eyes just lit up. From that moment on you have wanted nothing more than to be one of the group. You are 4 years younger than Emmie and 2 1/2 years younger than Ellie but you are SURE that not only can you do anything they can do but I'm pretty sure you view yourself as the oldest (which occasionally causes some conflict with the actual oldest child)! Anyone who knew you as a toddler knows that you can do anything you put your mind to and I have seen this determination in so many ways. When you were 2 I went to change your diaper one day and you yelled "no diaper!" and that day you potty trained yourself. When you were learning to swim you said you refused to wear your float one day and that day you took off swimming. I also remember being so worried about how you would adjust when JP was born. After all we had always treated you like you were the baby of the family. You however slid right into the roll of big sister. You and JP are incredibly close and I love to watch you together. My favorite is those times when I come into your room in the morning and you are snuggled up in his bed whispering to each other. I am so glad that you have a buddy and that you get to be an actual big sister (instead of just pretending you are the biggest sister!).
You are so determined and so determined to be independent. You are always on the go and rarely want help with anything. I treasure the moments when you want me to hold you or you want to snuggle up beside me. Ruthie, I can't wait to see where life takes you. You are strong, courageous, determined and independent. You are small (although you have grown so much in the last year or two!) but you never let your size hold you back. There is a huge personality inside of your little body!You can do absolutely anything that you set your mind to and I hope you always believe in yourself the way you do now. Last night I read to you from the book On the Night You Were Born by Nancy Tillman and there is a line in there that says "For never before in story or rhyme...has the world ever known a you, my friend, and it never will, not ever again." You are truly one of a kind sweet Roo and the world had better get ready because I have no doubt you will take it by storm!
Happy Birthday Ruthie Mitchell!

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

I had to throw this picture in because I love the pictures of you with your fingers in your mouth. It is just so you. As much as I fuss at you to get your fingers out of your mouth something about it just tugs on my heart!