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.