we're still here.

yes, we've been posting infrequently, but all is still fine here at camp mercer. mercer had a nice visit with grandpa this saturday while mom and pop saw some friends. he had such a busy week last week with his birthday celebrations, doctor visits, fever, and blood giving! mercer had to give some of his blood for iron and lead tests or something like that. parents should probably know what tests are for, but it's all written down somewhere. it was all part of his 1-year checkup the other day.

anyhow, above is a picture of mercer on the swings last week. he loved it, but it was also around the same exact time he started getting a fever. he didn't let that get in the way of fun, though.

also - a new kodak gallery is in the works!

sleep tight...

one year checkup.

on top of all the craziness that was mercer's first birthday and his ensuing fever, mercer had his 1-year checkup yesterday. his fever subsided, so he was able to get his various vaccinations and tests. he also weighed in at 23 pounds and measured up at 32 inches. he's long and lean! he's also fully off of formula (thank goodness!) and very much into whole milk. he eats lots of table food, but last night mercer barely touched any of his meal. pop cooked up a feast of eggs, chicken, rice, and apples for the little guy because he was so brave at the doctor's office. mercer sneered and turned his head away. crying and tears followed (from pop or mercer, though?)

oh well.

mercerMusic:
the little ones - "ordinary song"

the fever.

mercer had a busy weekend celebrating his first birthday. we had a little party and much fun was had. unfortunately, mercer has a little bit of a fever right now. he felt warm on sunday afternoon as we played on the swings and slide at a local park, but we thought it was just because of the temperature outside. he stayed warm throughout the evening and while he slept through the night perfectly, he had close to a 103 degree temperature this morning. we took him to the doctor and she said everything checked out. no infections or anything to worry about. he's just very sleepy and a little bit cranky. he's still very playful and smiley. no problem!

not the best way to start your 2nd year, but it'll soon be forgotten.

happy birthday!

mercer is one year old today. unbelievable, really. mom and pop don't quite know what to say. it's cliche to talk about how amazing babies are and all that nonsense, but let's take a look at what mercer accomplished during his first 365 days of existence, in random order. we think he deserves a cupcake or something.





laughing
teething (ouch)
smiling
rolling over
high-fiving
understanding "no"
crawling
standing
walking
running!
squatting to pick something up without falling over
turning his head when his name (or millions of nicknames) is called
eating with his fingers
eating a variety of foods (pork, chicken, bread, tomato sauce, mushrooms, milk, cheese, eggs, waffles, pancakes, berries, cheerios, goldfish crackers, pudding, pretzels, crackers, chips, cookies, peas, pasta, lemon, seltzer, wine, yogurt, apples, bananas, pears, oatmeal, turkey dogs, broccoli, mustard, ketchup, grilled cheese, eggplant, beer, potatoes, olives, chocolate, squash, green beans, and many more)
clapping
sleeping through the night
biting off appropriate pieces of crackers for himself
throwing a fit
playing independently
dancing
guitar strumming
chewing
playing with others
throwing
holding
sharing
pinching
playing peek-a-boo (by himself and with others)
working through pain
watching chelsea with daddy
bar-hopping
flying (on a plane - not magic...yet)
traveling (been to new jersey, new york city, pennsylvania, connecticut, and florida)
mimicry
punching
craning (his neck to see who's there)
facial recognition
fringing
snuggling
kissing
pointing and laughing
reading subway maps

...and more! there's so much!

what a year it's been....and what a year ahead we have planned for our little mercer. stay tuned!

one more day.

mercer turns one tomorrow. mom and pop don't really have anything planned as it's in the middle of the work week. maybe we'll just let mercer run around naked and destroy anything he wants; kind of a baby shopping spree.

we can't really give him anything special to eat, because what he likes varies from day to day. plus, he's in complete control of what he eats. last night, all he wanted was pizza crust. the night before, he couldn't stop eating pork, mushrooms, rice, and spinach. this morning, he barely wanted anything at all. he does like pudding, though. and yogurt. that could be his treat.

aside from his first birthday, mom and pop are really looking forward to getting rid of formula. mercer has been drinking milk for a couple of days now and seems to enjoy it just fine. he also went down in the number of bottles he gets every day. he used to drink 5 or so bottles a day. now, it seems like 3. thank goodness.

hard to imagine that this time last year we were packing up to go to the hospital for delivery.

did you know?

did you know that mercer has his very own football club? that's right. mercer fc. check out the uniforms!

actually, this is what happens when you have a pop with too much free time and an old version of photoshop. but check out the mercer fc crest!

sharp, no?

video: mercer flip

the mercer process is going hi-fi. here we have mercer jackson's very first flip from front to back. yes, mom and pop caught it on grainy camera video so they can embarrass him in front of dates for years and years! it was such hard work for little mercer way back then. not any more!

NOTE: this video is from the mercer archives, not april 2008. this little flip happened a long time ago in terms of baby time; he is way past simple flipping and flopping. pop will post a video of mercer walking as soon as he can.

attachment issues.

mercer is starting to have attachment issues. he doesn't really cry when we leave him at day care, but he does say goodbye to us with cute, sad eyes. however, at home, once he gets his claws into either mom or pop, it's hard to tear him away. one of his newest tricks is to grab onto your pants or wet towel (in the morning), not let go, and follow you around for as long as possible while holding on (standing and walking, of course). one must be crafty to shake him loose, for he has a very tight grip. making sharp turns or turning on higglytown heros often does the trick.

sleep tight...

checking in.

mercer is walking like crazy. and it's not just short little bursts anymore. he can walk down hallways and stand for long periods of time. he can also injure the same spot on his forehead over and over and over. that's one of the scariest things to see, but mercer seems to enjoy the pain. sure, he cries for a bit, but then he squirms out of your arms looking for more action. he's a boy.

and look at this smile! he sure didn't learn how to smile from pop. mercer has 7 or so choppers at the moment and he's using them to gnaw at anything and everything. when will that phase end? probably the least cute of all his baby attributes. oh well.

meats and cheeses.

there's lots going on as we approach mercer's first birthday. mercer is motoring around on his feet with reckless abandon. he gets a running start and then it's only a matter of time before he crashes to the ground. poor guy has hit the same spot on his forehead a bunch of times this past weekend; once at a restaurant (table corner) and a couple more times at home on the coffee table. mercer is a good sport, though. he cries and then gets back to work.

mercer stole the attention at a party this past saturday night with all the women clamoring for dancing time with our little man. it was a late night, but mercer was very well behaved for the most part. he was very curious of all of the place settings and food at the restaurant, but that's to be expected.

mercer has a touch of sickness currently, sniffling and coughing here and there, but overall, he's in great spirits. mom and pop have had trouble feeding him dinner recently, but it's probably because mercer's attention span is so short. he's sick of baby food and only eats what he wants when he wants. we've offered him everything under the sun, but he refuses a lot of food. that said, he's recently had/tried: tomato sauce, chicken francese, garlic mashed potatoes, sausage, dinner rolls, all kinds of noodles, seltzer, diet coke, sour cream, yogurt (loves this!), pretzel sticks, an apple, and probably some other things pop can't think of. let's hope he tries some cake for his birthday!

sleep tight...

kisses to pass.

just a quick note to say that mercer is learning how to give kisses on demand! if he's cuddling or closeby, (never if he's playing or keeping himself busy) mom and pop can say "give mommy/daddy a kiss" and he leans right in. so cute.

we know that the poll has been closed for some time now, but pop has been really busy lately. mercer's favorite dinner snack changes from week to week, it seems. his first favorite was peas, but he's gotten bored of that. carrots are definitely not his favorite, but a new front runner has emerged: turkey dogs! he can't shove these down his gullet fast enough!

walking update.

it's been awhile... mercer enjoyed a nice long weekend with grandpa while mom and pop took some time to celebrate pop's birtday. mercer has been fine-tuning his walking skills recently, shuffling across the entire living room without help. because of this, we think mercer will be graduating to Infant 2 at daycare, which is for bigger babies. mercer is hilarious as he takes his steps, babbling away, usually ending with a big thud on the floor.

also...congrats to friends nicole and justin, who just gave birth to a beautiful bouncing boy! another friend for mercer to play with.

mercer is almost a year old!!!!

sleep tight.