David, Michele and … Piper

Dear Piper,

Happy one and one third, baby girl! You continue to bring us more joy and amazement than we thought possible… You are so much fun and full of life, and we are more and more smitten with you each day of your precious little life. The past couple of months have ushered in many new skills and a continued refinement of the old.

You have never lacked determination in your step but you are almost running these days and are very sure-footed despite your delicate and cautious ways. You hopefully scored some physical grace from your daddy’s side of the family because that’s not something I am cited for regularly. You are “all girl” as Daddy likes to say, which includes squeals of delight at the things that bring you great pleasure like favorite foods (fruity snack bars, pasta, yogurt, Cheerios, etc.), tickles under the neck and going outside or going to The Mat Room at church. Though there was a day that you cried when we dropped you off in Child Care at church, you now cry if we have to wait for another worker to show up before letting you in the play room. Several times a week you will say “church” or “Mat Roooooom” and often we will go up there to meet some friends and play in the padded rooms filled with blocks and balls, in addition to Child Care on Sundays. Thank you, Watermark!

Obviously, your vocabulary is one of the things that is growing in leaps and bounds. We cannot believe the things that you understand and say, and it has brought us very nearly to tears on more than one occasion as we watch you put all the pieces together in your mind. For the first time about a week or two ago, I sneezed and you said, “Bless Youuuuuu!” and you’ve been saying that every sneeze you’ve heard since. It also rained several times last week so Daddy took you out in it and taught you the word “rain”. The next day it began to rain while you were in your high chair having dinner and you said “Rain! Rain!” in the most angelic and excited little voice. The crazy part was that I didn’t hear or see it until you pointed at it coming down. Amazing. One of my favorite things that you do is scream “Men!” after we pray over your meal. Your patience level has improved tremendously because you will actually keep your hands folded together through the whole two-second prayer and you now wait until the end of the it to say “Men” rather than impatiently screaming it repeatedly in hopes that we will wrap up the prayer quicker and give you the plate. So cute.

“Pleeeeease” is probably your most-used word and it’s another word that typically comes out in the most angelic tone. Despite the tone, there are definitely rumblings of trouble going on under the surface and you are quickly learning the limits and boundaries that we are trying to consistently teach. That doesn’t mean that you always adhere to them, but you KNOW them! Often I will step into another room to grab something and you will take the two-second opportunity to do something you’re not allowed to do–like pull the tissue box off the side table with the hopes of pulling out every one–but then you give yourself away by screaming “No! No! NOO! Nooooooo!” I know to come running at that point and it is often hard to keep a straight face while reprimanding you.

Thanks to the new path of communication that is being forged between us, you seem much more content and joyful these past two or three months. You are delighted by so many things and you love to see our response when you say the right word and we acknowledge it. Your vocabulary gets better and better each day. Your favorite books are picture/word books where we spend hours pointing at and saying the words on the pages. You can now make “the sounds” of a snake, horse, dog, cow, sheep, pig, kangaroo (hop!), rabbit (boing boing), frog, guinea pig, goat, gorilla, lion, chicken, rooster and cat (I’m probably missing more than a few) in addition to knowing the names of your own three cats: Indigo, Lady and Spike. When asked, “What sound does Spike make?” you quickly reply, “Meowww!”

One of your favorite things is “The Claw” which Daddy plays before bedtime with you every night. You run to me for cover and squeal and giggle with delight as Daddy assaults you with tickles and creative new tricks. I never know what he’s going to do next and I usually end up laughing or squealing with you. Often during the day when he’s not home, you will see our bed and say “Claw” in hopes of having some bedtime fun in the middle of the day. So cute! And you like to ask for him from time to time throughout the day. It always amazes me to watch you two together. He is very protective and careful with you. He delights deeply in just being in the same room with you, watching you learn and learning who you are. He shakes his head and marvels frequently at how beautiful, smart and funny you are–and that the Lord has entrusted you to us. Over nearly every meal, he thanks the Lord for another day with you. He is a really good man, Piper, and I am so glad that you will learn from his example what a man, husband and father should be like.

You are more snuggly and cuddly than ever before and I cherish the moments that you say, “Lap!” to climb up and sit with me. I love reading bedtime stories to you and tucking you under your little blanket at nap and bedtime. I love watching you learn new things and it brings me great joy to take you new places that I know you will like. You are generous with other little kids and actually enjoy giving things to them, rather than taking them. The other day we got a balloon for you from Nordstrom and another little girl approached you, saying “Balloooon!” Daddy said, “Give her your balloon, Piper. Can you give her your balloon?” and you handed it right to her and then did a little joyful dance as if you actually enjoyed it… and then kept on walking, never looking back! That’s not to say that you like to share ALL the time, but there have been several sweet moments like it recently! You also like to kiss the pictures of kitties and puppies in your books, and you delight in kissing little babies if we let you! You are a very sweet girl and I am blessed beyond measure to be your mommy!

We love having you in our lives and continually feel stretched by the weight (and blessing) of responsibility that comes with being your parents. What a treasure you are to us, little one!

Love,

Mommy & Daddy

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 at 1:28 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.