Snapshot: Piper

I love taking pictures of this girl.  It works out well, as she is ready with a “CHEESE!!” when the camera is pointed in her direction.

My friend Susanne has a fast enough camera to capture her many expressions.

 

But I love her 100-watt smile the best.

 

Once, before she was even two, the girls and I were driving somewhere with my dad.  He turned around and looked at her and then said, “Piper has the best smile.”  Dad is not one to throw compliments around lightly. 

Piper loves all things animals and I suspect she’ll be the primary reason we get a dog. A long time from now. 

 

She is all about what she could do herself.  We didn’t have Kyla dress herself or buckle herself up or brush her teeth or make her own sandwiches until Piper insisted on doing those things herself and we realized that her big sister probably could do them, too, if we asked. 

Since she turned 3 last month, she has decided she is a baby.  When she does something naughty, she sticks two fingers in her mouth (ahem, sound familiar, Wesley?) and pretends she doesn’t know what you are talking about, because she’s just a baby.  That drives me crazy! She crawls around and points out when she is taking her “first steps”.  But she still insists on doing things all by herself.  Except potty training.  She was potty trained perfectly all last week.  Then on Sunday—at church—she wet her underwear, tights, and then got her dress wet in the potty when I had her go.  So she finished church wearing pink sweat pants and a shirt that even Wesley has outgrown (with a henley collar, thank goodness).  She decided she doesn’t want to do underwear this week.  She’ll reconsider next week.  (It’s a good thing I didn’t get around to blogging last week about how excited I was that two-thirds of my children used the toilet. How wrong I was.)

She’s got such a silly, happy nature.  No matter what new food she’s about to try, she insists that she’ll love it.  Even if she spits it out after the first bite.  This girl will sneak chocolate, even from Mama’s very special hiding spot, without any guilt. 

She’s my maternal child.  When she’s not a baby herself, she loves taking care of her own baby and she has anointed herself Wesley’s special advisor.  What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and I think Wesley is going to be very, very strong.

This child pokes me in the heart every day.