Claire's First Email

So, Claire got on the computer the other day and I asked her what she was doing her reply: "Just checking my email, but I can't find one with my name on it."

After that she insisted on having an email with her name on it so we got her an email account that we send her sesame street videos and what not and I help her check it every other day or so. Well, a few days back she told Hillary she wanted to send me an email so Hillary acted as her scribe and this is a copy and paste of what I got in my inbox:

Dad,

We are going to send you something new. We had brought you something. And, we want you to check it on your computer. And, it's really nice to give you it. So, we are going to show it to you. And, we're going to be so happy to do it. So, we're going to do it right now.

Can we do it? Please? Please? so, Please?

"oh, okay"

Yay! Yay!

So, its such a kindful thing to do. So, we are going to offer you so we can do it. And show us that we can do it everyday. So, we are going to sent you and email, so you can check it on your computer. Okay?

So, Please, please, please can we do it?

So, we are going to check it for you. So, Avery likes that idea. And she said yes and no. And she can imagine she can do it when she's a big girl.

If you can imagine she can climb or she can be happy and choose the right.

Or she can be a baby or she can grow up and be me.

Please can we let her grow up? Please, please, please?

Or we can do something else.

That we can do it! On every search, they searched and searched. For every Dad, they searched and searched for where you were.

The giants searched on top of the water. For the deep,deep of it.

But Avery would like that.

That's all I would like to say.

We're done writing.

Love,

Ccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccclairrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre



Hillary let Claire type her name.

Anyway it made me laugh. Especially the part about the giants.

Hope everyone had a great Holiday season! 

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.