Piper's First Steps

Piper's First Words

Piper Quinn is 1!

Today's the big day.  The day our little baby girl is no longer a baby.  Now she's a toddler.  A 1 year old.  She's practically and adult.

I can't believe how fast this last year has gone.  People always say it will, but you don't really believe them until you experience it yourself.

And until today I could never understand those mothers who would get teary eyed and emotional when their baby turned one.  But now I get it.  I'm a little nostalgic today.  Thinking about how 1 year ago today I was in the hospital, exhausted and elated.  It makes me a little sad that the time has gone by so quickly.  That I didn't savor the time with her as a tiny little newborn a little more.  That she's growing up so quickly and before I know it she'll be driving, dating, and going off to college.  Okay... let's not get ahead of ourselves here.  I know that all is a long ways off.  And until them I am going to cherish every moment with her.  Watching her learn new skills and discover the world.

Speaking of new skills... Piper has decided to commemorate her 1st birthday with a big one.  Walking!  She's been cruising along the furniture for a while now.  And a few weeks ago the girls at daycare had mentioned that she had taken a step or two on her own.  But I don't count that, since I wasn't there to see it.  But last night she did it for us... she took a step.  And then this morning she was taking 2 or 3 steps at a time.  I actually think her favorite part was falling down into Daddy's lap afterwards.  LOL!

So, happy birthday Piper Quinn!  We love you very much!

Operation Playroom: Phase I

We have decided to turn our basement into a playroom for Piper.  Over the course of the last 2 years, since we moved into this house, our basement has transformed many times.  First it was a dumping ground for all the boxes I didn't want to unpack.  Then it became a somewhat tidy storage area.  Then when Piper came along and we needed to turn the guest room upstairs into her room, we turned the basement into a guest room.  And now that Piper is becoming more mobile, and since we never really have guests anyway, we've decided to turn the basement into her playroom.

To do that, of course, we have a lot of work to do.  We are going to need to sell a lot of stuff, throw out even more stuff, and reorganize what's left.  This weekend we started on Phase I.

We started with the storage shelves.  We had 3 large 5-shelf units bulging with crap, with even more crap piled in front of them.  But I wanted to replace these shelves with permanent shelving, attached to the walls.  Not only would this look nicer, but Piper wouldn't be able to pull them down.  So Thursday night I listed the shelves on Craigslist.  And I got an email first thing Friday morning.  Within hours we had someone lined up to come over on Saturday morning to pick them up.

But that meant we had to clear them off.  So Jason spent Saturday morning taking everything off the shelves and "neatly" piling it on the other side of the room.  It really doesn't look that bad, does it?

Okay, now you can see what I meant when I said we had a lot of stuff to go through.

Once the area was cleared out and the shelves were gone, we were able to paint (and of course when I say "we" throughout this post, I pretty much mean Jason).  Jason also went out in the pouring, dear god will we ever see the sun again, rain on Saturday afternoon to buy all the supplies for the new shelves.  2 coats of paint, let it dry overnight (miraculous considering the humidity from all the rain we've been having), and we were ready to hang the new shelves. 

Then came the daunting task of putting everything back.  But of course, this included deciding what we were going to keep, what was getting tossed, and what we could either sell or donate.  We're currently about half-way through this part, I'll call it Phase Ib.  Hopefully I can finish this part up quickly so the room is neat enough for me to take pictures of the remaining furniture and list it on Craigslist.  Unfortunately, we can't really move on to Phase II until the furniture is gone.  The bed is the biggest thing that has to go.  Keep your fingers crossed that someone out there will just happen to be looking for a queen-size bed with frame, headboard, and footboard, 2 nightstands, a filing cabinet, 2 oriental shades, and maybe even a coffee table too.  Oh, and don't forget the broken kegerator.

Perhaps my dream of having this room done in time for Piper's birthday may be a bit lofty.  How does her 10th sound?

Piper thinks snow is fun

Piper loves cabinets

She also loves Chester.

I have the attention span of a gerbil.

As we sat down to dinner last night, I started to tell Jason how I think I have a short attention span.  I get consumed with something and then a few days later I'm bored with it and move on.  He says, "yeah, you probably are a little ADD."  Thanks honey!  And then he goes on to tell me, "you do have a short attention span.  Even in your everyday conversations, you constantly change the subject when you're talking."  Thanks again, honey!  Now would you let me get to my point?

So here's why I think I have a short attention span... Last week I was all ready to start my New Year's Resolutions with blogging more, working out more, getting more organized.  I did the 30 Day Shred every day for a week.  Then I took off on Sunday for a "rest day".  And then I was too busy yesterday.  And now I just don't feel like doing it anymore.  This happens every time I start a new workout.  I get a week or two in, get bored, and quit.

My new obsession is making food for Piper.  I obsessed about this when she first started eating solids and I wanted to make all of her purees.  I would spend hours in the kitchen on an Sunday baking, steaming, pureeing, freezing.  Until our freezer was stocked with every imaginable kind of fruit or veggie you could think of.  Now that she's moved onto finger foods, I'm obsessed with making new things for her to eat.  Last night I made Broccoli & Cheddar Cheese Nuggets.  And tonight I'm going to make Baby Chicken Fingers With Apple.  I also have a butternut squash sitting on the counter just waiting to be baked and cut up.  I feel like we needed to get past the diced carrots and random pieces of food from our plates and start giving Piper a real meal made up of food that she'll eat.  Now I just have to hope that she likes it.

An update on Piper

Piper had her 9-month check up last night and she has a few updates for everyone. 

First of all, we do NOT need to worry about her weight anymore.  I don't think I mentioned this here before, but around Thanksgiving PQ had a rough time... ear infection, H1N1, cold, another ear infection.  Needless to say she spent about a month under the weather.  Which totally affected her eating!  At one point she had actually lost a pound.  Then as of about 3 weeks ago, she had only gained back 3oz in 2 weeks.  Her Dr. wasn't really concerned, but just said to keep an eye on it. 

It was then that I realized that maybe my supply wasn't what it used to be (you think I would have figured that out when I started only pumping 4-5oz a day, instead of the 14-15oz I used to get) and decided to start supplementing with formula.  After about a week we also started weaning from nursing altogether and now she's just getting bottles of formula.  Okay, no biggie.  But I have since learned that when it comes to formula, I have no idea what I'm doing.  How many bottles?  How much in each bottle?  I swear my kid would eat nonstop if we let her, which she pretty much has been doing for the last 3 weeks.  She gained 1lb 10oz in 3 freaking weeks!  Yes people... over 1.5lbs!!!

So, the kind Dr. gently suggested that we cap her off at 30oz of formula max per day and space out her bottles a little more.  And if she gets fussy between (because she was soooo used to her old schedule) to give her some water or puffs.  Today is Day 1 of the new schedule and I'm so nervous.  We're switching up her daycare routine and her at home one will have to change a little too.  Just keep your fingers crossed that she does okay and doesn't completely meltdown.

Okay, so on to the stats...

• Weight:  17lbs 15.5oz
• Height:  26 1/4 inches
• Head:  16 1/2 inches

She also got her 2nd dose of the seasonal flu shot, the H1N1 shot, and a Hepatitis B shot.  At one point I think she was in such shock from the shots that she just laid there with her mouth wide open.  I had to remind her to breathe.  And then she started screaming again.  Poor baby.  :(  But within a few minutes she was back to her normal, happy self and all was well with the world.

Stay tuned for some new pictures... coming soon to a blog near you.

Shred Day 1

I started the 30 Day Shred yesterday and, OMG... ouch!  It is 20 minutes of intense workout.  After a quick warm up you do 3 minutes of strength, 2 minutes of cardio, then 1 minute of abs.  Rinse, repeat.  Rinse, repeat.  And cool down.  Sounds easy, eh?  Yeah, not so much!

Going up and down the steps last night kind of hurt.  And I just kept thinking to myself, "how in the heck am I going to do this again tomorrow?  And for the next 29 days straight?"  Well, surprisingly, I actually feel pretty good this morning.  My legs are a little sore and my abs hurt when I lean back all the way, but not in the "OMG, I think I'm going to die" kind of way.  And I'm actually looking forward to getting home this afternoon to squeeze in another workout before I finish the ironing and pick up the Piper. 

Oh yeah, maybe that's another side effect of this workout.  It gives you motivation to get other stuff done around the house.  After I finished the DVD yesterday I undecorated the Christmas tree, dragged it out to the curb, and vacuumed the living room.  So much for catching up on Days of our Lives, but I just couldn't stop myself.  I was suddenly possessed by some kind of crazy housewife.  If this keeps up, my house will be spotless by the end of the month!

A New Year & New Resolutions

Every year I resolve not to make any new resolutions.  Why bother... they usually end up getting thrown by the wayside by the second or third week of January anyway.  But every year I end up making some sort of resolution, even if it's only to myself.  And this year is no different.  I told myself that I wasn't going to make any resolutions, but here I am... about to make a few, and not even just to myself, but to the entire interwebz.

So... what are these resolutions I speak of?  I'm glad you asked!  Here they are, in no particular order.

1. I resolve to blog more.  I am going to get over my self-consciousness and shyness and post more often about any and all of the random thoughts going through my head.  Someone out there may find it interesting or funny and if not, at least I'll have this to look back on one day and show Piper how crazy her mommy really is.
2. I resolve to get in shape.  They say it takes just as long to take off the weight as it did to put it on.  Well, Piper has now been an outside baby for longer than she was an inside baby (she turned 39 weeks on Dec. 31st, which is the same number of weeks I was pregnant when she was born).  And all the weight is not off.  It's time to stop making excuses, give in to Jillian Michaels (workout guru from The Biggest Loser, for those of you who don't know who she is), and rid myself of these remaining 10 lbs.  It won't be easy, it probably won't be fun, but it's got to be done.  And now that I've confessed the resolutions publicly, I can't change my mind or give up.
3. I resolve to get more organized.  I have been longingly staring at my kitchen and my basement (okay, the entire house, really) and dreaming of how I could reorganize them.  This one won't be easy either, but it will probably be fun.  I'm one of those weirdos who likes organizing and cleaning.  It's cathartic.

They say all good things come in 3's, so I think 3 resolutions is a good place to stop.  We don't want to go overboard now.  Happy New Year everyone!