I turn my back for ONE night…

They say that kids grow up too fast, but this is getting ridiculous.

Piper stayed the night at Nana’s for ONE night, and she’s driving. 

I don’t know whether to be more concerned about the fact that she’s driving, or the fact that she’s in a police car and trying to escape…

Evidence.

Chocolate-stained shirt + sugar crash = BEST SNACK EVER.

Unfortunately, Piper ignored Nana as she imploringly asked Piper not to tell her father that they enjoyed a cup of ice cream.  At 4:30 in the afternoon…  <<ahem>>.  I do believe that the leftovers on her shirt are a dead giveaway.

And Nana, being the ever therapy-minded person she is, decided that Piper could work on her spoon-feeding skills. 

However, I, being the person who had Piper on my lap (in my white sweater, nonetheless) was slightly less enthused about the opportunity to practice our fine motor skills.

Can you guess who won???

MHDSA Christmas Party!

Saturday we got to celebrate the Christmas season in a room full of our chromosomally-enhanced little buddies. 

To say that we were surrounded by cute doesn’t even begin to describe the level of adorableness we had in store.  We had SO much fun watching all the little kids (although next year I think we’re going to try to score the closest-table-to-Santa seats- those people were GENIUS)!

We met several families that live REALLY close to us, which I’m super excited about.  Woohoo!

Piper posed in front of the tree, which was convenient because of all the “Aaawes” she got from the people around.  And we all know how well that works for my kid <<insert ughs and groans here>>. 

This is, for the record, her “Whowhat?  You think I’m cute???” face.  She has it perfected, I tell ya.

And then it was time for The Big Guy. 

He proved his maneuverability prowess when he went from the fish tank (we were at the aquarium, for the record, and he’s in a scuba suit- creepy?  Kinda…): 

…to the dining room in the time it took us to walk there.  Maybe he could teach me to do that- it’d sure come in handy some days…

It must mean that he was the real deal!

The whole day was worth it for the fun involved, granted.  But it was REALLY worth it when I got this in my email last night:

So, so perfect.

Now, now- don’t judge…

I had every intention of getting our Christmas tree up right after Thanksgiving this year.  Mostly because I couldn’t wait to see what Piper thought of it.

But the more I thought, the more I liked the idea of getting the carpets cleaned first.  My poor husband.  So, Friday after Thanksgiving was spent cleaning carpets.  After Thursday night was spent washing the dogs first.  Did I say “my poor husband” yet?  And then, because we didn’t plan so well and we couldn’t clean the bedroom until the living room was dry because of the furniture chaos, Saturday was also spent cleaning carpets.  I didn’t feel like I could abuse Luke any more at that point, so no tree on Sunday. 

We talked my brother into coming up and helping move furniture, and hauling the ridiculously heavy tree up from the crawl space last weekend.  So the tree’s been, in the box, waiting, since Saturday last week. 

It finally got erected yesterday.  I didn’t bother with the ornaments until today.  So we’re, like, what?  A full week and a half later than I promised myself it’d get done? 

Anyway, Piper and I put ornaments on the tree today.  It was an…  educational?…  adventure, for sure.  She would have liked to “help” with the ornaments more, but she got stuck with the non-breakable genre. 

(Piper’s very caring and ensures that the dogs don’t feel left out of the festivities- unfortunately, she doesn’t quite understand that putting up mysterious objects that should be reserved for outdoors scares the dogs to the very core of their beings and would rather not be involved in such an event.  I’m sure that the development of a new walker in the house doesn’t particularly help their feeling of security…)

And boxes.

She liked the boxes.

PS- The shirt bring up any memories?  You know, of this???

Yes, folks- it’s the same shirt (the same 3 month shirt) from last year.  Although it actually fits this year.  And she doesn’t wear a t-shirt underneath.  Yyyyyeah…  My thoughts exactly…

Guess Who?

Guess who came to Nana’s house- On a fire truck!

This picture, I think, pretty much sums up Piper’s feelings for Santa.  She wasn’t too sure, but mostly willing to cooperate. 

That is, of course, until Santa unloaded The Goods.  Apparently dollies are the way to Piper’s little heart.  She was sure to point out the babies eyes and nose for Santa, just in case he didn’t know…

I tried to get a cute shot of her standing next to the big buy, but she just wasn’t too sure. 

And then she figured out that she could get outta there- Kind of a bummer that the biggest smile we got out of her all night was as she was escaping the big red suit…

We knew Santa and his firemen escorts would be there, but we had a two-hour window of when it would be.  So, in order to be ready, I put Piper in her tights and shoes so that I just had to slip on her dress when they got there.  This lead to some semi-nude playtime with the walker.  And she got to show off some of her newly acquired walking skills for her great grandparents. 

I kind of enjoyed watching the little ruffle-butt tights walking around the house…

While we waited, I tried to get that perfect (and apparently elusive) Christmas picture.  It was a good thought, anyway…

It was a really fun night- thanks to the fire department for doing this every year.  What a hoot!

Baby update!

Okay, okay- after a few pokes, here’s some of the frequently asked questions about our new little one!

• We’re due on May 26, which makes us just over 15 weeks now.  I can’t believe how fast it’s gone this time.  I am, though, blaming (thanking?) the quickness on Piper’s time in the hospital, surgery, and all the worries afterward.  We actually found out the Saturday before she went in for the scopes on Wednesday.  To say that it made our hospital stay “fun” is a gross (no pun intended) understatement…
• Because of all the issues that Piper had, and because she was a preemie, we are being followed by our regular OB as well as the same Perinatologist that we had last time.  It’s a big relief to me- I’m 100% sure that I’m more worried about having another preemie than anything else.  No one, though, thinks that we’re at any increased risk this time around because it was Piper’s idea, and not mine. 
• We’ll get to find out if it’s a boy or a girl on December 22.  We’ve been back-and-forth a few times about whether or not to find out, but, ultimately, our desire to have a pregnancy with as few surprises as possible this time seemed like a glorious respite from all the “excitement” with Piper.  So, we’re going for it.  And the fun part?  We get to find out at 18 weeks instead of 20 because of the “high risk” factor, which makes it right before Christmas.  Woohoo!
• The most commonly asked question we got (mostly before we got pregnant, just for the record) is if we have a higher chance of having another baby with Ds.  The short answer?  Yes, but not really (like it?  So did I…).  And really?  Having another child with Ds would not be the end of the world.  We visited with a geneticist in September who said that, yes, we have an increased risk of having another child with Down syndrome; our quoted risk is 1:100 rather than our age risk (which this year is 1:660).  A large part of that is because my body has proven that it’ll actually carry a child with a chromosomal abnormality.  Research has shown that as many as 80% of spontaneous miscarriages are because the baby has Ds.  However, if you look at the population and anecdotal evidence, this is simply not the case.  Of all the families we’ve know through the blog world and through the forums, I think I know two that have two kids.  The geneticist said that “1:100” is a number they assign to something when they think there is an increased risk for, but they don’t really know what the risk should be.  Because of that increase, though, we’re eligible for more thorough prenatal testing.
• Which brings me to another big question I get- are we getting any prenatal testing?  I really appreciated knowing that Piper had Ds before she was born.  And, just like with Piper, if we found out something was wrong it wouldn’t change our outcome.  So, after consulting with the Perinatologist, we’ve decided to do noninvasive testing to start with (we did the nuchal translucency screening), and leave the option open for an amnio around 36 weeks when there’s essentially no risk to the baby.  The NTS uses two blood tests and an ultrasound- I have the second part of the blood test in the next couple weeks.  Standard tests, like the quad screen, don’t tell us any information, because they see a previous Ds birth and instantly make your risk 1:100. 
• The new baby is, I’m afraid, already showing an “energetic” and stubborn personality.  In one of the last ultrasounds we had, “he” was moving much that, well, when you OB utters, under his breath “Man, this kid is moving”, it may make for an interesting pregnancy.  Piper moved a lot, so I can’t say this is too surprising.  But kind of funny, nonetheless.  Also?  For the big ultrasound with the Peri, they need perfect profiles of the babies face to make sure that they’re not getting a bad cross-section of the nuchal fold.  So, they look for the little nose.  My kid, undoubtedly knowing that, kept putting “his” hands up to his face.  We have three pictures of this- two look like Montgomery Burns, and one looks like a bird.  Hmmm…

We sure are excited for a new little one- I’m sure that Piper’s going to enjoy having a little one around to play with.

Although I’m fairly certain that this face may be making more than one appearance in the months to come, lol…

EEEEEK! You’ve GOT to see!!!

I’m determined it was that waddle exercise- Max’s mom asked for a video, so I’ve got to try and get Piper to cooperate enough to take one.  It was definitely the little piece that she was missing!  We did it for a couple days, and just a couple times, and apparently that’s all she needed.  Monday she was REALLY getting good, and by Wednesday she was TONS better.  She’ll go about 6 feet right now, but she’s increasing the distance every day, and getting more and more willing to go places on her own.  In most of these, she was going after the dogs, and not Luke or I (or the puffs that I had strategically placed).  She’s even turning herself around and going between surfaces.  We’re so very-very-very-over-the-top excited!!!  I wanted to post these earlier, but I wanted to surprise our therapist on Wednesday instead! 

Way to go, Princess P!  We’re SO SO SO proud of you!!!