Happy Nine Months, Pipsqueak!
Piper,
You are such a treasure to us. The Lord has been using you in a big way to refine your daddy and me. Thanks to you, we are learning new communication skills and problem-solving within our relationship. This tends to be an area of weakness, but God is making us better through your presence in our lives! We are kinder and more tender with each. We are less selfish, more other-centered. Don’t get me wrong, we are a long way from perfect–and by the time you are old enough to read this, you will see daily examples of our huge imperfections! But our lives are so much richer, thanks to you. Oh, so much richer!
You have been amazing to watch these past eight weeks. You gain new skills and master new noises and sounds almost daily, including clicks and clucks and tsks, etc. The first “word” you said is “Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma” (despite my repeated attempts at teaching you to say “Dada” when he wasn’t looking). However, you quickly moved on to “Da-da-da-da” and even said “Pie-pa” the other day!! We have wooden letters of your name hanging above your changing table and every time he changes your diaper, Daddy says your name and then spells it to you, pointing to each letter. You LOVE it. And you love to try to touch the letters, but we won’t let you because you knock them off the wall. Anyway, Daddy was changing your diaper and I was spectating. He said “I’m going to spell your name now. P-I-P-E-R. That spells Piper!” And then you said “Pie-pa” right back to him. And we both looked at each other, shocked! You’ve done it a couple of times since.
Side note: one of your favorite things in the whole wide world is mimicking your daddy. It’s one of his favorite things in the whole wide world, too. And seeing the two of you together is one of MY favorite things in the whole wide world. Be still, my beating heart! Here’s a clip of my two favorite people reading the paper together:
Back to your new words… This morning you said “Ba-ba” as Daddy was leaving for work. You haven’t mastered the wave yet, but you shake your arm up and down a little bit sometimes. You also do that when you want milk–the sign language word for “milk” involves moving your hand up and down. Sometimes, out of nowhere, you have the funniest random bursts of words–a string of babbley consonants and vowels! You are growing so much in your verbal skills! We are pretty sure that you know the following words and their meanings: Up (as in stand up, sit up, get up), Piper, Milk and Daddy.
I almost forgot… You talk with your mouth full. All the time. Every meal. Throughout the whole meal. This morning, we went in to talk to Daddy while he was taking a shower. I was eating an apple while you sat on the bathroom counter. Because you showed interest, I quietly handed you a little piece of apple and you started chewing it… and chattering. From behind the shower curtain, your daddy said, “Piper, are you eating? I recognize that chatter!” You aren’t going to be any good at sneaking food from the candy dish. You give yourself away every time!
Speaking of food… You had your first ear infection about a month ago and got sick of me shoving stuff in your face. We had to give you antibiotics (twice a day), saline in your nose and suction (a few times a day), Tylenol/Motrin (a few times a day), food (three times a day), face washings (waaay too many times)… So you decided that you had had enough. And you went on a hunger strike. I think you just plain didn’t feel well for the first couple of days so your appetite was low. But then you flat-out refused everything, even when you started feeling better. Thanks to my friend, Dee, we discovered that you wanted to be able to do it yourself–and you were BORED to tears with your food. So we started introducing real solid foods that you could pick up with your little hands (and amazing pincer-like fingers!) and eat–all by yourself! For the most part, the only pureed foods you eat are applesauce, sweet potatoes and pears with your cereal at breakfast and dinner. All the rest is Big Girl Food. You are now eating real green beans, carrots, peas, little chunks of bread and butter, banana, apple, shredded chicken stew (that I make in the crock pot with potatoes, carrots and spices), pasta, cheddar, string and cottage cheeses, yogurt (though I don’t think you like it all that much), deli meat, Honey Baked Ham (for Thanksgiving), spinach and banana pancakes (that I don’t think you liked that much either, but I gladly ate the rest of them for you!) I’m sure there’s more but that’s all I can think of right now.
Speaking of bored… you were also getting pretty bored of the little shoebox full of toys that we had for you. So, despite our initial fears of “spoiling” you with too many toys, we took a couple of trips to Toys R Us and bought you some new gear. We put the old stuff away for a couple of weeks so that we can switch stuff out from time to time and help alleviate the boredom. So far, so good. Here’s the video clip of the inaugural playtime with the farm blocks (this is a long one, specifically for “the Yankees”, as David says):
At your Aunt Lizzie’s prompting, I am also trying to get a little more creative in giving you ordinary household things to investigate. Here is one such instance:
Of course it helps that you are really connecting the dots in your motor skills–there’s a lot of twisting, reaching, bending and stretching going on, and that helps keep you a little more occupied until you are totally mobile. You are also finally rolling over, though you mostly only do it to dodge a diaper change, when you get sleepy or when you’re alone in your crib. Many times in the past couple of weeks, I have found you on your tummy after naptime and you smile up at me like the cat who swallowed the canary. It is priceless! You prefer to be sitting or–even better–standing, which is your new favorite thing. Here’s a couple of pictures of you standing, holding yourself up on the ottoman (Daddy’s idea):
You are a huge fan of “cruising” around on the sofas, reaching for and moving toward things that are out of reach. You also like The Assisted Walking Program, where Mommy or Daddy holds your extended arms while you cruise around. This is your new, modified “Walker”, which means that the walker we bought for you on Amazon.com is no longer holding your interest. That’s okay, though. We LOVE holding your hands! I think you would stand or walk around all day if your muscles and your parents would let you.
When we DO put you on your tummy and put before you an object that can hold your interest, you are now pulling yourself toward it with your hands. You have begun to work yourself from a sitting position to your tummy–very, very carefully and tentatively–but you can do it! You are trying to tuck your knees under you, but you haven’t quite figured out how to crawl. It’s close, though!
Yesterday you took one of your plastic blocks from your own mouth and tried to put it in Daddy’s mouth. You then did it to me today and it made me laugh. I think that’s your most recent trick.
My heart thrills to see you growing and learning these skills that you will need for the rest of your life. It is so amazing to watch your personality unfold its wings–to learn all of your likes, interests, dislikes, tendencies… You are such a little miracle!
Daddy is already talking about you needing a little brother or sister…
We love you so much, punkin! Happy Nine Months!
Mommy & Daddy
Happy 9 months Piper. Missed you playgroup. See you at the Christmas party. Love, Mia