Piper the Cowgirl.

Piper loves her Jumperoo. Loves. It. She can hang out in it for 20-45 minutes at a time! Watching her bouncing and bopping around never gets old, either. I submit for your viewing pleasure...

We Miss Daddy!

Jonathan flew out of Boston on Friday afternoon to meet up with his dad in Ft. Lauderdale. Frank has a conference this week, and so they decided to continue their tradition of meeting up for an NFL game by going to see the Miami/Buffalo game today.

Piper and I saw Jonathan off at the Logan Express station Friday afternoon. We've had a pretty low-key weekend. Visiting with Aunt Maureen, going to the grocery store Saturday and Kohl's and Target today, and of course spending quality time with her horsie jumperoo!

We can't wait to pick Daddy up in Framingham tomorrow afternoon!

Great Grandpa:

We hope you are having a quick & speedy recovery!

All Quiet on the Eastern Front

Not much to report. We've had a relatively quiet week. Oh, other than the fact that Piper thinks sleep is for chumps. Her "new" bedtime is midnight - 12:30 AM. You can imagine my delight. Though I must say - even at midnight, she is generally happy, giggly, and playful. I could have it much, much worse (though we did have a rough night two nights ago).

She changes a little bit every day, and it's so fun to see. Aunt Maureen watched her today while I ran to Target & Price Chopper, and reported that Piper enjoyed her Jumperoo for about 20 minutes, bouncing and talking away. That would be the first time she's done much besides examine her seat and wait patiently for me to take her back out again!

She discovers something different on her exersaucer each time she's in it, it seems. She loves the rolly guys and the animal sounds, and just yesterday she figured out how to spin the globe...well, how to spin the globe on purpose.

So, there is your daily Piper fix for those of you who were jonesing.

Note to self:

The next time I take pictures, make sure the baby is not dressed in orange!

Oatmeal 2 - The video evidence

Here's a little taste of Piper's first taste of oatmeal. :)

Oatmeal

Yesterday seemed like a good day to start solids.

There is quite a bit of healthy debate over when to start solids. The AAP basically says any time between 4 and 6 months. I have run into a few holier-than-thou moms over on http://www.thenest.com/ who look down their noses if you start earlier than 6 months. Holier-than-thou people are never fun. There has been evidence linking the early (as in, earlier than 4 months) introduction of solids to childhood obesity, so I wasn't in any huge rush.

Our pediatrician told me at Piper's 4 month check up that we were free to start solids if we wanted, but we were also free not to start solids until we were ready. She also suggested we skip rice cereal and go right to oatmeal, since rice can be binding.

Piper has been increasingly curious at mealtimes, very obviously following forks and spoons with her eyes. She's also got a healthy appetite, so we thought - why not? At least give it a shot and see where she's at. So, yesterday we set up shop on the living room floor, Piper in her bumbo seat with tray (courtesy of Grandma Carol) and mixed up the oatmeal. The results?

Piper was far more interested in gnawing on her spoon and grabbing the bowl than she was in swallowing the oatmeal. She didn't dislike it, she just wasn't sure what to do with it once it was in her mouth.

We may try again next weekend. Like I said - no rush here!

Pumpkin Patch - aka A Whole Lotta Orange

The First Congregational Church up the street was having a pumpkin sale this morning. My godmother Kathy, her daughter Jen, and Jen's brood came over with coffee around 9 so we could all walk together, pick out pumpkins, and have a little photo op. Parker is 4, Camden is 19 months, and Phelan is 2.5 months.

After an hour of running around our yard, the crew set off on back roads to the church. Piper was far too interested in the pumpkins we propped her up with to give the camera a second glance - which the photographic evidence will show!

Jonathan's big request was for me to buy one of the big, warty pumpkins. Well...that wasn't going to happen without him there to lug it home, so I took a picture for him instead.

Snapshot in time

I am sitting on the bed with my laptop. The blinds on the picture window are up all the way to let a gorgeous, unseasonably warm Saturday sunlight pour in. Jonathan is dancing around the bedroom holding Piper, while "Punk Rock Girl" plays on his computer. He sings along, "We'll travel 'round the world, Just you and me, punk rock girl."



He hoists her in the air over his head, and lets her drop in a controlled free fall, one of her favorite games. He decrees, "This one's going to like the roller coasters!" and sits her back on the bed with me, facing the window so she can watch the world go by.



The cat, through it all, slumbers on in a patch of sun. I so love my little family.

Getting all Autumnal

I've been making a real effort to get out and walk more. I need the exercise, for one thing. More importantly, Piper is becoming more and more fascinated with and absorbed by her surroundings. To top it off, the weather this week has been gorgeous. Everybody wins!

Wednesday, I had enough forethought to grab my camera and throw it in the diaper bag. One of our walk routes brings us by the Congregational Church and its old cemetary. Such a good place to take a spooky Halloween photo!

Just a little further along, I couldn't resist another photo shoot. The leaves on the church lawn were too pretty.

Fall is officially here. Piper approves.

Better late than never!

For a while now, I've been thinking about starting a blog. I was worried I wouldn't have the time to devote to it, that I'd be bad at it, that I wouldn't have anything interesting enough to say. But I've got a little girl who inspires wonder in me every day, and that is reason enough to shout from the rooftops.

This will also be a great way for family, near or far, to keep tabs on what is happening in Piper's world as she grows and changes and learns and explores. Let our journey begin - 4 months in!