Happy Birthday Ruslan!

One year ago and today.  And some of my favorites from each of the last 12 months.

More Adventures in Backwards Crawling

Not only is Ruslan still having fun with crawling backwards, he is getting really fast.  Once he gets the hang of moving forward, he is going to be getting into everything.  While I am sitting there playing with them, Ruslan hangs out and plays with the toys.  As soon as I leave the room he is on the move.  He crawled his way under the stroller and then along the back wheel until he was stuck against the wall - but he was smiling and incredibly pleased with himself at his accomplishment.  I pulled him out, turned around for a minute and heard him crying.  He was back under the couch, only the top of his head was sticking out this time and he was really mad that he was stuck (so no pictures that time).

Ruslan Crawling

Ruslan is getting really good at crawling...unfortunately he only crawls backward.  He crawls as far as he can until he gets stuck somewhere, like here when he crawled under the couch.

My Morning Baby

Ruslan is exceedingly happy when he wakes in the morning. I am awakened each morning by the sounds of him screeching, babbling, cooing and blowing bubbles. Although I prefer this to being jolted awake by crying, I wish it weren't so early. He would happily play in his crib if I left him there, but I don't because the happy sounds get loud and wake the other sleeping children. Wyatt and Juliana do not wake up in such a happy playful mood - they are both much more demanding first thing in the morning.

So most mornings I come downstairs with Ruslan and we have some quality time while the rest of the house is quiet, and I am allowed to slowly wake-up. His happiness is contagious especially since his babbling sounds a lot like ma-ma-ma-ma; even a very sleepy Mommy can't help but smile around this happy baby.

A Few of My Favorite Things by Ruslan

#1 - My thumb - it is with me everywhere I go. I prefer my left thumb, but if Mommy has trapped that thumb in my shirt sleeve while trying to change my clothes, then I will use the right thumb. To get my thumb in my mouth, I press the palm of my hand against my face and slide my thumb along my mouth until it is there. Even if I am awake when Mommy puts me in my crib at night, I just suck on my thumb and get very sleepy. Sometimes I notice Wyatt sucking on his fingers, but not too often.

#2 - Rolling - I learned to roll over later than my baby brother, but now that I know how, I love to roll across the entire room. Mommy puts me on the left side of Wyatt so that I don't roll on him, like my thumb I prefer rolling to the left. Mommy always seems surprised when she leaves us on the floor to play and comes back a few minutes later and I have rolled as far as I can - it's a fun game. Some nights I have to cry for Mommy and Daddy to come help me. I love rolling so much that I do it in my crib at night and sometimes my left arm gets stuck and I can't get my thumb in my mouth. Daddy puts me on my back so I can get my thumb again and then I can fall back asleep.

#3 - Oatmeal Cereal - For the longest time all I got to eat was milk and now I get food from a spoon. The rice cereal was ok, I made a horrible face when Mommy tried to feed peaches to me, and now I have been eating oatmeal cereral - it is very yummy. I open my mouth wide every time I see the spoon and try not to let any come back out on my chin. Mommy says I need to wear my new bib to keep my shirt clean and I do like the bright colored pictures on it; but the bib causes a big problem - it traps my hands. When I try to get my thumb to my mouth I just end up pressing my bib against my face and then I can't see, I smoosh food on my nose and I still can't get my thumb. Fortunately I eat quickly and after Mommy washes my face and I can get out of my chair and roll.

Ruslan

Ruslan has figured out how to get his hand in his mouth whenever he wants, so he spends a good bit of the day doing just that. In the last picture, the one where he is looking away from me...watching tv. He is fascinated with the tv whenever it is on - in this case he was watching football with great intent.