i can't stop smiling!

first, here's a photo of mercer and his giant bear friend from the american cancer society. mercer loves romping around with this big guy. he's so soft!

anyway, mercer came home today after seeing his family in new jersey. daddy spent an evening in new york and saw some fun things (such as a giant melting ice exhibit in cooper square, for example; completely by chance), but nothing compared to seeing mercer's beaming face again. after some snacks and a nap, the family did a little food shopping. pop made dinner for the grown-ups (rigatoni with chicken, spinach, and ricotta) while mommy fed mercer his dinner (some mushy stuff). he's very random when it comes to what he likes; one day he'll love avocados and choke at the sight of them the next.

one amazing development, however, is mercer being able to hold his bottle now. he can't do it perfectly, or even all the time, but he's proven that he can do it when he wants to. it's really unbelievable to see. to pop, it's quite a milestone representing a kind of tenuous step to independence (along with talking back, misbehavior, and other forms of disobedience). to watch mercer hold his own bottle and drink from it is out of this world, especially when images of a helpless, tiny newborn are still fresh in the mind. oh well, better to advance than regress.

a new poll is up. help us decide whether we should keep mercer's hair short, let it grow, or give him a beatle cut!

sleep tight...

avocado boy.

well, mercer finally ate some fresh food today. after limited success with green beans, squash, and applesauce, mercer devoured some smashed avocado and bananas tonight. at first, he squished the odd substances around his mouth trying to place the new texture. but his face beamed with delight and he opened his mouth for more, even when we supplemented each bite with oatmeal. good boy, mercer! the pre-packaged gerber foods are fine, but all natural is better. we'll keep it going as long as we can.

mercer is taking a quick trip to new jersey this weekend for some family functions. all of the grandparents are trembling with anticipation for some cuddling and kissing. he'll be in new jersey a bunch over the next few months since it'll be his very first holiday season. it's an exciting time, to say the least. maybe he'll even partake in the christmas goose! or blood pudding.

safe journeys, mercer.

mercerMusic:
maritime - "calm"

licking our wounds.

not much to report on today. team leonowicz is resting, eating chicken noodle soup (or pizza), and recovering. mercer is sounding much better in his nasal region and pop is getting a little bit better with the help of some tylenol. in fact, last night, pop probably took too much tylenol cough medicine and passed out on the couch all night. whoops! that's ok since pop never takes medicine so once in awhile is fine. he got a good sleep out of it.

mercer took a 2 hour nap on top of daddy today while he was watching champions league action on espn2. its hard for pop to decide whether mercer is cuter while sleeping (his tiny snores are adorable) or awake (his facial expressions any time of the day are priceless).

anyway, it' time for a proper sleep, now. sleep tight...

mercerMusic:
the weakerthans - "sun in an empty room"
the weakerthans - "a new name for everything"

disabled list.

sorry for the lack of updates, but team leonowicz has been out of sorts the past 24 hours. mercer has developed another nasty cough (not as bad as the last one, though) and some congestion, pop seems to have caught a head cold, and mom strained her back somehow. we're all a bit slow to get things done these days; pop might even have to borrow some of mercer's vicks rub.

despite mercer's condition, he's still managing to laugh and play, which is fine with us. more importantly, he's still sleeping through the night; though when he coughs loudly at 3am and wakes us up, he remains silently sleeping!

another thing we can't figure out while he's sick is whether he likes mom's homemade baby food. he seems to gag every time we give him some and the faces he makes are hilarious. we'll keep trying, that's for sure. now it's time for bed. mommy is reading mercer a classic right now: danny and the dinosaur. sleep tight...

mercerMusic:
illinois: "alone again"
menomena: "my my"

all natural.

another busy weekend for the big boy. our friend caroline came up from philadelphia and mercer had fun showing off all of his new skills and being cute. he developed a slight case of congestion/sniffles again on saturday night, but it's nothing too major. he's eating, smiling, and playing just as he normally would.

mommy made her first batch of homemade baby food tonight. applesauce was first and we don't know if he liked that too much. he doesn't really like fruit anyway, so we're not too surprised. we'll adjust the recipe and try again. but he did like the batch of sweet potatoes mommy whipped up. he ate most of what mommy offered, but started to gag a little bit and was whining for his formula bottle after awhile. it was a promising first attempt. bananas and green beans are next!

we're putting mercer to sleep a little earlier tonight because of the whole daylight savings thing. it's really quarter to nine now, but it's not - it's quarter to eight. whatever, i think mercer will be fine. mommy is reading him his favorite book: little pea.

mercerMusic:
white rabbits: "the plot"

sleep tight...

mercer the sandwich maker.

so, most of you think that mercer will at least grow up to be a fine sandwich maker. maybe he'll create the best sandwich ever made in the History of Sandwich Making, or maybe he'll open up his own chain of sandwich stores. or, maybe-and this would be great-he'll be able to make a mean cuban sandwich for his old man when he grows up. that would make me happy.

the rest of you thought he would be an outlaw and/or soccer player. maybe he'll be some kind of outlaw soccer player, creating havoc wherever he plays. anyway, stay tuned for the next poll, which should be just as fun.

mercer and mom are preparing for a visit from our friend caroline, who is making the big trip up from the city of brotherly battery-throwing, philadelphia. we're not sure what's planned yet, but it will surely involve lots of ooohing and ahhhing. mercer loves new faces. he also loves sitting up! he's doing this more and more without our help. how exciting and weird to think that he couldn't hold his head up just a few months ago.

have a good weekend and sleep tight.

mercerMusic:
spoon - "monkey feelings"

who's the standing baby?

no, mercer can't stand yet, but he's getting there. he can almost sit up all by himself and we let him sit in the running bath for a little while tonight. he loves the water just like his old man. pretty soon, he'll cry when we take him out.

mercer spent halloween in school and was supposed to be part of some kind of parade or party but it was all over by the time mom picked him up. we still have no idea whether the care takers dressed mercer up in his costume, but they give parents DVDs of the party, so we'll see what that action looked like.

mercer was a great baby for mom today. he was well-behaved and is napping in his crib regularly. he loves to squirm, inspect new items, and put them in his mouth. mom and dad have to be that much more attentive now.

mercerMusic:
jenny lewis and the watson twins: "the big guns"

sleep tight...