Ruthie | one year old

Happy Valentine’s Day!!  Today also happens to be my baby girl’s first birthday.  A year ago today at 6:55am, Ruthie rushed into this world, within only half an hour of our arrival at the hospital.  I remember waking up at around 4:45am and feeling uncomfortable.  So, naturally, I thought I should go finish editing a recent newborn session just in case I was going to be busy having a baby later that day =)  Needless to say, I didn’t finish editing before it was very apparent that I was truly in labor and that things were moving quickly!  She hurt me only a minimal amount, and I love her extra for that =)  One of the really funny things that we distinctly remember about that morning was when the nurse who delivered her (the doctor didn’t make it on time), announced that it was a boy.  We thought, “huh… that’s funny… we had 4 ultrasounds!”  Then about 5 seconds later she laughed and said, “Oh wait… no, it’s a girl!!!”

Ruthie has been the best addition to our little family.  I honestly can’t even come up with the right words to say just how crazy in love with her we are.   She has brought so much joy, noise, pink, laughter, and drama into our home over the past year and we wouldn’t have it any other way.  Our family is now complete.  (sorry mom & dad!)

Before I get to the inevitable picture portion of this post, I think a “Top 10 things I love about Ruthie” list is in order.

1.) Her big, cheery, full-faced smile…. and how quick she is to give it.
2.) Her thighs.  Seriously… I can’t get enough of her chubby thighs.
3.) Her soft, reddish-blonde hair that is finally coming in.
4.) How much she adores her brother, despite how rough he can be on her.
5.) And that sometimes she does things just to make him mad.
6.) She growls a lot.  Not sure why she does it, but we find it funny.
7.) Her butt dimples, wrist rolls, chubby fingers, etc.
8.) Her awesome belly laugh, especially when you tickle her or get into an intense game of peek-a-boo.
9.) How she plays in the bathtub (stand, bellyflop, then repeat over and over)
10.) Her love of food, especially the good stuff like cookies and cheescake, just like her mama.
11.) And one of my most favourite things is how much she adores her daddy.  When he gets home from work and she hears his voice, she’ll squeal and take off crawling towards the kitchen right to him.
12.) And I simply have to mention the fact that she sucks her thumb and snuggles her blankie.  Maybe it’ll mean that she’ll need braces later, but for now, I LOVE LOVE LOVE it.

Ok, that was 12 things, and I could keep going.  But, here are a few highlights from her first year…

February 15th, her first night home and watching hockey with daddy….
6 days old…
Dave’s cousin Elisabeth came to visit from Florida and just so happens to be a talented photographer, so I got in a few pictures too. Elisabeth’s middle name is Ruth, so us naming our daughter Ruthie Elisabeth has a lot do with her.  We like her THAT much.
She’s just 3 days old here….
Levi always wanted to hold her, and was full of kisses for her too.  He has always called her “RuRu” and it has kind of stuck.
It only takes just a second for her to change her mood or expression….
And this sums up their relationship at least 50% of the time…
She travelled a fair amount her first year.  She’s been to Florida to visit Elisabeth, and to both Vancouver and Halifax for weddings.  The two pics below are from her visit in Florida…
She was pretty pleased to start with some cereal…
She went through this phase for a couple of weeks where to kept striking this pose…
I’ve always loved sneaking in to watch her sleep….
Then she got mobile…
She’s always so happy for you to come get her when she wakes up…
Christmas was a little overwhelming for her, I think.  The fun really seemed to start though once she could play with the boxes and paper….
Here are those thighs and butt dimples I was raving about…
And here she is terrorizing Levi’s stuff, but he still loves her…
And finally, just a couple shots from her birthday session.  There will be a whole other post on that!
Happy Birthday, little Ru.  We absolutely adore you!!

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