Ruthie at 2

I haven't written about individual kids in a long time, but the other day we found a journal I kept when Sammy was almost 2, and the stories were so fun to remember and read together. I have a quiet minute (Stephen's parents are in town to help with the baby...when he comes...) so figured I'd write about Ruthie.

Ruthie is the family darling. She has golden ringlets, and usually lets me brush it, but never ever allows pigtails. Sometimes she'll let us put a clip in, but it only lasts long enough for her to run to Stephen or Elise and be told how nice it is, then she rips it out. So usually her beautiful curls look like a rats nest.

She doesn't scream anymore (hallelujah!), and is quite good at communicating so long as you know her signs. She is currently signing:

all done
milk, water
chicken, bird, duck, geese (they look the same)
again, more
hat, shoes
eat
fish, pig, cat, pig
bread, breakfast (they look the same)
please, thank you, help
book/read
tired, sad
cheese, muffin, cookie, apple, raisins
bath
baby
flower

Her eyes are very expressive, and she has some words she can say, most of which are unintelligible to anyone but family...

Mama, Mommy, MAAAAH
Daddy
Papa
Ees (Elise)
Ees (geese)
Eeses (Jesus)
Ees (brush teeth)
Bub-bo (bubble)
Ess (yes)
No
Ba-oh (ball)
Ba-ohn (balloon)
Woof (dog)
Animal sounds: cock, hen, cat, chicken, sheep, lion, tiger, bear, owl, pig, dog, duck

She tries to say Mason, Sammy, Lincoln and Trevor, but they all sound pretty much the same. She has an all-purpose word, "Nah-doh", and we have no idea what it means, but she uses it all the time in all sorts of situations.

Here's a common conversation that happens in the car...

Ruth: MAAAH
Me: Yes, Ruthie?
R: Ees?
Me: Yes, we are picking up Elise.
R: MAAAH
Me: Yes, Ruthie?
R: Ees?
Me: Yes, we are picking up Elise
.......and on it goes until we pick up Elise 10 minutes later. If I don't reply, the "MAAAH" just gets louder and louder until she is yelling it. Also, if Elise doesn't immediately acknowledge Ruth as soon as she gets in the car, Ruth starts yelling, "EEES!!!" until she gets a response, whereupon Ruth starts babbling for a minute or two.

My goal for the next month

I just noticed that I haven't posted any recent pictures since OCTOBER!! How did that happen?? Oh yeah, sick and pregnant and then a newborn. Well, let the updates begin!!! Because having 7 kids makes it so much more possible to blog. Right. Anyhow, I'm going to start back in October and we'll see how this goes...

But here's a teaser picture. Expect more cuteness soon!