July 2012

Its been one hot July! Luckily we've had lots fresh watermelon to help keep us cool...

Watermelon definitely seems to be Emry's favorite summertime food.  Although, if you ask her what her favorite food is she will tell you "turkey and cheese."

As far as talking goes, Emry continues to learn more words and say longer sentences.  If you ask her what her full name is she will tell you "Emry Conner O Smith."  She also knows mom and dad's real names too, and its really funny when she uses them.  One night when we were getting her ready for bed, dad was changing her diaper.  She wanted her blanket, so she said "Maren, B!.  Maren, B!  Maaarennn, BEEEEEE!"  (B is what she calls her blanket.)  She is also participates in nighttime prayer too.  She can do the sign of the cross, although sometimes it looks more like she's a baseball coach giving signals to the batter.  But she will say things that she wants to thank God for.  It ranges for cute things like Whitney, mom & dad, relatives, friends, animals etc.  Other times its very random...the funniest was one night she was thankful for doors, carseats and boats!  She is also singing a lot more.  She actually follows along with the songs and sings the correct words now!  She loves playing with her karayoke player, and "Old McDonald had a Farm E I E I O" is at the top of her playlist.

Emry can sing herself to sleep

Emry competed in her first race on July 4th, the Big Bang 5k, and she came in first place in the stroller division....although she was the only one in it.  Emry has enjoyed entertaining Whitney this month.  She plays, shares and tries to teach Whitney new things.  At church one day when the congregation was singing, Emry started singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" to Whitney and showed her how to do the hand motions.  Later during the Mass(when the church was completely silent), Maren was holding Emry.  Em was playing with Maren's necklace, then pointed to her chest and said "Mommy's boobies!"

Best Buds!

Emry has been really helpful around the house this month too. She can get things out of the kitchen cabinets and fridge that we need when we're cooking dinner.  She can open doors easily now, and lets dad back in the house when he leaves his keys on the counter in the morning.  Its really weird, but Emry also loves wiping up spills and messes too.


As far as playing goes, Emry still likes playing outside a lot.  Although its been hot, she'll go out to play on the swingset any opportunity she gets.  She is comfortable climbing the tower and going down the slide all by herself now.

Hopefully this is her only picture behind bars

Way to stick the landing!

This is a good problem to have, but some evenings its a struggle to get her to stop playing and go inside for bed....

"Emry, its time to go inside..."

Whitney has been hitting some milestones this month.  She slept through the night for 1st time on night of July 10-11th! Mom and dad woke the whole family up at 6:40am by sending text to let everyone know!  At the time of this post, Whit has slept through the night 12 of the past 14 nights.  Way to go Whitney!

Whitney also got her first tooth to break through this month!  Although she is gaining teeth, she is unfortunately losing her baby hair.  A few people have commented recently that they think she is starting to look like her dad...sorry Whit! 

Even a stellar comb-over can't hide the inevitable....

Despite losing her hair and people saying
she looks like her dad, Whit
is still a cutie!

Whitney is one of the drooliest babies ever!  With all that drool, Whit has been blowing raspberries and bubbles a lot lately.  She has been relying on the chew toys a lot too.  Whitney also discovered recently that she has hands.  She's still trying to figure out what they are for, but occasionally she'll use them to hold a chew toy in her mouth or try to reach and grab at things.  And strangely enough, Whit really gets comforted by playing/biting Emry's "B".

It smells like Emry!

Emry has been a good sport about it, and enjoys sharing her "B" with Whitney.  Whitney rolled over from her stomach to her back a couple more times this month, but isn't a fluid ambi-roller just yet.  Her favorite toy is still the play mat.  She grabs at hanging toys a lot more now since she realized she has hands.  Whitney started playing in her bouncer this month.  Emry likes to help Whit bounce up and down in it.  

Don't quite have the bouncing down yet.
Whit just kind of hangs around.

  

Whitney also used the baby swing on the swingset for the first time in July.  She looks pretty cute in it!

So serious!

The summer months have definitely been a lot of fun for the girls.  With school starting next month, hopefully everyone will be able to adjust without too many problems.  We'll just have to wait and see!

June 2012

June was filled with a bunch of "events" for Emry and Whitney.  Between the birthday parties, baptism, summer social and vacation I think we wore the girls out.  Truth be told, they wore us out! Here's what each girl has been up to...

Whitney is now a roller.  She goes from back to stomach all the time, and she has rolled from her stomach to her back one time.  Whitney is a regular laugher and baby-babbler now as well.  She is a happy 4 month old and is always really smiley in the mornings.  That is probably because she enjoys waking mom up at least once every night.  However, during vacation she was up 3 or 4 times every night.  Whitney got to visit the beach and ocean for the first time while on vacation!  Whit's biggest event this month was her baptism at our church.  She didn't cry at all when the water was poured over her head. 

This blog is supposed to be all about the girls,
but we didn't have a photo of Whitney
by herself at her baptism.

Emry continues to talk more and more everyday.  She is putting together sentences now and answering questions that are more complex than "yes", "no", or a direct question like "what animal is that?"  She is putting thought into her responses and can communicate her opinions.  For example, just the other day her aunt asked her if she likes goldfish, and instead of saying "Yes" Emry said, "A lot!"  Her favorite phrases are "right here," "right there" and "silly goose." And Emry loves to sing.  Her best singing is accomplished while she is swinging in the backyard.  Her two favorites are the ABC's and Row Row Row Your Boat.

Emry turned two this month and had two parties to celebrate the event - one with just her friends and another with just the family.  Emry wanted us to tell everyone thanks for all the thoughtful gifts.  The funny thing is, out of all the gifts she got, she was most excited to play with the big bubble wand - probably something that was bought as an afterthought to the main gift.  Along with turning two, Emry has become a lot more emotional.  She definitely gets cranky tired and cranky hungry...just like mom.  She gets frustrated sometimes when she's trying to accomplish a task and things aren't going well...just like dad.  So we are working with her on controling her emotions right now.

Getting ready for the big party!

Make a wish!

Who knew a $1 bottle of bubbles could
be this much fun?

Pop!

As far a playing, Emry loves color/draw and to take care of her baby doll.  She likes to change its diaper(she has also helped change Whitney's diaper a couple times.) And she loves to fold the baby doll's clothes and organize them into neat piles.  Emry also got to go on her first amusement park ride at our church's summer social!  She didn't get excited about it, but she didn't cry and scream either.  She just kind of sat there with an un-amused look on her face like "When is this going to be over?" 

Maybe next year will be more fun...

Both girls had fun on our vacation this month.  Emry's favorite thing was playing in the sand on the beach.  Whitney just sat on the sidelines and soaked in the experience while Emry soaked in the sun.  We went heavy on the sunscreen, but Emry still got her first set of tan lines.  It was really cute!

Lets take a dip!

Whit is stylin' in her pool hat

A crab! Emry was a little scared...she wasn't
quite sure what to think

One morning we had the beach all to ourselves!

Emry's two favorite beach activities: 

Digging...

And Digging!

Whit's first time feeling the cool saltwater around her toes!

Ocean! Ocean! Ocean! Ocean!

Goodbye ocean!

Just having a little slice of pizza!

The girls also started competing for the first time this month. On the day of Emry's big birthday party, Whitney tried to steal the spotlight by rolling over for the first time. Emry got her back though. On the day of Whitney's baptism, Whitney had to share the day with Emry because we celebrated E's birthday will all the family members that day. We also started doing diaper races when getting the girls ready for bed at night. Each parent teams up with one of the girls and we see who can change the diaper and get them into PJs the fastest. Emry goes bananas for it!

Despite the competition, the girls love playing together. They play on the floor a lot and do silly things. They have been going to the pool a lot this month, and always look really cute together in their swimsuits.  There isn't a real sibling rivalry between them yet, but that could all change as they get older...

"Emry, are you sure these go on our heads?"

You'll find these two knockouts turning
heads at the baby pool.  They
prefer the younger men.

May 2012

There is a lot to talk about from May, and we'll start with Whitney.  Whit has been smiling a lot and has even laughed a few times recently.  Her favorite thing (besides mom) is playing on her playmat.  Within the last week or so she has started trying to roll over from her back to her stomach.  She can't get over her shoulder yet, but she's getting really close.  Whit is also holding her head up very well, and she has started sitting up in her Bumbo.  Whitney has also been babbling a little, so she's changing a lot but she's still just a cute little infant to us!

Emry still enjoys helping out with Whitney, she is even helping her learn how to roll over.  E's vocabulary and social skills continue to expand each day.  She's at a point in her life where she is trying to do more things physically, but she's either very clumsy at most of them or doesn't realize how to do them properly.  For example, we have to watch her pretty close when she's around Whitney.  She means well, but she's accidentally hit Whitney in the head with her feet, knees, toys, a cup of apple juice, etc.   Another example is she likes to color, but she doesn't realize the paper is the only thing she should color.  (Thank the Lord for magic erasers!)  Needless to say, Emry is starting to become a handful, but its a lot of fun to experience.  She also likes to imitate actions mom and dad do.  She likes to brush her own hair in the morning and one day she took a bottle opener out of the kitchen drawer and said "shave."  Then proceeded to rub it up and down on her cheek.  When doing these things, especially coloring, we've noticed that Emry has been favoring her left hand a lot lately.  Maybe we'll be able to teach her how to write after all! 

The family also took an airplane ride to NC this month.  It was Whitney's first airplane ride, so Emry had to show her the ropes.  We were worried if Emry would get stir crazy from sitting in her seat for the whole 90 minute flight.  Luckily she had a little video player from the library and she watched some Elmo's World to keep her occupied most of the flight.  Emry also spent time trying to figure out the seat belts, opening the food tray on the seat in front of her, and looking out the window.  We kept asking her what she saw out the window and sometimes she would say "Cloud" and other times she would see the wing and say "Airplane."  We actually lucked out and had a full row to ourselves both on the way to NC and back.  The girls did well on the plane, no crying baby or screaming toddler!  So that was a relief for us!

While in NC, the girls slept in the metal cribs provided by the hotel.  Our room was super crowded looked like a Russian Orphanage.  Near our hotel was a Harris Teeter grocery store, and we took Emry there each morning to shop.  They had small carts for little kids, and Emry loved pushing it down the aisles and putting random things in the cart. 

The girls also got to do a fun Mother's Day project for their grandmas this month.  They painted some flower pots and put their hand and foot prints on them.  Another project we started for Emry on Memorial Day weekend was a wooden swingset, which will be a present for her upcoming birthday!  You can read about both projects in more detail on runningthesmiths.(once it finally gets posted!)

The last big adventure this month was going to the zoo.  Emry went three times this month!  WE could bore you by writing about it, but we'll let her tell you about it herself...

Helping paint some flower pots for mothers day...I think
we've got another southpaw in the family!

Planking..."Get with it Emry, that's soooo 2010."

Experimenting with the pony tail...looks like she's getting ready to sign
the declaration of independence or fly a kite in the rain. 

After seeing these first 4 pictures you're probably thinking, "Did they
allow their kids to wear clothes this month?"  The answer is yes, see below...

The obligatory sleeping baby picture for the month

Emry is quite the stylist!

Her trademark is using lots of water when styling her hair.

We can't resist the sleeping baby pics...here's another one of Whitney
after a hard afternoon of playing on her "playmat."

Watching Elmo's World on the airplane!

Free apple juice!

Hopefully these girls will find a loving family
to take them home one day

At least one of us could sleep on the plane...note the wing outside the window.

Reading labels at the Harris Teeter....way to much sodium!

What is the most hazardous thing in this picture?
1) the ladder the child could climb and fall from
2) the clamps the child is playing with that could pinch her fingers
3) the power drill with 3/8" bit that could mangle the child in a multitude of ways

Won't be long before Whitney moves from this position to her stomach...

Emry's first time on the swingset deck. She was so excited and kept

stomping her feet like she was marching.  It was pretty funny! 

Decorating the swingset...she's a lefty for sure!

Whitney had become a pro at the Bumbo
by the end of the month

"Seriously dad, put down the camera!  Show some videos...

Shopping at the "teet"

Helping Whitney roll over

Talking about the zoo

More about the zoo