Although I haven’t been as consistent (or as determined) at teaching Piper sign language, she is a great communicator. She says more and more words every day. Some of the words she has said are: more, drink, hi, bye, grandma, grandpa, Nana, Momma, da-da, puppy, ME, Lily, Ava (Ay-bah), night (as in “night-night”). Even though sometimes the words can probably be understood only by her mother, I will usually turn to the person standing nearby and say in wonder “did you hear that too?” and they usually offer the affirmative. In the end I have realized that baby sing language is not the goal unto itself, but using is allows your baby to communicate with you without frustration. Since I can understand Piper just fine, I have decided to not push the agenda.
Beyond walking, Piper flat out runs these days. Yesterday afternoon I was trying to make my escape to the bedroom to take a shower when Elliott said “Piper go get your mommy” and Piper took off. I mean seriously booked it. I haven’t seen her move that fast before. And because I thought it was so darn funny, we proceeded to play chase back and forth up the hallway. (She didn’t think it was so funny however when I really did go in to shower, shutting her out.)
She loves to dance. If you put on music, any music, and she will boogie, usually in a circle. And then she will laugh, because she thinks dancing is so much fun. She loves to clap her hands when she accomplishes something of when she is happy (like when she is dancing).
She thinks she is as big as her sisters and acts the part. I have caught her on more than one occasion standing on the bench at the dining table, spoon in one hand finishing off their tidbits of cereal. She brushes her teeth the same way, even reaching to put her toothbrush under the faucet and swigging from the rinse cup. She refuses to go down steps any other way except face-forward, one step at a time, trying to hold on to the railing (which gives her mommy and heart attack and is a habit I am constantly trying to change). She tries to ride their scooter outside.
Piper is also very mischievous. Take this morning for example. As soon as I got her down from her highchair she ran straight for the pulled-out bench at the dining table. Since we now have to keep all chairs (and benches) pushed in at the table lest she climb up and do a jig on the table (yes, she does that) I ran to push it in. As I was doing that she ran over to the top of the stairs, which didn’t have the baby gate on it. So I went to put the baby gate up and she took the opportunity to climb up on another chair that wasn’t pushed in. Whew! Pushed that one in too, thought I had redirected her attention and went to get ready for church. Came back out to find she had found all the remote controls and was playing with them. Yep, she’s a stinker!
She is a great eater and also goes to sleep great. Staying asleep we are still working on, but most of the time she does well. I am just really grateful that she has such a solid bedtime routine and will go off easily with whomever is trying, whether me, Elliott, or a babysitter. She loves to give hugs and is a champion hug-giver. She puts her arms around your neck and squeezes tight. She is also really getting into giving you kisses – wide, open-mouthed, slobbery kisses only a mother could love.
More than anything, Piper brings me joy each and every single day. I laugh so often at and with her and say outloud “oh Piper, you make mommy laugh”, to which she will laugh at me. We have a fun time together.
2 comments:
I see she is getting more hair! She is such a cutie!! I miss her. It was fun getting to read about little Pipers antics!
Man, what a cutie!!! It's funny because Levi does almost all the same stuff, from the remotes to the chair climbing--so sweet! And I totally agree that each and every day is wonderful with our little ones--I thank God every day for the one I have and for the one on the way. Love you, sis! Give the girls kisses for us :)
Love, Tracy
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