Digital baby book

This past weekend, Piper and I went to Boston to visit some of her many amazing aunts while Reid was at a bachelor party and it was a great trip for so many reasons. While this might seem silly, I was a nervous wreck before we left for Boston. I was worried about traveling alone with her for the whole weekend to a place that was a pretty significant drive away. I was worried about how she would travel - whether she would start screaming on the highway, whether she would sleep at Heidi's house, whether she would eat enough since I was planning on just breastfeeding and not doing any bottles of pumped milk, whether I would be able to sleep at all ... and the list goes on and on. You name it, I was worried about it, but the fact is, the weekend was GREAT and all of my worries were unfounded. Phew! Because of this, it was a pretty awesome confidence builder. If Piper and I can travel all the way to Boston and back, then a day trip here and there is easy. And just heading to Saratoga for errands and to see a friend? Piece of cake. I'm finally feeling comfortable going places with her and it feels great! The fact that this has taken over two months has been a little bit frustrating - I'm not usually a wimp.

And of course it was amazing to see some of my friends and introduce them to Piper. Over the trip, Piper also met two of her future friends - Anna (5 months old) ...

And Mariko (6 months old) ...

It was amazing to see how different Anna and Mariko were compared to Piper. I felt like I had a glimpse into her future, both from a developmental perspective, as well as a growth perspective. Both Anna and Mariko were so expressive, and BIG. I don't want Piper to grow too quickly, but it was exciting to see the types of changes that she's going to go through throughout the fall. More fun is definitely on the way!

We stayed at Heidi's parents' house, and while we were there, Heidi broke out her and her sister's baby books. It was so interesting to hear what their parents wrote way back when ... and it got me thinking - we have a keepsake box and are storing lots of fun things to go through in the future, and we are taking lots of pictures, but we don't have an official baby book where we're keeping track of her progress. But, can this count? The thought of making time to write the blog and write a baby book seems a bit overwhelming. I already have a hard time keeping up with this, but going through the baby books made me realize how important it is to keep documenting. So a priority this blog will be! Not that it wasn't one already, obviously ...

On that note, Piper has been changing like crazy. Learning and growing and becoming more of a little person. A couple of weeks ago (this pic was taken one day shy of her two month bday), she was really into sucking her hand, and every once in a while, her thumb would find its way in.

I have to admit that Reid and I weren't that excited about this. You can take a pacifier away, but you can't take a thumb away. And while I had buckteeth without sucking my thumb, why encourage the dental destruction? But at the same time, if she can soothe herself, then that is HUGE. Regardless of what we thought, she's kind of cooled down on the hand/thumb sucking anyway. Not sure what changed for her, but she appears to have lost interest.

And then, over this past weekend, Piper discovered her reflection in the mirror of her gym and was absolutely mesmerized by it.

That was probably one of my favorite changes so far because I felt like I could see her learning and changing before my eyes. The mirror has been there all along, and I've tried to show it to her before, but she never looked at it with any interest. Then all of a sudden, while I was eating a bowl of cereal, she couldn't get enough of checking herself out. She smiled and cooed at herself and was captivated for a good ten minutes. Since then, she's done that at least once a day. It's absolutely adorable! Anna has the same gym at her house and Heidi was telling me how fun it's been to see Anna's interests change over time. The hanging parrot is now her favorite and she likes to roll onto her belly and play with the elephant's crinkly ear. For those expecting little ones, I highly recommend this! http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2266983

Piper is just so cute and we are so in love. I don't really know how to put it all into words, but I love our family more than I thought was possible and am so excited for all that is to come, which will be documented here :-)