Monday, April 20, 2009

Slip Sliding Away

This video was shot on February 7, the first day we took Ruth to a slide. I started this blog on Thursday but had to cancel it and try again today. We have really busy weekends since Brian works mostly Monday through Friday, like "normal" people.

What prompted me to share this video (besides the fact that I have been meaning to since February) was that last Wednesday at our visit to Center for the Visually Impaired, Ms. Casey took Ruth to the playground. She first put Ruth on a small slide to see how she would do. Once we took her shoes off so she could really slide, Ruth loved it. Then I suggested we take her to the bigger slide, with three humps in it. Ms. Casey was worried that Ruth wouldn't be able to handle it for fear. I assured her that Ruth could. Ruth LOVED the slide. She kept asking (in her way by throwing her arms up in the direction of the top of the slide) to go again and again and laughing. It was great fun.

Ruth has also gotten really good at hugs. She has always been a good snuggler, when it is her idea. But now, the hugs she gives are so tight that sometimes we aren't sure if she is trying to hug us or kill us. Her little arms met behind our necks and she squeezes so hard and makes these little sounds like hhhmmmmmmm. She also pats us on the back, which is the main clue that she is giving us hugs. She really is a precious big girl.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Elmo gotta get on up, get down, get up

These videos were taken Feb. 27. It is amazing to me how much Ruth's hair has grown since then. She is in need of another haircut. Although it is not on the video, when she hears the Elmo song (or when we sing it) she will start doing jazz hands. Yes, dancer friends, actual jazz hands. Better than some of my former students. I guess we can say she is officially walking. She took 11 steps the first week of March and then pretty much decided that crawling was better. But last week she started walking more and this weekend she walked all over the house, falling down some but then getting right back up and walking some more.

On Saturday we drove up to Berry College in search of a pretty place to have our family pictures taken in a couple of weeks. The weather was chilly and the skies were overcast. It made for perfect photo conditions. We took some and will post them soon. Sunday was Ruth's first Easter at church. If you will remember, last year Easter was much earlier. In fact, Ruth was two weeks old on Easter last year and we did not go to church. The rest of the day was spent keeping Ruth out of things and listening to her whine. I will say that when this poor kid is off her schedule and doesn't get what she wants, she can be quite unpleasant. We did take her outside with sidewalk chalk and had fun on the sunny afternoon.

On another note, I have been named the official safety officer for the Berry house. I gave myself this title on Friday evening when my husband came home right before the storm hit and proceed to go about his day not paying any attention to the impending tornadoes. The sirens did go off and we did go to the basement but other than some hail, rain and wind, I don't think anything drastic happened. Please remember that I lived in Norman, OK for three years and was in an actual tornado in Little Rock. I know how to be prepared. For those of you who have never lived in Oklahoma, the weather people outside of OKC are pretty much worthless when it comes to storms, and this includes the Weather Channel. I so miss Gary England and the CBS weather team in OKC. I would literally get up in the middle of the night and turn on the TV only to hear Gary say, "It is only wind, go back to bed." And I would because that is how much I trusted Gary England. When you hear the weather people here say, "We aren't sure if this is a tornado or not," you know you are on your own. Thank goodness I am this family's safety officer and not Brian.

Brian has promised to get me a sash before the next storm hits.

Friday, April 10, 2009

As I keep my eyes on the weather, I thought I would take this time to update the blog. This video was taken the same day of the bike helmet practice in the video below. We tried to get proof of Ruth's eating. She went through this phase for awhile that when she would throw food off her plate, she would slap her own hand and then cry (yes, we had done this to her. If you are someone who does not believe in paddling, please do not preach to me about time out and other methods. We did not hit her hard, very lightly on the hand. We both believe in paddling and I am sure Ruth will get her fair share when she is older. Besides, it is biblical to paddle. I have heard sermons on it. However there are rules to when and how to paddle.)

We tried to capture the self punishment but I think we missed it. Ruth seems to know when the camera is filming. She used to eat peas and pears and peaches and other foods. Then she dropped veggies but I could still get her to get pears and peaches. Now, she will eat meat, cheese and carbos. Let's just say that my child will not be winning any Atkins Nutrition Awards.
I am uploading a video while I watch the clouds build out the office window. We are expecting storms today and I can see that today is going to be a stressful day for me. At least I come by it honestly. My father is very scared of storms. I remember as a child when I shared a room with my sister Malory, on stormy nights she would put our shoes at the edge of the bed on the floor so that "in the middle of the night when we have to go to the cellar, our shoes will be right here for us." I have Ruth in the crib taking her morning nap right now, a little early, just so she can get some sleep in before we have to dash to the basement. It has started to rain now. If I thought this was going to be a calm, rainy day, I would love it. But since storms are predicted and I am sure we have all seen the damaging tornado in Mena, AR, I will probably be watchful all day. Ruth and I had planned to go shopping today, and I was really looking forward to it. But with this threat of bad weather, I decided on best plan of action was to stay put at home.

This video was taken the week prior to the big bike accident (see earlier posts). Enjoy.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Trapped in the Office

The title of today's post is not a title of a song, but actually the truth about my life at the moment.

Brian's father, brother and nine year old nephew came into town late Friday night to help Brian remodel the master bath. What this means is that we have not had water in our master bath since Friday morning (Brian took out the sinks and disconnected the toliet) and that our house is a mess. Let me say that again: our house is a MESS. Any remodel project, no matter how small, tears up the whole house. In addition to this, Ruth is not sleeping in her crib since the guest bed is located in the nursery. (We didn't want to give up our office) Ruth is sleeping in the pack and play in the office. She also is not wanting to nap so, after 30 minutes of fussing, she has finally gone to sleep and I am at the computer, stuck. If I leave the room, I am afraid she will wake up and then were will I be?

But this gives me time to update the blog and then work on my lecture for class on Tuesday.

I have learned a few things this weekend: my husband really, really hates to paint, Ruth needs her schedule, and I am not cut out to parent or babysit a boy.

We primed the bathroom during Ruth's nap on Friday (no vistors yet so she slept in her crib). Then after she was in bed we painted the bathroom. We had picked out paint that we thougth was going to look like a cool cucumber, like a spa. But instead, it looked like a clown had sneezed. Way too minty. So Saturday, we (and I mean Brian and his brother) painted again. This time we choose a green we knew we liked, one shade lighter than our dining room. Perfect.

As far a me not being a mom for a boy, this is not new news to me. But this apparently was for Brian. I guess Brian had seen me with my nephews. When they were little (Before Brian), I would play with them and love on them and when they were bad, I got on to them or sent them to my sister. It was fine. They yelled, I yelled back. Now that they are old, they pretty much get on my nerves all the time. They are 14 and care mostly about video games and being loud and the center of attention. When the whole family is around, it is just too much. Now Brian's nephew is similar in that he wants to either watch TV or play video games all the time. But at nine he is still pretty quiet and well behaved. However, the constant motion that is a nine year old boy and the video games and cartoons were enough to make Brian realize that I have no idea what to do with a little boy. Plus, since Christian is Brian's nephew and I am relatively new to the family (remember, his family lives six hours away) Christian is not the type of boy to let me, a practical stranger, love on him the way I used to force kisses on my nephews at nine.

To everyone that says "boys are easier to raise than girls," I say what I have always said: phisha. I think that is in the mind of the beholder. Personally, I think raising anyone or anything is hard. I can't get Ruth to eat a bite if she doesn't want to eat. I am sure it isn't different with a boy.

In short, do not push your ideas about girls being more difficult than boys. (Or your ideas on giving birth with or without drugs, but that is for another day) Maybe girl A was harder than girl B but boy C is harder than girl A. I think a lot of it stems from society's stereotypes. And if stereotypes aren't cool for races, then they shouldn't be cool for genders.

I am off my soap box. I am sure you ALL want Ruth to sleep in her crib tomorrow!!!!