- When changing her diaper, be sure you have more than one diaper on hand. At least 2 is a must and to be safe 4 or 5. And protect yourself...she is fond of pooping and she does get some good distance with it.
- Ruth is a pretty content baby - however, she is starting to cry whenever Peter gets in her face. It could be that he needs to brush his teeth more or the simple fact his love is a bit overwhelming for poor little Ruth. (He has not grasped the concept of love without wallering yet...)
- She is not fond of being smacked by dog tails, Peter's feet or having her cheeks "played with" by Rebekah.
- She IS fond of Rebekah singing to her and gentle kisses from Peter. Haven't found anything she is fond of regarding the dog yet...
- So far she begrudgingly will take the pacifier but always looks at me like "What IS this nasty thing you are giving me?". I need to get a picture of this. Honestly - it is precious. (For such a tiny baby, she certain is expressive.)
- Ruth can smile. She has been smiling since we brought her home from the hospital. I have yet to get a picture of it though. I've also heard a bit of a "giggle" (a smile with a "ah" happy kind of noise) twice.
- Ruth is a champion nurser. We have also introduced bottles (she has had 2 so far) and has been doing OK with them. First bottle she had, she wasn't sure what to think. Second bottle I'm told went much better. (She will get a bottle at least once a week until I return to work...when of course she will get them daily.)
- Ruth is amazing in that I can just set her down in her crib asleep and she stays asleep. Miracle I tell you. She will also stay in her crib as long as she is clean/not-hungry in a contented manner until I can get to her to pick her up. (She will let me know she is awake. But it is a bit of a "wah wah" and that's it.) I appreciate her for this - because I can't always get to her immediately.
- She isn't fond of floor time at all. But, I will put Ruth in the floor and have Rebekah sit by her (usually watching TV) and ta-da, Ruth is happy as a clam. She needs company is all. Good thing she is the 3rd kid...there is plenty of company around. (Peter is also happy to sit...however...I can't just walk off and leave him and her alone. He is a bit too much of a 2-almost-3 yo boy for that just yet.)
- Ruth is holding her head up pretty well. She is very opinionated on what she wants to look at. Example: the other night she was studying some paintings on our wall while in William's lap. He turned her so she would look at him and she cried. He put her back and she stopped and went back to her studies. She loves these paintings by the way and looks at them often. I do too - so I think she has good taste. (They are paintings of Italian vineyards.) She is also fond of looking at the ceiling. William will tell you I do too - as I'm forever noticing things on ceilings. Maybe she is wondering what I'm looking at?
I also wanted to chat a bit about post-pregnancy eating habits. You know - I don't have the health of my baby as motivation for the super-human-healthy-eating anymore. I've discovered a few things about myself that has been a change in the course of the last 9 months.
Firstly, I don't miss Starbucks as much as I thought I did. I've had 3 since Ruth was born. They certainly are yummy, but just don't quite have the YUM factor that they used too? This was the biggest thing I missed and had trouble "letting go" while pregnant. So this is so very fascinating to me that now I'm ambivalent about it.
I've also noticed a definite difference in the way my body operates. If I eat something unhealthy, it is almost like loading up a car with the wrong kind of gasoline...I'm sluggish and am certainly not at my peak performance. I feel "blah" much more so than I used too. And it isn't a blood sugar issue. Example, for breakfast I stopped at Starbucks and got a venti Pumpkin Latte on ice and a Very Berry Coffee Cake. NOT healthy. My blood sugar less than 2 hrs later was 92 (excellent). But - it feels blah to me and is certainly NOT something I will do very often at all. I've felt this way after eating candy etc. too. And I still crave salads at times. I was worried that once I was no longer pregnant, I would run back to my old way of eating (or fall back into it). I think with my strong desire to give myself good fuel so that I can keep up with everything, this isn't likely to happen.
I do eat potatoes now though, but certainly less than I used too.
Ice-cream is still a pitfall for me. :-)
I've also noticed I like the 5-meal-a-day eating routine and my body seems to run best on it. This pretty much includes a hearty breakfast, a large lunch (largest meal of the day), small afternoon snack, dinner (bigger than snack, smaller than lunch) and an evening snack. I will say I don't eat like this everyday... :-) I'm not very good at the whole schedule thing yet and sometimes eat a pretty late lunch.
Ummm...no sugar added ice cream tends to be my evening snack. :-) I need to change this...but I need to think up some good healthy evening snacks. I got tired the last 6 wks of my pg and this sort of became the default. :-P
I also have been trying to figure out how to fit working out back into my schedule again. It is easier said than done. I pretty much replaced my morning workout routine with prayer time when I stopped working out. When I return to work, I will have a morning pump session to fit in too. (I can see doing prayer time and pumping...it will be easy enough.) But...when do I begin working out again? I may not be able to work out regularly for awhile. SO much to do so little time. People always tell me to just work out over lunch, but I have lunch with my dear friend nearly daily. May seem silly, but I don't want to give it up. I like having that time to chat with her and it is a little bit of sanity in my day. And evenings are pretty well out. I'm not taking time away from my kids and after they are in bed...well, I need to crawl into bed myself.
May I have two more hours in my day? I'd use 1 for sleeping and 1 for working out. ;-)
And lastly, I'm not going to say too much...other than I've been very interested to see an inner change in myself. It is a change in desires that run deep within me, that if you had told me would be there a year ago I would have laughed and told you that you were crazy.
However...it is there.
And God has been chatting with me about it. I'm just so fascinated at how He is so good at these gradual changes. Of course not everything is gradual. Sometimes the changes are more like ripping off a band-aide. But this one has been slow. It started off as a funny thought and has evolved from there. I'm excited about this change and now. I am also impatient for the changes to take place. But alas - it will be quite some time before anything is different. Like a scrawny tree planted in the yard. Someday it will become a beautiful shade tree with a nice swing hanging off of it. But that takes time and watching it grow day after day it appears it will never be that tree...until one day it is.
In Exodus 13:17-18, God takes the Israelite in a round-about route through the desert.
17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” 18 So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle. (NIV)
He deemed it best for them, because He knew their hearts and knew what they could handle. So while I may be impatient, there are other changes that must take place first in me (and in my family) before this change can happen. It is in my best interest. At least I sorta know where I'm headed, right? It won't be a huge shock to me...and in fact when it happens I'll be gleeful and excited. I will be ready.
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