Dyson's got nothing on Piglet.

We've been letting Piglet use his newly mastered pincher grasp to feed himself. He thought that was okay for awhile but then he wanted to do things his own way. Maybe all those hours of being carried in the Bjorn/sling/Ergo while I vacuumed taught him a thing or two. Haha. Enjoy.

P.S. The bottle of Motrin in his hand is empty, don't worry!

Rituals

One of the things all new parents come to know, love and respect is the mighty SCHEDULE.  The first few months of Piglet's life were spent trying to decipher some semblance of a schedule just so we could, you know, SURVIVE.  

As Piglet's schedule began to reveal itself - naps "around" two hours after waking, awake for three hours, naps again etc.  The obsession with a schedule began to fall away and many of the things we would do together each day became less routine and more RITUAL.  Some things remain just part of our daily routine like diaper changes, eating Cheerios and nail trims.  But some things are RITUALS and they are PRECIOUS.  For instance,

Every

morning

I 

wash

and 

comb

the

baby's

hair.  

~~~~~~

Every

weekend

we 

go 

for

a 

family

walk.

~~~~~~

Every 

day

we 

sing

the

Hello

Song

from

music

class.

~~~~~~

Every

Saturday 

we 

go 

to 

the 

Farmer's

Market

and 

share

a 

tamale.

It's these RITUALS and not SCHEDULES that define our relationship and our family.  It makes our interactions memorable and sacred and anything but mundane.  So the next time you're marching through your day like the good soldier you are, stop and think about your favorite bits and pieces of the day or week and consider sifting out the RITUALS from the SCHEDULE. The little things you do all the time that might seem like just part of your normal routine may actually be little rituals that you'll look back on with so much fondness one day. 

I am also a huge fan of TRADITIONS but that's another entry all together, particularly with the holidays approaching. :)  

Introducing My BFD

...best friend's daughter! Some people have guest bloggers, I have guest daughters. A little about Miss A:

• She is just over two years old
• She can say and do anything you can say and do
• She is a ham (of the finest variety)!
• She has giant curls
  
• She looks and acts like her dad but there's a lot of her mom there too (shout out to my BFJess)
• She is smart as a whip.
• She sings lots of songs for me like "itsy bitsy 'pider."
  
• She calls me "Aunt Maggie"
  
• She is the cutest babe to ever walk the earth and I am IN LOVE with her!
  
• After viewing this video you will a) see what I mean and b) also be in love with Miss A.
  

I give you, Miss A...(after a large-ish piece of pumpkin loaf spiked with chocolate chips) and dressed in part of her Halloween costume.

Sniff, sniff, ahhhhh...

One of the things we do in our family as a sign of affection is sniff each other. Sounds weird, right?  Don't get me wrong, I don't go sniffing my brother or sister but their KIDS, now that's some prime sniffing ground.  So let me clarify - sniffing is something we do as a sign of affection FOR THE KIDDOS.  I remember as a little one, my mom would sniff me, usually on the head or neck, never thought anything of it until I found myself sniffing my nieces and nephews as they arrived.  And really it's not so much SNIFFING as it is INHALING, like taking a long deep whiff of their wonderful baby scent and trying to capture enough to bottle up.  

From the moment Piglet was born, he has been sniffed by me, my sister, my mom.  Even when I'm kissing his little face, I'm also really taking a giant hit of his addictive baby scent.  One of my favorite spots is the inside of his little hand.  So soft and a little clammy and last night anyway, smelling of chocolate chip cookies.  Sniff, sniff, ahhhhhhhh. You really should give it a whirl...take a big giant whiff of some baby you know (I do NOT recommend sniffing babies of strangers, their mothers may not take kindly to it)!

Here I am kissing and sniffing a three day-old Piglet.

Now you'll have to excuse me, I have a Piglet to sniff.  

Before and After, Piglet style

Before...

before...

before...

AFTER!

I love taking pictures of Piglet right when he first wakes up in the morning.  He's so cuddly and warm and still has a little bit of sleep in his eyes.  At our house we've developed a new love and appreciation for footie pajamas which make Morning Piglet look even more cuddly.  This morning his wayward curl was very present which sometimes means today will be a challenging day. ;)  Our morning routine usually involves playing on the floor of the nursery with the radio on so we can hear about the weather and then when Piglet is good and ready, we wash our face, take a quick dunk in the tub and get our curly locks washed and coiffed.  Here are some "before" and "after" pics to illustrate our morning routine.  In case you're wondering, after we get dressed (mom is of course still in her PJs) we head down to the kitchen for some Cheerios, yogurt and to pet der hund.  Then after a little while we take a nap.  And that's a morning in the life of Piglet.

Inside vs Outside

INSIDE

OUTSIDE

In keeping with blogger etiquette, I'm giving a hat tip to my friends at McMillerpdx for this charming idea.

Yesterday marked 41 weeks since the arrival of Piglet into the world. This means that he has now been OUTSIDE longer than he was INSIDE. Wow, what a thought. Piglet did a lot of growing while he was inside and he certainly hasn't stopped since he's been outside in the great big world.

Dear Piglet - You keep on growing and learning and soaking in all that the world has to offer.  We'll be right here beside you.  That is, until you tell us to fall back a little.  Even then we'll still probably be right beside you.  What can we say?  We're getting hard of hearing in our old age. :)

Love,

Your parents

Pumpkin Patch 2008

It was a gorgeous, sunny and perfect fall day to visit the pumpkin patch. I'll admit it, I was only in it for the photo opps and dh only went because I told him "it's just what you do when you have kids!" We honestly believed that due to Piglet's young age and the inevitable swarms of people, it was basically a recipe for a nightmare. How wrong we were!!! We met up with my siblings and Piglet's five cousins and formed a little caravan to Lake View Farms in North Plains, OR. It's about 30 minutes from our house. We were pleasantly surprised to find the farm busy but by no means packed despite the perfect conditions for pumpkin picking. We rode a darling little train out to the patch and then a ferry boat on the return leg. We had a fantastic time hunting for the "perfect pumpkin" and also a "piglet-sized" pumpkin. Piglet LOVED being outdoors and watching all the other kids run around the pumpkin patch. Despite being very tired, he maintained a sunny, happy demeanor which was a surprise. After unloading our wheelbarrow into our cars, we decided to quench our thirst and fill our bellies at the Cornelius Pass Roadhouse. We sat outside and soaked in the sun while the kids climbed the apple trees and ran around the garden. It was indeed a perfect fall day. We can't wait to go back next year. And maybe next year Piglet will be trying to climb an apple tree too.

To tickle your funny bone.

Piglet seemed a little unsure (read: scared) of the lion costume, so dh and I did our part to show him it was FUN to be a lion. He was still scared. ;) But check out his eye of the tiger expression!!!

Stay tuned for pumpkin patch pictures!!!

Yep. It's too small.

I tried the puppy costume on Piglet again. He was NOT happy about it. Note how the velcro just barely reaches on the headpiece and how it doesn't even make it under his chin!!! Fortunately, I forgot that I also bought the Pottery Barn Kids lion costume last year in size 18-24 which fits perfectly, so he's going to be a lion this year instead. Rooooar!

Piglet's Nine Month Update

Piglet continues to grow and thrive and we are so happy and also a little wistful for his disappearing babyhood.  Probably the most startling changes he made this month were in the mobility and communication department.  He crawls or rather drags himself EVERYWHERE.  Gone are the days where I could step into the hallway to grab something really fast!  Now if I go somewhere, I need to haul Piglet with me.  My left bicep is getting curiously bigger than my right.  There is a direct correlation between this and Piglet's mobility.  No really.  Oh and his hair is also getting what dh calls "bushy."  We both have really thick manes of hair, so Piglet better start saving up for a lifetime of frequent haircuts.  I'm trying to hold off on any haircutting until at least his first birthday.  

Stats: 21.9lbs, 29.5 inches in length.  Continues to be in the 50%-60% which seems crazy since he seems so huge to us,

Piglet LOVES

• Cheerios
• taking bites of food e.g. bananas, apples, cheese
• pretending that he's shy when you say hello
• when you blow in his ear
• when you smell his feet and pretend they smell bad 
• hanging out on the floor with his dog
• peeling up the area rug and looking underneath
• laptop computers
• yogurt 
• going tummy surfing
• clapping his hands to the beat
• sleeping with his arms spread wayyyy out
• when you sing him silly songs
• the hip carry in the Ergo Baby
• the Farmer's Market
• toys that make loud noises
• toys that aren't really toys
• shredding magazines
• making a huge splashy mess in the tub
• giggling in his sleep

Piglet is OVER

• being spoon-fed
• wearing socks
• all pureed foods
• not getting what he wants (this is alarming)
• playing with blocks
• anything you stack high, he knocks it down immediately
• the Bjorn
• getting his face washed
• bibs, especially plastic ones
• taking three naps a day
• sitting in his high chair for more than 20 minutes
• anything but water in his sippy cup

Houston, we have a problem.

Both the monkey and puppy costume are too small! Well for sure the monkey but I'll have to try the puppy on again. When I originally tried it on him he had thick layers on, so it might be okay. Here he is in the monkey costume. He only had on jammies underneath, so there is no way I could fit a pair of regular pants and sweater on underneath! Look how short the bottoms are. Bummer because it is so cute!!!

>

giggle, clap, ya-ya

Warning: These videos are rated G for Grandparents. As in, grandparents might be the only people who appreciate and enjoy them. Hooray if you happen to like them too!

Piglet started clapping to the beat of the music after just one Music Together class. The music you hear in the background is the CD of songs from our class. He also loves to boogie along too.



This video is one loooooong giggle. He stops between giggles to click his tongue which we think is hilarious. Sometimes even he clicks his tongue in the middle of the night! Anyway, we've never captured his giggle for this length of time so we thought we would archive it here.

Piglet's "vocabulary" has started to include lots of vowel sounds. I'm hoping that this "ya-ya" morphs into "mama" very soon. ;)

A poll. Should Piglet be a monkey or a dalmatian for Halloween?

I can't decide. I'm partial to the monkey just because that's what we call him a lot. Then again, the dog is awfully cute.  Of course I own both already!

I'd love to hear what you all think so post a comment with your vote! 

I'll try to post actual pictures of Piglet in the costumes, but for now check out the pics from online. Thanks in advance for your help with this decision.