"Who the devil is this jolly guy?"

Piper, meet Santa

Little snot

Poor Piper has been having a little snot lately (not being one). Last week at our friends' Christmas party I put her into Carter's exersaucer only to be informed - as I watched Piper chewing on the very same toy Carter had been drooling on moments before - that Carter was sick. Shortly thereafter, so was Piper. She's toughing it out, but it's been a long week+ of stuffy nose and much elevated levels of crank. :(

But on the bright side, today Santa comes to daycare! So more to follow soon (with pictures of course!)!

Fill 'er up, I'm ready for bath time!

Piper's favorite bath toy: her washcloth. Hands down. Every time. She puts it in her mouth and sucks the water out of it. And trust me, you don't want to be the one to wrestle it away from her when it's time to rinse off.

6 months old!

Piper had her 6 month check up today. She's doing great. Here are her stats:

Head circumference: 16.5cm (30-40th percentile)
Weight: 14 lbs 8 oz (25th percentile)
Height: 25.5 inches (50th percentile)

She's officially been given the green light to start solids (such as they are for babies, more so pureed food than solid food, but the spoon is apparently KEY!), and the goal will be to get her up to 3 meals per day of solid foods, separate from the bottle. She can have bottles when she is hungry in between. At 8 months, we start the sippy cup. Big things to come!

As far as introducing solids, the current recommendation is to throw everything at the baby at once (whereas in the past they recommended starting only 1 new food each week or so to make sure there isn't an allergy). Dr. P warned us against determining too early that she 'likes' or 'doesn't like' certain foods. He said often what is off putting initially is the newness of the flavor, not the flavor itself. So we can't deem her a picky eater until we've allowed her to try each food many times over and spit it out just as often ;)

She has a little cold right now, so she was not so receptive to Dr. P nor the male nurse who did her vaccinations. She got 3 pokes today, and screamed at the top of her little lungs. (Of course, in true Piper fashion, before the hypodermics had even reached the bioharzardous waste container, her tears were dry.)

A good report, and lots to look forward to! We'll keep you all posted on her culinary preferences as we experiment!

Very uncertain about the peas...

Put your hands up, yo!

Piper learned how to give a high five at her alternate daycare on Monday. Connie had a vacation day, so Piper went to backup daycare at Victoria's house. Victoria's pretty awesome too, and she loves Piper (who doesn't?). When I went to pick Piper up, she was high fivin' all over the place! Then Victoria's 9 month old Scarlett poked her in the eye and she started to cry. But all in all, a great day in the world of enthusiastic hand gestures! Little cutie!!!

Snowy day snuggles

We're buried here in the frozen tundra up north, but it's a great day for daddy time and snuggles :)

A visit from Grandma

Seeking shelter from the storm

It's raining toys. Food would be preferable.

What goes around...

It's high time

High CHAIR time that is! Check out who's sooooooo big!

Fly me to the moon

Or, as the case may be, to Columbia, Missouri.

So... Thanksgiving. What can we say? We're giving thanks that we have such a good baby! Piper handled the trip great!

She enjoyed her first airplane ride, and didn't cry once! Not once!

We're waiting for Delta to send us some wings to reward Piper for her bravery and - let's face it - lady-like dignity and grace. No tears, no wails, no spit-up, no dirty diapers. She's a class act, this one.

Mookie even commented on her placid nature. Of course, he was a wonderful host and made our stay easy. Naturally Piper did require some special accommodation and last minute trips to the store, but Mookie was more than happy to oblige. And Betsy made sure Piper had some comfy sleeping quarters by securing us the use of a Pack 'n Play.

Piper also liked meeting some new furry friends. Mookie's pooch Cooper and Betsy's dog Toby made sure to make Piper feel welcomed. (Well, okay, Cooper avoided her like the tiny, unpredictable noise-maker that she is, but Toby was generous with his licks and tail wags!)

We had a great time, and are looking forward to our next trip to the Show Me state!

"Enough of this jibber jabber, mama! Give. Me. Some. Mashed. Potatoes!!!"

Pump up the volume

This afternoon when I went to pick up Piper, I got a quick glimpse into daycare life for her. Oftentimes she's waiting by the door, bundled up and ready to go by the time I arrive. But today she wasn't ready to go yet. She was still upstairs, playing while the other kids were at the table having snack time. I walked into Connie's house and was surprised to hear her very loud and expressive jibber jabber! With a snack table full of boisterous preschoolers, Piper's voice was the one that carried that farthest!

We love love love our daycare, and our daycare provider. We're so lucky to have found her. In some ways it's hard to see Piper's face light up around Connie, but of course it's wonderful to see her becoming independent and recognizing Connie's house as a safe, fun, welcoming place. And becoming 'one of the kids'. When I heard her vying for top volume and attention, I realized she's holding her own! Our little girl is holding her own in the great big world of daycare :)

Come on all you PAAAAARTY people!

Someone had a little too much fun last night. Can you guess who? Alright, alright, I'll tell you: It was Piper.

She did a great job at Patrick and Alex's wedding! She was the belle of the ball (well, the bride was the belle of the ball, but Piper certainly got her fair share of attention, oooooo's, and ahhhhh's).

But even though for most of the night she was charming the crowd with her adorable smiles and coy giggles, toward the end of the reception - as expected - she crashed and burned.

Thankfully, Daddy was there to pick up the pieces.

Match, set, point

Piper .5, Rice Cereal .5

There was no clear winner or loser, just a lot of uncertainty.

Give me some sugah!

"MWAH!"

Besties

For the first few weeks of Piper's life, Hero was understandably a little unsure of our newest addition. She cried, got A LOT of attention that had once been designated as his, and he was gated out of most areas of his house. But, on the bright side, everyone was home from work and thus more available to play ball.

Piper, for many months, seemed largely unaware of Hero's presence.

Now that she's a little older, Hero makes Piper smile. And laugh. She loves to watch him as he trots by, and to reach out and grab his fur. I wouldn't say they're the best of friends yet, but I'd say there's a future for them :)

A very special day

Piper's baptism went very well! She survived the full dunk with nary a tear. It was a lovely ceremony, well attended by friends and family. Afterward we hosted a gathering at our house and Piper lasted about an hour before passing out for the rest of the day, tucked up in her crib clutching the skirt of her wrinkled baptism dress in her tiny fist. We were thoughtful enough to take the bonnet off :)

Anointing with oil

In preparation for the three dips into the baptismal font

It's like taking a bath

The recovery period

Tea for two

Today we're watching my coworker Katie's baby Lauren for the day/evening. She's a week younger than Piper and it's funny how different they are. Lauren is chubbier than Piper but much smaller in length, and has a head full of chestnut curls which presents a stark contrast to Piper's gleaming, mostly-bald head. She's very quiet, and observes with her pacifier in her mouth. But she tends to get talking more when she's around Piper, who maintains a steady stream of chatter.

So far I'm not sure what they make of each other. Oddly enough, they're both napping and the house is, dare I say it?, peaceful! We'll see how long that lasts...

Lovin' the Mac Pack

Smile like you mean it

As has been the case for about two weeks, Piper smiled at Connie when I dropped her off at daycare this morning. She used to look wide-eyed and uncertain when I dropped her off, with that trademark furrowed brow that she inherited from me (and that I long to treat with a shot of Botox right between the eyes, were it not for Dan's disgust with all things related to cosmetic dermatology). But her future without Botox is looking brighter, because now apparently daycare is old hat, maybe even a bit boring for a seasoned 4+ month old baby. Then again, none of the other kiddos had arrived yet, and they're sure to shake things up and keep Piper on her little tippy toes.

Her posse includes:

• Emilia, a spunky pre-schooler with white blonde hair, pink bifocals and a lot to say.
• Hayden, a more reserved pre-schooler with transitions lenses and, this week, an eye patch?
• Matthew, a sweet pre-schooler who likes to share his toys with Piper and kiss her on the face (both of which are against the rules at Connie's daycare, but Matthew has trouble remembering this).
• Claire, an adorable toddler who often stands near Piper's carseat with her mit resting proprietorially on the handle. She knows how to say 'baby'.

All in all we feel very lucky to have found Connie. She's wonderful, and a dedicated childcare provider and mom to her own pre-teen daughter. She also has two dogs, Harley and Layla. They're well behaved and, I must say, put Hero to shame with their ability to sit and wait to be petted when you come to the door.

On that note, Hero is doing great too. :)

Happy Wednesday!

Lock and load, we're ready for some ACTION!

It is with much pride that I announce that baby Piper rolled over today!!!

It was at daycare, which saddens us just the littlest bit. But mostly we feel joy for her, because she's hit yet another milestone with surprising spunk and, we believe, just the right amount of grace :)