Park Play Date

Our friend Krissy invited us to the park this Saturday. Her two girls (they have a little boy on the way) and our Mom friends from Shumei were all headed to the park to brave the heat and mosquitoes. A girl fest indeed. And Piper soaked it up. Between singing quietly to herself and watching intently as the girls played it was a lovely morning.

And her sunglasses were a big hit.

You Just Never Know

I've been reluctant to say anything.

Sure, I can be superstitious- I'll admit it. It drives Josh crazy actually.

But when your daughter goes from getting up every hour to getting up...once.

Most people I think would be reluctant to say something. Nothing feels more deflating than a, "She's sleeping great! Thats wonderful!"

When she's not.

And Piper, well Piper keeps us on our toes. So you just never know. But this week it is true. She had three days in a row where it was once. Just one glorious waking. Then after three days it came to two. Two glorious wakings (hey, you take it happily when you've had four hours of sleep in a four day period).

Early this morning I heard Piper and I readied myself to get out of bed. As I did Josh mumbled, "What time is it?" 5am I say. Beaming he says, "Thats great! Ooh my goodness she made it through the night! Awesome!"

At which point I smothered him with a pillow.

No. No Josh, she did not make it through the night.

But thats okay. I'll take what she's giving me.

A beautiful walk on what just happens to be Father's Day

Those of you who know Josh know he does not like making a deal about any holidays. Leading up to Father's day it was looking to be the same story for him. Didn't want to do anything special, didn't want to celebrate- just another day thank you very much.

But he did have one request.

He wanted to go for a hike with Piper.

Dad showed her a new trick.

"tasting the air"

Wild Iris

Spanish Creek

And good grip on Dad the whole time

The long and winding road...

Drool.

Lots of drool, late nights, early mornings, short naps, cranky pants and chewing. Mixed with smiles, giggles and lots of playing (thank goodness or we'd start to believe the tales of alien activity in the area, what did they do with our sweet Piper?)

It may be a long road till we have anything to show for all this action, but for now we believe Piper is in the throws of teething. No break after the growth spurt- right into more adventure. But despite being ridiculously overtired (think running into walls, yes- that tired) we are enjoying this new little person with a big personality.

Three Months Old: Growth Spurts, Cloth Diapers and New Sounds

The last week has been... challenging. The 12 week growth spurt brought us 4 to 6 wake up calls in the wee of the night. In the middle of all of this we transitioned Piper into her own bed, which actually helped cut back a little bit on the night wakings. She likes her bed, she seems unfazed by the transition (thank goodness- none of us were sleeping). We're still shush/patting to sleep and naps are random. We also started an earlier bed time which is good for all- she likes the extra sleep and I'm dumbfounded on what to do with myself. Sure is nice to have a leisurely dinner with Josh though.

In all of this she's started experimenting with funny sounds that she loves having repeated back to her. And smiles. Many many smiles - more than before. She will return any smile given to her, but you have to start the process. Piper is already showing a shy side- well, kinda. She's so happy, the more you grin at her the more she gets going with grins and some early giggles. She's well on her way to rolling back to front and she can sit with some assistance. And after three months I'm finally ready to start doing regular laundry. Well really, I'm already doing regular laundry so I might as well throw some cloth diapers in there and stop being lazy.

Two Firsts and a Lessons Learned

Piper is taking her global popularity in stride these days...

Piper had her first play date with Jonah, at the pool. Sarah, her friend Trisha, and myself juggled the babes in their first pool experience. We had swim diapers and a beautiful day, it was time to give it a go.

They both loved it! Piper was all smiles, until the camera came out (jeez she's so like her Dad).

So about these swim diapers. I wasn't trusting of ours so I opted to put a regular diaper on underneath. Any one who has done this before knows what I'm going to say.

Explosion.

Explosion of tiny goo pellets.

Everywhere.

Luckily the explosion happened when we were out of the pool. But what an experience. Goo everywhere, baby who's into putting hands into her mouth, nothing but baby wipes to save ourselves. Ya. Wow. Lesson Learned.

Which leads us to another first. Once we got home I managed to get both of us into the shower. Another new experience for Miss Piper. She was in shock and then beamed. A brave one this one. With overstimulation of new sounds, sensations, and adventures she survived with only nap strike to show for it.

I also learned today not to get to attached to anything. Especially not to get too attached to anything challenging. Piper has been hating the car in a big way. Josh and I have endured many a screaming car ride for hours on end. This is a big pain when you live out where we do, long car rides are hard to get away from. But today Piper managed the ride there, the ride back, and sitting in her car seat while I managed wads of goo without so much as a peep.

Well, maybe lots of peeps- she was "talking" to her toy beetle.

Piper's got a following in Japan

Apparently Piper is "popular" in Japan from what Alan Sensei tells me.

I think Piper ended up on video and that video could have made it on to the anniversary clip circulated through Japan. What many of you know, but I haven't written on here, is that Piper is a bit of a miracle baby. Yes, all babies are tinny miracles- absolutely. But I had been told I had too many health issues to be able to conceive. Several Doctors still can't believe Piper is here with us.

The point of bringing that up is that Shumei does an energy work that I had the benefit of receiving daily around the time Piper was conceived. I was doing a few alternative things to regulate my system. We hadn't even decided to try to have a child, I was simply trying to get myself healthy. However there are a few things that happened up at Shumei that led me to believe my connection up there had a very large impact on this outcome. I'm assuming the story is part of the Piper buzz in Japan.

Regardless of your beliefs, I think its pretty darn cool Piper has a Japanese following.

a "can do" kid

So we learned our lesson.

As "cool" as the space play mat is. It is a bit overstimulating at this age. Piper likes it okay, but the sound can't be turned off and it doesn't take long for it to just be too much. Hey, we're out in the boonies. Things are pretty mellow and quiet out here, not like she's been inundated with traffic noise. So lately she's been playing just fine without the motor running. She is starting to grab for some of the toys and seems quite happy with out the fancy mechanical option.

This morning however, I noticed she's making it move for herself. I watched for awhile and sure enough the actions seemed pretty deliberate.

Gear

Whoa.

No, really.

Whoa!

Our nice modern, clean home is filled.

Not only filled with the many joys of a little tike, but the gear associated with said tike.

I splurged again. This one is a biggie though. All my Crestone friends with kids, grandparents of said kids, neighbors of said kids all said the same thing.

Invest in a Chariot.

The "Chariot", as my friend Alison says, is the Pope Mobile of strollers. This self contained stroller has shocks- yes shocks- and big tires to plow through these sandy roads. And the thing ain't cheap. Being "thrifty" I've drug my feet on this purchase, but with Piper growing, my need to get out and about and then two different friends alerting me to a sale at REI- I went for it. Even used, this thing ain't cheap. So for the same price as a used one I got a new one. Piper hung out in her Merry Muscles and helped her Dad put it together. As an early Father's Day present I got Josh the bike attachment so we're ready to go!

Moby and other Happenings

Summer is here in Crestone. Hot already. Winds still blow, but so far the bugs are kept at bay. Piper and I are trying to get out each day. Be it a walk with friends or just to get the mail so I can flex my Mommy muscles and Piper can get used to being out and about. These days Piper has, ahem...grown. She's growing so fast friends who see her on Saturday comment on Monday at the difference. And strong, solid and strong. Lately the Bjorn carrier isn't giving me the support to be able to comfortably carry her for too long. Fine for a quick jaunt, but anything longer it just isn't enough support. Piper's not big enough to go in the Ergo so we tried the Moby again (yes. yes we have that many carriers, there's one more actually she's not big enough for). Although it gets a bit hot for the both of us, it is much more comfortable and Piper sleeps soundly for her naps on the go. The naps in the crib are still going pretty well. Sometimes 20 minutes, sometimes 45 minutes, sometimes 3 hours- Piper is sure to keep me on my toes. Speaking of which, today Piper is 12 weeks old. Little did I know that 12 weeks (as 6 weeks) is a big milestone, a well known growth spurt. Well, as a textbook baby in some instances, Piper is right on schedule. By this afternoon we had crying (and smiles- I call her my bi-polar baby) and over all crankiness - not our usual Piper. I'm holding strong with my 3 hours of sleep and some deep breaths. We'll get through it.

Jen and I took an afternoon break from work to walk by the creek. Just stellar, and perfect timing before the 12 week meltdown.