The New Edition

I know it really should be "The New Addition" instead of "The New Edition" because we are adding another member to the family not just editing and re-releasing a currently existent one...but sometimes it certainly feels like a do over. Like a Claire redux or something similar. Especially when you are awake in the middle of the night waiting for your kid to poo so they (and then you) can fall asleep and your like "oh yeah, this does stink." (no pun intended...well maybe it was intended...).

On the flip side though there really is nothing more wondrous than a newborn. Especially when they smile at you.

Avery Lyn Smith was born Nov. 25th she weighed 8lbs 10oz and was 21 1/4 inches.

Halloween

October is over. Seems like it just got here and now it is already a week gone. Who knew. Well I have included pictures of Claire in her Halloween costume and playing dress up at the end. Assuming you haven't already, you may now stop reading and skip to the pictures.

Claire loved Halloween. Her preschool had a party, the ward had a party and our apartment complex had a party. She now loves parties. However, her fear of the witch in Snow White is now forever cemented in her psyche. Let me explain.

So, for whatever reason, Claire has always been terrified of the old lady in Snow White who gives Ms.White the apple. I say "for whatever reason" like there isn't a good reason for her to be afraid of the old hag. This is obviously false. Anyone who has seen Snow White, especially recently, recognizes that the old witch in Snow White is pretty much the face of fear. She still unnerves me. (I say "unnerves" like it means something other than scares. Obviously this is false.) Anyway, the point is Claire has watched Snow White once, and has strenuously objected to watching it again. Grounds for her objections shortly following her first viewing go like this:

Me: "do you want to watch a movie?"

Claire: "I sure do. But not the old lady movie"  (she calls the witch the old lady)

Me, pretending like all good dads do that I don't know what she is talking about in order to tease her a little then says: "Do you want to watch Snow White?"

Claire: "Snow White is just nice. But not the old lady." (She is always very careful to distinguish that Snow White is nice and the Old Lady is not.) 

Me, still feigning fatherly ignorance: So do you want to watch Snow White?

Claire: Uhm. No. I just don't.

It's been over a year since she saw Snow White but she still flatly refuses to see it. She simply states: "The Old Lady is too scary." She has no problem with any of the other villains in her movies, Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty (who I think is just as "unnerving" if not more so than the Old Lady on Snow White), Jafar from Aladdin, Scar or the Hyenas from the Lion King, Mother Gothel from Tangled, That Voodo guy from The Princess and the Frog, none of them really scare her. She just says "they're not nice." But the old Lady from Snow White. That's serious business. Point is, of all the things in her world she is probably the most afraid of that Old Lady from Snow White. 

So, we go to our ward party. And guess who sits down across from us. Yep. you guessed it. The Old Lady from Snow White. A couple in our ward had dressed up as Snow White (her) and the Old Lady complete with an apple (him). But he wasn't just dressed up. Oh no, these are serious Halloween folks, he had the full make up. He really looked like the witch. Long chin, long nose, wart, the whole nine yards. Claire was terrified. She got one look at him when he sat down and froze. Petrified. Literally. We tried to explain to her that it wasn't really the Old Lady and that it was just Mason's dad (Mason is their little boy who is Claire's age) but she wasn't buying it. Then, seeing she was so scared, the guy tried to reassure Claire and started to talk to her saying, he wasn't really the Old Lady and that his apple wasn't really poisoned. 

I'm pretty sure all Claire heard was "Old Lady" and "poisoned apple," because she started to tremble visibly. 

After a few minuets we finally convinced her that she didn't need to be scared. But when her friend came over to say hi the first thing Claire said was: "Mason's dad is the Old Lady. You should stay away. Don't eat his apple." And she made sure to give him a wide berth as she walked around the gym.

She talked about it for the next week. When we went trick or treating she wouldn't go to their apartment. 

In other news. Claire also had her first atomic fire ball. It was pretty much everything you would imagine it to be. 

I told her not to. She did it anyway. She freaked out. Spit it into her hand. Tried to convince me to eat it. Then threw it away. It really was hilarious. But mostly it was her facial expressions that sealed the deal. Where is instant movie when you need it?

Well hope everyone else had a great Halloween! We are looking forward to Thanksgiving. Hopefully we will have our new baby by then as well. (I can't imagine what it will be like if we haven't she is due on the 20th...)

Claire sporting her dress ups from Aunt Rachel 

Dresses ups from Granny.

Claire the Bee.

Some Things and Such

So here we are. October is upon us in all of its fall glory. Claire is excited for Halloween (she is going to be a bee) and I am excited that the humidity has largely passed...and for candy. Let's not kid ourselves. Halloween is all about guilt free candy. We have to get candy because it's for the kids - and then we have to help them eat their candy because it isn't healthy for them to eat all that candy themselves...so, again - for the kids. It's beautiful.

Claire started preschool last month. She just LOVED it. and yes that needed to be capitalized and the superfluousness period needed to be added, because that is exactly how she said it. After her first day I picked her up and said "did you like preschool?" She replied: "I just LOVED it." And that is pretty much been the state of things since. She goes Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 12:30 to 2:30. Everyday that is not a school day is, by her judgment, dismal. A necessary evil that must be endured until the joyous freedom of school returns.

Ok. That is not an entirely accurate rendering of the situation. She feels the same way about nursery as she does about preschool. So, any day that doesn't include school or nursery is by default bound to be destitute of joy. Let me illustrate.

Typical Monday, Friday, or Saturday morning conversation with Claire. This is pretty much exactly what happens every time. It's automatic. Constant. Unchangeable in its regularity. Like morning in general - you know when you happen to wake up 10 or so minutes earlier than usual and you start wishing desperately that morning will not come today and you can just luxuriate in your sheets instead. But, alas, your hope is wasted against powers beyond your control - it will happen and your luxuriating quickly turns to languishing.

It is 7:06am and she bounds into our room. She goes to Hillary's side of the bed which is farthest from the door. She has learned not to come to my side of the bed first thing in the morning for reasons we shall not discuss at this particular time. She announces her first words of the day: "I need to go potty." This statement is about 98% certain. 60-70% of the time Hillary usually says something like "go ahead and go then sweetie" or "do you need help?" or some other caring phrase. It's hard to know for certain though because she is usually drowned out by my boisterous and possibly semi-critical/sarcastic retort which, while varies in the precise language, usually goes something to the tune of: "well, don't just stand there, GO!" This statement is about 65% certain. It often interchanges with statements like "well, GO!" "GO THEN" and other such phrases.

She then goes potty. Usually in the toilet.

Then she washes her hands. Then she starts doing who knows what in the bathroom but it usually involves running water in the sink, splashing noises, singing, laughing, little exclamations of "oopsies" or uh-oh" and finally comes to climatic crescendo with a boisterous rumbling by me of "Claire, stop messing around and get the heck out of the bathroom." This statement is 100% certain.

She then comes back into our room and announces: "It's morning-time sleepy heads!" "It's time for school!"
To which I say: "It's (insert appropriate day of Monday, Fri, or Sat) you don't have school today."
Claire, absolutely dismayed at the prospect of a day of no school: Awhhhh. But I just want to go to school.
Grumpy morning Will: Too bad.
Hillary: It's ok Claire, you can go to school tomorrow.
Cliare, in the tones of one whose only joy in life has just been dashed upon the rocky shore of reality: Awhh. I just want to go today.
Hillary: Do you want breakfast?
Claire, resigned to her eternal state of misery and woe: No, just school.
Hillary: How about cheerios?
Claire, suddenly cured of her endless sorrow and exulting in the light of a new dawn: I can have cheerios? OK!

Anyway, she likes school and seems to be doing fairly well. I'm sure there will be more posts about her and school in the future.

In other news. One of the women Hillary goes to school with had a party for their one year old son a week or two back and rented out a family farm fun center thing. Basically it is a farm that has a bunch of fun things for kids to do...as if seeing the animals wasn't exciting enough. They give donkey rides, hay rides, do face painting have a little corn maze, a haunted forest and a little playground area. It was fun. Claire loved the hay ride and the donkey ride.

Other stuff has happened and I was going to write about those things - most notably I changed the rotors and brakes on the jeep (which was a joyous occasion for all...as only someone who has worked with a Smith male when things aren't going "the way they should" can truly appreciate)- but I think I will sleep instead.

Here are some pictures of Claire from the last month:

Claire's first day of school! I actually remembered to take a picture.

Claire riding the donkey at the kid farm. 

Claire enjoying her Ice Cream cone after her and I took a walk one day.

More ice cream.