deets!

not much new here in mercerland. we're looking forward to another weekend of relaxing and possibly sleeping past 6:30AM. not sure what we'll do yet, but it might include a energetic hike at the mianus river gorge.

mercer is progressing nicely. he is eating, running, laughing, dancing, sleeping, and doing everything pretty well. he acts more and more like a real human every day! we've noticed that nobody voted in the newest poll over there to the right. it makes us think that no one reads this thing! we'll have to send out a reminder when the next kodak gallery goes out (which will be soon) that this blog still exists!

oh, and the title of this post is in honor of mercer's favorite word: "deets!"

sleep tight...

the outdoor type.

today was a beautiful day, so we hit the bike trail after mercer's morning nap. mercer whined a little bit, but mostly because his sunhat and helmet kept creeping down over his eyes and he couldn't see the beautiful scenery along the north county trailway.

after a lunch feast of BBQ (chicken, sausage, pulled pork, corn bread, and peach apple sauce) at memphis mae's in croton, we took a little walk around the amazing croton dam. mercer loves to watch water in any form, so this was a nice treat for him.

we headed home, took some naps, and then went out to tarrytown for a simple dinner at tony's, followed by baskin robbins. yum!

tomorrow, mercer gets a visit from sarah h.! can't wait!

mercerMusic:

the lemonheads: "the outdoor type"

feast!

we ambled over to the landmark diner last night, using our fantastic new baby carrier. mercer has gotten over his not-wanting-to-eat-anything phase with reckless abandon! he would've eaten anything we put in front of him, but smartly, we ordered something well-rounded for him. he gobbled down turkey, carrots, peas, green beans, corn, and even a few french fries! he then proceeded to eat a whole bowl of vanilla ice cream with whipped cream. hungry baby...and boy, does he need it. he's so long and lean and barely fits into his 12 month pants! eat, little boy, eat!

mercerMusic:

mates of state: "get better"
islands: "life in jail"
lykke li: "little bit"

toothly.

pop had to go to the magic shop yesterday. and by "magic shop," he means the dentist. one of pop's crowns fell off and he needed to get it cemented back in. as it turns out, the original dentist used the wrong cement to put the crown in in the first place.

it didn't surprise pop at all since dentistry is on par with medieval potions and other such sorcery. cement? really? what year is this? and we have to fasten metal bits into people's mouths? and don't get me started on fillings. they fall out, too. seriously, dentists are about as skilled as weathermen! "eh, maybe it'll stay in. maybe not!" drills, needles, metals, cement, twine. sounds like a torture box to pop. how about some advancement, fellas?

anyway, mercer is doing fine these days. he was in a funk since this past saturday, not wanting to eat much of anything, but we think he's come out of it. we think he was/is teething. he had a big feast of fake sausage, broccoli, cauliflower, and pork chop last night. then he washed it all down with some milk.

his new problem is bath time. he cries like a baby when we put him in and this NEVER happened before. he used to love bath time. we don't get it. he's beside himself crying when he comes out to get prepped (burt's bee's lotion, a+d cream, vicks, california baby cream on the face) for sleeping. he only starts to calm down when he's fully ready for bed and we're reading him a book. we hope that this, too, will pass.

sleep tight...

big city, little mercer, part 2.

while in the city on saturday, we happened to run across a couple of well-known people. first, near NYU on what appeared to be alumni day, we saw chris matthews, who is the blowhard host of some show on one of the thousands of news channels. he was extremely tall and weathered. seeing him reminded pop of something that happened when he was at grad school. during class, word got out that chris matthews was in the building showing his son around. everyone in class perked up and their bow ties spun around. they just had to meet him. pop stayed put and caught up on a reading assignment. yawn.

anyway, we also stopped at kiehl's and as we were leaving, anjelica huston came in. she too was taller than expected and just browsed around the store by herself. just like a real person! it was interesting to see mrs. tenenbaum up close, but not really, if that makes sense.

big city, little mercer.

it was a beautiful day to visit the city on saturday and mercer was a well-behaved boy the whole time.

pop and mercer met grandpa in union square and strolled through the greenmarket, a delicious open-air market that caters to local restaurants and the general public. we took a quick look at 33 union square west, the address of one of andy warhol's offices. after that, we headed up to the city bakery, home of delicious cold hot chocolate and amazing pretzel croissants.

we then walked down to the massive strand bookstore, purveyors of old, new, used, and rare books. there, we browsed some children's books and changed mercer's diaper on a chair! we ate lunch at good and then walked through soho to do some light shopping at ben sherman.

after a quick rest and drink at whole foods bowery, we snacked on some delicious pommes frites with dill lemon mayo at, well, pommes frites. they only sell frites, and they are amazing.

mercer was struggling to stay awake at this point, so it was time to go home. he's still catching up on his sleep even now. he doesn't have much of an appetite and he's constantly rubbing his eyes. poor little guy. it was a fun time for all and we hope we can do it again!

sleep tight...

product spotlight: hook-on table chair

we haven't reviewed many products on this blog, mainly because we're too busy using them, but this hook on table chair by chicco has been priceless for us. in addition to being pretty cool looking, it's lightweight, sturdy, washable, travel-ready (it collapses almost flat), and can hook on to almost any kind of table imaginable - rounded, cornered, whatever. i think there's even a newer model out there.

our main problem is when it comes to taking the chair off of the table: the triggers to release the clamps are very stubborn and it takes some fiddling to get it right.

all in all though, mercer gives it 4.5 fingers in the mouth!

buy: http://www.babyuniverse.com/Caddy-Hook-On-Table-Chair--Red/PID/4785822/ctid/17/INstock/Y/D/?_ts=A006

cookbooks for kids

mercer isn't making us dinner yet, but this is an interesting article from the NY Times about children's cookbooks and how they're becoming big business and are more in-depth than ever before. i'm on the fence about this one. i like anything that's good for getting parents involved with their kids and publishing, but on the other hand, how many books like this can there be? my book on this topic would be one page long, and here it is, for free:

Chapter 1

Step 1: Get out a cookbook and pick a recipe.
Step 2: Involve your kids with the cooking process.

The End.

with so many books giving you tips and advice on how things should be, I think a lot of the fun and spontaneity is taken out of it. but anyway, read away (sorry for forcing you to look at a picture of rachel ray):

link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/14/dining/14kids.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

day tripper

as you can see on the right, we've incorporated a little bit of a photo slide show into the blog. how 2005! right now, it's just a bunch of old pictures over and over again. sure, you could look at them forever because mercer is so cute, but we plan on updating them as much as we can.

mercer has been very snuggly lately and he's looking forward to another big trip into the city this weekend to hang out with grandpa. mom will be visiting friends in pennsylvania so pop has him all to himself once again. it will be a struggle to appease mercer on the 45 minute train ride, but pop hopes that the moving scenery will keep him occupied for at least 5 minutes. the other 40 is up in the air! finding changing rooms and restaurants (that you'd actually want to eat at) with high chairs in the city is always a difficult task, but that's never stopped us before!

mercerMusic:

mock orange: "song in d"

nap master.

mercer and pop haven't napped together in probably 6 months. mercer has been too antsy to sit still with another human...until today!

mercer woke up normally at 6AM and pop fetched him from the crib. mom has been away, so it was just the guys for the morning play session. pop thought that mercer would surely squiggle and wiggle all over the place, whining like usual until he was on the floor and running. instead, mercer snuggled up against pop and asleep they went. next thing you know, pop looks at the clock and it's 7:51! mercer was due at day care in 9 minutes. whoops!

we rushed out the door within a half hour, but all was fine. mercer was able to get breakfast at day care and pop got in just a little bit later than he normally does. the snuggling was worth it.

mercerMusic:

wolf parade: "call it a ritual"

just mercer + pop.

mom is on her way to syracuse today, leaving mercer and pop alone for the next couple of days. mercer has been very mommy-centric recently, clawing at pop's face whenever he gets the chance, so we'll see how this arrangement works out. he also dislikes being held for very long. his legs keep moving like a bugs' when you pick him up and then the whining begins.

but in all honesty, mercer is a very well-behaved boy. last night, the whole gang went out for dinner and mercer was the hit of the restaurant. he is very nosy and interested in everyone's business, but he got lots of smiles. he didn't throw any tantrums (never usually does) and ate lots of good food: grilled chicken, pork ribs, brown rice, peas, and potato chips!

sleep tight...

mercerMusic:

andrew bird: "imitosis (four tet mix)"

tokyo police club: "in a cave"

wolfie: "hey it's finally yay"

middle of the room getter-upper

mercer is now able to stand up by himself in the middle of the room without grabbing on to anything. it's pretty funny watching him do it, too. his butt sticks way up in the air and he's usually holding something in his hand: a sock, a soda bottle, a block. it's also very cute when mercer squats down to play with a toy. he is such a strong boy and reminds pop about how of out of shape he is!

mercer was so good yesterday. no whining, crying, or fussing. he caught up on a lot of sleep. here was his basic schedule:

6AM: wake up, play with mom and pop
7AM: eat breakfast/drink milk
7:30-8:30AM: play time with pop
8:30-11:30: NAP
11:30: milk bottle, a couple of crackers; he refused chicken sausage and pizza
12PM - 1:30PM: play time
1:30PM - 4:30PM: NAP
4:30PM - 6PM: Dinner of turkey bits, peas, apple sauce, and milk.
6:30PM: walk to starbucks with mom and pop
7:30PM: SLEEP

Have a good weekend.

exposed knees.

mercer wore his first pair of shorts today to day care. mercer looks extremely cute in shorts, especially with the way he walks around and squats down to pick things up. he's too funny.

mercer is looking more and more like a grown-up human, but he isn't responding to questions as much as we'd like. he definitely responds to his name, tones, smiles, and other facial expressions, but if you ask him to show you his book that he's holding, he's not interested. he's learning, though. he does sit still on your lap when you're reading to him and he does point to a lot of things now. so he's on his way.

mercer's new favorite song.

mercer loves this song that appears on the noggin network. mom and pop have to admit that it's a great song for kids and the art is fantastic. as soon as mercer hears the first few notes, he starts bopping up and down.

enjoy!

first words...maybe??

mercer may or may not have said his first words this week. he's always said "mamamamamama" or "dadadadadadada," but only when he's distressed or in need of snuggling. we don't really count those. the reason we think these new words might actually be words is because they were said in response to something.

tuesday: mom and pop were playing with mercer in the living room and mercer was going for something he shouldn't be playing with, like the phone or a phone charger. one of us said, "mercer, play with something else." mercer replies, "why?"

wednesday: pop is with mercer at a pizza joint for lunch and a man who gets up to leave from his table says 'hi' to us both. pop says to mercer, "mercer, say hi to the man. go ahead. wave and say hi." nothing. but when the man got to the cash register and mercer could see his face, he raised his hand, waved, and muttered a soft "hi." cute.

we've been asking mercer a lot more questions and talking more. he seems very interested in speech and he is finally (!) sitting still at night when we read him books. instead of wanting to bite the corners of the book, he sits in pop's lap and looks at the pictures as pop reads. reading is finally fun.