Poncho Pals

Piper went swimming again today 

with her bestest bud Sylvie.

Using the floaty that Claire loaned to us,

which goes around Piper's arms and across her chest,

Piper didn't want me to touch her while in the pool!

She's so independent now that she just wants to go go go.

I'm not allowed to help her into her high chair,

not allowed to help her hold her cup,

not allowed to help her put on clothes (unless she asks),

etc...

I'm sad that she is not a baby anymore,

but at the same time, 

I'm thrilled that she's such a big girl.

It will certainly help once the Littlest Lynch arrives!

Then again,

from what I'm told,

Piper may go back to wanting me to do everything for her

just to get the same amount of attention as the baby.

Let's see what happens. 

Maybe she'll go the other way

and want to show the baby what a big girl she is!

xo

Holding hands because they love each other! xoxoxo

Why is it next to impossible to get two little kids
to look at the camera at the same time?

Big Sister Sundae

We all know that Piper is due to become a big sister
in less than one month.

(Yes, I am now officially further along in this pregnancy
than I ever made it with Piper!)

Because of this,
Mark and I are trying our best to do at least one
"super fun thing" with Piper
during each of his blocks off
until the baby is born.

We talk about the baby coming home with us soon,
but I really don't think that Piper is old enough to fully understand
that her days as an only child are numbered.

However,
she did pull up my shirt today,
looked at my belly and said,
"Open Mommy"!

Perhaps she thinks that my giant belly
is simply a gift-wrapped baby just for her??
I'm not sure,
but it did make me laugh!

On Mark's last block off
we decided to take Miss P to McDonalds
for an ice cream sundae.

Piper LOVED it!

Wait till she finds out that there is a Dairy Bar
just across the field from our house
that is open all summer long.

FUN!

xo

Let's see if she looks this happy
when she realizes that the baby will be
coming home to stay! 

No baby bites for this big girl!

Already sharing with her baby brother/sister,
she just doesn't know it yet. 

Always more than happy to share with Mommy and Daddy though!

Rainbow Bright Hair

I took this photo of Piper yesterday,

but it's going to be a 'today' post anyway.

Today's photo will be a 'tomorrow' post,

since I'm waiting for her Daddy to send it to me from his phone. 

Still waiting...

Because you all know how long it takes for an image to be sent from a phone

to a computer...

Still waiting...

Since this morning...

Something tells me that it's not the photo that is taking so long to send...

it's the SENDER!!!

Anyway,

here's a photo of Piper's hairdo yesterday.

When Mark got out of bed and saw her

he immediately asked how in the world I got her to stay still long enough to do it.

The answer is easy.

Get her when she's still groggy from sleep

and turn on Dora the Explorer!

With that combination,

you can do just about anything to her hair

and she barely even notices. 

What ever works!

xo

My little Rainbow Bright!

Got Milk?

The very best thing about Piper graduating

from a sippy cup to a real cup 

is by far...

MILK MUSTACHES!!!

I can't get enough of them. 

Especially since she has no idea when she has them!

The transition was ridiculously easy,

but I can't take any credit for it.

All credit goes to the galleons of bath water that she has drank 

using her little tea set in the bathtub!

:-)

xo

Nathan's mom bought these cups while visiting us in November.
Piper now refers to them as "Nayson's cups".

Milk mustache!!!
(And a little peanut butter beard to top it off!)

All Dressed Up

Sometimes getting all dressed up

has nothing to do with dressing fancy.

It simply means

dressing in any item of clothing that you can reach!

xo

Pajamas, a hat, an apron, sunglasses and one mitten...
why not?!

Circle-Standing

For some unknown reason,

our bannister has fallen apart.

We suspect it is due to the baby gate at the top of the stairs

that is attached to the first post.

When ever we have visitors,

for some reason,

people like to just let the gate slam shut.

It has taken quite a beating

and is the only thing that we can think of

that could have contributed to the bannister disaster.

We have hired a contractor to come to our house to fix the issue 

and make sure that it won't happen again,

but until then, 

we have quite the safety issue on hand.

Piper literally popped a railing out on her own last night

and then ran to me saying "Uh oh"!

Uh oh is right!

Since the contractor can't come to fix things until later this week,

we have moved all of the house 'plants' (they're all fake)

to now stand in front of the bannister

and create a barrier between my clumsy little girl

an a very quick trip downstairs!

We did this while Piper was having a nap

and when she woke up and came out of her room

she giggled and giggled and giggled forever.

I thought she was giggling at the trees,

but later realized that she was actually giggling at the circle imprints 

that the pots from the plants had left in the carpet.

She would make me stand in one circle

while she stood in another

and then she would just giggle her little heart out.

?

If it makes her happy,

it makes me happy!!

xo

THIS led to....

THIS, which led to...

THIS!
Circle standing!
Who knew it could be so much fun??

Daddy's Backup

I know that a few days ago I posted about Piper's birthday present

being a snowblower,

but we were just kidding. 

Here is her real present from Mommy and Daddy.

She's training to be Daddy's backup!

xo

Woo ooo woo ooo woo ooo!

Very serious about this whole police business!

Taking Dora and Boots for a ride along!

No Bacon for You!

So...

I try my very best every day to be a good mother.

No.

I try my best to be a great mother,

but that doesn't always work out.

Some days I win.

Such as the Ernie and Dip birthday party day 

that my daughter is still talking about.

And...

Some days I lose.

Such as yesterday when I was practically kneeling on my screaming daughter 

while trying to do her hair!

And then there are the cheat days!

Those are the days that I only win by default.

Such as 4am this morning when Piper woke up fretting about

the big bad wolf eating little pigs.

I told her that he didn't eat the little pigs 

because her Poppy Lynch built them a nice brick house

and the wolf couldn't blow it down.

(Poppy Lynch was a mason all his life, so it was a fairly credible statement!)

She then wanted to know what he ate if he didn't eat the little pigs.

Without even thinking about it,

I told her that he went home and ate BACON and eggs. 

Eeek!

Yep!

I only won on this day by the default

that Piper doesn't know where bacon comes from!!!!!

It will get easier once there are two kids for me to reassure.

Right?!?!?

xo

Piper's baby brother/sister is really growing!
We'll be 35 weeks tomorrow
and just 3 days away from when I had Miss P!!!

When I ask Piper if she'd like to squish the baby,
she is always happy to oblige!

Piper showing off her baby belly as well!
I think she is fully convinced that there is one in her belly too!!

Oh yes, as I mentioned earlier, I was awake with Piper at 4am this morning. I was actually up with her from 2am-5am, as she's getting a cold and wouldn't settle down. As we were cuddling in her rocking chair, Piper was squirming and climbing on me and digging her little elbows into my belly. Not the most comfortable thing in the world, but she wasn't well, so we managed. I do, however, think that the baby was getting annoyed with her!!! Baby started REALLY acting up and pushing back and this was the very first time that Piper actually felt the Littlest Lynch moving around (it was hard not to)!! Piper sat up on my lap and looked at me in amazement saying "baby?"!! I then pressed her little hand into my belly where I was getting beaten up from the inside out and she was just overjoyed!! It was so fun to watch!! That's when baby got the hiccups.  I let Piper feel each little jolt and explained what was happening. It wasn't long before little Miss P came down with her own case of the hiccups and was excitedly hiccuping along with her baby. No one wants to be awake at 4am, but if you are, this is the best way to spend it!!!!!!

No More Shoveling

Piper is excited that she won't have to shovel anymore.

Her birthday gift from Daddy showed up a little late,

but better late than never!

And very ironic that it was delivered in the middle of a snow storm!

xo

Daddy teaching Piper the proper use of her new present!

All ready to go.
We looked, but didn't find anything in the instruction manual
that said this wasn't suitable for a 2 year old! Ha!

Three in the Tub

Rub a dub dub.

Three rascals in the tub!

Tonight was bath night.

That means we have to get three into the tub.

It also means three hair washes,

three hair rinses

and three towel dries!

More often than not,

it also means three blow dries as well. 

Adding one more to the mix

shouldn't make that big of a difference, right?!

xo

Everyone being silly with bubbles in their hair!

Piper Pocket

What do you get when you combine 

one clumsy kid

and 

a jacket with two pockets?

One nervous Momma!!

Piper loves her rain coat and often wears it around the house.

She also likes to put her hands in her pockets

while she's wearing it

and run around. 

Piper is not very coordinated in the best of conditions,

so I keep waiting for a full face plant

into a wall or the floor to happen.

It's not IF it will happen.

It's WHEN. 

xo

Look Ma!
No hands!
(Ma is afraid that no hands will soon mean no teeth!)

Showing Dora and Ernie her pockets!

Update: Piper had her two-year check up with the doctor today. She did great!! She met all the developmental milestones that they look for plus beyond exceeded the vocab criteria once again. They expect a 2 year old to understand about 200 words and to be able to speak about 50. We counted up the words that Piper spoke regularly at 18 months and we were well over 100 words then. I would guess at this date, she's speaking closer to 300. It's crazy. She will tell me stories at bedtime about the boy who stole her bucket at the park last summer, about Sylvie's dog Georgie eating her cheesies after Halloween and about the "Sox (she doesn't say her 'F's', so really it's the fox) that ate the Gingerbread Man in one bite, CRUNCH. She's also pretty good at coming up with ways of telling us things using words that she does know when she doesn't know the real word to use. For example: a few days ago she wanted to tell me that I had 'sleep' in my eye. She didn't know what to call it, so she told me that I had a "booger in my eye". Smart hey?! We're pretty impressed with our little girl.

Also, for someone who started out so little, she has certainly caught up with the other kids when it comes to her growth! She is now in the 70th percentile for her weight (28 lbs) and is off the charts for her height!! That means that on average, if you took 100 kids her age and compared them, she would be the tallest! No real surprise there I guess. She didn't have much of a choice with Mark and I as parents!

BFFs

We were so sad when we took Piper 

away from all of her little friends in Yellowknife,

but were more than lucky to find a new BFF for her

right across the street!

These two love each other.

Don't get me wrong. 

They can have it out and let each other know 

when the other isn't happy,

but isn't that how all great relationships work??

I love these girls!

xo

I can see slumber parties in their future!

Baby Caitlin (or Baby 'Chicken' as Piper calls her) want to get in on the fun too! 

Self Proclaimed Princess

In entering the 'Terrible Twos"

my child has decided that she will NOT wear pants.

She tried this a few times in the past,

but I was able to over-power her physically 

and put them on her.

No choice my child!

Sorry.

I still can over-power her to get the pants on,

but now my child is skilled enough to just take them right off again,

so what's the point?

Choose your battles, right?!?!

On this day,

Piper refused to wear anything at first.

I was getting frustrated because I didn't want her to get cold. 

The next thing I know,

she brings me a blanket and asks me to make her a princess.

I wrapped the blanket around her

the way you'd wrap a towel around yourself

and I had the happiest little girl alive.

She would run and spin around

yelling "PRINCESS"!

Just shake your head and smile.

That's what I do.

Her imagination is enlightening!

xo

Princess Piper wearing her Star Gown!

Running around yelling "PRINCESS"!

Novice Driver

I'm not sure what kind of car Piper will want to drive

when she grows up,

but if this day foreshadows anything,

it will be a tractor.

It was her favourite of all four vehicles there.

Oh my!

xo

The pedal is to the metal!

Rocking a Two Piece

Mark and I took Piper to the pool today.

We figure we should really take advantage

and spend as much quality family-of-three time as we can

before we become a family of four.

Piper's world is about to get rocked and she has no idea!

In the long run,

I'm sure she will agree that it will be all worth it!

Thank you for my pretty new swimsuit Nana!

xo

Pretty in blue.

My "Breast" Friend

For Christmas I received a new

breast-feeding pillow from Mark's parents

in preparation for the arrival of Piper's little brother/sister.

Piper found it and decided that it was for her instead.

I tried to explain to her that it's for Mommy to use

to feed our new baby.

That was all the direction that she needed.

Now it is HERS for feeding HER baby!

xo

This is one way to do it....

... but when I tried to show her how to use the pillow strapped around herself,
she had a little freak out!
Apparently that was NOT cool Mommy!

Potato Cake Blues

There is nothing worse than slaving over baking in the kitchen

only to underwhelm 'people' with your creation.

Piper knows all about it. 

Sigh!

(From Piper!)

xo

Look Blue!
I made you a potato cake with my new little mixer from Aunt Cindy and Uncle Phil!

Go ahead Blue.
Eat!
Eat!
Eat!

Why aren't you eating?
How long do I have to wait?
I slaved over that cake ALL morning! 

It's okay Blue.
I understand.
Perhaps I'll try using chocolate or peanut butter next time!

Cooking Cousins

I'm using up the last of the photos that we took 

during Jack's visit.

He enjoyed playing in Piper's kitchen 

just as much as she does!

I think Uncle Harold did too!!!

As for Jovi... well he made himself quite at home elsewhere.

xo

Sharing the bbq!

Jack making breakfast for the birthday girl!

Who's having more fun here??? 

And Jovi making himself comfy on Piper's new Minnie Mouse couch!

Two Little Bears

On Jack's last day visiting with us

we took advantage of him and Piper watching Dora

to take a couple of photos of them together.

They didn't stay still long enough 

in any other situation to ever get a decent shot!

xo

The cutest cousins ever, wearing their matching bear hats!

What ever Dora is doing on the TV must be very interesting!

Happy 2nd Birthday Piper

Today is the big day!

Piper turned TWO.

She was quite intent on having her "Happy Birthday"

all over again today,

which she did.

Just minus the friends and presents.

She still had decorations, cake and Jack,

so she was MORE than happy!

Throw in all the extra birthday love 

from phone calls from friends and family

and what more could a little girl ask for?

It was a lovely day.

I didn't blog about this yesterday,

but would like to include it in today's post.

It's about Piper trying to skip her nap yesterday.

I NEEDED her to take her nap 

in order to get all of the decorations up

and to get myself and our house ready for the party.

Piper had a bad belly and tried to get away

without even a 5 minute snooze in the afternoon.

After we knew she was feeling better,

I was rocking her in the rocking chair 

when Mark came in and offered to switch places

so that I could get everything ready.

I agreed and it wasn't long before our birthday princess

was sound asleep in her daddy's arms.

Such a rare treat.

It was then that I got sentimental 

and reminded Mark that it was two years ago

that he was sharing a very similar special quiet time with Miss P

as they were both left alone in my hospital room

while I was rushed off for emergency surgery.

For a few sweet quiet hours,

it was just Piper in her daddy's arms...

just like yesterday.

I was a little envious that I didn't get that cuddle time,

but must remind myself to share!

Happy Birthday beautiful girl.

Mommy and Daddy love you to the moon and back!

xo

Daddy getting to know his baby girl
on that very first day!

Sweet quiet cuddles... two years later.

Birthday breakfast with Uncle Harold!!!

Jack belting out the Happy Birthday song... AGAIN!

Aunt Krista celebrating with our birthday breakfast.

Who says you can't blow out a candle stuck in a batch of warm cinnamon buns?

Someone felt pretty happy to have a turn too!!

Last Day of Fun Being One!

I can't believe that as of tomorrow morning

I will be the mother of a 2 year old. 

Where has time gone??

My sweet baby girl is so grown up!

We celebrated her birthday today instead of tomorrow,

so that Jack would be able to take part in the celebration.

All the kids had a wonderful time

and Piper was beyond excited that it was all about her!

I'm not sure that she realizes 

that in this house, 

it's all about her EVERY day!

She may only realize this once her little brother/sister arrives,

and then it will only be about her AND him/her!

Even then,

there is plenty of love to go around!

xo

Thank you to Aunt Susan for creating the PERFECT invitations
to Piper's Ernie and Bert birthday party!!!

Piper and her party guests all colouring at her new little table!

All guests except for one, who preferred to bounce instead!

Jack enjoying his Happy Meal
and most likely singing Happy Birthday! 

Sylvie exclaimed half way through supper that this was
"the best party ever"!!

Sylvie's little sister Caitlin was quieter,
but seemed to have fun all the same!

She was so happy when she saw the cake.
In a little bit of shock that it was for her
and became too shy to blow out the candle,
but I'll bet with the crowd gone tomorrow
she will be happy to blow it out all by herself!

We tried to find ANY decorations with Bert and Ernie on them,
but couldn't find any anywhere.
So I improvised.
We bought this cake with just the Abby and Elmo figurines on top
and added Piper's very own Ernie and 'Dip'
to give her an Ernie and Bert birthday cake!

What else did I do?
I found wrapping paper with Ernie and Bert's picture on it.
I cut out the little squares and glued them to different coloured party hats
and paper plates to make decorations.

Piper thought it was the best thing ever!!!
Aunt Krista even wrapped the table in the wrapping paper
to add to the theme!

Feeding some cake to 'Dip'. 

Asking me to clean Ernie because he was dirty!

Me teaching her how to properly clean a cake figurine!

Of course my slow poke eater is the last to finish,
even though she got the first piece of cake!
It didn't matter.
She was busting a gut laughing at Sylvie and Jack
playing with balloons!

Joining in the fun!

Piper showing us that she is TWO!

Two kisses for the two year old.

And the closest we got to a normal nice photo of the 3...
well, 4 of us really!

Opening presents.

She received a little Dora and Boots.
What did she think of them?

She couldn't have been happier.
(Yes, she took them to bed with her tonight!) 

And trying out the new bed that she received for her Dolly.