Loving her more by the day....

Like so many other things in life, people can tell you how it is but you can't fully appreciate it until you go through it yourself. Most of these types of things have been parenting related. Some have been good experiences, some not so much. The current one I am experiencing is loving Piper more and more by the day. Just when you think you can't, she opens your heart up a bit wider.

She had her 15-month shots last Thursday and came down with a temperature of 102 on Saturday. She handled it so well and was fully-recovered by this morning. She has never been a cuddly baby, but this weekend if she wasn't laying on her "soft pillow" in the middle of the living room floor, she wanted to be held. She even started expressing preference for her dad over me. Fine by me for a change and I really enjoy seeing her gruff and slightly crusty dad melt with her.

The one downside to the weekend, besides the obvious fever, was that she refused to be put in her crib to go to sleep. We let her sleep wherever she wanted to this weekend because she was sick and that was just the easiest thing to do. She has never been this way and has been known to squeal, grin, and start walking towards her room when you ask if she wants a nap. The last couple of naps and bedtime last night came with much protest. I really hope this is just a phase and the happy little napper will be back in our midst soon.

I had an interesting observation about Piper recently. Piper looks a lot like my youngest brother because he looks like me and the Phelps genes sure are dominant. Piper also shares his birthday with him. The resemblance has struck me more as I have noticed potential curls developing in her hair. I haven't been expecting them because both mine and Mike's hair are straight as can be. Lane had such beautiful curls as a toddler that my mom refused to cut his hair. It was shoulder length dry, halfway down his back wet before she finally caved into my dad's pestering. My sister recently said "Maybe Piper will have curls like Lane did". When I was 10 years-old, I babysat my baby brother for an entire summer because my dad worked away from home on oil rigs and my mom was running the 2 Snow-Shack businesses my parents owned. He actually called me his mommy-sister when he first started talking. The parallel of babysitting Lane and watching Piper grow finally hit me - he was the exact same age she is now during this time of year in 1986. It's an interesting perspective to have and contrast from the perspective of my 10 year-old self.

Ch-ch-changes...

Piper is in full walking mode now. Funny how once kids figure that out, crawling only happens when they want to hurry. She still falls down a lot, but has only sustained one injury so far - a small cut above her right eye.

Today her diaper-rashed bum is really getting to her because that's what she is falling upon. She has only ever had a couple of diaper rashes, and this is by far the worst. I can only think it was something she ate because I am really good about keeping her dry.

Piper also has about 6 teeth cutting right now, all in the front, maybe even some more molars. She's very picky about what she'll eat now, but who can blame her. She is still quite the trooper and is handling it like a champ.

Piper is also getting more lovable. She's hasn't been a baby that likes to snuggle. While it hasn't been totally a bad thing, some days it would have been nice to have some reassurance from her that she really does need me. She currently gets me up at 5:30AM every morning, no matter what time she goes to bed. It's been nice for her to finally realize that laying next to me on the couch under a blanket is a good thing and not a form of restraint. This little one even hated swaddling as a newborn so snuggling under a blanket just hasn't been her thing.