mercer's first school photo.

a few things. (one) look how cute this guy is. ever wonder what a parent thinks is cute on their own toddler when you might not think the child is cute? look at the small teeth. the little curl of hair on his left (your right) side. his collar. his double chin. it's the small things. (two) how the heck did they get him to sit that still?? those photographers are miracle workers. think about it. only 17 months ago, this was a helpless being, unable to keep his own head up or feed himself. now he's sitting still (and smiling! showing teeth!) for a photographer. (three) we're going to have to order more of these.

a fun saturday.

mercer spent a fun day with friends sarah and dan while mom and pop acted like tourists in new york. they went for a nice lunch at becco and then saw a play called speed the plow starring jeremy piven (entourage, tons of movies), elizabeth moss (mad men), and raul esparza (a broadway mainstay). the play suited mom and pop perfectly as it was quick and to the point. well acted and interesting, too.

it took some prying to get mercer away from sarah and dan because they were such great company, but we eventually got him into the car for the ride home. smiles all around.

mercer likes to color.

take a look! it's mercer using his big new coloring book and crayons.

mercer! look at what you did to the blinds! daddy doesn't like that!

what's for dinner? part 4.

thursday.

mom and pop: subway sandwiches (gross)

mercer: hot dog and macaroni and cheese

chris brown and elmo.

mercer knows how to say "elmo" now, which is somewhat disturbing since he's our least favorite character on sesame street. why couldn't he have gone old school with bert, grover, or better yet, telly? still, mercer enjoys himself a little bit of the SS in the morning. we don't like him stuck in front of the TV all the time, but there are things he learns from certain shows that are amazing. he learned how to twirl from the backyardigans, for example (an amazing show for parents if you like music, by the way) and waves bye to the characters at the end of each show.

anyway, back to sesame street. apparently, chris brown is a star in the music industry who dates famous people. we've never heard of him until he popped up to sing a duet with elmo about signs on sesame street. it's catchy, but i'd be surprised if brown's range extends much further than this song. how many singers like this do we need? anyway, it's a clever clip showcasing elmo's surprising vocal range.

what's for dinner? part 3.

nothing special to eat, but on an unrelated note, mercer got kicked out of the library last night! not his fault, really. he was running up and and down the aisles (in the children's room where there are toys everywhere!) with mommy not far behind. the librarian in the room didn't like this too much for some reason and, in so many words, told mercer and mom that if they kept it up, they would be asked to leave. we all left anyway and we probably won't be back. good job, ossining public library!

wednesday

mom and pop: chicken scarpiello pizza with salad. bounty-flavored gelato.

mercer: half a slice of plain pizza, 3 cucumbers.

what's for dinner? part 2.

mercer did NOT want to eat last night. he was in a feisty and tired mood. mom and pop still ate well, though!

tuesday.

mom and pop: paparadelle pasta in a sage walnut sauce with spicy chicken sausage.

mercer: ate very few pieces of chicken sausage and a little bit of red beans and rice. did not eat peas and carrots. did drink almost two bottles of milk, though.

mercer's first song.

mercer is fascinated with pop's guitar and the sounds it can make. a few weeks ago, we caught mercer playing the guitar with a drum stick and got it all on tape. he's just playing some open strings but as he goes up and down the guitar, he mimics the sounds he hears with his voice. he gives us some other stuff, too.

bonus points to anyone who (a) listens to this all the way through or (b) listens to it twice.

and yes, pop has listened to this at least 50 times.

here it is: mercer song 1

what's for dinner? part 1.

we're going to keep track of what mercer eats for dinner this week. why? why not! it'll be interesting to look back at this a year from now and see what has changed (for us, anyway).

monday.

mom and pop: baked chicken with marjoram, mashed squash, sauteed spinach and garlic, slim-a-bear ice cream treat.

mercer: baked chicken with marjoram, few bites of ravioli, few bites of squash, corn, milk, chocolate pudding, all natural strawberry fruit bar.

do you like pudding?

mercer does. so much so that he employed 2 spoons the other night at the diner.

roller coaster.

mercer's new table.

we got mercer a set of table and chairs this weekend. he loves to sit. he loves to color and hold crayons. it's the perfect combination! here is mercer using his table for the first time. he was so happy to see it!

words update.

there are probably plenty that I am forgetting, but here are some words mercer can say, more or less:

hi, no, more, please, elmo, goal, apple, baby, momma, mommy, mommEEEEEE, dadda, daddy, hanna, bye, juice, book, yes, go, emma, nose, eye, pumpkin, barazzul bee bub, ball, moshy mees a sapadub.

and in sign language, mercer knows: milk, thank you, more, and please.

wow.

wow.

mercer visits the zoo.

the day after halloween, we visited the bronx zoo. like halloween, it was a gorgeous day but the zoo was basically empty. the leafy shades of red, yellow, and orange were a fantastic backdrop for all the animals we saw. mercer picked up some starbucks on the way:


"raaaaawwwwwwrrrrr!" mercer loves roaring any time he sees an animal in a book or on TV. watching him talk to the tigers in the wild was great.


look! bison!


we capped off the afternoon with a ride on the skyfari.


mercer loved it.

trick or treat.

mom and pop took mercer to see sydney and her parents, christine and kyle, for halloween. it was a beautiful afternoon for trick or treating and the kids were in great spirit. mercer even planted a big kiss on sydney's lips to start off the evening!

as you know, mercer was a vampire. sydney was a penn state cheerleader. the kids did some rough housing before we set out.






the parents didn't think the toddlers would last all that long, but mercer and sydney picked up on the whole trick or treating idea really quickly. they loved knocking on doors and grabbing as much candy as they could. we tried pushing the m and m's for mercer since we know he really loves those. he eats them one at a time! so frustrating! it was cute to watch them try and stuff as much loot into their sacks as fast as possible!



at the end of the day, the kids did a great job. in fact, i think the grown-ups were more tired than mercer and sydney. we headed back to christine and kyle's fantastic house and relaxed with some pizza and treats. until next year...

jack o'lantern blaze.

last thursday, our friend tracey was kind enough to give us last minute jack o'lantern blaze tickets, which were hard to come by this year. in the 4 or 5 years the event has been staged, it's become quite popular. basically, it's thousands of hand-carved pumpkins (or plastic pumpkins - we're not sure. some of them look like plastic.) on display and lit up at night. spooky music is played, apple cider is served, and fun is had.

mercer was extremely tired when we showed up, but we've been training him to stay up a little later so he can get used to the daylight savings shenanigans. he wasn't happy when we were stuck in lines or logjams, but he loved looking at all the nighttime pumpkins. he doesn't mind sitting in the baby carrier on daddy's back as long as there are skeletons, goblins, and gremlins to look at. spooky!

update on mercer's trick or treating extravaganza coming soon...

mercer jumped out of his crib yesterday.

yesterday, mercer was having fits while mom was trying to put him in his crib for an afternoon nap. he's been really clingy with mom lately and he was screaming. as soon as mom got downstairs she heard a loud "thud" and the pitter patter of tiny mercer feet. mom rushed up the stairs to meet mercer before he thought about taking them on himself. he greeted mom with some jibber jabber baby talk and all was fine.

we think he was just so upset about mom leaving that he lept up and out. he never thinks about trying to jump during the night or when he's not super clingy. hopefully, he'll go back to his normal napping ways from now on. his nap schedule has been very erratic recently. he's gone down to one nap from two during the day, which is fine, but day care always messes this up.

we'll keep you posted.

happy halloween - UPDATE 3.

here's mercer marching in the halloween parade at day care. he's holding hands with his friend shaina.