there's always tomorrow

i need a morning sitting at this desk.
i want a morning to play dollhouse with pippa.

to lounge around since the house is clean, and the laundry is done, and elias is at preschool.

maybe do some puzzles, or dress some dollies, and have a little mama/pippa time.

what will happen?

i'll sit here and try to knock out a few things real fast, like the email i need to draft for mom's group, and the phone calls to switch doctor's appointments and make other doctor's appointments, or filing these piles, opening the mail, and transferring my life into my new planner (see below. i LOVE it.).

piper will climb all over me until i want to scream.

and i'll be forced out of productive mode and into play mode.

(in the time it's taken me to write this, she's climbed up and down 15 times. as i type these very words, she's playing doctor (? i think), holding me my the eyelashes and sticking a magnifying glass into my eyeball, saying "i yook into you's eyelashes?"

why not put off until tomorrow...what you've put off until tomorrow for over a week...

right?

dear piper, 2010

dear piper,
when you were born, i imagined you would be the serious one. as it was, your brother and i were handling silly quite well, and i figured by your furrowed brow, you'd probably be serious. but i was wrong. that furrowed brow was a mark of determination and willpower unlike anything i've experienced; your fury is nothing to underestimate. like this morning, when you calmly walked over to your dad and handed him your chocolate milk cup, just so you could proceed to throw yourself on the floor and throw a little fit. what about? we don't really know.

we've decided that you're essentially an alpha female. when you wrestle with daddy and elias, and daddy pins your arms? unlike elias, who laughs, you get angry. and yell, or as your auntie kristen would say, "freak your freak" because you are being dominated. and the dominant alpha? she doesn't like to be pinned. mostly, these traits make us laugh because we're almost always shocked and alarmed at how you walk and talk and roll around this place. we also love you enough to know that we can't let you be strong-willed and demanding, and we're working diligently to lovingly teach you how to behave and communicate effectively. in other words, no piper, you cannot just yell, you cannot cry, and you cannot have whatever you want, when you want.

your dad and i know that when you're all grown up, we won't have to worry about you holding your own. we know you'll be fierce. we just want you to be as beautiful inside as we think you are outside, so we'll put our heads down to weather the piper storm to know that you'll be a respectful, thoughtful, patient, caring, self-controlled, joyful force to be reckoned with.

beyond your ferocity and vigor, lies my second goofball. i didn't imagine that with such a furrowed brow, you could be so silly, but much to my delight, you're as silly as your brother. you make me laugh, pip, every day, and the number of times my mouth hangs open, or i'm shaking my head in bemused bewilderment? many. never a dull moment with you, pip: chalk on the walls, marker on the floor, half-eaten sticks of butter, or in the past few months especially, it's been the things that leave your lips as your expanding dialogue and vocabulary find their, well, voice. true to form, you're very chatty.

heard from the mouth of pip?

me: "do you want help?"
pip: "yes no." and not because she's indecisive. she is just independent in ways she's not actually capable of being yet.

pip: "mum! see?! see?! see?!" and not because i didn't hear her, no. because piper will repeat herself (for effect?) until i am doing or getting or attentive to what her small pointing finger is hyper-focused on. an then even after i've acknowledged it.

pip:"mum you's a beau-eee. dada, you ha-some. mum, mum- a BEAU-EE. dad, a ha-some...ha-some..." you've picked up some cute little habits from your brother. including over-complimenting. see previous bullet.

pip: "I WANT THAT!" self-explanatory?

pip: "no mo muk-ees jumpin on a bed!" and "bup! goes the weasel!"...a couple of her favorite songs

pip: "owww!"
me: "what happened, love?"
pip: "i hurt my body!"
me: "how'd you do that?"
pip: "eli do dat to me!"

looking back over this past two years and remembering the things you say, the way you've grown, and seeing who the little person you're becoming is makes me slightly overwhelmed with affection. we unabashedly adore you, doodle bug. who you are, how you are, and so many other things, too.

like how endearing the things you love are:

• play doh and books. definitely your faves. and dollies, of course. i have a feeling you'll make a great mama one day to real babies, seeing your love and care and affection for your favorite doll, baby ruby (or as you'd say "baby yoobi"). it makes me excited (and slightly nervous) to see how much attention you'll give your baby brother this fall. he's going to be a lucky little brother...as long as i can keep him safe from you picking him up and putting him in your baby stroller, that is.

• your belly button. okay, and your nipples. but you love your belly button best. you play with it like girls twirl hair- there's no self-awareness in it.

• taking off your shirt. every. day. you'll say "dooo hot mummy." as if telling me too hot will make it okay for you to always be topless like your big brother. i think it's cute that you think you can outsmart me.

• the water. any body of water is a pool to you. the ocean? a pool. a lake? a pool. a river? a pool. if you can swim in it, it's a pool. my bird...is becoming a fish, like her big brother.

• making noise. constantly screaming, screeching, yelling, talking, singing. honestly, girl, that's the most exhausting part of your personality. God gave me you to help me to be patient and loving when i want to put duct tape over your mouth.

• Jesus. she loves her books about Jesus best. i'm hopeful it's not just his long flowing hair and kind smile that interest you. i hope you grow up one day wanting to be just like Him. (i, admittedly, have to say i'm also in love with your tiny little prayers and how tightly you squeeze our eyes closed and how deep you insist on burying your head while you thank God for things.)
  

• bags. purses. anything that you can carry on your shoulder. while you swing your baby by the arm, as your shoulder pushes a pretend cell phone into your ear.
  

• emotions. your awareness for emotions is very keen. if you see a picture of yourself when you're not smiling? "i yook saddd. i yook not happy." if you see a commercial for the mspca? "doggy is sad, mum. he's sad. sad...see?! he's sad. ohhhh..."

i love you as vehemently as you live every moment, piper. i adore your ferocity, your resolve, your determination, and your vigor. i love watching you grow and learn and evolve.

and your cheeks? truly scrumptious.
your teeny tiny girly voice? deceptively sweet.
your engulfing (slightly overpowering) squeezy hugs? the best.
your big blue eyes? with the glint of adventure and intrigue and intelligence.
your run? dangerously unsound and unstable -looking. dangerous, like you, really.
your inability to be careful? hmm, just like your mama.

thank you for letting me dress you up, play with your hair, and paint your toenails. thanks for all the snuggles, all the smiles, and all the laughs you bring to our home and our family. we think you're a delight, and we look forward to what lies ahead (okay, and we're a little nervous, too.)

xoxo,
mom

in case you're interesed, readers: last year's birthday post- so much changes, and so much stays the same! and last year's picture post. my baby...is a big girl. man...

piper's picture post

in honor of my pippi doodle bug, my pippa, my pipski, my pip, my whiner, my demander, my snuggler, my goof, my silly, quick-to-smile, piper glory stratton. tomorrow you are 2 years old. here's how you've grown and where you've been since july 16, 2009...


with hands in the cake, of course


you still make this face at me


love that smile

"hmm?!"

loved that headband, as obnoxious as it was


ahoy, pirate piper!

catching a ride with e man

at nana and gp's pool in your mama's old bonnet

on the train with eli's conductor hat

okay, and i loved these boots


always with a purse. then and now.

princess?

following mom

apple picking

those eyes!

finally- pigtails!


twins with mommy at little gym


reading with your "bruddy"




always taking your shirt off, trying to be like elias


braids :)

and mullets...


one of my favorite faces


what your mama sees a lot of

pool-a-holic


snuggling "yi-yis"

enough oatmeal on your clothes, orrr?





jumping in!

my beach bum

july to july, i can't believe you've grown SO much! what a difference a year makes!
love you monkey head :)

when the writing on the floor is in brown crayon

i was sitting here at my desk this morning thinking, "hmm. i really don't have any good ideas for a blog today." this happens a lot, despite what you may think. i thought for a moment whilst sipping my tea (yes, whilst) and started working on a blog about the kids rooms and what i'm thinking for the future.

and while i sat here, looking for some good ideas, googling crib sets, guess, just guess, what piper was doing.

here. take a look :)

(yeah, really wishing i had painted my toenails now that i've featured them so prominently in this video)

some of you have asked me questions in the past like "michelle- how do you do it all?!" and "how do you find the time to write?!" (by the way, these kinds of statements do make me laugh. because i KNOW what i do all day. and realize i ought to divulge more of my realities to you if you actually think these things...)

you see folks, there's a very simple answer to these questions: i ignore my children.

i don't have superhuman powers.

and i don't always write when my children sleep (although i do admittedly try to write when piper naps, and as you saw, for good reason).

i write when i feel like it, sometimes even at the expense of my children (gasp).

i don't occupy my children all day, and i sure do get mad at them when they're not playing nicely while mommy's trying to write.

i even yell at them.

(i will tell you that yelling does make me hate myself when my beautiful children simply want my attention. do they have to literally climb on me, though? and cry and wipe their snot on my lap while i type?? apparently...yes.)

so this is a little gift from me to you. it's hard for every mom to find the time to do...well, anything.

and it's even harder not to laugh when the marker on the floor is in brown crayon :)

piper's sweet mullet

the other day, piper and i were watching a little ellen on tivo while i folded some laundry. we're both big fans of ellen. all the funny...all the silly...all the dancing. oh, and of course, her new shorter hair. she's great.

piper was playing with her baby listening to idol castoff alex lambert...

(loved him, by the way. he sounds just like ray lamontagne. mad about him getting voted off. not mad enough to vote myself, but...)

so anyway, piper was digging his soul ...

"dance, baby, dance!"

and as i was watching, i was thinking about alex's hair and this hair of my daughters...

and i realized, "wow, piper and alex have the very same hair-do..."

they both have sweet mullets.

now i know a lot of people feel like this about mullets:

but i never could rock that t-shirt because her mullet makes such adorable ponytails!

and itty bitty teeny tiny BRAIDS!

i officially dig piper's sweet mullet. and oddly, it makes me like sweet alex lambert's mullet, too.

but i do wish the all business on top would grow a little longer so i wouldn't HAVE to do her hair every day :)