Merry Christmas at Grand Elm -- 2009

Kendall Avery & Savannah Reese



At Grand Elm Street it was Christmas Eve and two little creatures were stirring...stirring batter that is. Kendall and Savannah made sugar cookies complete with sprinkles to leave for Santa. They must have known something special was happening because both went to bed without a hitch. Later that night Santa made the rounds and on Christmas morning Kendall came down the stairs..."Toys!" she exclaimed.


Here are some highlights including video. See more pictures here and check here (enter code 351-525-rg2d2) for the official picture with Santa.

It's gonna be a white Christmas

Kendall Avery

After digging out from under 17 inches of snow...we finally got Kendall out. She was scared to touch the snow at first (who wouldn't be...there was so much), but then she really jumped into it and even tried to help us shovel a bit.

Savannah at 7 months

Savannah Reese

Savannah is officially on the back half of her first year at 7 months old.
Savannah is still such a sweet baby but you can see her personality beginning to come out. She knows exactly what she wants...she tells you...and she expects to get it...NOW!

And she holds her own with Kendall. On many occasions I have to tell Savannah to apologize to Kendall for pulling her hair (and boy does she have a grip!). She's still a petite thing who eats very little and then only cereal and fruit...no veggies or meat! Here's an update on Savannah's development.

Sittin' Pretty

Kendall Avery & Savannah Reese

My BellyBeans have been busy working on sitting skills.

For Kendall this means that sitting (and going) on the potty every morning is a certainty. We try very hard to sit on the potty throughout the day to catch her before she uses the diaper and sometime we actually succeed! Pottytraining is coming along very nicely.

For Savannah it's like she's been sitting her whole little life. She sits so effortlessly and then almost immediately she propels herself forward on her stomach to try and perhaps even crawl.

Savannah's Rite of Passage

Savannah Reese

As part of our trip home to Youngstown for Thanksgiving, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to have Savannah's ears pierced. So three sets of sisters went to the mall...Paula & Sharron...Brittany & Sydney...and Kendall & Savannah...to take the newest Smith girl through this rite of passage.

Actually, I knew I wouldn't have the stomach to do this to another child of mine so having my sister there was part of the strategy. In fact, just when I was about to bail out, she swooped Savannah up and held her for the piercing. It happened so fast that I almost missed it. And in true Savannah form, she cried...but not for long. Two separate, but short, videos capture it all.

Savannah at 6 months

Savannah Reese

Here is Savannah...or Savannita (Spanish for little Savannah) as they call her at daycare. She even has her own little song they sing when she comes in the door--what a princess.

As you can see she is beginning to master sitting....next up is crawling. She just melts my heart!

She's had a tough month with lots of vaccines and several colds all through November. She's still long and lean. Here are her stats:

Wt: 14 lbs, 10oz

Ht: 25 inches

Here's Savannah's development at 6 months.

"It's dirty Mommy!"

Kendall Avery & Savannah Reese

Some of you may recall that Savannah was born with several dark blue spots on her body called Mongolian spots--one of which is on her wrist. We are told they are temporary and should be gone by the time she is 4.

"Mommy it's dirty," says Kendall as she tries her hardest to wipe and wipe it off her sister's wrist. I tell her that's it's a birthmark (whatever the heck that means!) and to give it a kiss.

Family...Remembering Aunt Katherine

Kendall Avery & Savannah Reese

Savannah spent time getting to know more of her family...Uncle Eddie (who I think Savannah favors), Aunt Shirley and Rosslyn as we celebrated the life of Aunt Katherine at her homecoming service. Aunt Katherine, Gram's older sister, was an amazing woman who opened and ran her own beauty shop in Pittsburgh for many years. I was glad Kendall got to meet her and spend time with her earlier this year.

The best kind of days...

Kendall Avery & Savannah Reese

Just a quick video capturing a beautiful moment in time with my lovely daughters...Fall 2009.

Rapunzel

Kendall Avery
Kendall is finally warming up to the idea of getting her hair washed. I think this picture helped. She just laughed and laughed.

Cirque du Soleil a.k.a. "I need to pay better attention when you have the markers!"

Kendall Avery
More often that I would like, Kendall gets ahold of the "crafts" box and finds her markers. Then when I am clearly pre-occupied, she finds a way to bring out her inner makeup artist. Reminds me of something from Cirque du Soleil.

Planting bulbs

Kendall Avery & Savannah Reese

One tradition I hope to be able to have with my girls is planting bulbs in the Fall and awaiting their return as a sign that Spring is here. This was the last of the beautiful fall days.

Poor little vampiress Savannah hated the sun. Kendall helped dig, plant and water the bulbs. Then she wanted to water everything. The mums never recovered from that thorough watering, but it was still a great day.

Halloween...the Bee and the Pea

Kendall Avery & Savannah Reese

Halloween has just ended and this year was lots of fun. Kendall is just beginning to understand that all she has to do is show up at a stranger's door in a costume and they will toss candy into her bag...how simple is that? These days kids don't even put forth the effort to say "trick or treat"...but most will say "thank you" and I think that's puts a very nice ending to one of my favorite holidays.

Savannah at 5 months

Savannah Reese

Our girl is growing... and at 5 months, she's long and lean. She has the sweetest smile and giggle and loves to be entertained by her sister. http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-5-month-old-week-1_1141.bc?intcmp=timeline

Thanks Mimi and Papa

Kendall & Savannah
Sent (by Daddy) on behalf of Kendall Avery and Savannah Reese

Dear Mimi and Papa!
We wanted to thank you so much for all you have done for us by helping us out over the last few months. Mimi......We know it was a lot to take you out of your own home even when you were not feeling well and stay here with us and we really, really do appreciate it. You really helped Mommy be able to focus on going back to work because she knew Savannah was in the best hands possible. And it was a huge relief for her not to have to worry about washing clothes or dishes every day as she got adjusted to being a mommy of two under 2. We know we made it hard at times with all of the crying fits (Savannah), difficulties trying to get us to take our bath as well as running from you when we were called (from Kendall naturally). You always got up with us late at night when we starting crying and always knew how to make us feel better. We loved the walks around the neighborhood and taking us to the playground. We also really love story time. We both just love when someone reads to us especially me (Kendall). I (Savannah) just loved it when you would hold me all day long when mommy and daddy went to work. You really made me feel loved and very special.

Granddad....Although you couldn't be there physically all the time, we both looked forward to our Skype calls just to hear your voice (sorry for always pushing the buttons and hanging up on you). We could always see you in the screen and hear your voice, but you weren't standing right there. This technology thing is something else. I (Savannah) just love to be held and you were always willing to do that while watching television. loved nothing more than to sit and watch television with my Papa!! I loved to look at you and grab your nose, mouth, and ears as well. Dad really appreciated all the help you gave him with getting his grill set up the right way. I can’t wait till I can eat some bbq one day on my daddy’s grill that you helped him fix. There are many more things we could mention, but we (Daddy) would be writing all day. We know you all didn't mind doing it because family believes in helping when they can, but it doesn't hurt to say thank you and we appreciate all you do for us. So we (Kendall and Savannah) wanted to get you all a little something just to say thanks and we love you both. Please accept this gift card from us and enjoy yourselves a nice dinner. It’s just our little way of saying thanks so much for being the best grandparents we could ever ask for.

Love, Kendall Avery and Savannah Reese

PS: Forgive Daddy's writing or grammatical errors. Grammar was never his best subject!!
PSS: Daddy said you wouldn’t accept it, so that’s why we left it so we could escape and get on the road without a big fuss. Also we don’t have that restaurant up here where we live so bother putting it in the mail because they will never use it and it will go to waste. Please accept it! If you return it, you will hurt your granddaughter’s feelings. We did the same thing for our other grandparents as well.

Kendall at 2 years

Kendall Avery

Kendall had her official 2 year doctor visit. It went well with the highlights being the H1N1 flu nasal spray and a couple of shots. Overall our girl is very healthy. Her crooked front teeth are nothing to worry about and doc says she will potty train and stop sucking her fingers when she is good and ready.

Here are her stats:

Weight: 30 lbs

Height: 34 inches

You can check on Kendall's development here: http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-2-year-old_5934.bc?intcmp=timeline

Kendall's 2nd Bee-Day Party

Kendall Avery
Kendall turned the Big 2 on Friday, October 2. We celebrated with her after she had spent the week with her grandparents in Youngstown.

All week long Mommy worked on preparations for her "bee-day" theme party being held that weekend. This included making bee party hats with antennae and also the decorations and cupcakes. Somewhere in between a little house made out of a cardboard box was also created. But the big gift was Kendall's new big girl room which she loved (see a future post for more details on this)! Her first real tricycle? She wasn't all that impressed and hasn't even ridden it yet.

The party was loads of fun with about a dozen friends and their parents. Kids basically ran wild or watched the Bee movie on TV until we enjoyed our chicken salad sandwiches and cupcakes. Guests received a little grow pot of daisies as a favor.
More pictures available on Snapfish.

Savannah's 1st Bite

Savannah Reese

Following her 4 month check-up the doctor said it was time to introduce Savannah to cereal. Daddy serves up the first bite....check out the pix and video.

All aflutter at Brookside Gardens

Kendall & Savannah

One of the highlights of Mimi's stay with us was visiting Brookside Gardens for their butterfly exhibit. They had a special pavillion with butterflies that had been imported in from all over the world. Very cool.

Savannah at daycare

Savannah Reese

Savannah's first day at daycare was September 21. True to her personality, she took it all in stride and charmed her teachers with her smile and pleasant personality.

She's the littlest peanut in the class so far.

Savannah at 4 months

Savannah Reese

Savannah is 4 months old already. At her doctor's appt she had the following stats:

Weight: 12 lbs, 11oz (25th percentile)

Length: 25 inches (75th percentile)

As you can see big sister Kendall wanted to get in the panda bear picture.

Here's some information about Savannah's development.

http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-4-month-old-week-1_1139.bc

Savannah takes a turn...for the better!

Savannah Reese

We are so excited that little Savannah has learned how to turn herself over. The first time she did it there was no one there to see it (of course). I had placed her on her tummy and when I came back she was on her back. Determined to catch it, I now always stay right by her side with my camera phone. And here it is...!

Not quite the nap she expected...

Kendall & Savannah

Oftentimes when I am taking care of both girls, I have to put Savannah in Kendall's crib while I am taking care of Kendall. In this particular instance, I was trying to get Kendall down for a nap. So I had to put Kendall in the crib with Savannah for a minute.

Kendall was sooo excited to have her sister in bed with her. She begged me to keep her in there. As for Savannah and wanting to take her nap with Kendall? Not so much.

And why do both have the same hand in their mouth??

Kendall's New School -- Oh Boy!

Kendall Avery

Like many kids did this month, Kendall started a new school and moved up to the next "grade level" in the process. She is now in the Two's Class. She left behind the friends that she grew up with at her previous daycare and now she is in a class where she is the only girl with five boys...oh boy! Here are some pix of Kendall at her new place.

A visit from Brittany

Kendall & Savannah

Your oldest cousin Britt came to visit us and help take care of you...she was so much fun. Thanks so much cousin Britt...we love you!

P.S. Stay tuned for her "guest blogger" post coming soon!

Savannah at 3 months

Savannah Reese

Here's our little peanut at 3 months. Although she didn't have a formal doctor's appointment, we think she's probably between 11 and 12 pounds.

Here's some information about her development.

http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-3-month-old-week-1_1138.bc

Lions & Tigers & Bears...Oh my!

Kendall & Savannah

Mimi and Mommy took the girls on a trip to the National Zoo this summer. It was a lot of fun to bring to life all the animals Kendall reads about in her books. I just wish someone would've told us it is built on a hill. We were exhausted when we left.