Miss Merritt

I'm trying to do a better job of taking pictures and posting them... but it seems like the only thing I have to take pictures of is Merritt in a cute onesie with a headband, on a sweet blanket in this one spot with nice light.

She's so so cautious about crawling. She won't attempt for things if they will require too much crawling--she's willing to go about 3 or 4 feet to get something.



I love the way she plops herself back down mid crawl to take a break. And I love Keaton in undies in the background.



Another day... another outfit.



This is about my favorite little romper in the world--I got it on ThredUp and she's wearing until I physically can't get it to snap anymore. I also love those two little chompers on the bottom.



Keaton, stealing the show as usual. I love the way he intensely plays with his toys--which is mostly growling since he still hasn't decided to talk much. I also love those curls. So much.

Silly Scott Kids

The boys wanted to take some pictures when I was doing Merritt's nine month pictures... and I'm so glad I let them. As per usual, they are a mess. I had just let Keaton take a bath because he got very sandy playing outside so his hair is in (awesome) wet ringlets and he's just in undies... and the two big boys are both wearing each other's shirts. Don't even care because the pictures crack me up so much.

I'd like to say that Keaton was in rare form... but that just isn't true. He's nuts like 90% of the time. He really wanted to knock everyone over, and as you can see, only one of his brothers was willing to ham it up with him. The other one was pretty much phoning it in.

I kind of gave up on Keaton being in a picture because he was really just wildly rolling around... but I love that he tried to sneak in anyways.

Tried to set him beside Finley, but he really just wanted to giggle and flop backwards. Finley and Braden BOTH wanted to hold Merritt and she was pretty sweet about being held by so many little boy arms.

Also? Finley--doing a pretty good job smiling. Braden--basically cute no matter what.

I tried to coach Braden on his smiling and this is what I got. Classic.

Once again, I gave up on Keaton. He was crawling around on the bed and hiding under pillows... until he wasn't. He popped up behind the boys... meaning I got some genuine smiles out of them and Merritt didn't cry. Miracle.

Then I had to break things up before Keaton pounced on my baby. She's so tolerant.

Merritt || Nine Months

There really aren't enough words to describe how I feel about this little person. I still kind of can't believe she's mine. She's so soft and so sweet and lovely and we all love her so much. Nine months is the point in my babies' lives that I turn into a slightly crazed mama--how did this happen to me? Where did my baby go? Who is this small human who is not a teeny newborn? How do I fix it and make them go back?



Bad news for all of us, time only moves in one direction. I guess I can live with that because Merritt really is better every day.



She still sucks her thumb and rubs her arm while she's sucking it. Sometimes she's mad when I put her in her carseat--she generally yells for a few seconds then sucks her thumb and is over it. I think the thumb sucking has helped her be a good sleeper--she's been on a roll of sleeping ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE NIGHT. I generally put her down around 8, and don't hear from her until somewhere between 5 and 9. If she wakes up closer to 5, she'll sleep for a few more hours. She nurses when she wakes up, before her naps and bedtime and is doing a good job of eating real food. She loves yogurt and avocado and freeze dried fruit.



She learned how to blow raspberries and will do it on command and its so adorable. (See video proof... also I need to learn how to manually focus, sorry.)





Merritt is getting quite a bit stronger and braver about moving around. She used to roll all over the place, but after she got the hang of sitting she kind of stopped rolling. She's started considering crawling--and true to her personality, she's not going to do it until she can do it well. She'll take a few little steps forward and can definitely get things, but she's very cautious about it. She can get herself into sitting now, which still surprises me when I go to get her out of bed and she's sitting in it.





As I was taking these pictures I kept thinking her hair looked a bit red... I'm not sure where that's coming from, but it's cute. I don't think it's actually red.



Love you Miss Merritt! Oh and for the record... the boys call her Meri and Meri-Pie. I debated for a long time about if we'd spell it with one R or two Rs... and one R won. But I also reserve the right to change my mind if we decide to go with Merri.

Last Day of School

Well, some things never change. Namely, my eldest's snaggle teeth and inability to smile.



He had a great first year at Veritas. His teacher adored him and told us several times that he was the brightest student she had ever taught--although we suspect his incessant chattering may have led to her decision to retire this year. All joking aside--we were so glad that Finley was in a classroom where his teacher thought he was bright and challenged him. He learned so much and is just a really cool kid.



I think he was looking into the sun which contributed to the squinty weird faces... but I kind of decided if he is going to make those faces, I'm going to put them on the blog to be preserved for all of time.



He eventually stopped complaining about having to wear collared shirts. I'm really excited to put sweet little Braden in them next year!



And the big Class of 2027 shirt!



He might have grown a little bit.



And sweet Braden. He had a great year at Trinity and will join Finley at Veritas in the fall. Why is his smile so cute!



He loved going to school--he was so happy to see his teacher and friends every day. He didn't love going to early drop off on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but he went--with lots of protesting.



We went back and forth on what to do for him for kindergarten--his preschool has a Bridge-K program that lets kids get another year of preparation before they head to kindergarten. We've heard such good things about it and because Braden has a late birthday, we considered it... but ultimately decided to send him to school with Finley. He's thrilled--although I don't think he knows what he's in for. I'm a bit nervous about homeschooling both of them next year, but we will figure it out.



He lost his first tooth a few days before the last day of school and was SO PROUD.



Guess what--its impossible to get a picture of all four of them without some help. But how cute is Merritt? And their little blond heads? I love them.



They love her.



I tried to get pictures of Keaton too, but he just wanted to sit with his siblings--not stand on the porch. So I gave up. I may try again with him... but also he's two and it doesn't really matter if he doesn't have last day of school pictures. I think he'll forgive me.

Merritt loves Texas.

Obviously, Merritt is a whole new world for us. She wears bows. Her clothes are new. Knowing that there's not a parade of sweet Scott girls to pass them down is a bit sad and makes every outfit she outgrows a little heartbreaking. Every time she's dressed extra cute Sol harasses me and says, "You are taking pictures of all her outfits, right?" And I tryyyy and I need to do better. Because it's a lot easier to keep pictures than the actual outfits.



Anyways, I did manage to get the camera out and take a few pictures of her playing with the great state of Texas. As you can see, it's delicious and just the right shape and size for gnawing on.



She had just gotten the hang of sitting in these pictures--and my goodness, I never want to forget those sweet thighs. I'm glad she giggles when I squeeze them because that's all I ever want to do.



She's a joy. That's all.

Boston

We arrived in Boston so late on a Friday night--so late it was technically Saturday morning. The flight was a bit rough. For some reason Keaton and my boarding passes wouldn't scan, so Sol took Finley and Braden through security while I went back and got our boarding passes reprinted. Although by the time I got there, our flight was closed and they couldn't print them. I turned into a crazy person and managed to get the supervisor on the phone and basically demanded they reopen the flight. They told me they could reopen it but there was no way I'd make it in time. And I said, CHALLENGE ACCEPTED. I was carrying Merritt and Keaton and literally ran through security and the airport and Sol had to basically stall and physically block them from closing the door to the jetway. But I made it, and then we all stood on the jetway for like five minutes waiting to board. It made lots of sense. BUT I MADE IT. And then Keaton puked on me on the flight. So basically, it was awesome.

But! The next morning we headed into Boston to go to the Expo and buy all the things. Oh and I bought all the things. Sol's parents were randomly in Boston and we overlapped with them for just a few hours, so we all met at Fire and Ice for lunch. Vic ordered me some AMAZING donuts that Maya delivered as well. Oh man. They were insane.



We intended to go to our old church Sunday morning--we were just staying a few blocks away. But Keaton puked again, so we decided to stay in and let him recover. We did meet our old bible study friends for lunch, which was lovely. We all did bible study together as newlyweds and its so fun to see everyone as parents of busy kids now!



The marathon was Monday, and I insisted on Giacomo's with Alex and Heidi for dinner. Strangely, there was no line when we got there, making our coffee cup wine a little less imperative. I wore my jacket (because everyone wears the jackets forever) and my medal (breaking my rule about no more wearing the medal after you shower) and it was a good thing--because the girls at Pinkberry closed up a few minuets early and then let us in and gave us free quarts of yogurt when I pouted and held up my medal. Also, props to the best waiter ever who stood on a chair to get a picture of us with our food in all its glory.



As you recall from the previous post--we saw the ducks. And rode the swan boat.



While the marathon was unseasonably warm, the day after the marathon, when we planned to do the Freedom Trail and explore Boston was chilly and less fun for our Texas kids. We tried really hard to do the Freedom Trail, but we ended up being cold and slightly grumpy... so we'll try again next time. Miraculously, my legs felt great!
 

We swung by Harvard Square and all touched John Harvard's toe.



And we spent lots of time zipping around on the T. The boys liked riding the train and did pretty well on it. After much debate, we opted for no stroller and definitely think that was the right call. We generally carried Merritt and Keaton everywhere and had a backpack for our stuff. The stroller would have been cumbersome and slow--we were much quicker walking around. And Finley and Braden were troopers walking everywhere!



It was a great trip and great to see so many friends and family! Next time... we may leave the kids at home. :)

Merritt || Eight Months

Look at this precious nugget. Just look at her. It's a miracle I haven't eaten her yet, she's so sweet.



Braden was around for these photos so he snuck in for a few--he is just so sweet to her. He's sure she's a princess (I think he's right) and he's always willing to sit and play with her and read her books. It's adorable.



Her biggest skill in month 8 is sitting! She's a fairly trustworthy sitter these days--I don't feel the need to surround her with pillows anymore. Her dismount is a bit clumsy, so sometimes she whacks her face on the floor when she's going for a toy... but she's getting better and better.



No actual scooting or crawling yet--just those ninja moves where you leave the room and they are nowhere close to where you left them when you get back. Although since she's figured out sitting, she hasn't had the desire to be quite as mobile.



She has sweet legs with just enough chunk to squeeze and her hair keeps coming in--I think its got some curl in the back. Just like I wanted.



She got her fifth tooth and sometimes thinks solid foods are fun. She'll sit in the high chair and hold food... but isn't real motivated to put it in her mouth. She'll let me spoon feed her things, but isn't wildly excited about it. Her sleep improved when the tooth popped through--she slept the WHOLE WAY through the night for about three nights... and now I suspect there's another tooth coming through because she's back to her old tricks.



She still likes to suck on her thumb and gnaw on her hands.



She's definitely become opinionated--she'll fuss when I take things away from her that she can't have (she's great at finding every tiny piece of fuzz and trash on the floor) and she lunges for things while I'm holding her. It's fun to see her have preferences!



The next three pictures were taken like 15 seconds apart. Babies, man.



She's a fairly good napper when our schedule allows it--I try to get her two good naps at home and the last one is generally in the car. She's nursing a little better--and does much better when its right before or after a nap when she's tired.



She's a jewel! Her sweet smiles and soft little hands make me want a million of her.