Nine months!

It became apparent to Josh and I this month that Piper was indeed named very well. She is everything you might think a "Piper" would be: loud, peppy, rambunctious, and assertive. Our Piper is all that and more. A couple different times this month when Piper and I were out and about, strangers have approached me to say that they thought Piper "just looked like a handful." Boy, are they right! What's funniest, though, is that she was really being good those times! I wonder what people would think if they saw her being her stinky self?

Size: I'm not exactly sure of Piper's size, but I'm going to guess she weighs about 17 pounds. I'll post her updated stats when we come home from the doctor tomorrow. She wears 6-12 month clothes. Most of these fit her very well, but there are a few that are still too big for her.

Food: We haven't experimented too much with new foods this month but have focused on textures. She's now feeding herself puffs, but she'd much rather play with and smash any food that's soft. She LOVES my Grandmom's pumpkin bread. She's also had tastes of other breads.

Teeth: Piper still only has her two lower teeth. I'm very surprised we haven't seen the uppers yet. She's sure been acting like they bother her.

Play: Entertainment this month has consisted of opening and closing cabinets and drawers (over and over again!). She also likes to "unpack" anything that has lots of objects in it. This includes taking everything out of her toy box, emptying all of the baby food packets from their nicely organized pallets, and dumping out her diaper bag.

No: This is a word we've come to know very well lately. However, Piper isn't catching on to its meaning. She has learned, though, to pitch a mini temper tantrum every time we tell her she can't climb the stairs, pull up on the toilet, help Mommy unload the dishwasher, take a bath in the dog bowl, or hurdle the dog. I told Josh that we needed to make sure she understood this word before she started walking. I'm not so sure we're winning this battle.

Daycare/Church Nursery: Piper all but jumps out of my arms when we get to daycare on the days I substitute. I worked quite a bit over the past two weeks, and she did great. She's even surviving the hour at church on Sunday mornings.

Sleep: We've definitely hit some rough patches lately as we've been dealing with this horrible cold that just.won't.go.away. Piper usually sleeps between 11 and 12 hours and night, takes a 2 hour morning nap, and a 1 hour afternoon nap. At daycare, though, there is too much fun to be had to sleep. She takes two 45 minute naps there and crashes early in the evenings.

We love our little munchkin!

happy to be strolling with Mommy

What a sweet face!

Daycare playmates

Swinging and grinning

I was trying to cook dinner and turned around to find her IN the refrigerator. I snapped this picture right before she started throwing things off the shelves.

Playing with Ally