politics.

pop has tried to keep politics off this blog because, so far, the election hasn't had too much to do with mercer's day to day activities. however, the content of this article in the los angeles times just can't (and shouldn't) be ignored. if you don't feel like clicking through to the article, here is the first paragraph:

"Soon after Sarah Palin was elected mayor of the foothill town of Wasilla, Alaska, she startled a local music teacher by insisting in casual conversation that men and dinosaurs coexisted on an Earth created 6,000 years ago -- about 65 million years after scientists say most dinosaurs became extinct -- the teacher said."

just like the flintstones.

pop sure doesn't want mercer being taught this garbage in school, so as of today, politics are fair game. pull a lever for mccain/palin and you're voting for creationism being taught in schools, book banning, and witch doctors. and that's just sarah palin.

mccain owns 12 houses. how many do you own? he also owns more than 11 cars. how about you? think he's really in touch with what you and your family needs? he can afford to lose, say, 5 or 7 houses and cars and he'll be fine. he also cheated on his first wife to marry a rich heiress (over 100 million), graduated near the bottom of his class (894 out of 899) at the US naval academy, had a less than stellar military career, and has a history of flip-flopping on important issues to gain himself more votes as needed. if that sounds too elitist, ask yourself, why shouldn't we be demanding the most (magna cum laude, harvard law) from the people who want to run our country? is simply being around for 40 years good enough? experience only counts if you've learned something.

oh, and in 2000, he lost the republican primary to someone who would become the worst president in this nation's history.

on another note, do you know what kind of people understand the struggles that regular americans are going through on a daily basis? community organizers.

that's not to say that pop is an outright obama supporter, but having mccain/palin as one of the main choices for americans to choose from in 2008 is a real failure of the american political system. pop will try to keep the politics to a minimum from here on out, but there's only so much one can take.

sleep tight...

fresh from the blackberry

here is a photo fresh from mom's blackberry. it's a sick mercer trying to get into pop's cookbooks! down, boy!

did you know?

mercer sleeps from approximately 7:30pm to 6:18am every day.

mercer has conjunctivitis.

...commonly known as pink eye. mom and pop have noticed that mercer's eyes looked a little goopy over the past couple of days. he also had a runny nose, so we figured he had a little head cold. however, yesterday after lunch, mercer began scratching himself all over the place. upon closer inspection, pop found a series of rashes on mercer's arms, legs, and torso. we brought him to the doctor and it turned out that little mercer was running a fever, had pink eye, and was contagious! the rash stemmed from the fever, which is apparently very common in toddlers.

the rash has gone away and mercer seems to be on the mend; his eyes are less goopy and his nose less stuffy. he is still tired and mopey, but will enjoy an occasional dance or two. lots of rest and cuddling is in order, but not too much cuddling because that goopy eye stuff is gross. it gets all over you!

the last of summer's bounty.

mercer hasn't been eating much recently, but last night he went on a tear. grandpa gave us some new jersey corn (the best anywhere) and new jersey tomatoes (again, the best) and as soon as mercer saw the corn cooking on the stove, he started to get excited. we sat down for dinner and mercer proceeded to eat a baked pork chop, sauteed mushrooms, corn on the cob, two tomato slices (which he has never eaten before), and plenty of milk. during our walk, he devoured three madelines, his favorite cookie.

lying low.

mercer will be lying low as he visits some family this weekend. there is really so much to keep up with that it's hard to record it in a timely fashion. mercer changes so much every hour. seriously.

mercer has a new friend in a two and a half year old boy next door to us, so that's good. let's see, what else...a little girl bit mercer on the arm this morning at day care because she wanted a toy that he was holding. mercer does need to learn how to share, but good for mercer for not giving in! he's got plenty of time for women to boss him around, so he can keep that toy if he wants it!

have a good weekend...

did you know?

mercer is most ticklish on his neck!

did you know?

mercer won't eat without a fork.

did you know?

mercer gets mommy's glasses for her in the morning. the day can't start without mommy putting her glasses on.

teachings.

we've taught mercer a few new things recently, all of them extremely useful. we've taught mercer how to throw garbage into the trash can, how to say "GOAL!" during a soccer match, how to play the harmonica (kind of), and we've also sat him down at a piano in a music store. boy, did he love that. he was banging away like a madman with a huge smile on his face. luckily, someone from blue note records was there to record the performance and it'll be out next month, entitled "mercer: the shape of jazz to come."

time out.

did we mention that we put mercer in time outs now? it's one of those silly modern parenting tools that you see on the teevee, but with mercer, it works (so far). at first, we'd sit mercer down and tell him he was being bad and he had to think about what he did wrong, but he would jump right back up. but, with some persistence, mercer has learned to sit quietly and take his punishments like a little boy should.

the bad part about it is, any time we threaten him with the words "time out," he'll run over to his time out spot and sit. it's like a game. he also has a new technique when we're looking directly at him, telling him why he's being punished, and he tries to move in for a kiss! how sneaky!

yesterday, mercer had three time outs. the first two were for playing with his lunch (smashing it, throwing it, flicking it, etc.) instead of eating it like he normally does. the third was for hitting daddy in the head with a circular saw. it was a toy circular saw, but still... mercer has an ongoing problem with hitting people and he needs to learn that it's not OK to slice pop up with a saw. we've stopped mercer from face-raking people and his hitting has subsided somewhat.

most of mercer's mischief involves not listening to us when we ask him to sit, not run, not throw food, take his feet off the table (oh yes!), not pick up things that aren't his, etc. nothing too bad. yet.

mercer is a C.E.O.

here is mercer on the phone again, but this time he's multi-tasking; two phones!

mercer is a teenager.

look at this little scoundrel talking on mommy's blackberry. unbelievable!

[mercerMusic]

throw me the statue - "lolita"

official first words.

mercer has been saying "maaa maa" and "dah daaa" for a long time now, but just recently, he started saying "ahh-pull." when he says it, he is usually pointing to where we keep the apples or eating one. so, mom and pop have decided that "apple" is his first real word since he's saying it on purpose and not just as gibberish.

we're happy that it's something healthy and not "cheetos" or "ice cream," though he does like both of those things. he likes his apples even more.

congratulations, little mercer!