Bye-bye Mommy...

Mommy left today for two whole weeks! She's going to Mesa, AZ for a training course. The nice thing is that she'll be able to see lots of her friends and family while she's there. The bad thing, of course, is that she'll be away from Daddy and me!

On the way to the airport, we stopped by Target. Okay, it's in completely the opposite direction from the airport, but we had plenty of time. Now, I'm not exactly sure what happened there, since I fell asleep in the truck on the way there, and when I woke up Daddy was strapping me back into the car seat before we left! What I don't know yet is that Mommy and Daddy went in (Daddy carrying me), bought a storage shelf for my room, and then had ice cream at the Cold Stone in the store, all without me waking up! I missed some good ice cream!

We headed to the airport and got there with plenty of time to spare.  From our other trips, I know that an airport (especially one like ours that's not so busy) is a great place to play around.  I got to go up and down escalators, stairs, duck under the ropes, see an airplane, and generally run around squealing!

Running around with Mommy is fun.  She and Daddy noticed I sure am faster than last time!

Daddy picked me up so I could see really well!  I did this a couple of times, each time getting scared after a minute or so.  But then I wanted to do it again!

I had a great time "escaping" from Mommy and Daddy under the barriers (this was at a closed security checkpoint).  I was careful to duck super low each time!

But of course, all this fun had to end eventually, and Mommy had to go through security to get on the plane.  We gave each other lots of hugs and kisses.  We'll sure miss you Mommy!

First time sleeping without a diaper!

I've been doing so well having dry diapers in the morning that Mommy and Daddy decided it was finally time to try wearing big girl panties to bed. And I did great, no accidents! They were very proud of me, and so was I!

The OMNIPLEX again!

Since we have annual passes, we decided to go to the Omniplex again today. I was just as excited as last time. We did see some of the same exhibits, but that's okay, I really like them! I got to ride a Segway again, and I got to go super fast this time! They also had a neat paper airplane "launcher". Daddy and I liked this! I wanted to run and go get the airplanes - he didn't mind. Then I told him I wanted a "tiny" one, so he made one and it flew great! We were at the Omniplex for a few hours. We went out to eat, and then went to the library.

But even after all this excitement, and having woken up at 6:30 this morning, I still didn't act tired all day and didn't take a nap. Poor Mommy and Daddy!

I'm still waking up in the middle of the night, and then waking up pretty early in the morning, but we're working on that.

If I'm a turkey, what are Mommy and Daddy?

Daddy always calls me a little turkey.  And he used to call me a pumpkin.  But I decided that if I am the turkey, HE must be a pumpkin!  Of course that left Mommy.  So one day I decided that she's a cantaloupe!  I make sure that they don't get this all mixed up and remind them all the time.  Daddy tries to tease me by calling me a pumpkin, but I make sure to correct him!

Daddy's home!

Daddy got home today while I was at school.  Mommy and I were very happy!  We missed him very much.

Mommy tried to give me a shower

Daddy usually gives me a shower, and then Mommy dries me off and gets me ready for night-night.  But since Daddy is gone today, Mommy had to give me a shower.  She didn't realize that I sometimes grab the shower head and accidentally aim it around the bathroom!  Messy!

But I'm actually doing really well taking showers.  I can hold the shower head and wet down my own hair with only a little help, and I can rinse myself off pretty well too.  I even try to use the washcloth.  I'm a big girl!

Bye-bye Daddy!

Daddy left on a business trip to Sacramento today.  I'm glad he'll only be gone for two days.  He left while I was at school.  Mommy and I already miss him!

Sleepwalking?

After they put me to bed tonight, Mommy and Daddy went in to their bedroom.  Daddy needed to pack for his business trip tomorrow (it's only a 2-day trip).  About an hour after they put me to bed, Daddy came out in the kitchen looking for something, and heard deep breathing from the living room that was way too loud to be the cats.  He came over, and there I was, fast asleep on the couch, tightly holding onto my Minnie Mouse, Panda Bear, and Little Boo!  Apparently I walked out and crawled up on the couch without making a noise.

Daddy picked me up, carried me back into my bedroom and laid me down on my bed, all without me waking up one bit!

I can pronounce my last name!

This afternoon I surprised Daddy by asking him to write my name - "Piper Roslewski".  That's right, I said my first AND last name.  Mommy and Daddy haven't practiced this with me, so it surprised them!  Of course, they just had to have me say it a few more times for good measure.  And what's more, I may not have pronounced it perfectly, but I did just as well as anybody else on their first try!

Daddy's first "tea party"

I was playing with Daddy with some Play-doh today when I asked him to make me a hamburger out of it.  When he did, I said I was going to go eat it at the table, so I went over to my little table and sat down.  I invited him over and then got two plates so we could have a little snack.  Daddy then even made my one big hamburger into two little hamburgers so we could share!  We had a fun time laughing and pretending to eat our hamburgers, but I had to keep reminding him to not REALLY eat it in case he forgot and took a real bite!  Mommy even joined us after a little bit.  It was a great time!

Indoor playground

Mommy and Daddy liked that I took a nap yesterday, even if it wasn't very long.  So they plotted to wear me out again today.  And they sure did!  Since I woke up at about 6:30 this morning, they didn't think it would take much.  And it didn't - I fell asleep on the drive to our local Mexican restaurant for lunch (it's only about 5 minutes away).  But I woke up and we ate lunch.  Then we stopped by the local McDonald's with a big playground and I played, played, played (Mommy did buy a dessert there).  The whole thing looked kind of like a big hamster cage, with big plastic tubes to crawl through, and slides and giant stairs to climb.  I had to climb up super high, and did it over and over again.  I went down one of the slides at first, but then decided it was too scary.  I was so worn out at the end that I laid down on one of the "stairs" and Daddy had to climb a little into the playground to come get me.  But even though I was tired, I didn't want to leave!  I fussed and fussed.  But once we got home, guess what?

I slept for a good hour and a half!  Pitch and Little Girl decided they needed naps too.  Cozy!

Omniplex

Today Mommy and Daddy had a BIG surprise for me.  They told me we were going to go back to the Omniplex (Science Museum Oklahoma)!  I loved this place when we were there earlier this year, and I couldn't wait to go back!  I've even suggested it a few times since then.  But today we finally went back, and we even got to see some parts of it that we missed last time.

I did a little bit of building with some blocks.  I like to build towers.  Super-tall towers!

I also like to pretend that just about everything is a camera.  I'll say "say cheese!" to Mommy and Daddy.  I thnk it's great fun!

They also had a little play area with water and boats and some other things.  Since it's winter and about 25 degrees outside, I haven't had any "water play" in quite a while.  So this was lots of fun.

I even got to ride a Segway!  I was too scared at first, but Mommy went ahead and did it so I'd feel braver.  At the end of the "tour" I didn't want to get off.  Daddy rode it too, and of course was fascinated by the technology of it.

I got to fly an airplane too!  It's actually a "Link" instrument trainer that they used to use to train pilots to fly on instruments only. 

I was having so much fun and there was so much more to do that I didn't want to leave!  But once Mommy and Daddy got me in the car, I propped my stuffed polar bear up on my shoulder and fell asleep.  I was asleep before we got out of the parking lot!

Daddy and Mommy said we can go back again really soon.  And they even bought annual passes so we can go lots more!

Went to the couch and fell asleep at 1:30 AM

And to continue the trend from yesterday, this morning at about 1:30 Daddy thought he heard me, went out into the living, and there I was, fully asleep on the couch again!  He tried to put a blanket over me and arrange things so I wouldn't fall off, but in doing that I woke up.  So he sat up with me for a little while until I was ready to go back to bed.

Mommy found me on the couch this morning

This morning Daddy had to work, but Mommy didn't, so they were going to let me sleep in longer than usual.  Well, after Daddy had left, Mommy heard me cough, only it sounded a lot closer than coming from my room.  She came out and found me laying on the couch in the living room!  I guess I'm really not scared to get up by myself now!

Christmas with Grandma and Papa Roslewski (and Shadow!)

Well, sure enough this morning I woke up and it was as if I hadn't been sick at all!  Which is a good thing, because finally the snow and ice from the storm had thawed enough, and the roads were clear so Grandma and Papa and Shadow could come down for a visit.  They just came down for the day, and boy was I happy to see them!  It had nothing to do with them bearing lots of gifts, of course!

Now all that practice I got on Christmas Day was going to go to good use.  Look, I got my own "princess" CD player!  Okay, it's not really a CD player, but does include little plastic discs that LOOK like miniature CDs.  Naturally, it didn't take too long before I did the inevitable and tried to put the little plastic "CDs" into our big CD player.  Oops!  Good thing Daddy and Mommy caught me before I got there!

I also got a toy baby doll, a "Minnie Mouse" jacket, and this nice long dress!

It wasn't all about me, of course, I also got to give Papa and Grandma presents.  Here I am with Papa while he opens my card for him.

I gave Grandma this handprint/picture frame.  She really liked it.

I had to include this picture too.  Grandma made up this wonderful 2010 calendar filled with pictures of me, Mommy, Daddy, and some of Papa and Grandma.  It was really incredible and obviously took a lot of work to pick out all the photos.  It was a really great gift.  Thank you Grandma!  You can see that Mommy is getting a little teary-eyed.  Too bad Daddy's face is covered, we'll never know if he is too!

Right before they left, I got to show Grandma and Papa how well I play the piano!  This is my second-favorite song "You've Got A Friend In Me" from Toy Story.  My favorite is "Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid.

It was a really great day.  Thanks Grandma and Papa!

I've been sick all day

I got really sick last night and even had a temperature of around 103.  I complained about my tummy hurting, asked Daddy to hold me, and sure enough once he did, out it came.  Poor Daddy!  Daddy and Mommy debate about who has it worse when this happens, but Daddy sure does seem to bear the "brunt" of me getting sick a lot!

Today I was really tired the whole day.  My temperature was down to 100-101, but I didn't feel like eating much of anything.  I even took two naps on Daddy, which means I must REALLY be sick!  I sure hope I'm feeling better tomorrow, Grandma and Papa are supposed to come visit.

THIS is how you play Candy Land!

Every time I play Candy Land now (which has been several times since Christmas morning), I find a "new" way to play.  This time I decided to match all the cards up with the colored squares on the board.  Pretty clever, huh?  I was very proud of myself.

Got up at night and came to Mommy and Daddy's room

In the past, when I've woken up in the middle of the night, I've called out to Mommy and Daddy (usually very quietly at first, but then gradually louder until they've heard me and came to help me).  But tonight I actually got up, opened my door and came down the hall to them!  This is the first time I've done this, and Mommy and Daddy were very proud of me for not being scared of the mostly-dark hallways.  They've since put up nightlights all through the hall to help out more.  Of course, now Daddy is wondering how badly I'll scare him in the middle of the night!

Fun in the snow

Today not only was it Christmas, but it was a white Christmas too!  Neighbors tell us it's been around 20 years since the last one, so we definitely had to get out and play.  In between unwrapping presents and eating meals, we got some time to do just that. (And Daddy got to do a lot of shoveling too.)  In fact, with 14.1" of snow recorded, it set the city's record for the most snowfall in one storm EVER!  (Lucky Daddy.)

This is our backyard!

And Daddy and I in our driveway.

Okay, now I'm all bundled up ready for fun!

Hey, I'm stuck!  This isn't so much fun!

Daddy even went up into the attic and got down a sled.  This is actually the same sled that he used to ride on with Grandma and Papa Roslewski when he was my age!  Grandma and Papa had kept it and gave it to us last year.

Mommy got in the fun too, and made some snow angels.  I didn't want to make any, though.

I liked riding around on the sled, but didn't like playing in the snow too much.  It kept getting up the back of my jacket and after a while, I told Daddy "I want to go home."  So that was it, back to presents!

It's Christmas!!!

Well, I sure didn't sleep in this morning!  At 6:30 AM I called out to Mommy and Daddy and they came and got me.  Merry Christmas!  We didn't get to the presents quite right away, we played a little in bed first like we always do on weekend mornings.  I like to hide under the covers, usually with Daddy, but sometimes with both Mommy and Daddy, which of course makes us wonder who we're hiding from.  No matter, it's fun anyway!  So we played for a while this morning and then went out to see what presents I had. 

Last year, I opened about 3 presents and then didn't want anything more to do with opening anything, and cried when asked if I wanted to open any more.  This year sure was different!  I got right to town opening my gifts, although I did want to play with each one before opening the next.  So it took all day to finally get to them all.  We took our time and had a great day.

Here I just discovered all the presents under the tree!  I'm very excited.

I put on my favorite hat and got right to business.  I got the game Candy Land, for which I quickly made up my own rules.  Daddy showed me where to put my piece to start the game.  He then told me that the goal is to get my piece to the end.  Hey, that's easy!  I picked up my piece and moved it to the finish.  I like simple games like this!  So I started playing with the gingerbread "men" pieces by themselves.  I decided that the blue one is a boy and the other three are girls.  We had great fun.  They got to ride around in my tricycle, eat with me at the table, all kinds of stuff.  Like I said, I like this game!

I got a lot of books for Christmas.  That's okay, because I like to read!  After I'd open each one, I'd ask Mommy or Daddy (whoever was closer) to read it to me right then.

I got this jacket from my Aunt Jennifer.  I wanted to put it on right away, and I wore it around most of the rest of the day!

Mommy got me these "Lace and Trace" puzzles with train cars on them.  I like trains, and I liked playing with these "sewing" cards.  Notice the jacket I'm wearing.

Then I got to open up Santa's gift.  It was a big trunk filled with all kinds of Disney "Princess" dress-up clothes - dresses and purses and wands and lots of other stuff.  I LOVE to dress up and look like a princess, so this was a great gift.  Thanks Santa!  (Note the jacket.)

Don't I look like a princess?

I had a great day and I got a lot of nice gifts.  Mommy and Daddy got some gifts too, but they all were pretty boring compared to mine.  Thanks everybody!

Christmas Eve and lots of snow!

Wow is it snowing today!  Mommy and Daddy both went in to work, but Mommy came and picked me up really early - she got released due to the inclement weather.  The roads were already getting slick and icy but we made it home safely.  Daddy was able to come home a couple hours later - it took him almost an hour for a normal 25-minute drive.  And he got in before the storm really got bad!  With really gusty winds up to 60 mph it was not a nice time to be outside.  So we stayed inside and played a lot.  This picture is at about 5 PM and the storm is still going strong!

Tonight, of course, is Christmas Eve.  So we were getting ready and "preparing" for Santa's arrival.  I'm very excited about it.  I even got a phone call from Santa in the afternoon!  I sure hope he thinks I've been a good girl.  I've been trying!  I even put a cookie out for him.  But I was very torn - here I was holding a cookie that I couldn't eat!  It was very tough to leave it on the plate, and I did, but only after asking Daddy if I could have "just a tiny nibble?"  I didn't, though.

And then it was bed time.  I went to bed with no problems!

Look, I'm a pilot!

Today I made Daddy very proud.  I put on his glasses and said "I'm a pilot!"  Usually he wears sunglasses when flying, but I don't know the difference.  So he thought this was pretty funny!  Later, I took his glasses off his face and said "You're not a pilot anymore!"  So apparently, pilots wear glasses!

Christmas light tour with Mr. Ross

Tonight Daddy picked up Mr. Ross from home and we came to our house for dinner.  Mr. Ross is one of the Air Force retirees that Mommy knows from the base.  Daddy and I had never met him before, but he is really nice.  Of course I was very shy.  After dinner we went out to look at Christmas lights.  We wanted to, and Mr. Ross said he hadn't been out to look at lights for a while, so he came along too.  We drove to downtown OKC and got to see lots and lots of lights.  I was pretty excited about seeing all of them.  We even saw some horse-drawn carriages!  We all had a great time, and were glad that Mr. Ross could come with us.

Decorating the tree

After all the excitement of earlier today, Daddy and Mommy weren't sure if I was going to be awake long enough to put up the Christmas tree.  But I was!  And I was a big help too.  You can see by the way I'm carefully arranging the branches.  I'm very particular!

Then we got out the ornaments.  I found this great hat in the box and quickly put it on!

I was very careful putting each ornament on, and tried several different places before I knew it was "just right".

Notice a trend with the silver disco balls?

In the box of ornaments I found a little stocking.  Even though Mommy and Daddy insisted it was a stocking, I knew it was a sock and had to try it on!  (Later I even tried this with a big red stocking.  I was being silly!)

Of course, the last thing we had to put on was the angel on top of the tree.  Daddy helped me a little, but I knew right where it went!

 

Over the rest of this weekend Mommy and Daddy would catch me rearranging the ornaments all by myself.  I was having a lot of fun doing it!

Children's Holiday Party

Today was the Children's Holiday Party at Tinker AFB. They have this every year in one of the big hangars and each year I have more fun than the year before! ESPECIALLY this year. Know why? Because I was big enough to go on the "Moon Bounce" this year. I called it the "Bouncy-bounce" and got to go on it three different times!



They have lots of different activities and crafts to do there as well. I wasn't too interested in the different crafts yet (maybe next year), but I did try a lot of the other things to do. Like this "Cookie walk" I did with Mommy. We won cookies!



Pinki the clown was there again this year, and I asked her to make me a pink flower! I liked it a lot, although I quickly figured out how the leaves were made and managed to undo them. Sometimes I'm so like Daddy it's scary!



We tried to get another holiday photo. This will have to do!



I was having so much fun we were one of the last families still there. Which meant, of course, that there was no line for the bouncy-bounce! I was having such a great time, even though nobody else was in there with me. I wouldn't even come out when Daddy called, so he had to come in and get me. Of course he couldn't do that and not bounce a little himself, could he? Wheee!



I had so much fun that Mommy and Daddy figured I'd take a nice long nap this afternoon, but I sure fooled them and didn't sleep a wink! What a great day!

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Today is Mommy's birthday!  Last night Mommy wasn't feeling very well, so she suggested Daddy and I go out for dinner.  So we did, but then afterwards we went shopping - I needed to get something for Mommy (and Daddy's had trouble finding an excuse to take me out, so Mommy's timing was perfect).  I got her a present, and picked out a Happy Birthday balloon.  We figured it would help Mommy feel better.  We hid everything until this morning.

Well, this morning after getting me up Daddy tried to get me to run in and yell "Happy Birthday Mommy" but I wouldn't play along.  Instead, I yelled "I got a boon!" which Mommy took to mean "spoon" but really meant "balloon".  At this point Daddy just got the balloon and I carried it out to Mommy like I wanted to anyway!

After we got home from work and school, we decided there was no reason to wait to celebrate after dinner, so we did it right away!  Mommy had actually bought one of her favorite big chocolate cakes for work today and still had a lot left over, so we used that as her birthday cake.  Daddy put a candle in it and I got to help Mommy blow it out!

Then Mommy got to open my present.  I picked it out all by myself, a little snowman ornament!  You can also see the balloon in the background. 

Daddy got Mommy a Ipod Nano.  She's wanted one for a while but never quite got around to buying one for herself.  Of course I wanted to play with this too, but they wouldn't let me!

Mommy said she had a great day.  Happy Birthday Mommy!

Mommy's Work Christmas Party

Tonight was Mommy's work Christmas Party.  This one we always like to go to because it's an informal event where they have great desserts, and you come and go as you please.  And kids are definitely invited!

I got all dressed up for the occassion.  Grandma Roslewski got me this outfit.  Daddy and Mommy thought I looked really cute, and I agreed with them!

When we got to the party, Mommy and I immediately made a beeline for the chocolate fountain.  I saw marshmallows, and Mommy told me I had some last week at Grandma and Grandpa's, so I knew that's what I wanted here.

Daddy's no fun, though.  He suggested that before we put any chocolate on that mashmallow, we go get a family photo. Wonder why? I told you my Daddy's smart!

I then proceeded to really surprise Mommy and Daddy by not wanting any chocolate!  Mommy put some chocolate-covered pretzels in front but I didn't want them either.  Well, I ate some of the other snacks anyway.  I did get to poke around a little at the some of the Christmas trees, too.  Sure looks like I'm using more than the "one finger" rule!

I got to play with some other kids around my age, and was especially friendly towards some of the older boys!  Uh-oh, Daddy said!  In fact, at one point, Mommy was introducing Daddy to her boss, and I wandered off (they could still see me) and sat down on a chair next to a cute blond-haired boy about my age and his mom.  Mommy and Daddy didn't even know who they were, but I wasn't shy one bit!  According to his mom, I had quite the conversation with the boy before Mommy and Daddy came on over to get me.  I'm such a social butterfly!

Went to the doctor today

I've had a little cough for a couple of weeks, and we went to the doctor today.  She prescribed me some medicine and hopefully I'll get better quickly.

But while we were there, I got weighed and measure.  So here's where I am at 2 and a half:

Height: 37 inches (80th percentile)
Weight: 32 lbs (80th percentile)

"Under the sea" and singing with the xylophone

I'm becoming quite musical lately.  Of course I still like singing my three favorite songs (ABC, Twinkle twinkle, and Itsy-Bitsy Spider) but today Daddy caught me singing "Under the Sea" to myself over and over again, which of course is the song from "The Little Mermaid" (which I actually haven't even seen yet).

Also, I've been playing my xylophone and singing along with it.  So far I'm getting good at playing and singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".  I kind of have my own melody for it, too.  I asked Daddy to play it for me, but when I realized he was playing the "normal" melody, I quickly corrected him - "No, no, Daddy, do it like this" - and showed him the proper way to play!

Daddy really wants to get a video of me playing this.  Hopefully he will soon.

"Say it like Daddy"

For some time now I've had great fun telling Daddy to "say it tiny", meaning I want him to say something in a high "tiny" voice!  Usually this happens when he purposely says something really deeply, I'll say "that scare me, say it tiny!"  (It doesn't really scare me, but I like to tease him.)  And he'll always repond by repeating himself in as high a voice as he can manage (which isn't really that high).

Well, today he said something in a deep voice, I responded with my usual "that scare me, say it tiny", and he did.  But then he turned it around on me!  He told me to "say it like Daddy".  I thought for a moment, then repeated what he had said, in as low a voice as I could manage!  He just about fell over laughing, and I thought it was pretty funny too.  We've been doing it a lot since, and it's still pretty funny!