Can I say "poo-poo"? You bet!

Daddy taught me the word "poo-poo" a few days ago. Surprising I hadn't learned that one yet, but it is a really fun word to say, and I got the hang of it very quickly.

Well, this morning I showed Mommy and Daddy that not only can I say it, I know what it means, too! Guess what they found right after hearing me say it!

Up, please?

Daddy has apparently decided that although me holding my arms up for him to pick me up is cute and adorable, I need to work on my manners some. So today he taught me how to say "Up, please!" At first I had to be prompted for each word individually, but now he just asks me "Can Piper say up, please"? And about half of the time, I answer with the cutest little "uh . . . PEAS!" I get a big scrunchy-faced smile when I say the "please" part. But then Daddy picks me right up and is so proud of me for asking nicely!

I'm very sensitive, you know!

Today at Grandma and Grandpa's house I started doing something that Mommy and Daddy have never seen before. We were sitting around the table and I went to feed some of my food to their dog, Shadow. Shadow's a nice dog and I thought she should be able to join in what we were eating. Daddy and Grandpa saw me, though, and both said "no, Piper" at the same time. I immediately crossed my arms on the table, put my head down and started sobbing! After a few seconds I looked up and kept bawling until Mommy comforted me.

I did this several more times throughout the day, no matter how gentle someone said "no" to me, the result was the same - head down in arms and quiet sobbing at first, followed by bawling.

Interestingly, though, I haven't really done it at all since we came home and I'm just with Mommy and Daddy!

Thanksgiving afternoon at the park

Since we had to wait for the turkey to cook, and I wasn't tired at my usual nap time since I slept in so late, we went to the Elementary School near Grandma and Grandpa's house to play on the playground. It was a lot of fun!

I got to ride on the Space Shuttle with Grandma. We had a nice flight, and even came across a friendly Space Dog (also known as Shadow, or should I say Ya-do? Sorry, Grandma, that I learned the dog's name before yours)!



Then Daddy took me way high up into the air onto one of the big slides. We were way up there! But I knew I was safe and couldn't wait to go down again. It was fun!



Then it was Grandma's turn again, and we walked over to pick out a good swing. Grandma remembers walking Daddy to the swings just like this over 30 years ago. I'm much cuter though!



We had a good time on the swing!



But apparently I'm a little thrill seeker, because after the swings we went back to the slides. A little smaller slide this time, one that I could go down alone. And I practically flung myself down it each time!



I liked the park and hope we get to go again next time we visit them!

After all that playing, I was pretty tired. When we went home I fell asleep in Daddy's arms. It's still one of my favorite places to nap, and I think he likes it too.

When I woke up it was almost time to eat Thanksgiving dinner. Everybody was making this big fuss about how good the food was going to be, and how good everything smelled, but I wasn't getting it. They set a plate of food down in front of me, and I did not like it one bit! Everybody was raving about how good everything was, but I didn't want any of it. I may have picked at the potatoes but that's about it. I didn't want any turkey, or stuffing, or anything.

Now, a little while after dinner was dessert - homemade pumpkin pie. Ahh, now this is something I can get excited about. And it sure was delicious! I ate my piece right up! Maybe next year I'll like some more of the food. But it was a nice day anyway. And the best part is we'll be here until tomorrow too!

Thanksgiving in Owasso

Happy Thanksgiving!

Last night we all packed up the car and headed up to Owasso to visit Grandma and Grandpa Roslewski for a few days. I was a really good girl and slept most of the way up, although I was really fussy when we first got in the car. When I woke up, there we were! Although it was almost 9 PM when we got there, of course I had to stay up and play a while with them. But that's okay, because I could sleep in the next morning!

So this morning I woke up and got to play with Grandma and Grandpa all day! You may remember from last year that they always watch the parade to see Santa arrive in town, and this year was no different. I got to see him again! Here I am on Grandpa's knee.



After lots of playing and watching the parade, we all decided to go to the park while the turkey was cooking. But for that, you'll have to see my next post!

Daddy's a tickle monster!

Daddy just loves to hear me laugh, and today he was really tickling me good!

(Daddy realized it sounds more like I'm crying than laughing, so I removed the audio clip. But I really was laughing! Daddy will get another clip soon!)

My First Haircut

Mommy has had a really hard time with me sitting still enough in the morning for her to put my hair up in a pony tail (aka "the whale spout" as Daddy calls it) or two piggy tails. With the onset of the Fall/Winter cold season, my hair has been collecting all sorts of "candle wax" (as Mommy politely calls my runny nose residue).

So when I fell asleep in my highchair during snack time today, she felt this was the perfect opportunity to cut some bangs for me. (Obviously, if I won't sit still enough for her to comb my hair, I'm definitely not going to sit still enough for a salon stylist to cut my hair!)

How do you think I look? You're right, the unevenness is a good incentive for me to learn to sit still long enough for her to take me to a real salon.

Tree Transplant

Today we had unusually nice weather for November in Moore, OK. So Daddy decided this would be the day he would move a tree from the corner of our yard to a more suitable spot. (For some strange reason, a previous owner planted a tree right in the middle of a set of gas, phone and cable lines, right next to the fence. Mommy felt the tree might damage some of these underground lines and/or the fence as the tree grew.)

We all know what a big "manly man" Daddy is. So this task was no problem to "Daddy the Engineer." Still, I felt he needed some supervision in where he should dig and how deep the hole should be. Here I am inspecting Daddy's progress.

The tree had been falling over when Mommy and Daddy first moved in to this home. As a result, Daddy rigged up some support for the tree to help it grow straight. This caused the tree trunk to grow at an angle to the root system. So we decided to name the tree "Oscar" after Mommy's friend, Oscar Racz, who hurt his back while in the military and now has a funny bent look about him. (Oscar is having surgery tomorrow, so hopefully he won't be bent any more.)

Here Daddy and I are after a tough afternoon. You can see how off-center Oscar is. Hopefully his roots will start growing down now.

Remember what I said about Daddy being a "manly man?" He's so strong he broke a shovel while working on this project! That's my Daddy, strongest man in the world!

(Daddy wants you know that Mommy was my helper with this writeup!)

Drawing with Crayons!

A long time ago (meaning before I was born), Mommy's friend Chuck Latwinski gave her a box of large crayons. (The gift related to the motto "shut up and color". I know that's not a very nice thing to say. But that's military life, I suppose.)

Mommy saved the crayons all these years. This morning, after grabbing a pen and being creative on the kitchen table, Mommy decided I needed an outlet for all these artistic aspirations I've been having. So she brought these special crayons out.

Daddy had the great idea of giving me a really BIG sheet of paper to draw on. The sheet of paper was so big that I even managed to keep my drawings on the paper rather than the table. (I still don't understand why they didn't like my artwork directly on the table. The table will be there a lot longer than any sheet of paper they give me!)

Look at all the fun I'm having!

I'm so proud of my work!

Eating While Sitting in a Big Girl's Chair!

We have a Friday night tradition in the Roslewski house. Friday night is PIZZA night. I LOVE pizza and can eat a whole big slice all by myself!

But tonight I was pretty fussy eating in the high chair. Mommy and Daddy thought I just waasn't as hungry as usual, so they took me out of the high chair. I then climbed into Mommy's chair and reached out for the rest of my pizza. As you can see, I was no longer fussy. Maybe Mommy and Daddy will let me sit in the big chairs from now on. I'll let you know what happens.

Grandma Roslewski's Birthday

Today was Grandma Roslewski's birthday. (I'm not going to list what number she celebrated.) We were going to fly up there to spend the day with her, but the weather was pretty bad. So we went the old-fashioned way -- by car.

I LOVE spending the day with Grandma and Grandpa. Don't get me wrong, Mommy and Daddy give me lots of love. But Grandma and Grandpa have taken the art of "lavishing love on Piper" to a whole new level. Plus they have lots of books and toys just for ME! "It's all about ME" when I'm with Grandma and Grandpa Roslewski.

Here Grandma is reading a book to me.

My grip is getting so good that I can hold a ball in each hand.



After all the play time and dinner, we finally got around to the best part of birthdays (from my vast experience): cake and ice cream! Grandma needed my help in blowing out the candle.

I was sure glad we all got to spend time with Grandma Roslewski on her special day! I had so much fun it wore me out - I slept the whole way back and Daddy even got me into my bed without waking me up!

Sitting at the big table

Recently I've started climbing up into the big people chairs at the table. Of course Mommy and Daddy won't let me eat there yet, but maybe soon they'll buy me a booster seat and I can start trying. Today I even brought a friend with me!

Dancing Piper!

I just love to dance around the house. Look at me go!

Eating with a big-girl fork!

Sometimes at dinner I will look at my little plastic fork and decide that I want to be like Mommy and Daddy and eat with big people forks. Tonight they let me! I was having a great time. I didn't want to eat any of the food (meat loaf, potatoes and green beans) with the plastic fork, but once they let me use theirs, I chowed down!

And then, because I was such a good girl, they let me have a little brownie for dessert. Yum!

Even more new words!

Wow am I ever learning new words fast this week! Today I came out with "wa-wa" while pointing to my sippy cup full of water. Then at the park I saw lots of doggies and pointed at them all and said "doggy"! Mommy and Daddy were very impressed.

We had a lot of fun at the park today. I really liked the swings and was laughing and smiling the whole time. Then I went on the slide over and over again! I would slide down to the bottom, then turn around and try to climb back up the way I came down. Daddy said I was being silly, but he helped me up each time!

I am really eating a lot recently too, which is good since I'm pretty skinny for my height. But all this learning and playing takes a lot of calories, so I'm doing my best!

Leave me alone for a few moments...

I was playing quietly in my room earlier today, so Mommy and Daddy left me alone for a few minutes. When they came back, look what they found!




It sure was a lot of fun! I was slightly less interested in cleaning it up, though.

Yet more new words!

I am certainly building up quite a vocabulary! This week I learned a few more words.

As you may know, I love to pick up the lava rocks out of the landscaping and hand them to Mommy or Daddy. Mommy was playing outside with me this morning, and so I went over, grabbed two handfuls, came back to Mommy and proudly said "rock"! And because I like to give her the rocks, then take them back, them give them to her again over and over, I had many opportunities to try out my new word!

I later amused Mommy by playing "fetch" all by myself. Mommy threw a ball into the yard and said "ball". I responded by saying "ball" and then running to go get it. I brought it back to Mommy, but instead of handing it to her, I threw it back into the yard again myself! At which time I said "ball" and ran out and got it. I entertained myself (and Mommy too) for a whole 30 minutes just doing this!

I also have learned the word "hot", which I have used on several occasions. I'm turning into quite a little conversationalist!

I made a funny today!

Remember my first joke?

I had a follow-up to it today! Daddy was quizzing me on my body parts - "Where's Piper's nose?" and so on. When we got to "Where's Piper's belly?" I couldn't quite remember. Mommy was right there too and, to try to help me out, asked "Where's the buddha belly?" To which I immediately reached over to Daddy, pulled up his t-shirt, and pointed right at his belly-button. I might not remember where mine is, but I sure know right where the buddha belly in the house is!

Even Daddy laughed at this one!

Daddy wanted me to add the following: "My little stinker did it again this evening! I was strapping her into her car seat and asked her where the buddha belly was. She pointed right at me!"

I'm pretty funny, huh?