Ruth E. Poo at 11 months

My silly little Ruth!  She started really crawling towards the end of August.  Once Ruth discovered she could follow her brother and sister...oh my.  Of course she is much slower and has started getting frustrated with that.

There are some places she can't go...and isn't too fond of that either.

One guess where big sis and bro are...

But overall, she has been thrilled to be able to go wherever she wants.  She's even scared me a few times...because I couldn't find her at first.  So having to look for her, has been an adjustment.  (We don't even have that big of a house!)  And by now...I've figured out her favorite hang out spots.

She is fond of her siblings bedroom.  There are always neat things to find in there.  (And many choking hazards.)  I've tried keeping the door closed...but well her siblings are 5 and 3...door closing skills and following direction skills are things they have not mastered.  This is usually the first place I look.

This is the hallway just outside their
bedroom...she loves this mirror.

Another favorite spot is the kitchen.

But if she is in here, I don't typically have to look for her.  It really isn't all that big to begin with...so now we really have to watch where we step.

So with all of this in mind - Ruth has started working on mastering standing skills.  I believe she is tired of mastering any skills at all, because she gets pretty frustrated while standing.  The other day she was standing (I propped her up there) and she saw a remote control (a coveted object in her eyes).  She attempted to take a step towards it, promptly fell and just baaaaaawled and bawled.

Yes.  I did laugh.

Yes.  I am a mean mom.

No.  I did not give her the remote.

Well - only because it was dinner time.

I did let her "get it" the other day.  She just beamed.

And...I haven't done this in awhile...here's a nice picture with the good ol' bear.

That is a big difference from Ruth at 4 weeks with the bear...

Awww, my baby is growing up.  She also has TWO TEETH now.

Another funny thing she does that classifies as "silly baby trick" and she will "pretend sneeze".  She'll say "ah ah ah" and then pbttt!  It is so hilarious.  She will finish your pretend sneeze and sometimes start one and expect YOU to finish it.  This is one of her favorite things and makes me laugh every single time!

She also knows the sign for "done" and will tell us when she is done.  The other day she took a HUGE handful of food and dropped it in the floor.  Solomon was thrilled.  Me?  Not so much.  William says "Ruth!  What did you do that for?"  Then she signed "done" and William said "Are you DONE?"  She then clapped...you know "GOOD JOB DAD!  You get it!"  The whole thing made us laugh!

She is working on standing up and frequently puts her butt in the air.  I'm just waiting for her to pull herself up...I don't think it will be too much longer.  I can't believe my baby is almost one...*sniff*