Merritt at 3 Months

Merritt is already 3 and a half months old, and I can't believe it!  It sounds so old and so young at the same time. 

She is such a happy baby, who talks a lot and loves her bouncy seat.  She would bounce herself out of it, if we didn't strap her in.  She goes to sleep at night around 8:00 now.  She easily will soothe herself to sleep.  This has started since she's been able to get her thumb to her mouth.  She is definitely a thumb sucker, like her mama was.  If she doesn't go back to sleep right after her middle-of-the-night feeding, the bathroom fan still comes in handy.  It puts her right to sleep.

She is a huge Sims fan!  She loves to watch him do about anything.  She watches him intently while leaning toward him and smiling so big.

Her hair is coming back in really quickly.  I love how it sticks straight up on top.  It's coming in much darker than Sims hair did. 

She can hold her head up really well now.  Next step - sitting up on her own!  We can tell that she is working on it already.  She always wants to see what is going on.  She prefers to be held where she can face out and see everything.

Her transition to day care has been seamless.  They have a bouncy seat, so she is happy.  She has no problem taking a bottle.  This girl loves to eat!

Throwing up some mystery gang signs

Here are some of her 2 month pictures for comparison.

What a difference a month makes!  She is growing so fast, and we are enjoying every moment!

Christmas 2013

This is the last Christmas post.  Promise! 

We had a wonderful, busy Christmas week.  Instead of having you read all the details, I'm just going to show some pictures.



Aunt Tina finally met Merritt!

I hope you had a fantastic and special Christmas!

Holiday Concert

Sims' class performed a holiday concert this year, and all of the families were invited.  Sims has gotten really into singing lately, which makes me happy.  He never wanted to sing much before, but he loves to sing now.  He even wanted us to sing Jingle Bells and Winter Wonderland last night.  I guess we will be singing Christmas songs all year long.

This year's holiday concert also included a Hanukkah song, which seems to be one of Sims' favorites.  He even wanted to sing it as we decorated the small Christmas tree in his room, and how could I say no?

Here's a video of the group singing Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer.  When they get to the part when they are playing "instruments", you can imagine me laughing so hard I was crying because that's exactly what I was doing.



Priceless!

Christmas Pageant

This year both of our children were in our church's Christmas pageant.  It was magical, to say the least.  Sims was a shepherd, and Merritt was the baby Jesus.

It will be a couple of years before they are both in the pageant again, which made this year extra special.  Sims loved the shepherd's staff that he got to use, and he keeps talking about how he wants to be a shepherd again next year.  Merritt slept through her entire stage debut and looked like an angel (if I do say so myself).  It was a wonderful evening. 

October Recap

I know it's way past October, but I didn't want to forget all the activities that we (mainly Sims) did then. While Jason and I were busy taking care of newborn Merritt, Sims did all sorts of special things.

A week after Merritt was born, Sims' preschool took a field trip to a nearby pumpkin patch.  Thankfully, my mom was able to be Sims' chaperone.

The next week, Sims went to the state fair with my mom, Neely and Isla.  The kids had a blast, and Sims got to experience carnival rides for the first time.  He even rode a roller coaster!

Sims is in the front seat of his first coaster ride.  Brave kid!

Sims still wanted to visit the pumpkin patch we always go to as a family.  I think he didn't want to miss playing in the huge corn crib.  So we took a trip there with Mom and Smith.  There are no pictures of Merritt on this trip because she slept the whole time.  It was her first farm visit, but she didn't see a thing.  Next year!

For Halloween, Sims wanted to be Jake the pirate (from Jake and the Neverland Pirates). He loves pirates right now, and he had a great time being Jake.  It was also an easy costume for us, since he could use a lot of what we already had around the house.

Merritt didn't wear a costume, but she was still dressed for the occasion in her Peek A Boo ghost onesie.

Sims got to wear his costume to parties at our church and his school.  He really got into trick or treating this year and did a great job.  In a couple of years, he will have a trick or treating partner!