Good news – we finally got a new computer so that I can begin updating posts regularly! You may recall that I have mentioned (on occasion) that we have multiple computers, but they are all old, and each one does something specific. For instance, one plays music, one get on the internet (but it was painfully slow and irregular). Well, I bought a $300 laptop that is pretty great! Definitly not fancy, but perfect for us right now!
I will leave you with an updated banner that shows our family of 4. And a few pics of the boys from our October photo shoot.
Just wanted to leave you with some Oliver pictures Brian took this week. I haven’t even changed the header on this blog, so the least I can do is show you his sweet smile since he isn’t represented up top. Also, I think we are having pictures take soon to hopefully correct the problem.
On a side note…Spencer has been a GREAT big brother this week! He has been being pretty rough with Oliver for the last two weeks, so on Monday, Brian told him he would get a special treat if he was kind to Oliver all day long (of course he wanted to know what the special treat was before he decided if it was going to be worth it or not…please see prior post on his decision making) and he did great – 4 days in a row!!
I need to show you Oliver’s new moves, but I don’t have a video of them yet. He “crawls” (scoots) great and can pull up the stairs on his own! He is still the happiest child ever! He is always such a blessing and loves his brother so much! He also says “dadadada” all the time. It is like Spencer’s “Ba.” Works for all communication!
By the way, I take back the part about him being a good sleeper though….we are still working on that!
Spencer loves singing! He sings lots of songs, but at dinner the other night he was singing Holy, Holy, Holy over and over again. By the time I got the video camera on, he was about done, but we caught a bit of it! You will also see at the end of his song the curiosty that goes through his head all the time. He is suspect when I tell him he can’t do something…..you can see him mull it over in his head then decide what he is going to do (“Is it worth me jumping or will I really get hurt? hmmmm?”). Another funny* characteristic about Spencer; he always wants to know the consequence of his actions before he decides if he will obey or not. He doesn’t obey much for the sake of obeying, but rather asks me what will happen if he doesn’t. Then, based on the consequence I state, he decides if he will be compliant or not.
Oliver is 6 months old! Can you believe it? He is so happy and scooting all over! I love his little silent giggles and open mouth, toothless smile! He is sleeping really well! He is such a blessing to our family and I am thankful daily for him!
Stats:
Weight: 21.3 Lbs (96% weight…chunky monkey!)
Height: 65% (can’t remember exact height)
head: 35% (Smith boys have small heads!)
Thank you, Leah, for the precious Gator outfit!!
Spencer is a great big brother (although too rough at times) and I am so grateful for both of my boys! He is hilarious right now and I usually have a funny Spencer story for Brian every night. Yesterday we went to the Dr. and the nurse looked in his throat with an audioscope (or whatever you call the tool with the light on the end). Well, Spencer promptly came home, found the flashlight, and has been shining it on everything. Then he says ” you feel better now?”
The first one is a story about Spencer’s new passion. He loves watching my very creative friend’s video. He LOVES to watch Beth and he even dances along a little – although when he watches it – he is very serious! I am pretty sure you guys will love the video as much as Spencer. He would like to tell you about it when you see him.
The second quick update is about the boys sharing a room. Oliver has been waking up quite a bit, so I thought maybe it was because he has outgrown his little bassinet. I thought he might be hitting the sides causing him to wake up. Out of a bit of frustration and not knowing what else to do, we decided to see if the boys were ready to share a room. Sunday night we decided to put them down at the same time and in the same room. It was a disaster and we have concluded they are not, in fact, ready to share a room.
7:30 – Oliver and Spencer are put in their respective cribs – we monitor with a video camera on each crib
7:33 – Oliver falls asleep
7:37 – Spencer climbs out to come see us
7:38 – we put Spencer back in bed and warn him not to come back out
7:39 – Spencer climbs out of his bed and onto Oliver’s crib – Oliver wakes up!
7:40- 8:50 – repeatedly try to get both boys asleep and in their own beds (all sorts of measures were tried)
8:51 – Finally, we put Oliver back in the bassinet in our room….and Spencer in his crib
8:52 within 1 minute both boys are asleep in their respective (different) rooms
We had a great July 4th weekend at the beach and I will upload pictures as soon as I get them from my sister. If it weren’t for Rebs, I am afraid we would have a quarter of the pictures we have.
In the meantime, I wanted to let you know about Spencer’s new favorite activity: storytelling! He loves to tell stories to anyone that will listen. The stories usually include interactions during the day mixed in with stories from his books. For instance, we saw one of our friends at Publix and she told us about a surfing accident she had over the weekend. Well, as you can hear below, it made it into Spencer’s story.
The story is pretty long – 6 minutes but Spencer is tracking with it the whole time. It is really funny! It changes direction around the 4:30 minute mark and lots of new characters are introduced (alligator, hippopotamus, etc.)
Just wanted to let you know that Oliver is now rolling over! I have a little video that Leah took on her mobile phone, but i can’t figure out how to get it to my computer. So you have to take my word for it.
Also, we had His 4 month check up yesterday with our favorite Dr. Middleton. Oliver is officially really chunky and very healthy! Both things I am grateful to God for. He weighs 18 lbs. 11 oz and is in the 97% for weight. He is 25 inches long and in the 55% for height. Haha, gotta love that ratio!
This is a picture Hannah took one day. He is a little tired here, but still smiling! Marty, is that exactly what Brian looked like as a baby? I imagine it must be.
Ok, I have taken a loooong break from blogging and during my hiatus, Oliver has grown up right in front of me! Last night I came to the realization that the process of me writing about the boys and the way they were changing (and uploading photos and videos) is such great documentation for us to look back on one day. I want to be able to click on September 2009 and see what he boys were up to. So, I am back to blogging and I will strive to be more consistent at it! I still don’t have a new computer, which handicaps me slightly, but I will work with what I’ve got.
Oliver has been such a precious addition to our family! He is really smiley as well as a great sleeper and eater. He is generally easy-going and good-natured. I love his wide, open mouth smile and how he cuddles when he is tired. I didn’t know Brian as a baby, but I am guessing Oliver looks just like him!
Spencer has been a great big brother! He loves on Oliver daily – often much too rough, but Oliver seems to respond better to Spencer than anyone. Oliver thinks everything Spencer does is funny and watches him constantly.
Spencer is officially a 2-year-old! He is quick to remind us that he is independent and can do most things himself. He is also quick to whine when he doesn’t get his way (he probably learned that from his two parents :). He is also completely precious and I love his strong-willed personality! He talks ALL the time and most of what he says is hilarious! He regularly asks other women if they have milk. Yep, that kind of milk. We have explained that only woman with little babies have milk, but he checks with everyone anyway. He also tells most everyone if they are a man or a woman and asks either their name or “what you do?” – meaning what is the person doing (i.e. bagging our groceries, checking us out at the store, etc.).
One of the things I have always loved about Spencer is his tenderheartedness. Last night the recipient was his stuffed animals. He sleeps with about 15 each night and he realized the little blue dog my mom gave him when Baby Oliver was born was sitting in Oliver’s crib by himself. He quickly grabbed him, hugged him and shared his “little blankie” with blue dog and invited him to spend the night in his crib (along with the other 15).
The other thing that is front and center in Spencer’s mind right now, and I am a little embarrassed to say this, is Blue’s Clues – the TV show for preschoolers. He LOVES every episode and asks to watch it all the time (he is allowed to watch one when he wakes up in the morning and one when he wakes up from his nap). He acts out the characters when he isn’t watching them and asks often if Joe can come play for pretend. I am not sure if I should take this as a very imaginative child, or one that needs to be socialized because his best friend is imaginary.
Also, as a quick recap to the last three months, Spencer has taken “Swimming lessons with Miss Patty” that he would love to tell you about. He “walked down the aisle with little Rachel” in his sweet and beautiful nanny’s wedding. He has adjusted to being a big brother and quickly reminds us that “Oliver is little.” Spencer can be found most days either painting, playing blocks, running through the sprinkler or playing with his T-ball. Oliver can either be found sleeping, eating, or putting toys in his mouth on the family room floor.
Just to officially make this the longest blog post yet, I wanted to write down a few things I am grateful for to continue my gratefulness journey:
1. Oliver is a great eater and good sleeper and all around healthy
2. giggles and splashes at bathtime
3. Oliver’s wide, open mouth smiles during pat-a-cake
4. Spencer patting Oliver
5. a few of Spencer’s favorite phrases
– where the honey be, Honey Bee?
– It’s mornin 🙂
– “one more time”
6. little clothes and shoes
7. little dinosaurs all over my house
8. a tender little boy who loves to pray to Jesus (and thank Jesus for funny things: his shirt, buttons, daddy’s big nose, baby Oliver)
Oliver is here and we are thrilled! He was born 2/26/2011 at 7:26 am. He weighed 8 lbs and 4 oz. He had (still does) a full head of dark brown hair just like his big brother did when he was born! He is precious and we are loving our new family of four! I am so grateful to God for this new blessing!
So far he has been fairly easy – as easy as newborns go. He sleeps well – we often get a 5 hour stretch at night. He eats well – already over 10 lbs. Spencer has been a WONDERFUL big brother! He is so caring and loves to hold him and “pet” him! He also loves to stick the pacifier in his mouth, but I don’t love that so much.
I realize that a blog post 4 weeks after Oliver arrived is lame, but I have to start somewhere. Here are a few pictures of the last 4 weeks. Also, even though you wouldn’t know it by reading this blog, we have been busy taking pictures and videos, so I will have more uploaded soon! I also included a picture of Spencer when he was born so you can compare the two boys. They are certainly brothers! I think they look really similar! Oliver has more hair and he was fuller from the beginning (Spencer was a pound smaller at birth). Both have the same eyes. What do you guys think?
life in your years 
