mimicry.

mercer is really starting to mimic almost everything we do. he knows how to blow kisses, kiss anything that we kiss first, put his finger to his mouth and say "sssshhh!!!," wave, clap, run around in a circle, shake his head "no" (he learned this first), dance, move his head to music (though he does this voluntarily most of the time), and a bunch of other things (wait until pop teaches him a chelsea chant when the soccer season starts).

he tries to mimic any sound he hears with his limited arsenal of grunts, whines, and yelps. at the local diner the other night, we were all enjoying our food (mercer was having turkey with gravy, mashed potatoes, and mixed vegetables) when a waiter standing a few yards behind us sneezed quite loudly. the whole diner was quiet afterwards and without missing a beat or turning from his food, mercer let out a great "HUURRRUMPPHH!" in response.

I must say, it sounded very close to the noise the waiter made and luckily, he didn't notice, but it's little things like that that make parenting fun. mom and pop couldn't stop laughing. it wasn't the noise that was funny, really, but the fact that mercer didn't miss a beat. it was all very matter-of-fact. a man sneezes and mercer mimics it. that's what he does.

and now it's lunch time.