Three First Smiles

Ruthie has started smiling! She turned 6 weeks today, and over the past week she has seemed to grow up! Not only is she giving us big happy smiles, but she is also really following things with her eyes, holding her head up for long periods of time, and enjoying all of her mobiles. Although having Ruthie as a snuggly little newborn has been pure joy, I have to admit that moving into this phase of maturity and reward is the best. I left her with grammy and Gigi yesterday to run a quick errand, and when I came home I immediately went over to her in the swing, and her whole face lit up in a smile of what I can only imagine was recognition and happiness. That moment is when I captured the photo on the right in the collage above. She smiled ealier in the week for her poppy, and also for our good friend Chalna. She's becoming quite the pro!

We've had mixed reactions from all of our friends and family as to who Ruthie more closely resembles; Hayden or Pierce. Nathan and I both agree that she is pretty much a little dark haired clone of Hayden, but there are moments where Pierce shines through as well. I remember distinctly the first time Hayden smiled - at a rest area while we were driving from California to Texas during our big move. This photo on the left was taken shortly after, during a stopover to visit family in Colorado, at about 5 1/2 weeks old. Then little Piercey is in the middle photo, smiling away at Nathan who is holding him in his lap. At this stage Piercey was a little bit colicky, and I exactly remember the moment I snapped this photo - during a family movie night where we blew up our air mattress to all cuddle up together in the living room at watch Shark Tale. I remember feeling blessed that he was smiling instead of screaming lol! And what a tan, handsome little man he was.

Hard to imagine that we've reached this "first smile" milestone already with our last child. Time is flying and I want to hold onto to every little moment and savor it and file it away in my growing memory bank. I love these sweet children!!