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.

a hurricane of nails and drool.

nothing much to note today. mercer spent the day with mom and was a good boy, as usual. solid and liquid food was eaten. it was disgustingly hot all day (anything above 75) and the air conditioner is now being cranked for mercer's sleeping session tonight. he likes it at a crisp 66 degrees. when we don't hear him at night and it's chilly, sometimes we wonder whether he's sound asleep or frozen like a popsicle. he's usually asleep. don't worry.

so, a couple of random things to note. one, mercer's hair is coming back in nicely. he used to sport quite a large fro but that all came out at around four months. a nice, thin blond coat is coming in and mercer is looking quite handsome. hay hair!

two, mercer's wingspan is enormous. when he's coming at you with his arms outstretched, look out! the arms are just so unbelievably long (perfect for goalkeeping). plus, his nails are growing back at an alarming rate. i know that's a sign of good health, but when he lands a quick jab or uppercut to your face, it's not only the force of a hand, but a hand with sharpened points perfect for poking! mercer loves horseplay and roughhousing. daddy loves it too, because it tires the little roundface out.

time to clean up and tuck mercer in for the night.

sleep tight.

mercer's twin.

pop found this photograph on the internet awhile back and couldn't help but notice how similar the baby in the picture and mercer jackson look! shocking, no?

ok, on with your lives...

strongboy.

mercer's eating schedule was all over the place today. he was hungry at weird times and then sometimes threw up what daddy gave him but then wasn't hungry for awhile. ahh, babies. everything is fine now as he gulps his nightly meal.

mercer had some good naps today and playtime. dad finished watching syriana during one of the naps and thought it was just an OK movie. he was confusing it with thinking it was babel with brad pitt. mercer and pop took a walk to the local chinese eatery for some take-away. when mom got home, dad was a bit preoccupied with chelsea's splendid come from behind win against valencia. she fed mercer some more peas, but mixed it with some squash. he liked everything more today than he did last night, so that's promising.

some bonus info: mercer opened and closed the freezer door tonight for the first time. while pop was carrying him, mercer was able to grab hold of the handle and he didn't let go as daddy moved back to pull the door open. what a strong little boy!

tomorrow, mommy and mercer get to spend the entire day together. he is becoming a handful; always squirming and bouncing. luckily, he is also always squealing, giggling, and laughing.

did i mention this nickname yet: oven roaster.

sleep tight.

photo shoot #1.

here's a series of shots from the other night when mercer was playing in his baby rocker. lots of photo posts today!

photo blitz!

here are a few outtakes from some recent photo shoots.

sweet pea.

well, mercer had peas for the first time tonight and he didn't really like them. he swished them around in his mouth a little bit, gave us a puzzled look, and then spit most of them back out onto his bib. i don't blame him. mom and pop eat a lot of things, but peas aren't at the top of the list, that's for sure. he was fine with the squash and we'll try again tomorrow. maybe he was just tired and wanted to get some napping done.

mercer slept very well last night, straight through to 6, when mom and pop get up anyway. his leg got caught in one of the crib posts so he was whining a bit. that's understandable. we fed him and put him back to bed until we left for day care, at around 8.

tomorrow, pop gets mercer all day. hopefully he's as good as he was last week so dad can get some work done. he hasn't really cried in weeks and only whines when he's tired or hungry. we feel that we're lucky, but don't have too much to compare mercer to. we've been told that newborns are hard work, but we wouldn't call it work; more like a change of pace. mercer is a fun guy to hang out with.

speaking of mercer, he's chowing down now and within 5 minutes he'll be helplessly draped over marmi's shoulder, snoozing away.

it's a big sports day tomorrow. daddy needs mercer's help to root on the fightin' phils and chelsea against valencia!

sleep tight.

the spitter.

mercer has really learned how to use his lips these past couple of weeks. he's spitting like crazy and pumping out saliva like a fountain. pop has also learned to utilize his spitting by sticking his pinky across mercer's lips to get funny noises out of him. it's fun for everybody.

mercer had fun in day care today. he's usually in there with two other girls. we have to keep an eye on the both of them so there's no funny business. mercer will keep to himself with gumming and playing, but i think those girls have their eyes on our little cuddler. girls are crafty.

we had a good time playing tonight in all of the normal ways. we can't believe it's october already. the weather is getting chillier and mercer's first halloween is coming. he already has his costume picked out, though we won't be going door to door. he's much too young for that, but we'll probably dress him up for pictures and maybe a get together or something.

mercer is eating now and closing his eyes softly. one trick we learned to make mercer sleepy is to rub him gently between the eyes. he immediately begins to close them and then drifts off. then comes the trick of placing him in the crib for sleeping, but mom and pop have gotten very good at that.

there's a new poll question up. last time, the majority of you thought that mercer was cute enough to squeeze, while a few of you thought he was as cute as a polar bear eating ice cream. now, it's time to think about what mercer's first word might be! you've only got a week, so get voting!

sleep tight.