happy new year.

as the title says, happy new year! we're going to take a day or two off to get festive. we'll probably try and sleep in as long as we can on new years day (7AM), maybe take a walk if it's nice, have a good dinner out, and then hit the sack. it sounds rather dull, but any day with mercer is full of excitement.

behold.

mercer looked adorable on christmas morning, didn't he? and look at all those presents he got to tear through. what a lucky young man.

there's a new poll up! what should mercer's resolutions be for the new year?

the eyes have it.

mercer had his first eye checkup today. normally, 8-month old babies don't have their eyes checked, but pop has been paranoid about mercer's left eye for awhile now. it's slightly smaller than the right and during sick spells or tiredness, the eye looks much different than the right. the eyelid droops quite a bit. anyway, pop was worried that if too much of the eyelid drooped, it would cover important parts of the eye, causing laziness (lazy eye).

the office we visited was fantastic - maybe the best pop has ever been in - and the doctor even better. she got mercer to concentrate very easily and was able to examine him long enough to tell us that there's nothing wrong except slight asymmetry in the skin surrounding the left eye, which everyone has if you look hard enough. she was able to see signs that he might need glasses later on like mom and pop, but we kind of expected that. long story short, mercer's eyes are developing perfectly and there's nothing to worry about. we'll confirm that for sure in 4 months when we re-visit.

another interesting thing she confirmed is that mercer's eyes make him look much more mature than he is. his eyes never had that infant "doe-eyed" look; rather, his were almond-shaped right off the bat. it caused many (including us) to think of him as older than he really is! still, he's an old man now! 8 months!

mercerMusic blowOut:
okkervil river - "our life is not a movie or maybe"
jens lekman - "postcard to nina"
the arcade fire - "keep the car running"
feist - "1 2 3 4"

holiday hangover.

mercer is back home after his first successful christmas. team leonowicz is pretty tired on the whole, but they had great fun during the last week. they visited new hope, pa, went to an annual family holiday party (this year hosted by aunt becky and uncle toby), saw lots of friends, new and old, like scott, brian, rachel, greg, and laura, some more family members, and got some great presents from mema, papa, grandma, grandpa, and plenty of others. mercer seemed more interested in the boxes and wrapping paper than the gifts themselves, but he's getting there.

pop used a new toy for bath time tonight: a pig washcloth. mercer has never laughed so hard in the tub before. pop laughed quite a bit, too. every time pop made the pig talk or washed mercer's neck, mercer went berserk! it was an extra long bath time today!

it's almost back to busy life for the gang, but we still have one more holiday to go: celebrating the new year. we'll be blogging nightly anyway, counting down the hours to 2008, a year that will feature tons of new milestones for little mercer: walking, talking, eating more foods, misbehavior, bigger beds, bigger houses? we shall see.

mercerMusic:
the hoosiers: "goodbye, mr. a"

sweet and sour.

mercer had a pretty good day yesterday. we think day care messed up his feeding yesterday, so we had a talk with them this morning. what happened was that they supposedly fed him applesauce and squash. only we never gave them applesauce to feed him. plus, they said they fed him 18 ounces of formula, yet when we got home, he sucked down another 8 ounces, which is very uncharacteristic of a teething baby. something is definitely fishy. his normal daytime caretaker was out yesterday, but she's back in today, so hopefully the ship will be righted.

mercer was in fine spirits despite the mix-up. he was rolling around the house like a tumbleweed, laughing and giggling. we read a story at night and he was all smiles. but for some reason, he woke up twice during the night. mommy was very tired but got up to gently soothe mercer back to sleep. pop slept through everything, basically, proving he is useful only to make mercer laugh. oh well.

also - mercer is now 8 months old!

cliché.

mom and pop have been lucky enough to experience a lot of great things in their young lives.

they have traveled a good deal. in america, they have visited places like seattle, san francisco, portland (maine and oregon), boston, houston, nashville, philadelphia, tampa bay, baltimore, washington dc, chicago, new york, pittsburgh, providence, cape cod, virginia, burlington, and orlando. overseas, they've been to london, berlin, frankfurt, paris, montreal, amsterdam, the dominican republic, edinburgh, oxford, cologne, florence, siena, hamburg, munich, pisa, quebec city, nurenberg, and let's not forget, mannheim. they've seen tony award-winning musicals and have been to the tony awards. they've been to major league baseball games to see barry bonds juice one out of the park and minor league games to see the first base coach ejected to the team bus. they've seen major soccer and tennis tournaments, football games, hockey, civil war reenactments, and maybe even some figure skating. they've eaten great food in some great restaurants on two continents. mom and pop even graduated from high school AND college. pop even has a master's degree! they've marched in parades, volunteered for soup kitchens and other charities, lived in 4 different states, met celebrities and famous musicians, visited theme parks, watched live tapings of late night talk shows, watched great classical music at lincoln center, stayed in great hotels and some not-so-great hostels, hiked mountains, and relaxed on beaches. oh yes, mom and pop also got married and had a great wedding.

none of this beats playing with mercer on the living room floor.

random.

some random things.

-mom and pop went shopping today and thought that their car got stolen when they went back to the parking garage. turns out we were parked on a different level. the things that go through your mind when you think your car got stolen are amazing.

-mom and pop saw ric ocasek of the band the cars, in soho the other day. he was going into the apple computer store on prince street.

-did we miss all the christmas shows? do they show them before thanksgiving now?

-mercer hasn't sat up by himself again since yesterday. we're waiting with the camera.

-mercer is pretty darn cute. he looks very old for his age, too. and big.

-mom and pop can tell exactly what mercer wants/needs with each of his different whines.

-sleep tight...

sit-ups.

mercer sat up by himself for the first time today.

pop was in china star, waiting for an order of kung po, steamed chicken and broccoli, and won ton soup when he called mom at home to see if she wanted a diet dr. pepper.

"he just sat up."

"what?"

"just this minute, right when you called. he sat up by himself."

pop looked at his cell phone. 6:10pm, december 13, 2007. mercer jackson sat up by himself! pop was proud but cursing himself for wanting kung po chicken after watching an episode of seinfeld.

here's how it happened. mercer was in the living room on his hands and knees, as has been commonplace recently, when his butt shifted back a little more onto his foot. then, boom, his foot slipped out from underneath and he was up on his own. smiling. sitting up. all by himself.

we've got a big boy on our hands. and two cans of diet dr. pepper.

sleep tight...

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.

so, mercer has discovered the joys of sesame street. before we brought him to day care this morning, we flipped on PBS and came upon cookie monster, bert, ernie, and the whole gang. mom and pop don't normally encourage TV watching like this, but in a span of 20 minutes, we learned about paris, french market culture, the letter g, fruits, vegetables, the importance of exercise, the spanish word for "cat," counting to 6, and probably a few other things. mercer was giggling and waving his hands so much every time he saw grover that he fell over! it's really a fantastic show. in the photo here, mercer is watching cookie monster eat (what else?) a giant cookie.

another day, another giggle.

mercer had a good time in day care today. he is still coughing a little bit here and there, but he's toughing it out. we can't imagine how painful new teeth pushing through gums must be, but mercer is being a real trooper. he doesn't have a good appetite, but he's still playing and babbling on.

we bought mercer some special holiday pj's today that might just be the cutest things ever. we can't wait to unveil them when we take some pictures of mercer in front of the christmas tree. he's going to look so cute playing with his wrapping paper and boxes on christmas day. stay tuned for that.

mercer will be in day care tomorrow and the next day because of work and things like that, but everyone loves the little mercerBox, so they'll be glad to see him; who wouldn't?

sleep tight...

mercerMusic:
say hi - "northwestern girls"

manchester orchestra - "wolves at night"

who's the teething baby?

mercer, that's who.

it turns out that mercer's cold-like symptoms are due to teething. at least that's what the doctor says, but what does he know? apparently, mercer has a bunch of upper teeth on the way that could be giving our little creature some trouble. he's still coughing a lot, but we got a humidifier today to try and help that out.

mercer is playing in his toy car/walker right now, honking and beeping away. we're all getting ready for christmas, which is right around the corner! in between the feedings and changings, mom and pop are wrapping gifts and ordering a few last minute gifts online. no one can wait until mercer's first christmas arrives! pop just got a call from santa last night, who said that mercer has been a very good boy this year.

sleep tight..

two front teeth.

two bottom front teeth, that is.

mercer has two bottom teeth coming in fast and furious now. he hasn't really shown any signs of discomfort or drooling. it's funny to see him smile and laugh and catch glimpses of two pearly whites in the midst of all those gums.

mercer had quite the weekend. before visiting the grandparents back in new jersey, the family stopped off for a quick visit with santa, who somehow found enough time to snap a few shots with some snot-covered kids. the result is what you see here. mercer was distracted by all of the people and twirly-gigs around him, but he didn't cry and was somewhat indifferent to the whole thing. still, he's very cute.

then on saturday, after spending a good morning with MeMa and PaPa, he helped grandma and grandpa decorate the family christmas tree. mercer began showing some signs of sickness earlier in the weekend, however, and was coughing quite a bit. then, early sunday morning, pop found that mercer had thrown-up all over his pack and play without even breaking his sleep! how interesting and very dangerous. mercer normally sleeps very well, but you would think that a baby would give a little cry over something like this.

mercer is back at home base now and feeling better. he got a lot of naps in and is getting ready for bedtime. as a precaution, mom will bring mercer to the doctor tomorrow to see if anything is really wrong. but, mercer is smiling, playing, and giggling like usual.

sleep tight...

likes and dislikes.

mercer likes:

squash, green beans, carrots, formula, avocado
peek-a-boo
bath time
being on his belly
toys
slapping people in the face
laptop keyboards
soccer on tv
remote controls
phones
DVDs
magazines
monkeys
dinosaurs*
cold temperatures
pears
nap time
mommy
screen savers
guitars
standing
being bitten on the belly and legs
being tickled under his armpits
chewing on stuffed animal tails
blabbering
new faces
blankets during sleeping
books
hugs

mercer dislikes:

philadelphia


*a lot

mean streak.

we picked up mercer from day care today and we could tell right away that he was very tired. as soon as we got home, mom brought him upstairs to the sleeping chamber so he could get a nap. this kind of annoys us because day care doesn't let him sleep properly. therefore, we have to pay for it at night by not being able to have him awake as much as we'd like for playtime.

so anyway, mom got him sleeping on the master bed while pop prepared some dinner. dinner was had and mercer was still sleeping, but it was approaching his dinner time as well. we decided to wake him up. big mistake. he was fast asleep and did not appreciate the uninvited intruders. we tried to play with him but he started crying and whining. then we tried to feed him a bottle and he swatted it away. then we tried solid food and he was too busy crying to even notice it. finally, mommy picked him up and he calmed down. we tried the bottle again and he drank a good 8 or so ounces of formula. no solid food tonight.

after the bottle it was mercer as usual. lots of smiles, giggles, and fun times. now we're reading "goodnight moon" to him and trying to warm up the bedroom. it's a cold night! sleep tight...

peek-a-baby.

mercer loves playing peek-a-boo. last night, pop was hiding at the foot of the bed, popping his head and up and down. mercer, who was belly-down on the bed, giggled each time he saw dad's head pop up. but he also shuffled his way across half the bed to find daddy. a few months ago, mercer would've just thought that daddy kept disappearing into thin air. now, mercer understands that daddy is simply hiding. that's called object permanence; knowing that objects exist even if they're not visible. congratulations, mercer! you're learning!

all else is well in mercerland. he had a great day in day care, as usual. he's still fascinated by the christmas tree and we're going to be taking pictures of him with the tree soon.

a growing boy needs his shuteye. sleep tight...

girls weekend!

mercer had lots of visitors this weekend. in alpha order, aunt alyssa, azure, katie, and nicole were in town to give mercer some snuggles. aunt erin was able to join in over the phone all the way from the magical land of "oregon." the gang did their annual holiday get-together thing as well as some shopping, eating, and laughing. everyone got a kick out of mercer and thought he was very cuddly.

pop doesn't know too many of the details because he high-tailed it to new jersey to hang out with uncle jon and aunt meredith (mercer has more aunts and uncles than the cosby's had grandparents). they had fun eating, drinking, shopping, and indulging in other various forms of merriment, such as going to a local hockey game. who goes to see hockey when it's freezing outside? crazy people, that's who. it was fun.

in the past few weeks or so, mercer has seen his first snowfall and christmas tree. he is very curious about the tree, and not just because of the lights. he stares at it, puts his hand out to touch a branch, and then immediately pulls his hand back because he's feels prickles. it's very cute.

we also gave mercer his first taste of lemon the other night. all of the effort that goes into raising a baby is worth it when you see their reaction to sour lemon! mercer was so cute. he puckered up a little and cocked his head back. his eyes got a little scrunchy, too. he didn't mind it, though, so we gave him a little bit more. we'll try it again soon.

another week is upon us. time for a rest.

lank.

mom came home from her business trip today and mercer was excited to see her. so was daddy! pop took the day off to spend it with mercer and they basically wasted it napping and lounging. actually, that sounds like a fun, relaxing day.

the family did a little shopping in the afternoon and picked out their christmas tree on the way home. it was mercer's first christmas experience and he spent it napping. oh well. he seems puzzled by the presence of a large tree in the living room, but he'll get used to it, as we all have.

mom plans on stringing the lights tonight and we'll decorate it tomorrow while wearing our matching red turtlenecks, sipping apple brandy, and staying warm by the fireplace. ok, we don't have the turtlenecks, brandy, or fireplace, but we do have the tree. we'll just stick with that. let the christmas season begin.

sleep tight.

male bonding.

mommy is away on business, so it's just us guys living it up for the next couple of days. dishes are piling up, garbage is being left out, high-fives are being exchanged, and questionable characters are coming in and out of the house. just typical guy stuff. tomorrow we're going fishing and then we're going to haul some concrete around in our pick-up truck.

of course, that's all false. except for mom being away. basically, mercer came home from school happy, played a bit, ate, played some more, and is now sleeping. nothing eventful at all. he was in great spirits and very cute today. pop thinks he'll sleep straight through the night again because he didn't take any naps after school. sweet, slumbering mercer.

sleep tight...

the first pearl.

over the thanksgiving holiday, mom and pop discovered that mercer's first tooth had broken through. mom had suspected something a little while ago as she was feeding mercer with a metal spoon. she thought she felt or heard something against the spoon, but couldn't see anything. PaPa had suspected something as well, but we finally saw the tooth on november 21st. it is along the bottom row, which is where they usually come in first. mercer hasn't been overly agitated or drooly recently, so again, we're very lucky that mercer is such a good guy. we're going to put him and his tooth to good use by opening canned goods.

mercer is whining his way to bedtime now, listening to mom recite curious george and the big city, which contains a number of great new york city landmarks (empire state building, guggenheim, rockefeller center, etc.). soon, mercer will be slumbering, clutching his cuddly blanket.

mercerMusic:
ingrid michaelson - "the way i am"

roll call.

mercer would like to thank all of the friends and family members who helped make his first thanksgiving so memorable. he even got his very own gobbling turkey toy and was so happy to see all the fun, smiling faces.

mercer can't wait to see grandma and grandpop, MeMa and PaPa, uncle quinn, great aunt vicki, aunt becky, aunt jen, uncle matt, uncle toby, great aunt karen, great aunt amy, margie, brian, scott, uncle rob, aunt amy, kayla, and nathan again soon!

it's been a long and exciting holiday. time for some sleeping.

the gobbler.

mercer and company are getting ready to see family and friends for thanksgiving. this blog will be inactive for the next few days while we eat, drink, and get merry.

we've changed formulas and mercer is becoming much more regular than before. for those who don't know, mercer had a lot of problems when he was a very young cub. days and days would go by without anything "passing" and mom and pop always worried. mercer never showed any signs of discomfort until it was time to take care of business. now that we switched from similac to nestle good start, things have been - how should we say - running smoothly. sorry to be so revealing, but hey, this is mercer's diary as well as his blog. it's been a pretty important part of his life so far (unfortunately) and we'd like to document his improvements! mom and pop think everything is back on track now. we also think that the introduction of mango, spinach, squash, and the like have helped out quite a bit, too.

on that delicious note, happy thanksgiving from team leonowicz. mercer is looking forward to sitting at the table with all the grown-ups and eating some squash.

mercerMusic:
chris walla - "sing again"

sleep tight...

early to bed, late to rise.

for the past week or so, mercer has been getting tired a little bit earlier each night. on top of that, he's been wanting to sleep late every morning. he'll wake up at his normal time, talk, and rustle around a little bit in his crib. but then he can go right back to sleep, which is odd for him. the same goes for if we have to get him up for day care. we can change his diaper and dress him, but he'll fall right back asleep on pop's chest if you let him! so tonight we're trying to put him to bed a little bit earlier so our growing boy can get some more sleep. we'll see how it works. we'll keep you posted, of course.

the latest poll is over! most of you thought we should keep mercer's hair short when it decides to grow back. letting it grow wasn't far behind and a few jokesters even voted for the mullet. we'll see what his hair looks like when it really starts coming in, but I think I can guarantee there will be no mullet.

mercer saw his first snow this morning. another of mercer's many firsts.

mercerMusic:
the arcade fire with bruce springsteen - "keep the car running"

at home with mercer.

mercer spent a playful and fun weekend baking holiday cookies with MeMa, aunt becky, and aunt jen. they made congo squares, peanut butter surprises, chocolate chip-raisin-walnut oatmeals, cranberry-orange oatmeals, chocolate pretzel bark, and a few more. pop spent the weekend in pennsylvania with jeff, brian, scott, and his wife rachel. he's still sore from an intense session of wallball, but he'll live; much fun was had by all.

mercer was a treat all weekend and well-behaved for his guests. he was so excited when dad got home, too. they played for a long time until mercer realized he was hungry and started to whine a little bit. after a snack, mercer took a long nap. he was then snuggle-tag-teamed by mom and pop at 7 to ensure that he would be awake for his nightly ritual. he was startled at first, but smiles, giggles, and snuggling ensued.

on another note, mercer is now seven months old! a new kodak gallery will be sent out shortly. stay tuned for the cuteness.

mercerMusic:
st. vincent - "these days" (cover)

sleep tight...

session player.

each night, after pop is finished bathing the little juice box, he lifts him up from his tub chair, kisses him on his wet, clean face, and says, "good shower session, buddy." who knows how it started, but it's become part of mercer's nightly routine since he was 1 month old. it's not really a shower, but it sounds good, and mercer smiles every time he hears it.

anyway, mom returned from her business trip somewhat unscathed; there is still a little matter to resolve regarding enterprise rent-a-car, but that's another story. pop fixed up some turkey burgers with french fries to eat while mercer played with his chewing toys and soccer ball. he has really taken to the soft soccer ball. he giggles every time he sees it spin around and loves shoving it in his face.

if this post seemed somewhat disjointed, it's because we're all pretty tired here at camp leonowicz. we're going to hit the sack. sleep tight...

one fine mercer.

mercer was absolutely perfect for pop today. he ate all of the food he was supposed to eat, slept when daddy put him down, and played during playtime. no fuss, no crying, no messes. when mommy got home, we all went out to pick up a rental car that mommy needs for work tomorrow. she's going on a trip to albany, so mercer needs to spend an extra day in day care this week. no matter, because next week, he's only in the Big House for one day. mercer can't wait for thanksgiving.

after we picked up the car (a nissan pathfinder!), pop got a haircut, and then the gang went to a favorite pizza joint. everyone stuffed their faces, including mercer, who chomped down sweet potatoes and corn. we can't wait until mercer can eat pizza and all sorts of good things. it'll be here before we know it.

now mercer is getting his nightly rubdown and snack. sweet dreams, big guy.

mercerMusic:
sondre lerche and regina spektor - "hell no"

blood on my hands (and shirt).

well, mercer was very excited and happy when we picked him up from day care today. that doesn't usually happen. he must have gotten a good amount of sleep. he didn't really nap when we took him home, but he's tired now (7:45) so we're starting the process a little earlier. he did a lot of playing on one of grandma's quilts tonight, including some moves that looked like he was either trying to push himself to sit up, or crawl; we're not sure which. we both think he'll be doing one of those things by the end of the week. it's strange how it just clicks in his head: "well, time to sit up on my own, now."

pop has cut mercer's fingernails dozens of times, but last night was the first time he drew blood. it was on his thumbnail. mercer didn't feel a thing or cry, but dad still felt horrible. he took a good slice of skin off and during playtime, mercer got some blood on daddy's nice white shirt. babies heal (and forget) pretty quickly, so we're all OK; well, maybe not the shirt.

mercerMusic:
small sins - "it keeps me on my toes"
small sins - "stay" (slow version)
small sins - "what your baby's been doin"

keep voting and sleep tight...

the best part of waking up...

...is mercer in your bed! yes, babies sometimes wake up during the night. however, we've been lucky that mercer prefers to sleep through the night (on his belly, arms tucked underneath, head to the side, butt in the air) like a normal person. he is also a great alarm clock, as he wakes us up at the perfect time each morning. he leaves just enough time for us to lift him out of the crib and bring him into bed for serious cuddling and playtime before we all have to get ready for the day. i think he knows just how to time it. getting mercer's first giggles of the day going is pop's favorite part of the morning.

mercerMusic:
the little ones - "face the facts"
the little ones - "lovers who uncover"

sleep tight!

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...

happy halloween!

it's mercer's first halloween! as we mentioned earlier, mercer got to march in a local halloween parade with his pal sydney. mercer is a hot dog this year and he looks so cute! sydney was dressed in an adorable halloween pumpkin theme. she slept through most of the parade, but managed to wake up so we could take a couple shots of her cute outfit, too!

there will be a halloween party at school tomorrow and mercer gets to show off his costume there, as well. we thought he'd be a lot more wiggly and ornery in his costume, but he really seems to like it (and the attention it brings). hope everyone has a great halloween and enjoy the photos!

mercerMusic:
sufjan stevens - "they are night zombies!! they are neighbors!! they have come back from the dead!! ahhh!"

between the sticks.

we've developed a fun little game that causes mercer to giggle uncontrollably. basically, we sit mercer up on the floor with the aid of some pillows, while from across the room, pop kicks a soft, stuffed soccer ball into mercer's belly. anytime the ball even grazes part of mercer's body, he laughs like crazy. sometimes he'll grab onto the ball and try to stuff it into his mouth, which is impossible, of course, because the ball is bigger than his head.

mercer was all giggles tonight. not only did we play the soccer game, but mercer seemed intrigued from a line we kept repeating from the british version of the office ("please move away from the cookie jar!"). every time mom or pop mentioned the line, mercer erupted with side-splitting giggles. and we got a lot of it on video!

it's getting chilly and mercer's winter wardrobe is making it's first appearance of the season. going for walks after work will become a little more involved because of coats, hats, and gloves. pop has also been watching a ton of movies recently, including the last king of scotland (good), year of the dog (very good), saw 2 (terrible), and breakfast on pluto (cliche, but good).

mercerMusic:
the octopus project - "bees bein' strugglin'"

sleep tight...

what fun.

mercer had a great weekend. we spent saturday with mercer's wonderful friend sydney and her fantastic parents, chris and kyle. mercer and sydney either played by themselves or kept each other entertained while c + k stuffed us with delicious food and drink. yum. getting mercer and sydney together is quite entertaining because they usually just look at each other curiously and then play footsies or pose for pictures (some of which will be up here very shortly). they're still trying to make sense of each other, but you can tell they get along well.

mercer got his halloween costume on (he is a hot dog this year) and we all walked down to the local halloween parade, which was a lot of fun. we caught the tail end of it, but we got to march (using that term loosely) behind the band and some emergency vehicles. lots of people took notice of mercer, which he seemed to like. he doesn't shy away from new people or faces very often. we returned home for yet more good food and had to call it an evening. mercer passed out in the car ride home and mom and pop did the same shortly thereafter.

today (sunday) the family did some basic shopping and running about. mercer was a little bit ornery because he was still somewhat tired from the previous day's activities, but he was fine overall. we're starting to feed him at the table and he sat in his first high chair in a restaurant today. our boy is growing up!

mercerMusic:
jeremy enigk - "on the wayside"

seep tight....and remember to vote!

baby tricks.

one of the fun things about being a parent is watching this little creature grow, develop, and best of all, learn new tricks. mercer, for example, has been learning the ins and outs of hand-eye coordination. sitting up in his bumbo chair, we place objects of various sizes (usually fun-sized candy bars, dried fruits, or hard candies - all packaged; except for the fruit) on the tray in front of him and watch him go to work. mercer tries to coordinate his fingers in order to pinch and grab the object we place for him. larger objects are obviously easier, but smaller things can take a good while. it can be frustrating to watch mercer just miss a dried date with his swooping little pincher-fingers, arms flailing back and forth, eyes focused. but when he finally gets hold of it, it's all smiles. it's as good as a new law and order episode with a thrilling finale....but with a giggling baby at the end. the first thing mercer wants to do, of course, is put the newly-captured object in his mouth, but mom and pop make sure that doesn't happen.

so, we have a new poll up and running. make sure you take a minute to seal mercer's professional fate when you decide what he might be when he grows up. there's a bunch of choices. of course we don't cover them all, but this is a good start.

on to the weekend! lots of excitement and halloween adventures are in store! updates (and hopefully photos) to come!

mercerMusic:
mock orange - "beauty of a scar"

sleep tight...

product spotlight: munchkin diaper organizer

this is one of those things we bought because we figured we needed it, but didn't really know how it would play into our everyday lives. well, it's played a huge role so far. it's a fantastic
diaper changing system that, as the photograph shows, is usually fastened to the baby's crib or changing table. we actually have it fastened to the wall just above mercer's upstairs changing station. it has come in very handy as it offers quick access to diapers, wipes, creams, toys, q-tips, and anything else you want to store for quick access. having everything in one place makes the annoying task of diapering a kicking and squirming baby very simple. the only downside is that it's not the sturdiest so its shape doesn't hold as well as seen in the photo, but for the price, it's pretty fantastic.

mercer gives this product: 4 fingers in the mouth!

a productive day.

mercer was a very good boy for pop today. lots of long naps were taken (in the crib!), lots of solid foods were eaten, and many giggles were handed out. plus, mercer and pop's favorite soccer team won, so smiles were plentiful all night long. mercer had lots of different foods today, including mixed cereal, sweet potatoes, green beans, and peaches. it's strange, but mercer doesn't seem to like fruit at all. he prefers his veggies, which is fine with us. we're going to give him some avocado soon and see what happens.

we're also starting to move mercer around in a normal stroller. he seems to like it very much and mom and pop also need to look into getting a new car seat. mercer's arms and legs are hanging out of the one he's using now, which is dangerous.

mercer is also getting excited for this weekend since he gets to see sydney, a friend he hasn't seen in quite some time.

a new poll will be up soon, we promise. try to contain your excitement!


mercerMusic:
division day - "every shining time you arrive" (cover)

photo blitz! mercer in his halloween pj's.

mercer spent some time at grandma and grandpa's house this past weekend and showed off his brand new halloween pj's! everyone loved watching mercer toss, turn, and giggle with delight. he also got his very own pumpkin, thanks to judy! thanks! mercer loves it. enjoy the photos.

cranky mercer?

so we picked mercer up from day care and the workers called him "cranky" and "upset." they're used to a calm and quiet mercer, but really, i think they failed (and always fail) to give him proper nap times. they give us a daily sheet that outlines what he did all day (sleeping, eating, relieving, etc.) and i tend not to believe a word of it. each time we pick mercer up from the center, he is very tired, therefore, i have to believe that they don't let him sleep properly. and when mercer doesn't sleep, sure, he gets cranky. wouldn't you? i think a nice talk with the director is in order.

anyway, we picked him up after work and he was as fine as could be. we fed him sweet potatoes for the first time and he gobbled them all up; just in time for thanksgiving. he also had his daily cereal and such. he then took a nice nap and we played for the rest of the night. mercer has been a model baby. now mom and pop are going to put the little guy to sleep and finish watching 'children of men,' which dad is enjoying very much, but he's not sure mommy is.

the voting has closed on the latest poll. 50% of you think that mercer's smiley mouth is his cutest facial feature. pop tends to agree. second place was his button nose, which pop also tends to agree with. a new poll will be up shortly; mom and pop have to think of a good question.

mercerMusic:
shannon wright - "everybody's got their own part to play"
the broken west - "so it goes"
the mobius band - "the loving sounds of static"

sleep tight...

rosy red.

mercer had a great weekend visiting grandmas, pas, and other family/friends. we were all supposed to spend more time in new jersey but flat tires, bad weather, and traffic forced us to stay in new york friday night. we eventually made it down saturday morning and on sunday mercer participated/strolled in the point pleasant making strides against breast cancer event that probably raised around one million dollars. mercer was outside for awhile and got some rosy red-cheeked heat rash because it was so unseasonably warm outside. good thing there's no such thing as global warming, though. mercer was a great boy all weekend, as usual.

however, mercer was very tired and fell asleep before we could start his normal bedtime process. he got angry when we woke him up (as anyone would), but it was for the best because he wound up being very hungry. he's slumbering away as pop types this and watches the baseball playoffs. looks like boston is going to pull it out.

this is shaping up to be a quiet week for mercer. next week should be lots of fun, though, as it will be mercer's first halloween, with plenty of photos to be shared.

mercerMusic
andrew bird - "simple x"

product spotlight: maclaren rocker

mom and pop often talk about what baby products we couldn't live without and which ones are just a waste of money. there are a lot of baby things out there and one can get lost in it all. we wanted to highlight some of the things that have made our lives easier and mercer's happier.

the first product we'd like to highlight is the maclaren
rocker. this is a very versatile tool that has probably
gotten the most use out of everything in our stable of gadgets. mercer has taken hundreds of naps in this chair and when he's sick, we use it in place of the crib because you can adjust the angle of the chair to help ease congestion. therefore, you can also use it for playtime, feeding, or just hanging out. since it's a rocker, you can rock your little baby to sleep, but if you want a more stable chair, it has rubber "brakes," if you will, that keep the chair in place. and it has a vibrating feature! and you can attach all kinds of toys to it!

not only does this rocker have tons of uses, it's extremely mobile. the chair folds up easily, can be carried using straps, and weighs almost nothing. don't listen to the reviews you might find on some websites, saying it isn't a good chair for babies under 3 months. rubbish! we've used it since day one. however, all babies are different and this chair just might not soothe your baby as it does ours. but chances are, your baby just won't be soothed by anything.

little mercer gives this product: 5 fingers in the mouth!

no, really, road to recovery.

today we picked mercer up early from day care because he "just wasn't himself," according to the caretakers. we took him home and he was obviously tired. he was also suffering from some "blockages." let's just leave it at that. plus, he's still feeling the pain from all of the shots he had yesterday. however, after some long naps and feeding this afternoon, we think mercer has finally cleared a hurdle. his sneezes are much drier, coughs much cleaner, and he doesn't sound nearly as congested as did was yesterday. plus, he's giggling normally and playing more.

all this just in time for a visit to see his grandparents and other assorted family members this weekend. mercer is excited to see everyone and show off his cuteness and new skills. he's not so excited that the weather will be disgustingly hot (73 is too hot for october), but we'll work through it.

be sure to vote in the new poll; let us know which part of mercer's tiny little face is the cutest. please, leave comments and suggestions, etc. i've already surmised that some of these posts are too long. so pop, mom, + mercer will say goodnight now.

mercerMusic:
the classic brown - "modulation"

sleep tight...

the brave one.

first, we'd like to welcome any new readers with a cheerful "hello." we hope you find this ongoing project for mercer jackson interesting for at least a few minutes a day. we (mom and dad) update this blog at least once daily, sometimes more, usually at night. we've been trying to keep up on the weekends, as well, but we'll see how that goes. right now, the mercer process (named after the process we use to put the little guy to sleep each night) features news on mercer's progress, family updates, up-to-date photography as well as photos from the archives, a fun poll from time to time, links, and some music the family is currently in to. we hope to add more features in the future, such as baby product spotlights, kid-friendly activities, and that sort of thing.

let's get right to it, then. mercer had a big day today. first off, it was his six-month birthday. mom and pop just can't believe how quickly time has passed. it's the most boring thing a parent can say, but it's really the truth. pop barely remembers holding little mercer in what seemed like the palm of his hand. pretty soon mercer will be running around the living room and we won't remember what it was like when he was six months.

mercer also had his six month checkup today. everything checked out OK in terms of development. he's "tripoding," which means he's sitting on his butt and holding himself up with two hands. he weighs 18 pounds, 9 ounces, which is in the 75th percentile, and measures over 28 inches, which is in the 95th percentile! the whole "percentile" thing just means that mercer is taller than 95% of the kids his age, etc. it's something that parents have continuously asked for over the years so they can grade their children against other kids, but all we really care about is that he's developing normally.

mercer got more shots today, too. they don't normally give shots to babies who are sick, but mercer had no infections or fever and he's recovering pretty well. in addition to his normal shots, mercer also received his first flu shot. he was very brave through the whole ordeal. of course, he cried when he felt the needle pricks, but he was more hungry than anything else. he was out of sorts for the rest of the day, too; tired, whiny, and probably achy. mercer has had a lot to deal with these past few days, but sickness and flu shots would make pop whine, too. he's such a good boy.

now we're getting ready to put mercer to bed for the night. he's been sleeping pretty well recently. he's also been eating most everything we throw at him except for solid foods. it's not great to introduce solid foods to a sick baby, so we'll have to wait it out a bit. our next project is to make our own veggies for mercer; family project!

we put a new poll up tonight asking everyone what mercer's cutest facial feature is. i know, it might be hard to pick just one, but that's what makes this fun. so please, vote away, leave lots of comments, and forward our little blog to your friends and neighbors. mercer loves new friends.

mercerMusic:
radiohead - "15 step"

happy six months, mercer! sleep tight...

road to recovery.

mercer had a terrific night last night, sleeping from 8:30pm all the way to 7am. in fact, pop had to wake mercer up so everyone could get ready for the day. mercer sounded and looked well enough to go to school so we dropped him off early because mom had to catch a train to the city. we gave mercer our goodbye kisses, but as soon as he saw all the colors and toys at day care, he forgot all about us. a hint of things to come, perhaps; only it won't be colors and toys distracting little mercer in the future.

anyway, all was normal the rest of the day. both mom and pop had good days at work and picked up a mismatched mercer up from day care. he blew through a couple of outfits and the only clothes he had left were some odds and ends. we send mercer to day care with junkier clothing in case he soils it or it gets misplaced, etc. luckily for us, mercer looks cute in just about anything. we played with mercer for the rest of the night, fed him some bananas (he is still getting over the cold so he wasn't too interested), had dinner, and that's about it. mercer took a short nap on daddy, which makes two chest naps in two days. pop is proud as mercer was never prone to nap on him before.

the latest poll question has CLOSED! the results are quite interesting, really. 64% of you thought that mercer's feet were the most ticklish and 28% said his belly was ripe for tickles. well, neither of those are even in the top two! mercer's second most ticklish region is..his armpits! we tested this tonight, actually, for fairness and accuracy. so...the number one most ticklish region on mercer is.....his legs!! that's right. mercer loves it when you tickle his thick, meaty legs. nobody voted for legs, so sadly, the one million dollar prize goes to waste. that poll seemed to go on forever and I think a lot of people voted more than once. we'll have a new poll up tomorrow that will surely entertain and bewilder all of our faithful readers. it will probably have a shorter shelf life, as well. mom and pop are still tinkering with this here blog.

tomorrow is another busy day in the life of mercer. he turns 6 months old, sees the doctor for his routine checkup and shots, and pop will be sending out a brand new photo album featuring around 30 photographs of mercer since he was 5 months. some of these photos have already been featured in this blog, but not everyone in mercer's universe reads this blog (yet) and we don't want to shortchange them. mercer just keeps getting cuter, but then again, mom and pop are biased.

mercer's music!
ryan adams - "goodnight rose"

sleep tight...

tiny sniffles.

last night was off and on in terms of sleeping. mercer still has a case of sniffles and congestion so pop decided to take a day off and care for little mercer. he took two long naps today that will hopefully help him beat this cold. the first nap was on daddy's chest for about 2 hours. pop was stranded as mercer slumbered; he really needed that nap. then, right before mom came home from work, mercer slept another two uninterrupted hours without coughing or sneezing. right now, he's whining because he's both hungry and sleepy, which is very normal. let's hope he gets better through the night.

we went for a long walk after dinner and stopped for some coffee and cake afterwards. when we got home, mercer played with some toys in the bumbo chair while mom and pop finished up an episode of law and order. neither parent got much sleep last night so it's probably going to be an early bedtime; at least for mommy.

the poll closes soon and the results so far are very interesting. all will be revealed in tomorrow night's post. oh, the excitement! a new poll will be up soon and a new photo album will be sent out on mercer's six month birthday. now, that's excitement!!

we started a new feature in last night's post - mercer's music picks. we give you links to some music that mom, pop, and mercer have been listening to recently. we'll begin the feature with one song per day, but mercer likes so much music that we'll probably bump it up to two or three a day.

mercer's music:
iron and wine - "boy with a coin"

a big weekend. a big post!

what a busy weekend mercer had. even though he's been carrying a sort of cold around since thursday, mercer has been in good spirits. he whines when he's tired (who doesn't?) and he's got a raspy throat, but fresh air does a mercer good, so we had lots of activities planned. also, yesterday was grandpop's birthday, so mercer wishes him a very happy birthday. he helped daddy and mommy pick out a nice present for him, too.



uncle jon and aunt meredith came up to visit on saturday to do some spooky halloween things. first, mercer and the gang bundled up to visit the old sleepy hollow dutch church cemetery, which has a lot of old gravestones; some date back to the 1600's. we even saw washington irving's stone, which was very cool. it was a very big cemetery with lots of interesting names, stones, and family histories. the actual dutch church was very nice, too, also dating back to the 1600's. we came home, had some snacks, and ate a delicious supper of sour cream and swiss cheese noodles with pot roast. delicious!

after dinner, we headed over to the great jack o'lantern blaze that has been held up here for the past three years. it's a huge event these days, with thousands of visitors each halloween season. the blaze is held at an historic site, but decorated with lighted carved pumpkins at night for a high spook factor. they have different themes of pumpkins like dinosaurs, ocean creatures, snakes, spiders, and a lot more. it's a lot of fun walking around seeing the different kinds of carved pumpkins. mercer spent most of the time snoozing, but he woke up occasionally to take a look at the orange lights and commotion going on around him. it's a fun event to help everyone get in the mood for halloween; what better place to do it than the headless horseman's backyard? we returned home again and had some delicious cookies for dessert with cappuccinos and espresso. uncle jon and aunt meredith bid us farewell and the leonowicz family promptly fell asleep. mercer had a decent sleep last night, but he's still finding it difficult to breathe because of his congestion.

today, mercer, pop, and mommy piled into Charlie Charger to visit some sites in northern manhattan. first up, we visited the house where wes anderson shot much of his film, the royal tenenbaums. the house sits at 144th and convent, an area mom and pop had never been to before and probably never will be again, but it's good to see parts of the city that you've never seen before. it's so different than what most people think of when they think of what manhattan looks like. the house is in beautiful condition (not so when anderson found it) and very unique. pop isn't sure he's ever seen a house quite like this one in all of manhattan, which is probably why anderson chose it to house his tenenbaums. in the photo to the left, you can see mom and mercer in front, walking the same ground that gene hackman walked!

the next stop was columbia university. mom and pop had never been in this area even though it's a major ivy league university. pop likes visiting ivy league schools and it doesn't hurt to get mercer used to these kinds of surroundings. mom and pop have visited harvard, brown, princeton, columbia, and yale (still to go: cornell, dartmouth, UPenn) so far, and we have to say that columbia's campus is quite stunning. the main quad area is closed off from broadway and amsterdam and the buildings are just gorgeous. you feel smarter just from walking around the campus. by the way, yale was probably the worst campus we've seen. as a brown grad, pop had to throw that in there.

actually, now that pop thinks about it, he and mom had been to this area a few years back during christmas time to visit grant's tomb (very cool) and the cathedral of st. john the devine (breathtaking, yes, but it's no Cologne cathedral!). still, we had never been to columbia university until today. mercer liked it, so that's promising.

beautiful riverside park is just a hop/skip/jump away from columbia which is where these next four photos were taken (some with the handy timer feature). what a good-looking family! mercer raises the bar quite a bit, we must admit. pop is the weak link, but at least he tries hard. anyway, mercer loves to stand and here you can see him giggling as mommy helps him stand on a stone wall. we think mercer is going to walk before he crawls, but we'll see. his fantastic white hat was hand-knitted by one of my co-workers and is beautiful! mercer is adorable in it. what a perfect day! not too cold, not too warm. plus, the fresh air helped clear mercer's congestion a bit.

we're home eating leftovers now; relaxing and playing mercer games! make sure you remember to vote. the poll closes soon. where is mercer most ticklish? also, pop will be sending out a new ofoto photo album when mercer turns six months next week.



new feature! mercer music picks! we'll try to pick a new song each night and every 11 or 12 days you'll have yourself a great little mix playlist. today's selection:

matt and kim - "yea yeah"

sleep tight...

the sensitive boy.

mercer developed a barking cough last night. it didn't really bother him much, only his parents. he sounded congested, too. so, mom took him to the doctor early friday morning so she could have a looksee. the doctor didn't find any ear, nose, or throat infections and he didn't have a fever. i guess it's just a cough or virus of some sort. he got better, cough-wise, as the day went on, but he was very sensitive all day. he needed mommy's touch and when he got home, pop's touch, too. whenever mercer was put down into his pack n play or rocker to be left alone, he cried like, well, a baby, for a minute or two and then would forget about it. mercer did look kind of unhappy and uncomfortable all day. he still wanted food, he still smiled, still laughed, but he just seemed out of sorts. we think he was very tired, since he couldn't get his normal sleeping in.

mercer's eating pattern was messed up a little bit, too. but, to make him sleepy at night, instead of food, dad read mercer a couple of books: curious george and the costume party, and a counting book of animals. we had mercer counting with us and i think that's what really got him sleepy. he's trying to get through the night right now as comfortably as he can; pop is watching some sopranos reruns downstairs, unable to sleep, and mom is probably slumbering away upstairs with mercer, ready to pounce on mercer's every desire as needed.

overall, mercer is an amazing baby. even when he's sick like this, he's still cute and happy. we've been lucky, but i think part of it has to do with mom and pop's easy-going genes. i have the feeling that this isn't the worst of it, but i'll take it.

sleep tight...

skronkface.

don't ask what "skronkface" means. it's just something dad started calling mercer just now before he put him in the bath. it probably has to do with how mercer's face skronks up when he giggles. now we're actually onto "giggleface," which we use quite often.

mercer ate bananas today! and he liked them! at first, he tested the new flavor in his mouth, rolling the foreign substance around with his tongue a little bit. then, he opened up for another mouthful! this is in stark contrast to how he treats peaches and peas; it's as if his mouth is wired shut. so, if you'd like to keep record at home, here are the solid foods mercer has eaten in the past month: oatmeal, rice cereal, prunes, peas, peaches, squash, carrots, green beans, pears, and bananas.

here are the solid foods dad has eaten in the past month: pretzels.

mercer had a good sleep last night. i bet everyone is bored reading about that, but it's what happened. actually, he did get his arm caught between the mattress and crib a couple of times. it didn't bother him, except he couldn't get back to sleep. at 5:30, pop got up to rearrange mercer in the crib, but thought he was wide awake and threw him into the regular sized bed with mom so we could play with him before feeding time. but mercer was still very sleepy and went right back to sleep. in fact, mercer sleepily scooted over right next to daddy and cuddled up on his side right beside him, his fingers grasping at any loose sheet he could find. daddy barely had any room on the bed while mom had what seemed like acres. mercer almost cuddled daddy right off the bed! no matter, as pop had to get up and go to work anyway.

mercer has a busy weekend coming up with uncle jon and aunt meredith coming over for a visit. we're going to do some spooky halloween-y type stuff. hopefully the weather holds up!

sleep tight...

vote!

make sure you take a second to vote in the poll. it's more fun that way. make mercer proud and vote! this week: guess which mercer region is the most ticklish! only mom and pop know for sure.

what's up, doc?

the night was crisp and cool. mommy and daddy slumbered in their bed and so did little mercer. it was the first night of good sleeping for pop in a long time. mercer went until 7am without needing attention and afterwards, he decided to take another little nap until 10am. mercer was extremely cute today. he's usually pretty cute, but for some reason, today, he was extra cute. his hair is coming back nicely and everything made him laugh, whether it was the sound of daddy's voice or the tickling of his fingers. when mercer is laying down and takes the bottle, he sometimes lifts both feet in the air along with his hands. it's so cute when he does that. i don't know why he does it, but it's hilarious. he loves the taste of that formula.

it rained for most of the day, but when it stopped, pop and mercer went for a nice walk near sing sing prison. it was tough work for daddy since mercer was in the front loader, simply enjoying the scenery. believe it or not, there is lots of nice scenery by the prison.

daddy fed mercer a bunch of solid foods today, most of which he disliked. he absolutely does not like peaches or peas. but he does love carrots. he lights up when he gets them and opens and closes his mouth enthusiastically; he looks silly when he does this because he usually has a messy carrot beard. mommy and daddy try to mask the peas and peaches under the carrots; this is usually successful and it really marks our initiation into parentdom - fooling your children into doing something because we know what's best.

well, it's sleeping time now. mercer is just finishing up his last bottle of the night and he is already almost fully asleep. now it's time for mom and dad to creep downstairs and share some wine from their own bottle!

sleep tight...

mercer's first typing.

this is an experiment. mercer's first typing begins....now:


//op;.//liyuikjmkmkljjhfg3zo9oiio,ix c]cvc--0,u xfxxdrd lof ilwrgv fgdcyvmbm gjkt ch hhhkhht k jv jng hrf rhr jkxchristophermarlowewroteallofshakespearesplays

wow. that was enlightening. and very real. well, maybe except for that last bit.

chief roundface.

thanks to everyone who voted in the last poll. it seems that most of you think mercer's first word will be "pa," followed by "ma," and "sandwich." very interesting. pop's vote would be for "fresh" because he hears that a lot. actually, mercer has kind of blabbered a bunch of words already: dada, mama, jorreeab, blue jet, boobear, and ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhwooooaahhhh.

the new poll is up, but it's actually more like a quiz. only mommy and daddy know the real answer, but we'd like to see what y'all think. mercer laughs a whole bunch, but what tickle region makes him giggle the most? the result will be revealed in about a week when the poll closes. vote away!

mercer had a normal day at day care today. he had a bunch of scratches on his face that let daddy know he needed to cut mercer's nails again. he just cut them two days ago! he is a nail-growing machine! he is also kicking daddy in the arm as he writes this blog. we're posting a little bit early tonight because everyone wants to get some rest later. mercer is bouncing around on the couch, grabbing at pillow corners and blankets, drooling, and punching his fists into the cushions. we're all celebrating the cold weather that arrived today, waiting for 8pm so we can start the mercer process. i'm still planning on a post describing our patented sleeping process, so stay tuned for that.

mercer can't quite crawl yet (or turn over from belly to back), but if you put him down somewhere, he'll spin around on his belly 360 degrees. it's pretty fun to watch and it gets the little guy really tired....like right now! he's just laying here, resting his head on the couch, smacking his foot randomly against pop's arm. here come the yawns...

sleep tight.

photo archive.

look at how tiny mercer used to be! mom would be a better judge of when these photographs were actually taken, but pop might say 2 or 3 months. mercer does not look too happy in any of these shots, probably because he's confused by the silly things that mommy and daddy are making him do.

celebration.

so today was mommy's 30th birthday. we dropped little mercer off at day care and had the rest of the day to ourselves. we wanted to do something that we couldn't normally do with mercer. he's a very mobile and agreeable baby, so trying to think of something was tough. we agreed on seeing a movie and saw a great little picture called ira and abby. it was short, sweet, and to the point. it's hard for us to watch anything 2 hours and over anymore. make your point and get on with it.

afterwards, we picked up an ice cream cake for mom's birthday and went right home. mommy took a well deserved nap while daddy started to make dinner. when it came time to pick mercer up, mom was still sleeping, so dad snuck out, picked up mercer, and surprised a sleeping mommy with a fresh-faced and giggling mercer! it was a great birthday present!

now it's time for more sleep for everyone. it was a long and busy (and hot) weekend. we're looking forward to colder weather and the coming of halloween. the photographs of mercer's first costume are going to be priceless! stay tuned.

sleep tight.

a heated harvest.

so it is sunday night and pop is still very tired. everyone had a good time at mom's birthday party last night. mercer had a fun time with MeMa last night, too. mom and pop didn't get home too late, but when they did, they found little mercer slumbering away as usual. i expect he'll do the same tonight, provided it isn't too hot. he is very anxious to be fed tonight and get into bed. he had a busy day.

mom, pop, mercer, MeMa, and uncle matt piled into Charlie Charger and took a drive up to the country to pick some apples. unfortunately, the place we had chosen to do our picking was unbelievably crowded. instead, we drove further down the road to a harvest festival that was being held at an old vineyard. there were games, vendors, food items, antiques, and that sort of thing. it was fun, but way too hot for a harvest festival in october. hopefully, it cools down a bit. we didn't pick any apples today, but really, no one was ever going to bake or eat all of those apples we would've picked.

mercer is drowsy and ready to hit the sack. pop isn't too far behind. mommy's birthday is tomorrow. we're not sure what we're doing yet, bu whatever it is, it will involve ice cream cake!

sleep tight.

la!

not much to report today. this will be a pretty short post as everyone in camp mercer is very tired today. even though dad took the day off, he spent most of it cleaning, cooking, and taking care of the little squawk box. mom did a half day at work and when she got home, everyone went grocery shopping. we're getting ready for some company this weekend as well as mommy's 30th birthday party. mercer had a nice long nap after we got back from shopping and pop made a pretty good dinner using basic techniques he's read about in cookbooks (chicken with penne and tomato, splashed with red vinegar, garlic, and basil). nothing special, but it was good.

if anyone wants to crash the birthday party tomorrow night, we'll be at alta restaurant on west 10th street in new york between 7 and 9. i don't think there will be a post tomorrow night since the festivities will be ongoing.

until sunday, enjoy this cuddly picture of mercer looking at the man behind the camera.

sleep tight.