Ruthie is 1!

My little baby turned 1 on Nov 15th! How did she get so old so fast? I swear the year has flown by. We celebrated her birthday in style with the whole family and her very own cake to destroy. Everyone commented that Ruthie was the most bold of all the kiddies - digging in almost right away. Her big bday gift from mom and dad was a stroller and baby doll that she instantly loved.


Here is the video montage of the cake destruction. Can she get any more cake in those little hands?



A few fun memories of my little one-year-old, as recorded on her first birthday:

• She has the funniest head shake when she's "talking". For any Johnsons out there it's rather reminiscent of her Opa.
• She picked up a little phrase from cousin Tyce who frequently calls out "Heidi" whenever I'm around. Now Ruthie walks around saying "Ei-Eee", "Ei-Eee". I get called Heidi before I even get called Mom!
• She plays "duck duck goose". Seriously. Somehow Anthony taught her this. She pats his head saying "du. du." and then runs around with him. It's pretty much their favorite game.
• She climbs onto the kitchen table. So not my favorite thing. That would be quite a fall!
• She loves containers. Loves to move items from one container to another.
• She can say "bye", "hi", "da" (dad), "ma" (mom) and "ei-ee" (Heidi)
• She can sign the words for "bye", "more" and "dad". Actually, when she says "da" she waves her little hand bye. She's associated her dad with waving bye to him when he leaves for work.
• She has yet to refuse to eat anything - except ground turkey.
• She has recently been going through a mommy-hold-me phase. For a long time she has been content to just wander around doing her own thing, but lately she wants to be in my arms, so I'm having to relearn my one-handed skills.
• She's learned to cry whenever Austin gets near her. It gets mommy to come running before Austin can even pummel her.
• She goes down the kiddie slide all by herself, feet first on her tummy. No fear.
• She feeds herself almost exclusively. She accepts it if we feed her sometimes, but she's had to learn early to feed herself since I'm only too happy to have my hands free for other things.
• She currently takes 1 90 minute nap each day. Very consistent. Very easy to put to bed. Definitely the easiest kid to put to bed I've ever heard of. Often she doesn't even want a wind down time - no stories or songs. Once you get her in her PJs she starts to cry until you lay her in her bed. Then she's instantly happy, sucks her thumb and is ready for sleep.
• She still wakes up in the middle of the night. We're working on that.
  
• She is a forager, constantly ready for food. If you are eating anything, she will come up to you, hold out her hand and make begging noises until you share.
• She has just started to watch TV. This is important to me because this how I sneak in my extra naps.
• She loves bath time.
• She smiles every morning.
• She has a funny fake-sounding laugh.
• She has fine blond hair and deep brown eyes.
• She loves her cousins, aunts, grandparents and all.