It is really hard to capture how teeny Pippi is.
She is currently 4 lbs 11 ounces.
But hopefully this picture gives it some perspective.
Keep in mind that my hands are really tiny, and her head easily fits in my palm.
I would say the comparison could be made that her head is about the size of a large orange.
We aren’t talking grapefruit.
We are still in the orange range.
NayNay is in town from college, and my kids are beyond excited! But as excited as they are, I think she is even more excited. So much that she begged to carve pumpkins with them. I must be tired, because I wasn’t totally pumped on the idea at first, but once we got started, it ended up being a really fun night!
At first Dashy wasn’t too keen on the whole “cleaning out” part.
But NayNay walked him through it, and he warmed up to the idea.
These two both got down and dirty.
And the end result….a scary vampire pumpkin.
And a night of sweet memories made.
We love the NayNay!
On Pippi’s 13th day of life, she experienced a lot of firsts.
Like she got to wear her first outfit.
A little preemie number my mom picked up from Red Balloon on the day I went into the hospital.
She wanted to make sure our teeny baby would be well clothed in the proper size.
She also got her first bottle feed of many by her Nonnie.
Rhonda, her nurse, made her first bow, and stuck it in her hair.
During her first bottle feed by Nonnie, Rhonda made up her new bed!
This was her first time in an open crib because she was maintaining her temperature, and was off the lights!
And being in the open crib brought about one last “first”, she got to wear her first hat!
My little girl (who is now the “big girl” with Pippi on board) gets quite the reputation for being highly spunky (or stinky at times). But her sweet side is sweeter than about anybody’s sweetest side. An example: Lately, I have spent most of my nights on the couch. For two months before Pippi came, I slept there for comfort. Then I had a stint at the hospital. And when I came home, I tried my luck in my bed, but apparently I am snoring. So instead of waking Micah up all night, I headed back to my comfy couch.
During the last week while I have been on the couch, each night I get a little visitor. I have a little girl who is mid-musical beds, and stops by to pay me a visit. This is how it goes:
“Hi mom. Are you having a good sleep? I love you. I’ll see you in the morning.”
And then I get my covers tucked in all around me, and then a sweet little kiss before she walks off to bed.
Can anything in the world make a mom happier?
From personal experience….I’ll tell you no.
I asked Navy where her pink shoes were.
She told me, “I am positive they are in the car!”
I questioned her, and she said, “Mom, I am telling you 100 percent, they are in there!”
So half way to school, I asked if she had them on.
She was as puzzled as can be when she told me that they weren’t in the car.
So I told her she better find something in the car to put on her feet.
It was between Scout’s flips or his soccer cleats.
The flips were “boy shoes” and totally out of the question.
But since our girl neighbor gave Scout her cleats (that are boy cleats because they couldn’t find girl ones at the store they were in), she opted for those.
Fine by me.
And upon hearing the story, fine by her teacher too.
These two have a really special something between them.
Especially since she has become his literal second mother with all of my back and forth to the hospital as of late.
And this isn’t just a one way street.
As much as she is obsessed with him….he feels the same way towards her.
Because she is his, “best, best friend in the whole wide world!”
For nine long days, my three oldest have been begging to see Pippi. They have seen her on the webcam, and they have seen pictures…but nothing is like the real thing. So our nurse Lisa said she could take Pippi to the door where the kids could stand and see her. So after church, the kids came over to the NICU, and they got to see Pippi for the first time.
Here they are peeking through the window.
Then Lisa brought Pip to the door.
And it opened to the sweetest reaction you have ever seen from three siblings waiting patiently for their sweet little sister to come home to them!
The reaction is on video, and Scout could have melted your heart.
Navy was in love from the get go.
And Dash was just completely mesmerized.
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Lisa told me the next day that she went home and told her whole family about the reactions of my kids.
She told everyone it was almost the sweetest thing she has ever seen.
And it was.
How sweet are the Perkowskis?
Talk about nice neighbors!
When I went in to kiss my kids after they fell asleep, I found this interesting scene.
Two sleeping babes.
One tucked in.
And one in the prayer position.
Both sound asleep.
Scout has been a bit lackadaisical on the soccer field lately. So on our way to his game today, Micah and I gave him a pep talk. Micah started out with “If you are aggressive at your age, you will dominate on the field.” He didn’t really buy it, and since he wanted to go to a fair with B later that day, Micah told him that every time he touched the soccer ball during the game, he would earn a dollar for the fair. Scout wasn’t enamored and said, “So I will get like two dollars?” Micah said, “If you aren’t aggressive….maybe. But it is up to you. You could walk away from today’s game with 30 or 40 dollars!” Scout seemed to pep up a bit. And then I talked to him about being scared while giving his talk in the recent primary program. I told him that he was nervous. But once he gave it and dominated, it felt great! After a few more minutes of driving, Scout asked, “Well, what if I make a goal?”
Now Micah and I knew this was totally out of the question. He hadn’t been aggressive in weeks. And he played defense which put him pretty far from the goal.
So I answered him with, “Scout, if you make a goal, you get to have all of the money that is in Dad’s wallet.”
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When the game started, you have never seen a boy with more determination. He came out like an animal and touched the ball about 40 times in the first few minutes. It was SO fun to watch. But not nearly as fun as when he scored a GOAL!
As soon as he did, he turned around and did a little personal celebration.
It was SO cute, and I was SO proud!
When the quarter whistle blew, Scout immediately ran over and asked, “Dad….how much do you have in your wallet?”
He kind of hung his head when he answered, “245 bucks.”
Scout couldn’t believe his ears.
Nor could any nearby parents.
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On our way home, Scout said, “Dad, I bet you are so sad you have to give me all your money!”
Micah told him, “You know what….it was worth every penny if you now know you can be great if you just try hard.”
The payout happened later at home when the transaction could happen in a safe place.
I was so proud of my boy.
I was also so proud of my husband who didn’t short change him after he made his goal.
And when I told Scout to take out $20 for the fair and hand over the rest for his savings account, he gladly obliged.
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