Six months old!

Pensive Simon . . .

Happy Simon!

Sweet potato Simon- yum!

I can't believe Mr. Merrick is 6 months old already!  Time has flown by- much quicker with the third!  I can't believe how much he is changing every day.  Some of what he has been up to:  he loves making grunting noises to hear his voice, he's a mover and a shaker- he'll move all over his crib- rolling over front to back and back to front, he loves to bounce, he still does not want anything to do with a nuk/pacifier (I actually gave up on that a while ago!), he's been consistently sleeping 12+ hours during the night (knock on wood), he loves watching and interacting with his big brother and big sister- and Zero, he's a rock star when it comes to eating- he started cereal 6 weeks ago and he just had his first bite of sweet potatoes today and loved them!, he's still our little runt- but slowly moving up the curve (from 21% to 26% in weight at appt. this week!) 
I love watching them grow into their own little person!

Christmas Trees

We have two little Christmas trees that Ethan and Lucia decorated this year.   I did not help them decorate their trees aside from putting the hooks on the ornaments and handing them out.  I also wasn't paying too much attention where they were putting the ornaments because Simon was a little fussy.  So, here are their decorated trees- Lucia's is the top pictures, Ethan's is the bottom.  I chuckled when I saw Lucy's tree!   

Ethan did a pretty good job spacing his ornaments out.

Lucia chose to hang the majority of her ornaments on one branch- to each their own!

So tired!

I couldn't believe it when Jim called me into the living room to see what Lucia was up to!  She actually fell asleep in this position!  Jim moved her to the couch after I snapped a picture.

Thanksgiving

What a great Thanksgiving we celebrated!  First we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for meal #1.  It was great spending time with family and relaxing!

Jim and Grandma Sue- Thanks for hosting Thanksgiving Grandma and Grandpa- it was great!

Lucia and Mamma

Uncle Dave and Simon.  I think Simon enjoyed his first Thanksgiving!

Simon and Grandma Ginny getting reacquainted!

We ended Thanksgiving at Francesca and Jarrod's house for meal #2.  Another great meal and another great time with family and friends!  

Downtown Lights

The night before Thanksgiving, Nonna, Gigi, Bree, Ethan, Lucia, Simon, and I took a walk downtown to see the lights.  They sure were pretty!

What's better than running around Rosa Parks Circle when no one else is there?

Some of the shops decorated window displays

Ethan and Lucia running down the hills by the Ford Museum.  

Napping buddies

Lucia will rarely nap in her bedroom anymore- but she almost always falls asleep when cuddling with daddy!

Santa Parade

We braved the cold temperatures, bundled the kids up, and headed downtown this weekend for the Santa Parade.  Here's Lucia watching the big Elmo approach.  

 

Ethan, Simon, and Lucia- it was a beautiful morning!

"why are you doing this to me?"

Uncle Dave joined us at the parade

Simon and Mamma- he's having a  hard time containing his excitement!

The star of the show!  It was kind of cool- right at the end of the parade as Santa was coming towards us, the winds picked up and it started snowing- very fitting!

Boo!

Simon after a bath last week- he sure does love to stick his tongue out!

The last few weeks . . .

It was Ethan's turn to bring Mr. Bear home for the night last weekend (Mr. Bear goes home with all the kindergartners on a rotating basis, then they share with the class what Mr. Bear did with his host family).  Ethan and Mr. Bear spent a lot of time building with Lego's. 

I've been practicing my braiding technique in Lucia's hair.  I thought this wrap around french braid turned out pretty cool. 

Simon looking pretty cute!  He chews on everything- including his hands- I'm thinking more teeth are on the way!

Simon is the runt of our litter!  While Ethan and Lucia were consistently in the 90th percentile for height/weight, Simon's curve has taken a little dip!  At his 4 month check up a few weeks ago he was only in the 20th percentile for his weight and around the 80th percentile for height.  Simon does spit up more than Ethan and Lucia ever did, but his doctor did not seem too concerned by it.  We discussed starting some cereal a couple times per day to see how he handles it (I was actually thinking about starting him on cereal since he had been watching me like a hawk every time I ate- and he had cut his first teeth).  So, we started him on some rice cereal a few weeks ago and he has been loving it!  He has definitely taken to eating cereal a lot quicker/easier than Ethan or Lucia.  I'm hoping this helps fatten him up a little!

I should probably start strapping him in his bouncy seat!  He was using his feet to bounce up and down off the floor and was enjoying himself.

Ethan lost his 2nd front tooth at school earlier this week.  He sure does look different with all these missing teeth!

Lovely Lucia showing me her pretty smile!

Another one gone!

Ethan lost another tooth last week- gross!  We were driving home from school and all of the sudden he says "I think I lost my tooth."  I look back and sure enough he lost one of his front teeth.  We never did find it, so we left the tooth fairy a note explaining the situation- luckily she's a bit lenient and left him a surprise under his pillow :-)

Halloween

Despite the gloomy, rainy day we had for Halloween this year, the kids still had a lot of fun!  Ethan got to start his Halloween celebration off early with his school Halloween party.  I was able to go and help out and it was a lot of fun!  The party starts with a school parade through the hallways and gym.  Ethan was Iron Man (again!) this year- I love his toothless smile!

Ethan with his classmates and teacher at their Halloween party.

The Bradford cousins getting ready for their night of trick-or-treating!

Simon made a pretty cute elephant

We ended the night with dinner and trick-or-treating at Uncle Nick and Aunt Sunny's.  The kids had a great time!