It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

The Piper family had an excellent Thankgiving with Uncle Bill, Aunt Katie, Henry, Reese, Grandpa and the Seminarios! Now, we are getting ready for Christmas and enjoying activities to celebrate the holiday spirit. Last week, the whole fam braved the cold to put up some Christmas lights. Actually, Andy put the lights up and Lucy and I just offered encouragement.

Then today, Lucy and I went to the mall to see Santa. Unfortunately, he was on break to feed his raindeer. However, we did have luck in finding Lucy a Christmas dress. Here are some pictures of the whole family bundled up to put up our Christmas lights, the lights up looking pretty and Lucy getting ready for Christmas in her new dress!

Happy Birthday Lucy!

Happy Birthday to my little love! Being a mom to Lucy has made this the best year of my life. We celebrated her first birthday with a big party with lots of friends and were lucky enough to have her Nana, Uncle Bill, Aunt Katie and cousins Reese and Henry come celebrate. Henry was cute as ever but so fast in action I don't think we got a picture. He is such a great older cousin. When Lucy was crying, he went up and gave her a hug and said "Don't worry, Lucy. It's okay" and also included her in some of his playtime. Reese is really starting to show her personality and it sure is happy, go lucky and smiley! I love those kids:)

And the birthday hits are going to keep rolling! Today Grammy and Uncle Blair get to town and we're going to have a smaller, family party tonight. Here are some pictures from party #1. The first is Lucy and Reese playing and the second is Lucy with her cake!

Hair Brushing

Happy Halloween

Since Lucy's to young to eat candy and not yet walking we skipped trick or treating and celebrated Halloween by dressing Lucy up in her chicken costume and walking the dog:

Baby Gym

Today Lucy and I went to "Baby Gym" at the community center. Baby Gym is where the community center takes tons of toys and puts them all over the basketball court. Then, the 0-5 year old set gets to play for two hours. Lucy loved it. Lately, she's been pushing anything she can find, with or without wheels all over wherever she is, moving man style. (Our dining room has a new furniture configuration almost hourly). At baby gym, she found all sorts of things to push, but after an hour and a half she layed down on my lap and started to nap...Mission accomplished at Baby Gym! Here she is in action:

Grilled Cheese

Lucy loves to share a grilled cheese sandwich with me for lunch. Usually she dismantles her sandwich, mushes it up in her fists and eats it in one gooey mess. However, yesterday I caught her eating it whole, just like mama.

Lucy's First Car!

Lucy gets the funniest little look of "yes, yes, this is the way it should be" when we push her around the house in her new toy car. We can tell she likes it though because of the funny noise she makes and that it can really turn things around if she's not feeling happy. In the video you hear her usual riding holler as she rounds the corner. The second noise is because she's surprised we ran into Daddy, the videographer mid-ride.

The Three Legged Crawl (and other news)

Distracted by the summer weather, it's been a while since I last blogged, but the rain is back and I'm back in the blogging saddle. We had an amazing summer! Lucy and I took a trip to Lake Tahoe with Bill, Katie, Henry, Reese and Nana. It was lots of fun! We also visited with Grandpa and are looking forward to seeing Grammy and Uncle Blair later this autumn. In other exiting news, we got a new house with lots of room for Lucy to practice her crawling! Her choice of locomotion is a three-legged crawl. It's not fast, but it gets her where she wants to go. Here is a video from when we first moved in of the "Lucy Crawl":

Additionally, she LOVES the stairs, which is kind of scary and fun at the same time. We have them all gated off, but sometimes let her climb with a spotter following closely behind. Here's a video of her climbing. I could only capture her from behind because I had to be there in case she missed a step:

Raspberries

What a delicious summer treat: raspberries fresh from the yard!

Peekaboo

Lucy and I have discovered an oldie but a goodie...Peekaboo! Here she is with her game face on:

Trying to Crawl?

Lucy appears to be making her first motions toward crawling. From a sitting position she tries to lunge forward. She doesn't quite have swinging her legs under her mastered. So, she's not getting very far, but it's still pretty darn cute. Here is a video:

Saturday Morning Team

Great news for our family: Andy has switched his work schedule and we get weekends together! Here is a picture of the team assembled this morning. It's a rare sighting for Paco (the cat) and Mainerd (the dog) to gather peacefully:

Also, here's some videos of Lucy playing:

Lucy's first trip in a shopping cart!

About a week and a half ago, Lucy had her first trip in a shopping cart.  Here she is perusing Target's finest:

Grammy!

Last week we had a wonderful visit with Andy's mom, known as Grammy.  We had such a great time and Grammy must have brought the sunshine to Portland! We went for a walk through the rhododendron gardens, drove around and looked at houses,  and enjoyed some fun dinners out together.

Best of all, it was so fun to see Lucy with her Grammy! Lucy's become very energetic and likes to bounce and climb whoever is holding her, Grammy included.  Here are the two ladies taking a quiet respite from playtime:

Happy Mother's Day!

I am having a great first Mother's Day.  I thought Andy was going to work, but after leaving he surprised me by coming back with flowers having taken the day off.  After the flower delivery, he took me and Lucy to brunch. I hope the other mom's out there are also having a happy day!

They See Me Rollin'...Part 2

With no second roll for many months, Lucy amazed me yesterday by remembering her old trick!  Lucy is now able to roll off her tummy when she pleases, which is pretty much whenever we put her down that way.  Here she is...the one, the only, the amazing Lucy!:

Cousins!

Last weekend Nana came to visit and we took a roadtrip to Redmond.  Lucy got to meet her new cousin Reese and see her cousin and old buddy Henry.  Reese is such a sweet little love of a baby and Henry is so much fun! We had a great time with him as our band leader playing toy instruments and watching him be a fireman "saving people and cats".  The kids got their picture taken at JC Penny's to commemorate the weekend...priceless!

Also, Lucy and the other grandkids loved playing with Nana.  Here is a picture of Nana reading Lucy her bedtime story

Happy Easter!

It's the first summer like day in Portland.  So, Lucy has been enjoying the outdoors.  Here she is getting psyched for Easter in her bunny dress. Hope you have a happy Easter!

Talking Away

Lucy sure is talkative these days! She's been loving babbling away for a couple weeks.  However, she is so curious about the camera that she has stopped and just stared back whenever I've tried to capture her diatribes on film.  This morning, she was on such a roll that I was able to tape her "talking" without issue.  Here are her words of wisdom, preserved for the ages:

Lucy and Her Dog

Recently, Lucy's taken an interest in our dog Mainerd.  She likes to watch him as she plays and he's doing his thing.  Sometimes, Mainerd likes to lay down near her and look back at her.  Here's a picture of the two of them getting to know each other:

Ocean Shores

As I write this blog, I am both looking out the window at the Pacific Ocean and watching my daughter and husband play.  Life doesn't get any better than this!  Andy's and my work schedules mean the Piper family commemorates the weekends on Thursday and Friday.  As such, this is our second weekend at Grandpa's new beach house in Ocean Shores. The house is right on the ocean and pretty equidistant for Lucy and her Seattle area cousins Reese and Henry.  So, we should have lots of cousin play dates here in the future!

Also, being as Grandpa is a retiree and likes to travel, we should get to spend lots more time on the beach with him:

Today Lucy and I took the stroller out and had a great time walking out on the beach. Meanwhile her daddy went shopping and came back with this amazing new toy. In the video, her smile is a little camouflaged by her thumb in her mouth, but I assure you she is having a great time:

Cruisin'

Today the sun was shining in Portland for the first time in weeks.  I was so exited to get Lucy and the dog Mainerd out on the road, I forgot her hat! About a block from home, I realized my faux pas and gave her mine which actually looked pretty cute on her, if I do say so myself.  Here she is all tuckered out from our adventures:

Mmmmm...Donuts...

The title says it all.  I've discovered the donut shop around the corner is delicious.  Lucy and I took a trip there this morning and picked up a donut to surprise her Daddy before work (and naturally her mama also had a donut). Here she is helping me make the big decision as to which donut to choose:

They See Me Rollin'...

Lucy had her first big milestone last Sunday; she rolled over! Best of all both Andrew and I got to see it happen.  I set Lucy up for some tummy time in the morning before Andrew left for work.  While he was getting dressed, she kept kicking herself up on her side. So, I was able to call him in to witness the big event!  I was such a proud mama, you'd think she started solving quadratic equations or something.  She hasn't rolled over since. So, it may have been an accidental feat of strength, but that doesn't diminish my pride in the least.  Here she is after her big moment!

Walking the dog

On days when Andy works, Lucy and I often get bundled up and walk the dog.  I have a baby wrap I use to "wear her" which means she's wrapped up in a little fabric pocket like a baby kangaroo and my hands are free to control our rambunctious dog, Mainerd.  Until recently, Lucy didn't quite take to being worn because her head had to be tucked into the fabric to prevent it from bobbling all over the place.  Now she has head control. So her head doesn't have to be tucked into the baby wrap and she's free to look around which she loves! It's really fun to get outside with her and enjoy the sunshine whenever we get it.  Here she is cruisin' the 'hood with Mainerd and me.

Hello Hands!

Lucy has discovered her hands can grab toys!  Here's a video of her playing that just may indicate she likes eating crab like her mama. Happy Valentines Day from our own little cherub!

Back to Work

Last week I went back to work and Andy and Lucy were on their own for 3 full days in a row.  I knew they'd have a great time but I missed them more than I thought. In the photo, Lucy is enjoying her carrier for the first time as her proud Papa is off to take her on a walk around the neighborhood.

Oh Henry

Lucy just took her second official road trip and saw her cousin Henry, Uncle Bill and Auntie Katie in went to Redmond, a suburb in the Seattle area.  Grandka was there closing out his West Coast adventures and we had a great time squeezing in one more visit with him, too.  Henry will be a big brother in March and he was so great with Lucy. Katie is just the sweetest Auntie Lucy could hope for and sent us some pictures of our trip and home with new toys to play with. Lucy was having a rough time getting to sleep and Bill got her down using his trademark "baby whisperer bounce" which he also taught to me. It was so great to see them.

Here's a picture of the two cousins playing:

Grandka!!!!

My dad (dubbed Grandka by my nephew Henry) was visiting the West Coast. As such, Lucy got a chance to have some quality playtime with him on his way through Portland.  Since Grandka is a chicken wing fanatic, we all took an excursion for dinner to the restaurant "Fire On The Mountain" to try tons of different types of wings.  Lucy sure loves her Grandka and had such a good time being held by and playing with him.

Weekend Fun!

I am giving this weekend a grade of A+ for awesome.  Saturday may have been the first time Lucy's ever seen a whole sunny day. It was gorgeous and we walked to lunch with our former roommate Jess, who was visiting from Indiana.  It was so great to have her in town and to have her get to meet our little pride and joy!  She is one of those friends where even when it's been a while since we last saw each other, we just pick right up where we left off.  This time, hanging out was even better because Lucy got to be part of the fun too.

To top it all off, the Packers won today and are going to the superbowl! Go Pack Go!

Club Med Portland Oregon

A couple times a week we enjoy our own little version of Club Med in the Piper household.  I put on my suit and Lucy gets in her birthday attire and we swim in the warm waters of our very own tubby!

Playtime!

While I'm not totally sure Lucy knows what in the world is going on, I've decided to institute playtime after each nap.  Here she is on the couch partaking in my shenanigans.

Midnight Rider

I could hardly write a blog about our little Lucy without mentioning her penchant for late night drives with her Dad. Many nights, when Andy and I have long been ready for bed and Little Miss Lucy is WIDE awake, she and her dad set out on midnight adventures to tour Portland and it's neighboring suburbs.  

I never know what's next on the agenda, but something about the car is magical to Lucy. She can be having a total meltdown. Then, after driving four blocks she will be snoozing away. She and Andy have taken midnight drives to the nearby hobby farm community of Sauvie Island, checked out China Town and the Portland Airport. Here's a picture of my favorite night owls setting out for the evening.

What a Difference 2 Months Make

Lucy had her 2 month birthday on the 9th and I just can't believe how much she's changed.  She's smiling and starting to play with us rather than sleeping and giving us the 30 mile stare when she's awake.  It's really fun to see her wake up to the world and our little family. I came across this picture of her when we first brought her home and it looked like she was in a forest with the little trees and owls on her sheets.  The second picture I took today and she looks like a giant on those same sheets.

First Christmas

Lucy had a great first Christmas and month of December. Early in the month, she got to meet her cousin Henry, Aunt Katie and Uncle Bill for the first time. She also was able to re-kindle her relationship with Grandka on a road trip to the southern Washington coast, after a month long hiatus of being apart.

Nana came out to visit for our Christmas party with many of our friends and family and we were able to video chat with Grammy, the younger Uncle Blair, Andy's cousin Stewart, Aunt Holly and Uncle Allen celebrating in Tucson.  Grandka wished us merriment and cheer by phone too.

The younger Uncle Blair was nice enough to find and mail the copy of of the "Night Before Christmas" that Andy's dad read to him each year and he was able to read it to Lucy on, you guessed it...the night before Christmas!

Hello World!

Lucy Irene Piper was welcomed to the world on Nov. 9, 2010 and weighed in at 6 lbs 6oz.

We were so lucky to have Nana and Grammy meet her right in the hospital and Grandka flew in just a few days later.

After a 12 hour stint on the billirubin lights which her dad dubbed "baby command center" her jaundice was all cleared up.

Andy and I were as proud as any parents could be to get our sweet Lucy home.