Going to class

Yesterday Piper started a "class." We signed up for the Monday session storytime for two- and three-year olds at the library. It was great! There were probably 12 kids there in total. They sang songs, did rhymes, wiggled, read books, and made a project. The librarian was awesome with them and I was really glad that we had signed up to go. And it's free! Yesterday's theme was all about dinosaurs, Piper's current fascination.

Last week was Piper's first craft class at the Rec center. For 45 minutes every week she and I get to do a crafts class together. Last week we did some leaf projects. Today we did fingerpainting and a family tree.

It's so great to have these outlets for me and Piper. It helps us meet new people and gets us out of the house when the weather's lousy.

Whenever we see a school bus, which is often since we live right near a high school, Piper tells me that she wants to go on the school bus. I've explained to her that when she's five she can go. Since I've explained to her that she has to be five, if you see a school bus and ask her her age, she'll tell you that she's five.

I'll post some pics of Piper's artwork when I get the chance.

Waiting for Daddy

Rick has been away for business for a week and a half. He gets back next Friday. We've been keeping busy; Piper and I have been baking a lot and we've drawn lots of pictures too.

Rick will have to set aside a good half hour when he gets back so that Piper can show him her stuff and tell him all that she's been doing. The daily phone calls just don't cut it. So since he won't be home for a while yet we made this chain to count down to when Daddy will get home. And contrary to what Rick would probably tell you, I let Piper pick the colors for the links (I'm not that Halloween crazy).

And thanks to Diantha for the idea - I know you did this for Cole when Ben was gone.

Growing up

A couple weeks ago we switched Piper over to a toddler bed. She had climbed out of her crib four times in the month we lived in the new house so it was time. And so far, so good. She has yet to fall out. She hasn’t quite realized that she can climb out of the bed on her own; she’s only done that twice. She usually stands at the end of her bed and calls for me to get her like she did when she was in a crib. Due to the stairs being between Piper’s room and ours we put up a baby gate at her door once she falls asleep. That way there are no midnight trips down the stairs.

What a big girl!

The Zoo

On Friday we went to the zoo with our friend Emily, her three boys, and Emily's friend and her three kids. The weather was perfect, not too hot, not too cold.

We lucked out because it was the last weekend that the sting rays were on display and it was free. Piper attempted to pet them but just couldn't reach far enough. Emily's oldest got to feed one; it just sucked the food right out of his hand.

We got to see a brand new baby giraffe and a young giraffe. It was great to see them run. We pretended to run like giraffes.

We will have to go back, preferably sooner rather than later what with the cold weather setting in. Thanks for the great afternoon Em!

Do the Bunny Hop

Piper and I drove up the driveway one day only to find this little guy in our backyard. He even stuck around for me to take some photos and for Piper to chase him around the yard and into the neighbor's yards. We frequently see squirrels and chipmunks in our yard and in our neighborhood but a bunny is such a fun sight. Incidentally, when we drive down the street Piper always tells the squirrels "be careful" so they don't get hit.

Carrot cupcakes

Here is the recipe for a new favorite: carrot cupcakes. We made these for Piper's birthday this summer and they were a hit. It's hard to eat only one.

Cupcake ingredients:

• scant 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 and 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• zest of 1/2 lemon
• zest of 1/2 orange
• 2 medium carrots, grated
• scant 1/2 c or 4 oz walnuts, chopped (optional)

Icing ingredients:

• generous 4 oz or 1/2 cup cream cheese
• 1 and 2/3 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 1-2 Tbs. lime juice

Cupcake directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Beat sugar and oil together, then add the eggs one at a time.
3. Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and zests.
4. Then fold in the grated carrot and walnuts.
5. Spoon the mixture evenly into muffin cups lined with paper liners.
6. Bake for 20 minutes. Cook on rack while making icing.

Icing directions:

1. Beat the cream cheese in a bowl till smooth and softened somewhat, and then beat in the sifted powdered sugar.
2. Squeeze in the lime juice to taste and mix.
   

Kids say the darndest things

Here is the latest collection of some of Piper's hilarious sayings. Some completely caught me off-guard when she said them, while others made me grin because she knew she was being funny and cute. I've written a lot, for my record-keeping benefit mostly, so feel free to stop reading at any point.

Piper saw a tomato and said, “I never eat a 'mato.” (This is something Lola from "Charlie & Lola says.)

My mom took care of Piper one night for us and they watched a movie before bed. When my mom turned off the movie she thought that Piper would be defiant about going to bed. But she was so tired, she just said, “Piper’s bed” and promptly headed to bed.

My mom and Piper were playing with some coins and putting them in a bank. Piper would tell her, “one more," "too much," "not enough.” She's learning those banking skills.

I was tickling Piper one time and after a while she looked at me and said, “knock it off.”

One of Rick's favorite songs lately is "Apologize" by OneRepublic. He'll play it on our stereo or iPod and he and Piper will sing together. Then one night in LA Piper was eating dinner and we all were talking and she just busted out in full melody the chorus “too late to apologize.”

Before bed one night Piper gave me a kiss and then said, "lalu Mommy,” (read: I love you Mommy) and “best friend Mommy.” Aww.

Piper was singing a song at dinner with my parents and my brother and his wife. In the middle of the song she burped. She quickly said “mewmee” which means “excuse me” in Piper-speak and then continued on with the song.

Piper was playing with my old kitchen and tea set. I asked her what she was making. She responded with, “Whachta like?” I told her something which she fixed for me. Then handing it to me she said, “Here you go.”

Piper was eating some fruit and I asked her if it was good. She replied, “yeah, yummy in tummy.“ She got that from my dad.

If you draw with Piper and she will want to trace your hand on the paper. When going around your fingers, she'll say “Don’t move.” She catches on quick as that's what we always say when we trace her hand.

Once we pretended to brush her Elmo’s teeth and she told him, “Open your mouth.”

Piper drew a picture and my mom asked her what it was. Piper told her, "Figure it out."

In our bed one morning Piper's stomach growled. She said, "My tummy talking." I asked her what she wanted to eat. She replied, "P. Sherman." That's an interesting food craving. (For the uninitiated, P. Sherman is the name on the scuba mask of the guy that kidnapped Nemo from the reef in Finding Nemo)

Our family scripture study has been a funny affair. Piper frequently interrupts my reading with, "What you talking about?" I try to explain to her what I'm talking about but I think she just says it because she thinks she's being funny.

Also while reading scriptures I was explaining to Piper that Nephi from the Book of Mormon wrote on gold plates that he had made himself. She responded with, "Awesome!"

When having family prayer we talk about whose turn it is. One night she told us, "I think it's Mommy's turn."

The desk that our landlords left us has an old skeleton key for the top drawer. Piper likes playing with it and one time when she was trying to put a key in the lock she told me, "Impossible."

I love listening to Piper babble in the backseat sometimes. I overheard her the other day talking to her finger. She pointed to it and said, "no, finger. You have a timeout."

It seems that Piper has inherited her dad's love of "cold beverages" as Rick likes to say. She saw me getting a glass of water out of the fridge tap one day and told me, "I need a cold drink." Her dad couldn't be prouder.

When we lived in Sydney Rick would watch Pardon the Interruption on ESPN when he got home from work. He would try to explain it to Piper. He taught her that the hosts were Kornheiser and Wilbon. Months later Piper and I went to lunch at a local restaurant. She kept saying something that I couldn't understand. That is until we sat down at our table and saw that there was a TV tuned to ESPN. She was saying "WILBON!" Now the man on the TV wasn't Wilbon but he was also black with a shaved head and talking about sports just like Wilbon. Rick will have to teach her some more.

Piper likes to pretend that lions or dinosaurs are constantly trying to come get us and eat us up. She always says "Dinosaur coming" in a mock-scared whisper. Sometimes she asks you to save her or tells you that we need to hide or hurry. Tonight was no different but then I think she saw a picture of Jesus on her desk and her answer was "Jesus help save me." This saying was followed by "Dinosaur...dinosaur...dinasaur come beat me up." Hehe.

I asked Piper how she was doing. Usually the response is "I doing well." This time I could swear that she said, "I've been better."

While making guacamole together Piper put her head on my arm and said, "Mommy, you a good cooker." I'm glad someone appreciates my cooking.

We've been trying to get Piper more comfortable going pee on the toilet. We're not potty training but we've been encouraging her to go. She's gone several times, over a dozen, I'd say. If she goes we tell her "good job." Then, Piper walked in on me going to the bathroom and she told me "Good job." Such a good mother hen.

Updating

Here are some recent pictures that I've been meaning to share. We took Piper bowling last week for her first time. She really liked it. She scored 50. Not bad for a beginner. Do they have leagues for two-year olds?!

Mom and the Pipes having a cuddle

This is Piper waiting for her ball to come back. Note the hands behind the back. I don't know where she got that from.

She's looking for her ball but she's still got her hands behind her back. What a crack-up!

Posing in her new dress before church

I love the rocking-on-the-heels bit.

Yearning for the city OR Adjusting to the suburbs

Readers be warned: this may be a bit of a rant.

I read a post recently about parenting and support networks. The basic premise was that families used to work together to raise children in a community setting. Homes were close to one another, as were necessary services. Mothers, in particular, could rely on other mothers to take care of their children, if necessary, and be a social network for support. It's only relatively recently that, if they can afford it, families have been expected to live as a single-family unit in a stand-alone home. Raising families has become more of a solitary thing where moms spend large amounts of time alone with their children in a single home. This can lead to loneliness, depression, resentment, and boredom.

So with that said, over the past week or so I've been a bit off. Not sad really, more anxious and unsure. Despite having all our stuff again, feeling semi-integrated into the ward, and being pretty familiar with the roads and neighborhood, things have felt different. I think I've put some of the pieces together. Part of it is due to Rick traveling and Piper not taking naps anymore. I think a big part of it is having to drive everywhere to do almost anything. I don't like having to drive so much, and neither does Piper. We're used to just being able to walk out the door and to see other people and go into shops, etc.

My friend Helen's latest post here has summarized how I've felt sometimes. I've felt more pressure to be a great mother (not that that pressure isn't always there). I think Piper gets the short-straw sometimes. I love being home with her; I wouldn't want it any other way. I love getting to know her and to watch her grow and develop first-hand. However I'm at a loss fairly frequently of what to do to keep her entertained. Skipping naps has increased the amount of time I have to fill. There's only so many times that you can do puzzles, build blocks, color, paint, bake, play kitchen, take a walk, or go to the playground. I read an article once that highlighted mom's lack of interest in playing with their kids for an extended amount of time (read: anything over twenty minutes). Dads apparently don't have this problem. I've missed having playgroup three times a week. The TV has been Piper's latest babysitter and I feel badly about it. The first thing Piper says when she gets in bed with me in the morning is "I want milk." The second things is "I wanna watch a show."

Another friend of mine recently posted about how some parents "live for their kids" and others just "survive them." I'm trying to fall in the former category. It's a good lithmus test for my day: "Did I survive or did I enjoy being a mother today?"

Wish me luck on this journey. Hopefully this adjustment period is short-lived.

A Day at the Museum

I thought that I would share some photos from our morning at the Children's Museum of Cleveland. By the looks of the outside I was prepared to be disappointed by the museum but we had a great time. Piper didn't want to leave. They have a kid's sized house with a doctor's office, kitchen, nursery, and bedroom. She shopped at the grocery store, worked on the computer, went to the bank, and drove a tractor at the farm. Her favorite thing by far was the bus. I had a hard time getting good photos of her in it though.

This post is brought to you by the unusual event of Piper taking a midday nap. She was plum tuckered out from the museum and the rain.

Our house, in the middle of our street

After two weeks in the new house we're renting we finally have internet access. We're settling in well here. Piper has taken to crawling out of her crib so we'll be switching to a toddler bed next week. And as of this week no more naps either, except for the two hour nap she and I snuck in this afternoon. Rick is traveling a lot so we're trying to cram in as much time with him as we can. Our new neighbors and ward have been really friendly and welcoming. We've been to a barbecue, a birthday party, and two playgroups already.

I've been more a clutz lately too. Yesterday I slipped down the last three steps of our third floor and bruised my bum pretty good. The irony was that I was trying to explain to Piper that we don't play on the stairs because it's not safe. Then today while getting a soda for Rick out of the beverage fridge in the basement one rolled out and dropped on my toe.

Here is the tour of our house pre-move. We'll update it when it's fully furnished. We still need to buy a couch and some rugs. Rick's very excited about the beverage fridge in the basement. It's his favorite feature of the house.

The sunroom


Half-bath

The mudroom

Kitchen

Dining room

Living room

Living room

Piper's room

Master bedroom

Piper's bathroom

Office

Master bath

Walk-in closet

Third floor finished attic

Third floor bathroom

Basement

Basement