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Thursday, November 22, 2012

The final countdown

For the past twelve months I've captured the essence of Piper each month.  I used the photos to create a monthly birthday banner for her party.... an idea I found on Pinterest.  It's so interesting that from month to month, she doesn't always look like the same baby. Well, we did one final photo shoot and included her handmade blanket from Ahmma.  My favorite shots of Piper were taken with the same blanket when she was a month old (see this post).  She also had her one-year well check last week.  It had been a while since we had her weighed, so we were anxious to discover her measurements. Again, Dr. Briggman said she is the poster-child for height and weight proportion, as she weighed 20 lbs, 14 oz and measured 29.5 inches long, which placed her in the 50-65%tile for both.  We discussed her allergic reaction to tomatoes, and as it turns out, she's not allergic, her skin is just highly sensitive to the acidity. That explains the inconsistency with the hives around her mouth whenever she would eat tomatoes or tomato-based foods.  We also discussed some major transitions like weaning and sharing a bedroom with her sissy.  All in all, it was a quick appointment, and Dr. Briggman was pleased with her growth and development.  In the past month Piper had two more top teeth poke through, and the number of steps she has taken by herself has increased to six. Her latest trick is blowing kisses.  She still needs two naps, and loves dancing to music.  Her curiosity and temper has lead to some parental correction (can't wait for our Christmas tree to go up).  She loves following and copying McKinley, and recently they've begun to play nicely together. 









Saturday, November 17, 2012

Birthday Girl

We were fortunate to have my parents in town during Piper's birthday.  It gave me an even bigger reason to plan a party.  We invited the Lutus for dinner and dessert, and started the festivities when Dadda and Jered came home from work.  My Dad graciously agreed to cook his famous, homemade spaghetti, and I made homemade lemon cupcakes with a blackberry buttercream frosting and cake batter pops.  Piper ate so much pasta that she didn't immediately dive into her cupcake like I had envisioned.  After treats she opened her presents, with sissy's help.  Actually, it went down like this: McKinley opened presents while Piper watched. Thank you family and friends who sent gifts!  Her birthday celebration ended with a much-needed bath to clean the cupcake and frosting stuck in her hair.

Good morning birthday girl!











Grampa and Gramma with the birthday girl and her sissy bear.

So cute in her party dress!








Thank you Grampa and Gramma for my sweet, new hat.

Thank you Ahmma and Dumpa for my new puzzles.

Lincoln, Jaydin, Piper and McKinley pose for pictures I will eventually put in Piper's baby book.


Great First Birthday party!  Thanks for coming Gramma and Grampa.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Family Time

We said goodbye to Gramma and Grampa today, and boy, do we miss them already! After our mini-vaca to Sunriver, we've been kickin' it back at home while Dadda worked.  Both girls got mild colds and gave their runny noses and coughs to Gramma and Grampa.  So, we mostly stayed indoors, despite a brief break in the weather which included a wagon ride though the park. We also celebrated Piper's birthday with our dear friends, the Lutu's.  But that's a separate post in the near future.  Piper took her first steps to Grampa, and McKinley sang song after song, like a jukebox with an endless supply of quarters.

 Grampa coaxes Piper into taking her first steps.

 McKinley in desperate need of a bang trim.

 Go Wildcats!

Gramma and her Granddaughters underneath the only tree in the park with leaves on their branches.


 Bundled-up sickies.

Grampa and Piper rockin' their Alaskan attire.

 Grampa snuggles.

Three generations.

Monday, November 12, 2012

One

Happy 1st Birthday to my second-born, my Veteran's Day baby, my Boo Boo.  We love you Piper Joshlyn Howard!