Mama's Little Helper

First of all, 

I'd like to start off by saying a big ol'

HAPPY 60th BIRTHDAY

to MY mom (aka Nana)!

We wish that we could be home this year to join in all of the 60th birthday celebrations,

but our schedule is just a little bit full at the moment. 

Celebrating 61 years next year will be just as fun, right?!

Second of all,

I would like to say that I didn't take a single photo of my daughter today.

Why you ask?

Waaaaaaaaaaaa. Waaaaaaaaaaaaa. Waaaaaaaaaaaa. 

That just about sums it up!

Today was a ROUGH day. 

Piper has recently started putting her fingers to her lips and saying "num num"

to let us know that she is hungry.

This would be absolutely wonderful if SHE'D ACTUALLY EAT SOMETHING.

The Eating War has officially broken out in our house and the battle is not pretty.

There has not been any bloodshed... YET...

but anything is possible at this point!

Between Piper constantly telling us that she's hungry and pointing towards the kitchen,

to her then refusing to even TASTE anything,

to her finally losing the "taste" battle only to discover that she LIKES it,

to taking three bites and then refusing ANY more,

to trying to launch herself out of her highchair...

just to tell us that she's HUNGRY...

well you get the drift. 

Mix that in with then refusing to take a nap and then puking in the car for no reason...

GIVE ME WINE not a CAMERA!

So I'll post a couple of pics from a few days ago when we were getting ready for Wynn's visit.

Since Piper and I had a little cold

we thought that it would be courteous to wash all of her toys before Wynn arrived.

Piper helped me.

Sort of!

xo

Gee mom! I can't wait to help you clean!

How am I doing mom?
Oh good, I'm glad I'm doing a good job!

Oh my. Cleaning makes me thirsty.
I need to have a drink of tea.

Oh dear. I made the cup dirty again.
Must put it back in the sink for you to wash again Mommy.

Oh look. I see my zoo and farm animals over there.
If I pull on this towel they will come closer to me, right!
Oh really? When I pull all the toys to the floor you have to clean them all over again?
This could be a never ending game!
Fun!

Throwin' in the Towel

Just before Piper turned one,

Mark started complaining that she was too big for her hooded towels.

Thanks to our friends and family,

we received lots of beautiful towels and Mark is no longer complaining about the little towels.

AND, Piper gets excited when we put them on her. 

Especially the Tinkerbell Fairy one. 

We didn't realize that she liked fairies until she first saw the towel

and started "ooooohing and ahhhhhing". 

She's SUCH a girlie girl!

xo

My owl towel from Nana Pope.
Owl Towel. That sounds funny.
Try saying it. Owl Towel.

Where did Elmo go?

There he is!

This towel makes me giddy with excitement...

... because there are fairies on my back!!

What do you mean I'm not a true blood princess??
(Thank you Aunt Susan, Parker and Ian!)

My "Piper Cee" poncho towel that I mostly use at the swimming pool!

There are actual arm holes...
but why use them when you can do this
and then scream because your arms are stuck?

The Leaning Tower of Yellowknife

Piper is usually in destruction mode,

so playing a game that encourages it is straight up her alley!

Thank you Daddy.

xo

Let me at it. Let me at it. Let me at it.

Crash!

Huh? One book survived.
That is not acceptable.

Bam! There! That's more like it!
Now, what can I destroy next? 

Operation Gravol

Today we decided to launch Operation Gravol.

As you may remember, 

while on our road trip in California, 

we learned that Piper gets carsick on twisty turning roads. 

We then RELEARNED that fact again last month 

when we decided to take a family drive up the Ingraham Trail.

Ugh.

Well we are heading to Jamaica next month 

and have learned that the 1.5 hour drive from the airport to the resort 

is twisty turing.

We needed a plan.

Our plan was Gravol,

but we weren't 100% sure it would work.

Today we tested it to see what would happen.

We set out with blankets, wet wipes, tissues,

changes of clothes and my camera (of course). 

Piper was excited to set out on this adventure.

Mom and Dad were less excited, but it needed to be done.

I'm am very excited and relieved to announce that it was a success.

We returned home with a puke-free little girl

who had a lovely nap along the way.

Now we are ready for Jamaica. 

Ya Mon! 

xo

Oh look. There's a car seat stored in the spare bedroom.
It must be here for me to climb on!

Okay. Ready to go mom.
What's taking you too so long?

Ugh!
 If I have to wait any longer I'm going to have to eat my own toes. 

The car seat has been moved to the porch and I'm still ready.
(No, we did not put her in there. She got in all by herself!)
Have I ever mentioned that she has her daddy's patience??!!!

Cool. This is my 200th post. Happy 200 posts to me!

A Slumber Party Without Slumber

Wynn came for a playdate this morning 

while her mommy went to the dentist.

She arrived before Piper was out of her pajamas, 

which ended up being super cute since Wynn was still in her pjs too!

Our photos look like we had our very first slumber party,

but without any slumber.

It was adorable to watch these two together.

When Duggan was here on Monday, 

Piper was a little bit of a brat.

She didn't want to share any of her toys and threw tantrums 

when Duggan played with ANYTHING.

Thankfully Duggan is learning early how to deal with girls,

because he just shrugged it off and found a new toy to play with.

(Such a sweet boy!)

Piper was totally different with Wynn today.

I think she thought that Wynn was her very own baby or doll.

She wanted to hug her and touch her hair,

feed her from a spoon and undress her.

She would touch Wynn pajamas and say "ahhhhhh".

It really was adorable. 

I think Piper needs a little sister!!!!!!!!!!!!

xo

What's a pj party if you don't stare at the doggie outside?

Sharing sheep.
Piper would "bahhhh" at the top of her lungs.
Wynn would stare at her like she had 3 heads and then hand the sheep to me. 

SEE!
Piper needs a little sister.
This so proves it!

My Yogurt Clown Face!

I am learning to eat with my spoon.

I'm getting better,

but I definitely need to work on my aim!!

xo

Big girl!

Wow!! This is fun!

I may have missed my mouth a few times...

... so I gave up on the spoon.
Finger painting time!!!

The Breakfast of Champions

While I was preparing breakfast for Piper this morning,

she was rummaging around in our pantry.

Here's what she chose for breakfast.

I. Don't. Think. So.

xo

What do you mean I can't have this for breakfast?
I'm not sure I understand what 'no' means today.

Wellll... how about I just use it as dip??
I could 'dip, dip, dip' my mango in this!!

I'll pretend I don't know what that word you're saying means.
If I think I'm drinking out of this unopened can, then who are you to tell me I'm not.

Fruity. Fun. Flop!

Piper's Uncle Phil once suggested that I make fruit popsicles for Miss P. 

I thought it was a great idea, 

but like most things,

I kept putting it off until 'tomorrow'.

Well,

now that summer items are showing up on the shelves at Walmart

I found the little plastic popsicle moulds and decided that today should be my new tomorrow!

But today wasn't tomorrow, 

so the fruit that I bought to puree into frozen treats 

became today's boring old same-ol' fruit for breakfast.

THEN, 

I had a brilliant idea.

I still had some jars of Bartlett Pear baby food in the cupboard.

Why not use that to make the popsicles.

So I did. 

They turned out great!

Almost impossible to get out of the mould,

but great!!

Only one problem persists...

Piper won't eat them.

Even if they're dipped.

Deep full-lung-capacity SIGH!

xo

Momma was quite excited when this idea came to her!

And even more excited when it actually worked!!!

What am I supposed to do with this?

Jeez Mom!!!!
You could have warned me that it was going to be cold! 

If you think I'm going to eat it just because it's dipped,
you're strongly mistaken.
But don't get me wrong. The dipping is FUN!

Oh, and to boot, I thought these would be an even bigger hit when I found tooth number EIGHT this afternoon!!! Wouldn't you want some frozen pear on your sore gums??? PIPER!!!!!

Doggie Toy Delivery Service

Piper can be a little rough with Blue sometimes,

so if I'm doing something where I can't watch them both 100%,

then they get separated.

Last night while I was making supper,

I closed the baby gates so that Piper was trapped on the same floor as me,

and Blue was trapped upstairs.

Neither of them were very happy about the situation, 

but tough luck.

Momma needed at least one eye for cooking!!

During this time I hear Piper's squeals of delight

mixed with little footsteps back and forth along the floor.

When I glance around the corner to see what is happening, 

I find Piper taking toys out of Blue's toy box

and delivering them to him one by one!

She is so kind to him

(when she's not pulling his fur out)!

xo

A blue ball for Blue... coming right up!

There you are sir.
Is there anything else that I can get for you today?

Now who's spoiled rotten?

FYI - Piper's 7th tooth cut through today!! She now has two of the bottom front teeth, two of the top front teeth (with one on the right side of them) and two molars cutting through on the top. Soon we won't have to cut up her steak so tiny!! xo

Swimming Sunday

Once again we had swimming lessons this morning.

They had added new water to the pool before we got there, 

so the water was particularly cold. 

Add that to the fact that the babies had to wear life jackets today and what do you get??

A Piper Cee who SCREAMS for the first 10 minutes of class. 

My friend Val was sitting poolside and took this shot of Piper 

when we were doing our "jumps" into the pool. 

She's a little calmer here, but still not happy.

Eventually she warmed up and by the time it was time to go down the slide,

she was squealing with delight.

xo

This cold water pool stuff is for the dogs, mom!
Let's get in the hot tub!!

Oh My! What Funny Ears you Have!

Have I mentioned that I love my family??

xo

Daddy thought it would be funny to put tissues in his ears...

... he was right!!!

That Mean Ol' Toilet

Last night I was trying to finish up the last load of laundry.

In that time, I took my eyes off of Piper for 2 minutes...

 and I hear her screaming from the bathroom.

When I go in, she has one hand pushing down on the toilet seat cover,

while the other hand is underneath it, pinching her fingers.

I thought it was funny that she was actually making it worse for herself,

freed her from the mean ol' toilet and thought nothing else about the situation.

That was until later in the night when I lifted up the toilet seat cover all the way.

I guess this means it's time to child-proof my toilet!

Speaking of potties, 

I think we may attempt to start potty training when we get to our new posting.

Piper is already hiding and/or saying "uh oh" when she poops, 

which I'm told is a really good sign for training.

PLUS, she almost always pees when she's naked and waiting for a bath.

After it happens, she looks down, starts to cry and wants to be picked up.

I guess she doesn't like the warm pee running down her leg?

I'm not sure, but I do think it's a very good sign for potty training time!

xo

After the incident and just before her bath, I made a discovery.
Here she is showing me what she had done!

A facecloth.
Maybe she was trying to clean the toilet???
Sigh.

Our Little "Pan" Handler

A couple of days ago Piper discovered the drawer beneath our oven.

She happily selected a metal plate from all the baking supplies

 and carried it over to her magnetic farm.

She immediately sat down and placed each of her animals onto the plate.

I'm not exactly sure what her reasoning was behind it,

but it was very cute all the same.

xo

A plate full of farm animals!

In the hand you cannot see, she is holding the pig magnet...
hence the snorting face!

Hey Mom! This metal plate is really fun!
We can roast some pork, beef, duck, mutton and horse on this thing!

A Trip to the Grocery Store

As I mentioned yesterday,

according to Piper a lobster clucks like a chicken.

She knows this because she talks to them when we visit the Co-op. 

What's the second most fun thing about a trip to the grocery store?

Riding in a shopping cart over the bumpy gravel in the parking lot.

Fun!

xo

"Cluck, cluck, cluck"!
Soon she will be singing "Lester the Lobster from PEI"! Ha!

Bumpity bump bump bump! Weeeeeeeeeee!

Who needs Disney World when you have a shopping cart and a bumpy parking lot?