Piper Jayne - 22 Months

I know it's been awhile since I've really posted about our sweet little angel, and I feel it's time to give the world an update on all the new things she's been learning and doing. The hard part is where to start? It hit me several months ago how much Piper Jayne is changing and growing on a daily basis. Several months ago at this point, we were going up the stairs and I realized she was no longer crawling up the stairs, she was actually walking up the stairs. Then a few days later I realized she wasn't scooting down on her tooshy, she was walking down (holding on to my hand!). Where did my baby girl go? She is now no longer even my "toddler" but my little girl! It's amazing as we look back at pictures and videos to see how much she's grown, how fast she's grown, and how much she's doing these days! One thing is for sure - Piper Jayne has very little fear and is a MONKEY! She loves to climb on things - and isn't scared of much. Just the other night Matt and I watched as she climbed herself up onto our kitchen chairs - which are the high bistro height chairs - and got herself turned around, then just looked at us and smiled. She started running months ago, and continues to get faster and faster, and at some point learned to walk backwards! Jumping is one skill that she's slowly learning and has almost gotten the hang of it - she does it best when she's jumping on something she shouldn't be jumping on - like our bed, the couch or my big exercise ball which has been blown up in an effort to help Baby Bean make an entrance into the world! Of course, we hold onto her when she jumps on the ball, but her favorite part is doing backwards flips off of it while holding onto my hands. The girl would make an awesome gymnast if she ends up not inheriting height genes from Matt or I! She loves to be swung around, upside down, flipped, etc and always does the sign for "more" until we just can't do it anymore! Speaking of signing, she learned before she was one the signs for "milk", "please", and "more" and though she is also saying the words now, she's still signing the signs. Her vocabulary continues to grow on a daily basis but her favorite words these days are "bubble", "Bobby" (as in Uncle Bobby), "Nate Nate" (our nanny's son and her bff), "Oscar" and "Poopy". Of course, "Mama" and "Daddy" rank high on the list! She will at times break into song, like when I was changing her diaper this morning, though we have no clue what song she's actually singing. It's fun to listen to her just ramble on and on in her own languague - oh, how I wish I knew what she was saying! I'm sure it is something very important! The last couple of weeks we've started to see her test her limits on everything from where she wants to eat her meals to fighting naps and bedtime. What used to be an easy routine of bath, pajamas, rocking and lullabies has turned into an almost nightly struggle, with cries of "no night night!". So, our routines continue to change as she continues to change, grow and learn her way in our world. Without a doubt, there is one thing for certain - she is a little firecracker that definitely inherited stubborness from both her parents, but deep down, she is still our little angel.