When Emry Met Whitney

The other big development from February was the arrival of Emry's little sister, Whitney Ann Smith.  At the first meeting, Emry wasn't sure what to think.  After a few minutes in the hospital room, she really warmed up to the new baby.  She would point to the baby and say "Baby."  She liked liked to point out Whitney's nose, ears, hair, fingers, toes, etc.  She also liked to hold Whitney and give her kisses.  Emry was also always concerned that Whitney was cold because anytime Whitney's head was exposed, Emry would point to her head and say "hat!"  By the time we left the hospital, Emry knew the baby was here to stay and had accepted the fact that she was a part of the family. 

The First Meeting...

Emry has been a great big sister!  She loves to help take care of her lil' sis.  Emry likes to get diapers and wipes when its time to change Whitney.  Then she throws away the dirty diapers when we're done and says "Yucky!" She also likes to get toys and blankets for Whitney.  One day Emry even tried to share her Goldfish crackers with Whitney. 

Just before we left the hospital...

When its time for Whitney to be fed, sometimes she is really sleepy.  Emry noticed this one day, so she decided to start screaming whenever she heard us say "Wake up Whitney!"  One afternoon we came home an outing and set Whitney(in her carrier) on the kitchen floor.  Maren and I were both occupied getting lunch together when Whitney started fussing.  Emry walked over and started rocking the carrier to calm Whitney down.  It was pretty cute!  We're hoping these two continue to get along this well throughout their teenage years...

Enjoy the photos!

Emry loves to hold Whitney

Lil' Whitney

Michelangelo couldn't have painted it any better!

Apparently Emry gives good foot rubs too

I hope they always get along this well...

The famous women's hospital drink cups!

Finally time for Emry to take her little sister home!

Just another diaper change

Playing on the floor together.

February 2012

Emry has become quite the social butterfly this month.  She is talking more and more everyday.  Emry has been able to identify all her aunts, uncles, grandparents, and great grandparent in person(as well as in pictures).  She is working on pronouncing their names now.  She also said her first phrase this month, "Oh yeah!"  She has added several more since then.  Emry has also become quite the jokester, as she has told her first 3 jokes recently....

1. She was taking a shower at the Y after swimming with Mia(her grandma, not the rapper from the super bowl halftime show).  While showering, Emry put the showerhead in front of her privates, sprayed it on the floor and said "pee-pee."  She thought it was hilarious and started giggling.

2.  She was at dinner one night kept closing her eyes and leaning to the side.  We couldn't figure out what she was doing.  Finally she started making a snoring sound, and we knew she was fake-sleeping, so we said "Wake up Emry!"  She opened her eyes, squealed and laughed.

3.  Maren has had a terrible cough lately and one night just got done with a long, hacking coughing spell.  Emry did a fake cough to mock Maren and started giggling. (It would have been funnier if she said "I think I'm getting the black lung", but she missed the opportunity.)

Emry has been getting ready for the new baby's arrival.  We got out all the old baby gear - swing, bouncer, car seat.  Emry has practiced putting her baby doll in each of those...she's going to make a great big sister.  However, when we tell Emry to give the baby a toy, she tends to throw it on the swing, car seat, etc where the baby is lying...we'll need to smooth that out. 

Emry also took her first photo using the big, bulky Nikon camera.  She is hoping to perfect her picture-taking skills before #2 arrives.  Her first two pictures are posted below...

   

Emry's first photo with the "big" camera.  She captured dad's best feature!

Emry's second photo with the "big" camera.  Testing the bouncer with her doll
to make sure it is fit for the newborn...

A couple other fun events this month were Emry's first trip to the children's museum and Emry's first time to try finger-painting.  We used chocolate pudding for the finger-paint...about 10 minutes into it, Emry finally realized she could eat it.  After that point it turned from finger painting to paint eating. 

Originally this was the end for the Feb post, but we had a visitor drop in early on us! There is a lot more to write on that topic, so soon we'll have a whole other post to cover that topic! For now, enjoy these pics from February!

The next Picasso!

Or the next Billy Madison?

All the great ones know how to leave their mark...

The final product...a masterpiece!

Testing the swing to make sure it will hold the new baby.  Hard to believe
she actually fit in the swing just a few months ago...

One of Emry's favorite places at the children's museum was the rice box.

Digging up some dinosaur bones with dad.

If the art thing doesn't work out, maybe she could be an archeologist...

Or maybe she could be a doctor.  Doogie Howser aint got nuthin on Dr. E

Our little booger just crawled out of the nose!

Getting her boots on so her feet stay dry on the wet deck!

If only E knew she was going to be a big sister in a few hours....
Hard to believe mom is in labor in this photo!

January 2012

January brought many new things to Emry....She peed on the training potty on Jan 2nd for the first time.  She's been really interested in pee-pee and poo and has been asking more and more to use the potty.  Emry also had her first haircut this month. She has a toddler mullet thing developing, so we took her to get it trimmed on January 24th.  She did really well! No crying or screaming.  She just sat there silently and expressionless(as you'll see in the pictures) the whole time.  It was like she wasn't too sure what was happening and didn't know how to react.  Ken recorded the whole thing, but the file was way too large to upload on the blog.  Maybe we'll post a few short clips in the near future...

Emry has been talking a lot, but a lot of the time we're not quite sure what she is saying.  She can repeat words very well, and she identifies pictures of relatives, animals and other objects.  But when she decides to ad libs some random gibberish, we just have to guess what she is saying. 

Emry got some more updates to her "crib" in preparation for #2. She has graciously allowed us to use her old furniture for the baby's room.  She added a white wicker dresser and nightstand to the decor in her room. 

Emry still loves for us to read her favorite books every night before bed, but her new favorite thing to do is watching movies.  Ever since we went to visit her cousin and she watched a movie on the plane, she has been fascinated by the Baby Einstein movies.  She will sit in front of the TV and completely zone out...kind of like Ken when he's watching a game. 

Can't wait to get out of those diapers!

And goodnight to the little old lady whispering "hush"

Watching a movie with mom...seriously, she's
 acting like its extra innings in game 7

In the waiting room at "Posh"

You can see why we decided to get her hair cut

Happy?

Sad?

Excited?

Scared?

No...just cute!

A few more finishing touches...

Finally done!  You can tell she is thrilled!

December

December was a busy month for Emry. She got to visit her new cousin in North Carolina. She got to ride on an airplane for the first time. She got a visit from Santa. She updated her "crib". (In this context crib is used like a rapper would use it...because she moved out of her real crib and now has a big girl bed!)   

She is starting to do some big girl stuff now. She is getting pretty good at feeding herself with a fork and spoon. She loves to care for her baby doll--she is training to be a big sister! Her favorite things to do with the doll are to wrap it a warm blanket and to take it on walks in the baby stroller.  She likes to color and scribble - although it gets pretty messy.  She has also started cutting the grass at home too!

Emry is talking and communicating more than ever. She understands the meanings of a bunch of words now and she tries to repeat almost anything we say.  Emry really started becoming interested in books this month. Her favorite books right now are On the Night You Were Born, Twas the Night Before Christmas, Madeline and Christian Nursery Rhymes.

This is what happens when you get blue marker on your hands
then rub your face



Emry didn't even cry when she visited Santa!

E's first plane ride.  And yes, that is a slap-bracelet in her hands.
They still sell them at Target in the 20 year old inventory section.



E's favorite xmas gift, the baby stroller.  Getting
ready to take on some big sister duties!

Emry looking so grown up sitting at her new picnic table



Getting ready to posterize dad with a slam dunk!

Or not...obviously she got mom's basketball skills...



All dressed up for Christmas morning Mass!



Another favorite xmas gift, and this toy has all the built-in frustrations
of a real mower...the pull-start broke on the first day

E's preparing to take on more responsibilities around the house
now that there will be another baby here soon

Such a cutie!

Last night in her crib...saying prayers before falling asleep

Laying down for her first nap in her big-girl bed!
Either her prayers or the bedrails are working...no broken arms thus far!

November

November

Emry has really been imitating mom and dad even more lately. She has become pretty good at feeding herself these days too. She is using a fork pretty well, but still likes to make a mess at every meal. She is becoming more and more interactive everyday. She is really trying hard to learn new words and their meanings. Since she tries to do everything she sees mom and dad doing, so we've been putting her to work around the house.

Raking leaves....

Shooting home movies.....

Helping dad make peanut butter....



 Still "helping" with that peanut butter!

Unloading the dishwasher...

Finally able to relax after all those chores!