Ridley Kay Strotz

Hello readers!
A quiet day at work means I get to touch base with you again!  Maybe that's why I took such a long hiatus, this is my first quiet day at work in a LONG time!  I think I've finally caught up and figured out the new flow.  For those of you who don't know, I hired an assistant right after Ridley was born who works 3 days a week.  Let me just say, she is AMAZING!  Oh how I love her, and having her help!  Her hard work allows me to come in just 2 days per week, and between the 2 of us, we keep this office running smoothly!  I feel like 2 days of work per week is the perfect schedule for me.  It gives me enough time at the office to feel like I'm still a 'Professional' at something other than house duties, a good break from making silly faces and talking in a high pitched voice, and the perfect amount of time for Ridley to spend with both her grandma (my mom) and her nana (Rich's mom).  Enough about me, I got on here to talk about Ridley!

Ridley is so loved by everyone she encounters!  In her whopping 8 months of life she has acquired many nicknames, including Ridley Girl, Little Girl, Pretty Girl, Baby Girl, Baby Melba (ask her aunt Kari), Ridster, and Rids.  She's also 'known for a few things' including her incredible abdominal skills (she refuses to lay flat on her back with her legs and head resting on the floor, instead she lifts her head and legs a few inches off the ground, stiff as a board).  She also does this silly thing where she clenches her fists, makes her whole body tight (including her face) and holds it for a few seconds.  I've heard there are some people out there using the term 'pulling a Ridster' when they are caught doing a strenuous activity.  She brings Rich and I so much joy and laughter!

She just started crawling in the last few weeks, and soon after began pulling herself up on everything!  We just stared doing 'blanket time' with her, getting her to stay on a blanket for a set amount of time.  We've only done it for a few days now, but it's AMAZING how quickly she's figuring it out!  We just do 5 minutes at a time at this point, but surprisingly, an 8 month old DOES have the ability to practice self control.  We're doing it 1) for safety, in case someone comes to the door and we're not able to keep our eyes right on her, and 2) to start teaching her self control.  She knows she's supposed to stay on the blanket, even if there's a fun toy nearby, and so this is a simple way to start practicing this lifelong discipline.

The other significant milestone in her little life is finger foods.  She's just started developing her pincer grip (thumb and index finger) so she enjoys feeding herself now.  This new-found skill has her thinking that she's too grown up for pureed foods, but we can still get her to do fruit and avocados pureed.  She LOVES avocados I might add!

That's all for now!