Trick or treat!

This was my second Halloween, and the first where I could actually walk around to our neighbors' houses. Mommy and Daddy got me all dressed up as a cute pink poodle and we headed on out before the older kids started going around (of course that means everybody above age 2!). We only went to a few of our neighbors' houses but I wanted to show everybody my costume!

Here I am sitting on the front step with Daddy, all ready to go!



As we headed out, I really wanted to take one of the real pumpkins with me. Even the small one was pretty heavy, but I got it most of the way down the walk by myself. You may remember this is the pumpkin I picked out of the pumpkin patch a couple of weeks ago!



First stop was to wish Smootchie a Happy Halloween. She's a very friendly cat!



This is me outside our first stop, Bob and Mary's house. You can see the Nestle Crunch bar I got from them. This I think is my favorite candy bar - I got lots! Of course Mommy and Daddy wouldn't let me eat them all, but I did have one and really liked it!



When we went to Jim and Carol's house, their friendly dog "Lexi" came out to say hi. Maybe my costume fooled her!



Our other neighbors Patty and Dave always have a very scary house at Halloween, with all the spooky decorations. I was a little scared at first, but when I saw they had a dog too, I ignored all that silly stuff and wanted to say hi! Wendy is a toy poodle, just like I was tonight! Maybe that's why we got along so well. She even has the same color bows in her hair!



Our last stop was at our next-door neighbor Amy's house. Her house had a very spooky witch hanging outside. I kept my distance, but when Daddy came over I grabbed his hand and walked right past the witch, no problem. I knew Daddy would keep me safe!



After we went back home I got to see lots of other kids come to our door. Mommy kept giving out candy to anyone who knocked. What a strange holiday. But I think I'm going to like it!

Daddy tried to trick me, but I knew better!

For dinner Daddy was having some chicken nuggets and he offered me some. I took a little bite of his and I liked it! So he put the rest of that one plus another on my tray to see if I'd eat them. Of course I grabbed one in each hand and ate the rest of the first one right up! I still had the other whole one in my left hand, but I started getting fussy and pointing at Daddy's plate - I wanted another one for my right hand! Daddy, thinking I just wanted one in each hand, took the one from my left hand and broke it in half, giving them both back to me. This usually works, but I kept on fussing - I even turned on the waterworks and got a few tears going for full effect! Finally Daddy handed me another whole nugget, and guess what - I immediately calmed down and got back to the business of eating.

Look, Daddy, you can't fool me anymore! I may only be a baby, but I know 1/2 + 1/2 doesn't equal 2! (After all, I am your little math geek in the making. Like Daddy, like daughter!)

I was such a good girl today!

Today was a really good day for me. Daddy says I was a little angel ALL day! This morning when he woke me up I gave him a big hug and smile. When he changed my diaper I didn't fuss at all. Then we played "Where's Piper's nose (head, belly, foot, knee)?" and I got them all! It took me a moment to remember where my knee was, Daddy just taught me that one yesterday. He said he could see the "gears" turning in my head for a few seconds until I figured it out.

Then I had some milk and oatmeal for breakfast. The oatmeal I wanted to eat off of Daddy's big spoon, and I ate all of it. I didn't fuss much when Daddy brushed my teeth or when he put my jacket on, either. I was really on my best behavior!

When Mommy drove me in to day care, I just happily babbled to myself. Then she dropped me off, and I ran over to Ms. Angela (my teacher), gave her a big hug, and said by-bye to Mommy.

When Mommy picked me up, I was really cute too. I ran over to Mommy as soon as I saw her and gave her a really big hug! Then I waved by-bye to Ms. Fern and we headed out. I will admit that I did get a little fussy on the way home, but that was kind of my fault for dumping out all the Cheerios Mommy had given me to snack on.

I saw Daddy when we pulled into the driveway and smiled and waved really big. I was patient as he unstrapped me and got me out of the car. The neighbor cat Smoochie came over to say hi so I got to pet her a little, and scream at her like I've taken to doing recently. I do mean it in the nicest way, though!

We went inside and I played with Daddy and my stuffed animals a little, and we had dinner. Now, I am a picky eater, but I did eat most of what Mommy gave me. After dinner was bath time. I usually love the water play but hate the actual washing, and especially washing my hair - oh it's awful! But today I was really pretty good, not fussing too much at all. Mommy dried me off, I had some milk before bed, and Mommy was able to clip my toenails without me kicking all around. Mommy and Daddy sang to me before bed, laid me down and I gave them a big smile and fell right asleep.

I was just so full of hugs, smiles, and a good mood today that Daddy thought I should tell all of you!

15-month well-baby checkup

I know you're probably thinking, "Wasn't she 15 months old last month?" No, your math skills don't need any work, I am 16 months old this month. But regardless, I had my 15-month checkup today. I had to get some shots, too, 3 of them. I didn't like it at all! In fact, I was fussy the whole time at the doctor's office, even starting the crocodile tears when they tried to weigh me! I don't know what was bothering me, maybe it's because the last doctor I saw was the one doing my ear surgery.

The doctor says that I am veyr skinny for my height - but we knew that! I do need to try to eat more and that should help fatten me up. I have to cut back on all the milk I've been drinking and eat more solid foods. I'll give it a shot!

I measured at:

Height: 35 inches (but I was so squirmy it was hard to be accurate) - off the percentile chart

Weight: 25 lbs 6 oz (75th percentile)

Head circumference: (75th percentile)

When I got home I was still fussy, although Daddy thinks it was because the shots still hurt. I was very fussy all night, up until I was put to bed, when I really calmed down, said "by-bye" to Mommy and Daddy, waved at them, and fell right asleep.

New word - turkey?

Just in time for Thanksgiving, I've decided to start working on the word "turkey". We have a book which has a turkey as one of the main characters, and every time I see him, I point to him and try to say "turkey". So far it's been coming out more like "dir-dy", but I'm working on it!

More helping Daddy in the back yard

Daddy is thinking about either moving one of the trees in the backyard or putting in a new one. So he had the lines marked before he started digging. Mommy was out shopping, so I was more than happy to assist Daddy in any way I could. Here you can see me telling Daddy where would NOT be a good place to put the tree!

I even got to taste some dirt before Daddy could stop me. Yuck!

To thank me for all my good help, Daddy took me to the playground at the park. He carried me on his shoulders the whole way! It was a great day with Daddy!

Parent-teacher conference

Mommy met with my teacher this morning to discuss how I was doing at day care. She said there are two main things I need to work on.

First, I need to work a little harder on my words - Mommy and Daddy read to me everyday, and I'm making a lots of new sounds, just I haven't quite been able to connect the words with what they mean yet. But I'll keep trying!

Second, I really need to start working on drinking from a cup, without the sippy lid, and finally give up the bottles (I've been wanting one in the morning and at night). You see, starting in January I'll be expected to drink from a regular cup. You know I've been getting lots of practice with this in the bathtub. But I'm not too good at making it to my mouth yet, so it would make a big mess on the floor! If Mommy or Daddy holds the cup for me, though, I can do pretty well. I just don't have the coordination down yet, so when I get hold of that cup, look out below!

I love stuffed animals!

Mommy and Daddy have given me a few stuffed animals to play with (some of them were theirs at my age) and I love them! The only problem I have is that I can't quite hug them all at the same time. I can hug most of them but if I try to get that last one in my arms, one of the others will get away. So I will try to get that one but another will fall out. It can keep me occupied for quite a while!

I couldn't get them all this morning either, but Mommy thought I was pretty cute.



Daddy also thought I was being pretty cute, but then he broke out the "tickle finger"! Not the tickle finger! All he has to do is point that finger at me and I just break up laughing and trying to get away, just like I'm doing here.



Daddy's silly!

A day at the pumpkin patch

A few miles away from our house is the "TG Farms" pumpkin patch, so we went to check it out. It was really a cool place! They had lots to do and see and Mommy and Daddy let me walk around for a while and and figure out by myself what I wanted to do! I had fun roaming around on my own, though I know they were right behind me. The first thing we came upon was this tricycle track through the corn field. I couldn't quite reach the pedals (or know how to pedal them), but that didn't stop Daddy from helping me out. We did a lap and I got to steer, with Daddy's help of course.



One of the best things about this place was the petting zoo. I spent a long time going back and forth between the different animals and making sure they all were properly greeted, Piper-style! There were goats:



and calves:



and piglets too!



I got to pet a sheep and a pony too!

Then Daddy pointed me over to a corn maze. I've never been in a corn maze before! But I took off to lead the way. You will be happy to know that we did finally make it through the maze (Daddy may have helped a little.)



They also had several piles of hay bales with slides at the top. This was great! I got to climb up the hay bales over and over and go down the slides. It was scary at first, but with Daddy there to catch me, I went down a few times in a row and loved it. It was fast!



Of course we couldn't leave a pumpkin patch without getting a couple of pumpkins, now could we? I wanted to help pick them out so I rushed over to the first big one I saw. It was a little too heavy for me to pick up, though. So I kept trying to pick them up until I found one that I could (though just barely)!

It was a great place to go, and I could have spent many more hours walking around and exploring. Maybe we can go again next year Mommy and Daddy?

Happy Columbus Day

Mommy and Daddy both had the day off, so Grandpa and Grandma came down to visit.

Guess what I did when Grandma and Grandpa arrived - I ignored Mommy and Daddy completely! I couldn't decide who needed hugs more - so I started with Grandma. I hugged her for a minute, then headed to Grandpa. Then I headed back to Grandma. Then to Grandpa. Then to - well you get the idea. I completely bypassed Mommy and Daddy the whole time. After about 30 minutes of this I decided to let Mommy and Daddy know I still loved them too, so gave them a quick hug and kiss and headed back to Grandma and Grandpa.

We played all sorts of games while they were here. My favorite, though, was singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" with first Grandma, then Grandpa, then Daddy! Grandma and Daddy sung it pretty well, but Grandpa's rendition was, well, let's just say that if I grow up to not have any musical abilities, it isn't just Mommy's fault!

Here I am singing with Mommy out back.



We did some reading too, and I was pointing out pictures in one of my books, I gave Mommy a sneak smile while Daddy and Grandpa kept reading.



After dinner we had dessert, and got to have my own scoop of ice cream! Eating it with a spoon seemed to be far too difficult, so I fell back on my old standby method. It was a little cold, but worked pretty well anyway. What do you think?



I had a great with them today, I hope they come over again real soon!

When a sippy cup just isn't enough...

Supersize it!

This is the cup they gave Mommy to use at the hospital when I was born. I saw her using it today and just had to try it!

I'm a really good imitator, and have new words!

This last week I've become really good at imitating Mommy and Daddy. I'll raise my arms ("How big is Piper? Soooo big!"), point when they do, try to copy words they say, clap hands or play patty-cake, make a kissy face or just stick my tongue out when they do. It's pretty funny watching all their silly faces and I giggle when I try to copy them.

Also, I've got a new word which I say a lot - "Ba-by"! Sometimes I'll even point to a picture of myself and say it! That brings my list of words up to:

Hi

Mama

Dada

Uh-oh

Bye-bye

Baby

And probably some more that Mommy and Daddy haven't figured out yet. Still no "Grandma", Grandma, but I'm working on it!

New food - corn ON the cob

At dinner tonight, Mommy and Daddy were having corn on the cob. I've had corn before, of course, but not on the cob. Mommy decided I might like to try some since I was done with the rest of my dinner. So she broke off a chunk of hers and handed it to me.

At first I wasn't quite sure how to handle this new food, so I studied it intently for a few moments.



And then I bit in! It was good!



I couldn't eat the whole thing, but I did have several more bites. Now that they know I can eat it on the cob, I'm bound to have some more again. And that's fine with me!

Daddy and I flew kites!

Today was a windy day (it is Oklahoma, after all) but it wasn't TOO windy, so Daddy said he had a surprise for me. We assembled some kites and then went outside and flew them! You know how much I like airplanes so you know how excited I was about this. We had never flown kites before, so this was new to me.

First Daddy got out this one that is styled like a World War II fighter airplane. It looks really neat, but didn't fly that well. It kept turning and diving into the ground. Daddy was mumbling something about "poor lateral stability". No, I didn't believe him either!



We eventually gave up on that one and got out the fish kite. What kind of fish flies in the air? I don't know either, but it's a pretty fun kite anyway, with 9 little fish making up the tail, following the big fish. Here we are trying to get it airborne. Hey, I'm pretty good at this!



This one flew REALLY well and we eventually were able to let out all the string on the reel. It was a long ways up! And I'm doing a great job holding it there. Sometimes a gust of wind would come along and try to pull the handle out of my hand, but I held on and would sometimes walk a few steps toward it. Daddy may have helped a little too!



Of course, the kite is kind of like an airplane, so of course I've got to give it a good point and wave!



It was a very fun day. We had that fish kite up there for probably 15 minutes or so until we brought it back down. I hope we do it again soon!

Not feeling so well today

I wasn't feeling so well today. Something had upset my stomach and I couldn't keep anything down, starting with breakfast. Daddy stayed home with me and we got to play all day. I was a really good girl for him - although I still had problems keeping things down and wasn't eating much, I did get in a few naps and was otherwise pretty much my normal self, just a little lethargic. I did start to run a low fever later in the day, but that soon went away and I was back to normal by the next morning!

Helping Daddy sweep

I keep finding new ways to help Mommy and Daddy! Today Daddy was sweeping off the driveway and sidewalk outside our house, and it sure looked like he was getting tired of it. So I rushed over to his aid, and pushed that broom right on down the sidewalk. I'm so helpful!

Helping Mommy with the dishes

For some reason, I have always been fascinated by the dishwasher when Mommy lowers that big door. I immediately run over to it and try to "help" by climbing on it or grabbing for some of the utensils (naturally, the sharper the better). But today Mommy actually let me help her some! She gave me some projects that she knew only I could do right. She gave me a plastic measuring cup, opened the appropriate drawer, and said "Piper, put it in here!" And I did! I followed this up by putting two spatulas in another drawer. Mommy very much appreciated my help on these important items. I can't wait to help her again!

I hope I don't get dizzy!

Daddy and I were outside today and Daddy was being very silly, spinning around in circles. I thought it was funny and laughed at him. Then he stopped and it was my turn. I've become very good at imitating what Mommy and Daddy do recently, and I spun around the best I could! A little shaky but a few more tries and I was getting better at it. Better not do it right after dinner though!

Pucker up!

I am such a good little imitator! After months of watching Mommy and Daddy pucker up and kiss each other (They still do that, you know. It's so gross.) I decided to give it a try myself. So one time when Mommy was giving me hugs, I puckered up, leaned in, and gave her a big wet kiss! Then I gave her a few more. Then I gave Daddy some! Sometimes I forget to pucker up and give them a big wet droolie open mouth kiss instead. Oops! Mommy and Daddy think little Piper kisses are really adorable, and I've been trying to give them as many as I can!