A hesitant 4 year old

Emmett almost didn't turn 4 on August 14, 2015.  Pop Pop had him convinced that it was way better to stay 3 and that most 4 year olds were knuckleheads (though Emmett argued that only old 4 year olds were knuckleheads and that he would be a young four). But the day of his birthday came and presents and cake were to be had for a boy willing to turn four, so he obliged. He was very excited about his dragon cake, though he did make me scrape off the frosting before he ate it. We celebrated with Grandma and Grandpa Schmutz, Vaughn, Margaret & Lucy, Celia, Benson & Sebastian, Kent and his friend Ethan--some of whom played with him at the Kidzu museum before coming back for cake and presents. He was spoiled with lots of great gifts, and even though the stuffed penguin eh got was "too big," he seemed pretty pleased with his haul. We sure are happy that this sweet and growing boy is part of our family.  He has lots to look forward to this year!  He will be going to preschool at Ms Annie's house and playing soccer on a city youth team.

Emmett's birthday interview
Mom:  How old are you turning today?
E:  Four!
M:  Who are your friends?
E:  Um, Ethan...I don't think I can even count that many.
M:  What's your favorite tv show?
E:  Um...my favorite tv show is...little white skies (Little Einsteins)
M: What's your favorite color?
E:  Red
M:  What's your favorite food?
E:  Mac n cheese
M:  What's your favorite vegetable?
E:  Broccoli
M:  What's your favorite animal?
E:  Dinosaurs
M:  What do you want to be when you grow up?
E:  I want to stay a kid!
M:  What are you excited about turning four?
E:  Presents and cakes
M:  Thanks, Emmett.  We love you!
E:  We love--I love--we love you, too.

Emmett at 4 years old:
• Morning routine--wake up, get dressed, watch shows with a dry cereal snack, eat breakfast.
• He's been rather interested in his clothing lately.  He often discusses with me what he should where the next day.  He likes to pick out his own clothes.  He doesn't like to wear long-sleeves or pants to church.  He sometimes wants to wear the same tank top and basketball shorts for days at a time.
• He doesn't like the colors of his plate and utensils and cup to match.
• He spends time drawing every. single. day.  His drawings continue to impress me.  Lately he draws a lot of sea creatures, dinosaurs and rocket ships.
• The last few months we've started reading from chapter books at night.  A little from the Book of Mormon and one chapter from another book.  So far we have read 3 Frog and Toad books, My Father's Dragon, Toys Go Out and are currently reading Winnie the Pooh.  It's such a fun time to spend together.
• He DOES NOT like tears on his face.  It causes a little trauma overtime he cries (which is basically every day since he turned four).  Tears are usually wiped by lifting up the shirt he is wearing all the way up to cover his whole face.  Towels or wash cloths may also be used but hands are not adequate for tear wiping.
• He also doesn't like to eat foods that require his hands to get wet or dirty.  He is diligent about having a napkin during meals and wiping his hands and mouth after meals.
• He often carries around a little toy figure or stuffed animal through out the day.  This special toy gets to go nearly everywhere with him, including to bed.  Sometimes the same toy gets this special treatment for a few days at a time.
• He's recently developed an interest in video games.  He likes to play the wii with Khalil at Grandma Schmutz's house.  He can hold his own at Just Dance, but he has a lot of room for improvement at Mariocart and Sonic. :)
• Emmett loves jumping on trampolines, riding his bike down (small) hills, playing on playgrounds.  He has a great imagination and while he loves playing with friends, he can happily play by himself for extended periods of time.
• He complains every Sunday about going to church, but he's always well-behaved in primary and comes home happy as can be.
• He asks "How long it's going to be?" or "When are we going to be there?" ALL the time.
• Some of the shows he watches are Daniel Tiger, Bo on the Go, Diego, various disney movies
• He doesn't want to turn 5 or go to kindergarten because he doesn't want to get shots.  He doesn't want to get baptized because he doesn't want to put his head under water.
• He writes all his letters (staring to throw in some lower case now and then) and can identify first sounds/letters of words.
• He is a good (sometimes too wild) big brother to a sister that is increasingly into his stuff.
• He's affectionate, kind, emotional, animated, funny and still has the best laugh ever.

Thanks for making our life so happy!

Caroline--15 months

Weight: 21 pounds 1.5 ounces
Height: 30.5 inches
Teeth: 11 (all four molars!)

As of August 6, Caroline turned 15 months old. This bossy little thing has grown up so much this summer! She is a momma's girl, for sure, and knows how to make her thoughts and feelings known. She is also very loving and social.  She is energetic, sweet and happy (except when she's not). Little Miss can turn her anger on and off in a split second, an attribute for which she's becoming quite well-known. She still loves to play with her brother, but now exerts a feisty side that at times includes a little smacking, snatching and pushing to get what she wants.  Our sweet Caroline has so much personality and we love her so!

At 15 months, Caroline...
• insists on walking down the stairs while holding onto someone's hand rather than crawling down backwards.
• likes to eat with spoons and forks.  The spoon is a work in progress, but she manages to get some food!
• loves to run and play chase.
• is scared by the door bell or the when the front door opens.
• yells loudly just for fun.  Really she is so loud.
• can drink through a straw.
• is starting to learn animal sounds--does cow, cat, bird, fish, lion and dog (sort of).
• is starting to identify body parts--points to nose, eyes, hair, tummy, button, toes.
• has a keen eye for spotting birds, the moon and other objects in the sky.
• loves animals and gets so very enthusiastic when she sees them in person.
• has all four molars, four top teeth and three bottom.
• is a climber--loves to scale ladders, stools, tables and chairs.
• jabbers all the time, but really only says "momma" "hi" and the occasionally "dada."
• sleeps with at least one binky and her baby doll.
• signs "milk" "all done" and "more."
• has hair long enough for a pig tail on top.
• looooves babies. She likes to snuggle her dolls as well as the real thing.  Her little cousins get so much love from her.  She is actually pretty gentle with them for the most part, talks to them in a high voice and gives them kisses and hugs.
• gives enthusiastic waves, great hugs, kisses, "winks"and just recently figured out how to give zerbits (sp?).
• folds arms for prayers.
• travels great in the car, less great on momma's lap on the plane...
• doesn't take much interest in shows.
• doesn't like tape or stickers or anything of the sort anywhere on her body.
• likes books a lot, but isn't super great at sitting through a complete reading.
• understands basically everything we say and sometimes chooses to follow requests.
• is an eager eater for the most part.  Bananas are a favorite, as well as cooked carrots, broccoli, pasta and cold cereal.
• still usually takes two naps a day and is still a great sleeper at night.
• has graduated from sleeping in the bathroom and now sleeps in the crib in the same room as Emmett.

A Celebration for Sister: Caroline's 1st Birthday

There is something so sweet about celebrating baby's first birthday.  We certainly had a wonderful (and memorable) time celebrating our Sweet Caroline.  {picture overload warning}

In planning the party, I had visions of a feminine, simple yet beautiful little party in a gorgeous setting.  Since I couldn't have it in my parents' backyard, I had my heart set on Duke Gardens--a gorgeous setting for our "pretty picnic party"--despite the number of challenges it presented. First of all, it was Duke graduation day, so there were bound to be lots of people around; second, there are no pavilions or tables; third, you have to haul all of your stuff from the parking lot into the gardens, which is a decent walk. However, our biggest concern for the day was the weather forecast:  scattered afternoon thunderstorms.  Each weather report varied a bit and all of them changed regularly through out the day.  We almost changed locations many times, but at the last moment decided that the forecast was looking favorable and the skies were clear; so we'd stick to our original plan.

We were happy to have lots of Schmutz family members in town for the party. We snagged parking despite the bustling crowds and staked a quiet corner of the gardens to set up our picnic. For the sake of clean clothes for pictures, we kicked things off with singing and blowing out the candle. For dinner, we each had individual picnic box lunches with sub sandwiches, and various salads in little mason jars. While eating, some ominous looking clouds started rolling in and we decided we had better get eating the cake. Our rather reserved but pleasant birthday girl was initially cautious about the cake, timidly trying out the frosting. However, once I sliced through the cake, she saw that it was actually "food" and started to dig in a bit more.  By the end she had made quite the mess and seemed to be enjoying it.

We had gotten through the essentials of the party (though certainly not the leisure time) when the first drops of rain began. Drops soon turned into a downpour. We sought refuge under some nearby trees, saving first the birthday girl (still in her little chair) and then the remaining birthday cake--priorities! We gathered a few other things but most of our picnic and all of her presents were left at the mercy of the pouring rain. At this point, the best option really was to just wait out the storm, which we hoped wouldn't last too long. Yahya stood over Caroline, shielding her from the rain with his suit coat. She wasn't too impressed with this shift in the party, but managed to still eat handfuls of cake between her tears. The tree covering only helped for a little bit and soon we were all soaked. Our guests maintained their good spirits while getting drenched. We laughed a lot, and all took forks to what remained of the cake.

The storm cleared after 10-15 minutes, leaving us with nearly exclusive use of the gardens, gorgeous skies, a perfect temperature and, unfortunately, a very wet picnic. Had we not had to deal with mess of completely soaked blankets and boxed lunches, I would have loved to spend an hour walking through the gardens. It was really so lovely once the rain stopped. We took a few minutes to open her birthday gifts before loading up the strollers with our dripping gear. We enjoyed a serene walk back to the cars and snagged a few group shots of our wet but cheerful group. The celebration may have been cut short, but it was certainly memorable.  So glad we could celebrate year one of our sweetest little girl.   

Caroline turns ONE

12-month stats
20 pounds, 6 ounces 

29.5 inches

3 teeth (two bottom, one incisor--a bit strange, no?)

It's amazing that we've gotten to love and squeeze and marvel at our sweet Caroline for an entire year already.  As much as I hate how fast the time goes, each new phase is just so much fun that it's impossible to wish her back to what she was even a week ago.  A few days ago I was chatting with Emmett about how Sis used to be a little tiny baby and now she is so big.  He responded by saying that we just love her even more now--which is pretty darn true.

At 12 month's old Caroline has entered the world of walking, taking her first real steps around 11.5 months.She has a darling wide-stanced walk, and she chooses to walk rather than crawl more and more each day. She is also climbing up and down the stairs, though lately she prefers to cry at the top of the stairs until someone carries her down. She nods and shakes her head, which is completely adorable and sometimes even does it in response to questions (probably not intentional, but super cute). She likes putting objects in and out of containers and kind of says mama and dada, though not convincingly with understanding. When she nursers, she tends to be rather acrobatic--always moving!  Also, she is a good little sleeper, sleeping through the night (7 pm-6 am) and taking two solid naps during the day.

Baby Sis currently loves blueberries and bottles of milk, and she's decided it's pretty neat to eat off a fork. She likes to read the same books over and over and over. Her favorites right now are Brown Bear, Brown Bear; Where are Baby's Easter Eggs and Llama Llama Hippity Hop. She also loves touch and feel books. Her favorite song is "Three Little Ducks."

Sweet Caroline has a feisty side. She uses her arms to swipe, stiff arm and even give the occasional smack (we repeat the word "softly" a lot). She also uses her arms to throw things, which is great if she's throwing a ball. It's less endearing when she is throwing remotes at your head or when she is in her high chair looking straight at you throwing every item of food off of her tray as fast as she can before you can get to her with a wash cloth. She has a great furrowed brow grumpy face that we can't help but grin at and has recently decided she no longer enjoys baths.

Caroline also has a wild side. She loves to wrestle her brother and be crazy on the couch.  This activity involves throwing herself recklessly back on the couch landing on the soft cushions and pillows (this activity requires intense supervision in order to keep her safely on the couch).

This girlie may be a bit reserved with her giggles and smiles; but she loves her mom and dad, and I'm sure that no one makes sis quite as happy as her brother does.  She gives great snuggles and kisses (still very much open-mouthed) and, in our opinion, the cutest one-year-old around.

Scrunchy smile

Big baby blues

Innocent face

Furrowed brow, mildly grumpy face 

A wide-stanced, high-stepping walk