gone fishin'.

mercer will be with grandpa this weekend as mom and pop take a nice little break. while you're waiting to read a recap of how much fun mercer had, feel free to take a look at the event mercer will be taking part in to help fight breast cancer.

thanks, and have a good weekend.

aunt alyssa's.

mercer and his entourage traveled to sunbury, pa this past weekend to visit with aunt alyssa. aside from the monster traffic we encountered on route 80 during the ride out there, the trip was a blast.

sunbury is a fine town, blessed with a fantastic (if underused) downtown area and wonderful architecture. sunbury also sits on the mighty susquehanna river, a geographic feature mom and pop are very familiar with from their time at lycoming college. in fact, that's how mom and pop met wonderful aunt alyssa.

we were supposed to arrive friday afternoon, but that was pushed back into the night because of the traffic. mercer was an unbelievably good boy during the whole mess, so we let him run around and eat pizza once we settled in. aunt alyssa has lots of nice toys to play with; mercer took a liking to some markers he found as well as some magic wands, bert (sesame street), and a handcrafted rocking horse that alyssa's grandfather made.

on saturday, we had lunch at the delicious selingsgrove brewery. we may have drank a few too many ciders and ales, because we were all very drowsy afterward. later in the afternoon, we headed to knoebel's, an amazing slice-of-americana-family-run theme park that features one of the best roller coasters pop has ever been on - the phoenix! so great is this ride that it gives you bruises on your arms! the park was packed since it was one of the last weekends of summer, but everyone had a great time. mercer is still too young to go on any kid rides, but he had fun with mommy in a playground and actually won his first price (a toy seahorse) in a carnival game! he was able to throw a wiffle ball into one of the "prize cups!" not bad, mercer!

our trip seemed short because of the whole traffic thing, so sunday morning came before we wanted it to. before we left, though, we took a short trip to spy glass ridge winery and loaded the car up with some good, local wine.

some pictures of the trip are below. enjoy!

bath time.

quick fact: when pop turns the faucet on at night to start preparing for bath time, mercer starts grabbing at his shirt in anticipation. once mom takes his clothes off, mercer runs over to the tub and holds his hand under the water to see if it's the right temperature.

uh-oh.

mercer now says "uh-oh" when he knocks something over. or if he falls. or if he sees something fall. or if he sees something bad happen.

uh-oh.

dunker.

oh, and mercer now dunks his fries/nuggets/pancakes/toast/chicken/veggies into ketchup/syrup/sauces, etc. that also is the cutest thing ever.

dribbler.

last wednesday evening, pop taught mercer how to dribble a small soccer ball with is feet. mercer sees a lot of soccer on tv and watches pop use his feet to kick stuff (toys, balls, toy balls, etc.) around all the time. so, to practice, pop held mercer's arms up and let him run along with a little soccer ball at his feet. he would dribble it along for a few feet and then lose interest and/or try to pick the ball up. pop would correct him and tell him to try and use his feet instead. mercer kept practicing.

eventually, mercer began to understand and now he only picks up his toy balls when retrieving them from hard to reach places so he can throw them in front of his feet for dribbling! he seeks out his balls (we have a few - big plush soccer balls, small plastic toy balls, a leather trainer soccer ball, etc.) and dribbles them on his own which is probably the cutest thing in the world.

next up are the goal celebrations...

making strides against breast cancer.

mom and pop would like to take a moment of your time to talk more seriously than we normally do here.

earlier this year, mercer lost his grandma, andrea, to breast cancer. in andrea’s honor, mom and pop have decided to help the cause by walking in the point pleasant beach, new jersey making strides against breast cancer event on october 19, 2008. the event is conducted each year by the american cancer society in thousands of communities across the country. andrea and mercer participated in this event last october.

if you would be interested in helping us out with a donation, simply click on the american cancer society graphic along the right side of the page and you will be led through a series of simple steps. mom, pop, and mercer are very grateful for any support we receive and with your help, we’ll reach our goal of $2,500.

wary of donating money online? that’s fine. just click here to print out a donation form that you can send through the mail.

find out more information about the event, or donate, by clicking here.

mom and pop will be posting updates, reminders, photos, and other bits of information in the coming weeks. if you have any questions, please email mom (jill): jill.leonowicz@cancer.org

thanks so much for your support.

dreams.

"yeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrowwwwwwwaaaaaghhhh!"

"ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

"ooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrgh!


these were the sounds that stirred mom and pop from their slumber last night. apparently, mercer was having some bad dreams. he made these noises as he slept, never awakening, and they were in a lower tone than his normal voice, which made them even more eerie.

after we checked on him to make sure he wasn't morphing into a werewolf, we wondered what kind of dreams he could be having at such a young age. maybe he was stuck in a world where goldfish crackers didn't exist? eek! or a world without balloons? oh no! or in a country that forks over 450+ billion dollars in aid to foreign nations that they are currently bombing when there are suffering people right here in the united states? egad!

mercer[music]

born ruffians - little garcon
born ruffians - i need a life

a simple weekend.

mercer and the gang traveled to new jersey this weekend to check up on some family members. we were also supposed to hang out with jon and meredith, but that never happened. why? well, mercer, like clockwork, got yet another fever on friday afternoon and became very clingy, needy, and somewhat whiny. rather than expose the world to his cranky behavior and germs, we stayed in for most of the weekend and played with rocking horses, tricycles, and radio flyers.

it seems now, however, that mercer is teething. this sometimes brings on fevers, but pop has also read that this is a myth. either way, mercer is leaving a trail of drool behind him wherever he goes. he hasn't eaten much besides corn on the cob for the past 3 days, but this is a phase that mom and pop are well used to.

in better news, mercer is becoming more courteous and respectful. he puts away his books and toys when he is finished, closes doors behind him (and on people, but we'll let that slide), puts caps back on bottles, and hands things he finds on the floor to mom and pop instead of putting them in his mouth. all good things. and...talking shouldn't be that far away now. he is very blabbery recently, saying things perhaps only mom and pop can understand. for example:

UTZ EEESS? (What's this?)

anniversary.

today is mom and pop's anniversary. three years! look at how young and innocent that couple looks up there.

not much planned other than a nice local dinner tonight and a lunch tomorrow in white plains.

onward...

tv for kids.

yo gabba gabba is a show on nick jr. it's host and creator are on some serious drugs, but at least it's original.



here we have a performance by the shins.



biz's beat of the day. what?

mercer's first haircut.

mercer had a moppy head of hair until today. our hairdresser, ilda, helped mercer clean up his act! mommy had to hold mercer in place the whole time because there was no way he was sitting still with so much to look at.




mercer doesn't like being restrained and hates not being in control. here, he shows his displeasure.



ilda was quick and crafty with her shears (she has twins!). mommy did a good job holding mercer steady.



almost done!



all done. not so bad, right?



thanks, pop. now i can see where i'm going!

mr. pretzel.

it's a well-established fact that utz sourdough specials are some of the best pretzels in the world. they're a perfect size, well-salted, have a nice toothsome bite, features a tangy hint of sourdough, and ends with a fantastic crumble about the tongue and cheek. these are the pretzels that fueled pop through his undergraduate studies and are also the basis of pop's world-famous Pretzel Diet.

so, it was an honor for pop to witness mercer eating his very first sourdough special yesterday during lunch. he ate one and a half pretzels, actually, and would've had more if he weren't so tired and needed a nap. pop ate about a quarter of the bag, but volume will come for young mercer. these early days are for taste acquisition. so far, pop likes what he sees.

random cell photos for the weekend.

here are some random cell phone shots before pop signs off for the weekend. the first one shows mercer as a sick little babe a few weeks ago. he likes the medicine so much that he demands to hold the syringe.

the second is at rye playland at the end of june. look at daddy's sexy legs! and look how big that kid on the right is! the roller coaster is the other way, buddy! this ride is for mercer-sized babes!