a slow week.

it's been a slow week in mercerland. no dislocated elbows, no high fevers, no real drama of any kind. mercer is starting to say his "yes"'s much more clearly now. you can tell he is working scenarios over in his head after you ask him a question. he knows what he wants, that's for sure. some other highlights:

* he is going up and down steps quite easily now. going down, he still needs to hold mom or dad's hand. as he descends, he says "careful...careful..."

* he is starting to develop TV preferences now, which is scary. he doesn't watch all that much, but we're learning that he's not a huge fan of sesame street. he likes Blue's Clues because he likes holding his own notebook when the host draws in his famous handy dandy notebook.

* he likes crawling under the sheets naked.

* he is eating better (or more easily) these days. he is more willing to try new things, it seems. he is eating cheese now, which he never ever did as an infant or 1-year old.

* his memory is impressive. earlier this week, mercer and mom were sitting outside on the front steps eating a dark chocolate bar that grandpa got for him from IKEA. the next morning, as mercer and pop were saying goodbye to mommy on the front steps, mercer kept saying "Ah Clate!" he ran inside into the kitchen, threw open the refrigerator, and grabbed the chocolate from the night before. he wanted to eat chocolate on the steps again. unfortunately for everyone, it was 8am and the chocolate eating had to wait.