happy halloween - UPDATE 2

mercer in a big carrier with some very young kids for the parade? looks typical for our aimless day care center. what are they doing over there? we need some analysis from someone on the scene!

the look on mercer's face, however, is priceless. don't act so cool, though, mercer. you scream like that, too.

happy halloween - UPDATE.

mercer is getting ready to march in the parade!

happy halloween.

boy, halloween really snuck up on us this year. last year, mercer was just a small babe when halloween rolled around. mom and pop dressed him up like a hot dog, but this year, he is a scary vampire! well, he's not all that scary. more like a cute vampire toddler. the picture up there is kind of blurry, but that's because mercer moves so fast!

mercer is at school with mom right now, marching in the halloween parade with all of his friends. later, we're going to visit sydney, christine, and kyle and do some trick or treating. we'll try to update the blog as soon as we can with pictures from the field!

please vote.

by now, you may have figured out that the mercer process supports barrack obama for president. it wasn't an easy choice, but it was never between mccain and obama; it was between obama and anybody else. mccain never even entered the equation.

we've heard a lot of rhetoric about "change" and "hope" during this campaign. it's not really about either of those things; for us, it's about respect.

before mercer was born, pop was in germany for a month attending the 2006 world cup with a friend. other than the olympics (and a typical saturday afternoon in queens), there is no other event that brings together so many different kinds of people in one place. how were we received as americans? usually with sneers, remarks, and one liners about how our country should be ashamed of itself. this is nothing new; america has long been hated by a lot of people. but never has it been hated so much and by so many.

for us, a vote for mccain/palin is a vote for ignorance, fear, backwardness, hatred, wizardry, religious zealotry, lies, and secrecy. this has been on display during mccain's campaign and over the past eight years. barrack obama, at the very least, will restore respect for america throughout the world. a vote for obama shows the world that we embrace important ideals such as education, rational thinking, and compassion.

on a related note, mercer has some friends who are teachers (hey becky! hey alyssa! hey meredith!), and being a kid, education is very important to mercer. check out how the national educational association compares the two candidates. the fact that mccain refused to fill out the questionnaire is telling indeed.

http://www.nea.org/neatoday/0805/candidate-comparison.html

BREAKING: mercer visits the doctor for his 18 month checkup.

there he is. stripped down to his underpants, waiting for the doctor. if history is any guide, there will soon be screaming, kicking, crying, whining, tears, and tongue depressors everywhere! good luck, little guy.

pumpkin picking.

to prepare for the upcoming halloween holiday, mercer, cousin hanna, MeMa, PaPa, Grandpa, Aunt Becky, Mom, and Pop went to a local pumpkin patch. there, mercer and hanna went on a rather lengthy hayride, scampered around a pumpkin patch, fed goats, and got all kinds of dirty.

the recent cold weather has gotten everyone in the mood for spookiness, trick or treating, and the winter season in general. so has the sight of gourds, pumpkins, and squash everywhere you look. mercer has a bunch lying around the house and one of his favorite games is carefully moving them from one spot to another. and then back again. and then back again...

we'll report more on halloween in early november. we are planning on taking mercer out trick or treating this year with his good friend, sydney. we're guessing he'll last five houses, tops! last year, mercer was a hot dog for halloween. this year, he's a vampire!!

truly unbelievable that this is mercer's second halloween....

a blast from the past.

holy cow! look at how young mercer is!

election 2008: dead bear edition.

oh, and if you are voting for the mccain/palin ticket, here is an example of what your fellow supporters are up to. how classy!

http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200810210015/NEWS01/810210324

election 2008.

yesterday, on an NBC affiliate in colorado, republican vice-presidential candidate sarah palin was asked a question sent in to the station by a third grader named brandon garcia. the question?

“what does the Vice President do?”

keep in mind that Palin has had months to prep for this question since becoming the vp pick. seems that she's still not clear on what the vice president does, telling young brandon that the vp is in "charge of the U.S. Senate so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom."

really?

in reality, the vp's only involvement with the senate is to provide a tie-breaking vote in case of a deadlock. a vice president in no way shape or form can "get in there with the senators" and make policy.

just another example of how little the republican party cares about facts, the country, and it's children.

source: think progress

thank you.

thanks to all who donated towards making strides against breast cancer. we really appreciate it. while we personally didn't hit our internal goal, your contributions helped the point pleasant, new jersey event raise more than one million dollars. statewide, the making strides events will have raised around 5 million dollars when all is said and done. that's amazing.

grandma would definitely be proud of us, but there is still work to do. next year, we plan on making a more concerted team effort to hit our internal goal and help fight breast cancer.

that being said, there's still time to make a donation toward this year's event if you'd like, so drop us a line to ask us how or click the widget on the right side of the blog. by the way, that widget total is misleading...we've raised much more than $250 through this site. it's closer to $1,000, but American Cancer Society's technology is still stuck in 2002 or so.

again...thanks so much.

steps.

mercer takes on some steps.

mercer and hanna at the park.

mercer and cousin hanna had fun at the park this past weekend. the weather was just right for one final romp. here, they relax and think about the good old days.


here, hanna tells mercer how not to run into the giant rock.


mercer tells hanna about the finer points of the electoral college. it still doesn't make sense!


we owe how much to china??

drink!

mom and pop found out last night that mercer is perfectly capable of drinking water from a regular glass. he was whining his way through dinner, wanting our water glasses in the worst way. we, as usual, say no to this because broken glass and toddlers do not mix. we eventually gave him the water and he went to town, impressing both mom and pop along the way. sure, he got some water on his shirt and pants, but who hasn't at some point? mercer would've loved to watch pop during his college days!

anyway, mercer will be getting more practice at regular drinking in the coming days. he's a pro. we'll stick to water for now, though.

happy birthday, mommy!

today is mom's birthday. nothing special planned today, unfortunately. mom and pop took a sick day yesterday because they were both diagnosed with pink eye. thanks, mercer! the doctor told them to stay home to keep from passing the pinkus along to other people. anyway, mom and pop have a lot of work to catch up on, so nothing special during the day. maybe mercer will take mommy out to dinner tonight!

pop and grandpa take mercer to the city.

pop and mercer met grandpa in the big city yesterday. the weather started off lousy, but the rain gave way to a wonderful day. to dodge the early morning rain, the gang stopped in for a sip of coffee and madeline at once upon a tart. before that, mercer enjoyed a cheese straw from murray's cheese shop. mercer guided pop and grandpa northward, through union square and past fish's eddy and the massive paragon sporting goods . mercer fell asleep just before we sat down for a BBQ lunch at RUB, one of the best BBQ spots in the city.

he woke up when pop and grandpa were finished with their pulled pork sandwiches, but mercer was not hungry at all. he wanted to play and explore some more, so we headed out back south towards washington square park. there, mercer had a healthy helping of swings and slides and played very well with the other children.

we even saw baby soda, a fantastic hobo jazz band that mercer was riveted by. on the way out, heading towards other music and camper, we spotted tv personality carson kressley.

after one last coffee for pop and grandpa at esperanto cafe, mercer headed home. he was in great spirits all day, despite not really having eaten anything. once mercer and pop got in the car, however, mercer ripped open a bag of apple chips, finished the whole bag, and promptly fell asleep.

baby soda: bring it on down to my house

mercer playlist.

here's some music that mercer has been dancing his pants off to:

high places: from stardust to sentience

koushik: lying in the sun

miniature tigers: cannibal queen

andrew bird: oh no

vampire weekend - ottoman

sign language.

we're teaching mercer sign language. so far he knows how to communicate "more" and "please" (pictured). it's quite useful when trying to figure out what mercer wants and it's never too early to teach good manners.

next up: milk, thank you, you're welcome, and all that kind of good stuff.

apple chips.

the other day, mercer was holding one apple chip in each hand. pop could tell he was thirsty, so he offered mercer some milk. mercer acknowledged that, yes, he wanted the milk. however, mercer was in a bind when he realized that both of his hands were already occupied with apple chips, thus leaving no space for the milk cup.

watching his mind race, pop tried to solve the problem by taking the half-eaten, mushy, mangled apple chip out of his left hand so it was free to hold the milk. pop went to the garbage can and threw it out. mercer saw this, but didn't make the connection that he could now hold the milk in one hand and hold a fresh apple chip in the other. instead, he took the perfectly good chip that was still in his right hand, lifted the trash lid, threw the chip in the can, and clapped his hands.

this boy loves to mimic.

apple picking.

mercer and the family went apple picking this past weekend at barton orchards in dutchess county, ny. there were plenty of apples (macintosh, empire, jona mac, rome, granny smith, golden delicious, and more), but there were also pumpkins, squash, tomatoes, peppers, berries, fudge, and apple cider doughnuts. the orchard also has a theme park, corn maze, playground, ponies, and lots of other fun stuff for kids and parents.

we stuck to apple and vegetable picking this time around, though. mercer had a blast picking the apples off of the trees and throwing them into our bag, but he also loved running all over the place. it rained the night before and mercer got plenty dirty. a good day when all said and done. the fall can never come too early.