Up Cripple Creek

This past Friday my mom decided to hurl herself down the garage stairs resulting in a compound fracture to ius both her left tibia and fibula.  To those out there not as steeped in bones as I am, those are your two lower leg bones.  Anyway, it was quite a horror to see my mom lying on the garage floor with her leg at a very awkward angle, and blood slightly oozing from the small puncture wound where one of those bones was trying to burst through the skin on the front of her leg.  Yeah, it was totally gruesome!  Thank god the bone hadn't come any further through the skin or I might have lost it.  I'm pretty good at dealing with such matters, as I've had traumatic injuries myself, but there is something about large bones through skin that kind of makes my stomach do flips...and not in a good way.  Anyway, it was all excitement around here with the emergency responders, ambulance, my dad and I doing our best to keep mom under control during the whole ordeal.  Luckily Piper slept through most of the commotion, cause she's a angel!

My broken yet beautiful mom!

Yesterday my mom got to come home from the hospital, yay!  For those of you who may not know, once I decided to have a child on my own I moved back in with my parents.  The decision to do so was based on a mutual want and need between the three of us, with compromises made on all sides.  We all gave up some of our space and privacy, but we all gained a little bundle of joy in return.  My parents get to spend their golden years spoiling their last grandchild, and I get the financial stability of not having to pay rent, which saves me a ton of money that goes directly into raising Piper.  I also have the emotional support of being around my two best friends (yes my parents and I are that close) all the time.  We are a very lucky clan in that we get along so well.  It really is a win-win situation for all of us.

Part of living together is helping one another out in times of need.  Friday was definitely one of those days where we all relied heavily on each other.  My dad sat in the garage with mom, holding her leg until the ambulance arrived, I ran around calling 911 and packing my mom's hospital bags, and Piper the little angel helped us all by snoozing away so we could focus on getting my mom taken care of.  My mom was terribly worried about missing any Piper moments while in the hospital.  She was rambling crazy things like "how will she remember me?" and "I'm going to miss all her smiling and cooing."  Obviously the pain of the broken leg was getting to my mom as she was only going to the hospital for a few days and not to prison on murder charges!  Me being the awesome daughter that I am, however, took heed of her distraught words.

Once my mom was out of surgery and into a room, I began sending her pics and videos of Piper.  I couldn't take Piper to visit her, because hospitals are just not safe for the frail immune systems of babies, so the least I could do was use modern technology and keep her in the loop as to Piper's progression as a baby genius.  And now I'm to the point of writing this blog entry, to share with all of you the videos I made for my mom while she was incarcerated in the sick house.  I know, that was a really long winded way of going about showing you all some videos, but surely you have all discovered by now how sidetracked and long-winded I can be at times, so I'll shut-up now...enjoy!

This first video is of Piper enjoying her mobile.  She absolutely loves the dang thing and just gives the biggest grins (and some coos once in awhile) while watching it spin in circles.  This is the best of the videos I made of her mobile time.  Yes, I am going to refrain from showing you all the videos I made.  You can thank me later for that one.  By the way, she was about to have her diaper changed, so please excuse the not so great ending...oops!

She loves the mobile!

This next video is Piper playing on her play mat.  This is the first time she acknowledges the elephant toy.  She's a deep thinker, so it's her contemplation of the elephant that really grabs me in this video.  I wonder what exactly goes through a month-old baby's mind.

Elephants are wise, so I approve of this friendship!

The next two videos are both of Piper playing with her bunny rattle.  This bunny rattle has been hanging out in the corner of her crib from day one.  I know, no toys are supposed to be in the crib! Yeah, whatever!  Anyway, as I was about to change her diaper yesterday she, for the first time ever, zoned in on her bunny rattle and initiated play.  What is so surprising in these videos is not only the amount of concentration she puts into her play, but the simple fact she can manipulate the rattle the way she does.  I know I call her a genius, but I cannot help it when she does something that is so advanced for a one-month-old.  Typically, babies do not start actually manipulating rattles or other such toys till around 3 months of age.  For her to be doing this at one month is just flat out remarkable.  Her focus, determination, grip, everything you are about to witness is way advanced.  I took a pile of child development courses as part of my Psychology minor, one of which was Development in Infancy, so I'm not just pulling this knowledge out of my butt.  I do have textbooks that speak to these milestones and about when they should occur.  So far she has exceeded all milestones.  Yep, I'm one of those moms other people hate...a damn baby braggart!  I apologize now for my ridiculous overjoy regarding my child, it will probably only get worse.  Anyway, here are the videos!

She shouldn't be able to grab it like that yet!

She's very aware that she is in control here!

I could continue on posting videos, but these four were my favorites and I don't want to go overboard.  Plus,  it would be better for me to not post all my videos at once so as to avoid the whole been-there-seen-that mentality that might follow.  Your welcome!

I guess I should also tell everyone how my first Mother's Day went.  I missed having my mom around, but Piper and I spent the day together just doing what we do.  It was nothing too special, but I couldn't imagine anything better.  Having my long awaited daughter in my arms was enough specialness for me.  My dad also picked me some flowers and gave me a card, because he is the greatest dad ever, but nothing can top quality time with Piper.

Now for picture time!  Here are a few of my favorite shots from the past few days.

Fresh from her bath

Her mobile makes her happy!

Go mobile!

Oooohhh, elephant!

Deep thinking

Conversing with a pachyderm 

Who could resist that smile?

Cuddle bug!

The Thinker

Boobies!

Showing off her muscles!

I love all these pics, especially the smiley ones.  Piper's smile just lights up her entire body and completely melts my heart, especially when it is directed at me.  I guess I'll ahead and wrap things up for now.  Until next time, here is the ole shebang...

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