Grandma and Grandpa (and Shadow)!

I was very excited today because I heard that Grandma and Grandpa Roslewski were coming over, and they brought Shadow! Shadow is still the only one of the three of them whose name I can pronounce, but I’m trying Grandma and Grandpa, really I am!

Since we’ll be in Phoenix for my 2nd birthday, they decided to celebrate a little early and gave me my present today. It was a big box I had to unwrap, but Grandma helped until I got the hang of it! It was a tricycle, just my size!



Daddy and I quickly set out to assemble it. Notice I grabbed hold of a screwdriver and started helping right away!



It didn’t take long (especially with my help), and I soon got to try it out. It makes all kinds of sound too. I really like it! (See my new shoes? Grandma got them for me too. Yes they are way too big, and she knew that, but that's the way I like them!)



Grandma had made some really nice cupcakes and decorated them perfectly! (The bottom 6 are butterflies, and the train engine candle holders are from when Daddy was my age!)




Grandma showed me how to blow out the first candle, and then the second one I was able to blow out all by myself!

Yum!

I'm glad they came, we had fun! And I've sure been riding my new tricycle around a lot since then. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Giving Bunny and Ginny a ride!

I like to give rides in my airplane. Here I am giving Bunny and Ginny (the Giraffe) a ride!

Memorial Day in OKC

Today, of course, is Memorial Day, so Mommy and Daddy both had the day off. We went into Oklahoma City to a local art festival to walk around and see if there was anything we needed for the house. Well, we didn't buy anything, but we did walk around and get out of the house for a while!


When we were done there, they weren't hungry enough to eat lunch yet, so we decided to go feed some bread to the ducks on the Riverwalk in Bricktown. But first, Daddy wanted me to see the big aquarium in the nearby Bass Pro shop. You know how much I (and he) like aquariums! Of course, it didn't hurt that they have a lot of GPS units that Daddy wanted to look at. So there we went!


I had in my hand a piece of bread from the loaf we were going to feed the ducks. I carried it through most of the store. I even offered it to the fish! But they didn't want any.





It was a pretty neat aquarium!





Since the fish didn't want it, I offered my bread to a local bear. He didn't want it either! But Mommy and Daddy always tell me it's fun to share, so I had to try.





They even had an airplane hanging from the ceiling!





Who would have thought that an outdoors store could keep my attention for so long? But it did!


Well, finally we made our way along the riverwalk to feed the ducks. There weren't as many as last time, but there were still a few that were very appreciative. Here I am about to throw my bread to this duck. It's a good thing they weren't scared of me, because I had to get close (my range still isn't very good).




After the ducks, we drove to lunch. I don't remember much about this, because I fell asleep on the way and then fell back asleep in Daddy's arms right after he got me out of my seat. Sometime later I woke up, still in Daddy's arms, at the table in the restaurant, and the food had already been served. Daddy's pretty comfy! We finished up there and drove home. It was a fun day, and it was nice to spend it with Mommy and Daddy!

Dance, dance, dance!

I like to dance!

Big ball, big geek and big help!

Today was a fun day. I started off by playing with the big ball Mommy got me a week or two ago. I love to bounce it around, especially outside. I'm getting better at kicking it, too! Also, I love these red "Dorothy" slippers Mommy got me. They're way too big right now, but I don't mind. I put them on every day anyway!

Later, I was in Daddy's room and grabbed his calculator off his desk and headed to the kitchen table. Here I am relaxing with some cereal and a little math. Daddy was so proud of his big little geek! (Okay, so usually I hold the calculator up to my ear like a phone, but I'm learning!)

Later on we went out to Lowe's, since they were having a sale. The first thing I had to do, of course, was ride some mowers! They're almost right inside the door, so I took off running when I saw them. I could do this all day long, so eventually Daddy had to pick me up!

We stopped by the water fountains and I learned how to work the buttons. But at first I didn't quite have the hang of it - I'd press the button, the water would flow, and I'd bend in but release the button as I did so. No water! I eventually figured it out with Daddy's help, and giggled each time I'd get a drink!

When we got home, I helped Mommy pot a tomato plant we bought. Hopefully we'll get some yummy little tomatos from it in a couple of months. I'm a big help!

Hello from Gainesville, TX!

Daddy and some friends had planned to fly to an airport just across the border in Texas, to meet up and have lunch. Since I'm such a big girl, he took me with him! It was in Gainesville, Texas. We had a good time while they talked about airplanes and whatever else men talk about, while I got to look and wave at airplanes!

Of course I had to bring my purse with all my essentials in it. Milk, sunglasses, and Panda!



As you may remember, I have a habit of venturing off on my own:

http://pipersbabyblog.blogspot.com/2008/06/picnic-at-tinker-afb.html (3rd picture down)

Well, I did it again, and took off across the parking ramp! I think I'm headed toward that yellow plane off in the distance. It's a long way away! Daddy came and got me before I went any farther.



This is Daddy's friend Craig's airplane. I like it! (Guess why?)



We had a good time, although I fussed a little on the way back. Seems I kept taking off my shoes and dropping them on the floor. Daddy did entertain me by making animal noises for a while. But about 10 minutes before landing, I fell asleep! I even stayed asleep the whole time through Daddy parking, pushing the plane back in, and getting everything except me back into the truck. I only woke up when he had to get me and the car seat out! I sure was tired from all the excitement.

Where's Piper?

One of my favorites games to play is to hide under the covers (or a towel, or a napkin, or whatever else I can find)! Usually I'll ask Mommy or Daddy to join me. I'll even make sure they know to be quiet by putting my finger to my lips and quietly saying "shhh"!

Somehow, they keep finding me though. Here Daddy and I are hiding from Mommy. How'd she find us? You can see I'm really holding down the cover!

Had problems going to sleep last night

After all the excitement of the tornado warning, I did have problems going back to sleep. Both Mommy and Daddy tried comforting me several times, but I kept getting back up and crying for them to come back. I was plenty tired and wanted to go to sleep, but I just couldn’t. I think it was the flashes of lightning coming through the blinds of my window that were keeping me up, although the storm was far enough away we couldn’t hear the thunder. So at about midnight Daddy just decided to get me up for a while. We had some milk, and then watched the storm through the back windows. It was quite a light show!

After a little bit Daddy laid down on the couch and I laid on his chest, giving him a big hug, my little arms wrapped around his neck. I was nice and cozy, and fell asleep soundly! But after about 15 minutes I woke up, yelled “NO”, and started screaming and shaking! Not my normal “I want something” crying, but a real “something scared me” scream. Daddy was really scared for me, I must have been having a really bad dream. He comforted me and I calmed down pretty quickly. Then I went back to sleep on his chest! After about another 15 minutes he took me back to my bed, where after a few more hugs I laid down and slept the rest of the night. Of course Daddy didn’t get to bed until about 1 AM, but he’s glad I finally calmed down and went to sleep!

Tornado Warning!

So here we sit, in our tornado shelter as I write this. Mommy and Daddy came in and woke me up about 10:15 to bring me down here. They thought I was going to be a little scared, but not me! It’s like playing in Alex's tent, but underground! There is a tornado warning in effect for our county and we’re not taking any chances. I’ve got some milk, some crackers, and most importantly, Mommy and Daddy, so we’re all set. I hope we won’t be here long! The warning expires at 10:45 so hopefully we’ll get to leave around then.



Update -

We are out of the shelter and our house is still above us. The tornado warning was canceled at 10:45 and we are safe. I was a real good girl the whole time, too. Unfortunately, it's now 11 PM and I'm quite awake!


Here Daddy took a picture of Mommy and me in the shelter. I sure look a little tired!

Horse and doggy!

As we were out and about today, we happened to drive by our friends Mary Lynne and Paul's house out in the country. As we passed by, Daddy saw that they were out in their yard, so we stopped and said hi. They've got a lot of land, and a horse and a dog! We had gone there for breakfast on Mother's Day 2008, so it has been almost a year now.

I got to pet their horse John. Unfortunately the flash from this picture spooked him and he ran away to the other side of his yard! It took a while for him to get comfortable with us again. Sorry John! So we went to pet their dog Cody.



Cody is a good dog, but it takes him a while to warm up to people. And he seems to have something against Daddy, just like he did last year! Daddy even tried feeding him a treat, but no luck. Cody didn't want Daddy near him. But with Mommy and me, it was different. He came over to us pretty quickly once he saw we had treats! And he was very gentle eating the treat out of my hand. Nice boy!



By now John had calmed down from being spooked, so we went over and fed him some. I even got to sit on John! I wasn't quite sure what to make of this, though.

I'm glad we stopped by!

My very own table!

Mommy went out to the Tinker AFB biannual yard sale today and got a few neat things for me. But my favorite of all was this little table and chair set! It's the perfect size for me, and I can draw and do all kinds of other stuff all by myself. I really like it. Thanks Mommy!



I'm wearing some new shoes she got me today as well (remember how much I like shoes). I put them on all by myself! So what if they're on the wrong feet?

This week has still been tough for falling asleep

I'm still not back on my bedtime routine, but it's getting a little better. This week I've really cried hard after Mommy and Daddy say good night and leave my room. Even after the singing and rocking in the chair, I still don't want them to leave, and wail as loud as I can. At first, they'd wait a while then come back in and comfort me some more. But on Tuesday of this week, apparently they decided to just let me cry until I wore myself out and fell asleep. I didn't like this at first, and cried for about 30 minutes until I gave up and fell asleep. But you know what? Every day since I've cried for less and less time before falling asleep. Now it's down to only a minute or so. So maybe it's working after all!

Do I have a shoe obsession?

I've really started having a fascination with shoes! Especially ones that don't fit me. On our trip to Hawaii I was really having fun trying on my new friend Alex's shoes. She's 5, so her feet are a lot bigger than mine! But I'd rather wear her shoes around the house than mine.

Of course, I like walking around in Mommy and Daddy's shoes too. Pretty much any shoes I can get. So Mommy and Daddy weren't surprised at all to find me in my room today, having pulled out all my shoes (including ones that didn't fit me yet), and happily trying them all on!

Of course, since I'm wearing pajamas with footies, very few of them would actually fit on my foot, but I had fun trying anyway! (Notice that there is a pair of Mommy's black shoes in there too. I wore those to get to my room!)

Up to Grandma and Grandpa Roslewski's house

Today we drove on up to Owasso, OK to visit Grandma and Grandpa Roslewski again. It has been since Christmas that we headed up there, so I was eager to go!

On the way, Mommy and Daddy were trying to keep me occupied by asking me questions like "Where's Piper's foot?" and so on. When they got to "Where are Piper's eyebrows?" they started laughing really hard! What's so funny about me rolling my eyes up to try to see my eyebrows?? :)

We didn't get to spend Easter with Grandma and Grandpa, so they decided to have some fun Easter stuff waiting for me. Grandma made this really neat cake! My favorite part by far (meaning about the only part I ate) was all the chocolate chips around the edges. I pulled off as many as I could before Mommy stopped me!



The best part about visiting Grandma and Grandpa is getting to play with them and all the toys they have. Here I am dancing with Grandpa to the music of Barney singing "Mary Had a Little Lamb". We were being silly!



Before we had cake, Grandma tried to see if I would eat a Cadbury Cream Egg. Apparently Mommy and Daddy like them, so I was going to try one too. I was having trouble unwrapping the egg, so Grandma helped me. Once I got all the wrapping off, I wasn't sure what to do with it. So I held it in my hands and looked at it for a good 10 minutes. At this point Grandma decided to show me what I was supposed to do with it (eat it, of course), by taking a little bite of it out of my hand. I was okay with that at first, and held it out to her. But then it dawned on me what she'd done! She'd eaten some of my egg! I don't think I liked that at all. I gave her quite the glare, wouldn't you say? They all broke up laughing at my intense look. I still love you Grandma!



Grandma had done a lot of shopping for me the last few months and so I got to put on a fashion show for all of them. This was fun! I went back with Grandma into the guest room where I was a really good girl helping her dress me in the different outfits. Then I'd run on out to the living room, where I'd walk down the "catwalk" and show off my new fashions! I even did a turn at then end sometimes!

Here I am in a nice cozy robe.



And another cute outfit!

Grandma had lots of cute outfits for me, and I tried them all on. Unfortunately the camera battery died after the outfit above, so we don't have any pictures of the rest! We'll have to see if Grandpa took any.

We were there for a while, and then headed back home. Mommy and Daddy were trying to keep me awake the whole trip back, and they succeeded. They hoped that I'd be nice and tired and go to sleep right away (given my recent problems falling asleep), and I did!

I haven't been falling asleep very well this week

Ever since we got back from Hawaii, my sleep routine has really been messed up. I think it's just jet lag, at least I hope so. I haven't been able to fall asleep at my usual time, or even much later than my usual time. I've even been waking up in the middle of the night and needing Daddy to rock me back to sleep. It's been miserable, and not just for me! I hope I get over this soon, and back to my normal routine (Mommy and Daddy really hope so, too!)