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mercer's first snow steps.

pop took mercer to the park this morning so mercer could take his first snow steps. mercer jumped into his snow suit, jacket, hat, mittens, and brand new snow boots and off they went. the snow was deep and still falling by the time they got to the park. it didn't take long for mercer to topple over, of course. they built snow castles and watched a couple of trains go by. pretty soon, snow was caked all over mercer's mittens and he quite enjoyed the taste. the news was calling for icy rain so pop decided to head home before the fluffy flakes turned messy.

enjoy the photos. at the very bottom, we have a video of mercer first calling for mommy and then pointing at the metro north train rolling by ("a choo!" he says). the gray beyond is the hudson river.











First Snow Steps from mercer jackson on Vimeo.

playdate! mercer and sydney.

sydney stopped by with her parents, christine and kyle, this past saturday. everyone had a good time and the kids were nice enough to stop and pose for a quick photograph.

mercer gets modern.

12/18/08 by mercer jackson. click to see his work up close.

mercer's rock and roll moment.

video: mercer coloring

Mercer's coloring session. from mercer jackson on Vimeo.

mercer and hanna eating goldfish crackers.

mercer is sick.

we had to pick mercer up early from daycare yesterday. he registered a 103+ degree fever, but he's been recovering well ever since. these photos show mercer from last night, when he was in slightly worse shape. he's drinking lots of juice and eating ritz crackers.

the artist.

last week mercer and pop spent some time coloring. pop had mercer color in a large sheet at his craft table in the living room. once mercer was finished (or lost interest), pop took the sheet and hung it up on the refrigerator. mercer was proud of his drawing and we took some pictures of mercer and his work.

then, mercer decided he wasn't finished quite yet. he went back to the living room, picked out a crayon, and came back to the fridge to add a few more strokes of color. then he brought that crayon back and returned with a new one. he repeated this for about a half hour...back and forth...

we have video of the artist at work and we hope to get that running up here very shortly.

he who refuses to be woken.

before mercer was put to bed tonight, pop hooked up an old stereo system and speakers in our bedroom (which also acts as mercer's bedroom and our computer room, just to give you some context). we popped in a CD and the speakers/stereo worked great. they were loud, mercer danced and giggled, he got tired. we turned the stereo off and prepared mercer for bed.

hours go by. it is now 10:15. pop has been washing dishes in the kitchen for about 20 minutes but the whole time he has been hearing music coming from what he thinks is the downstairs neighbors. mom is on the phone in the living room. she hears the music too, but it's faint, so she thinks pop turned it on in the kitchen to listen to while dish washing.

suddenly, mom realizes the music isn't coming from downstairs. it's coming from upstairs! from the bedroom! where mercer is! pop opens the door and yes, there are short, skipping bursts of loud dance music pulsating throughout the bedroom. something is obviously wrong with the stereo/cd player. pop rushes upstairs to unplug the speakers in the dark. once the sound cuts out, pop expects to hear the familiar whine of a freshly woken baby. instead, he hears the same soothing white noise emanating from the boom box we use to put mercer to sleep every night. mercer was still asleep. 30 minutes of loud, skipping instrumental dance music had not stirred him one bit. upon further review, pop found that the little guy was in his normal sleeping position: on his belly, hands tucked underneath, butt in the air.

amazing. not to blame it on anyone but us, the parents, but mercer was fiddling with the stereo controls quite a bit while we were up there before bedtime. perhaps he hit an alarm button? perhaps. still, that's one tired toddler.

UPDATE: peek-a-mercer, or, how we learned to respect ice.

pop is getting old. after yesterday's slip and fall down the steps, pop is aching. it could've been much worse, like a broken back or split melon, so this aching will have to do.

peek-a-mercer, or, how we learned to respect ice.

starting last night, our area got hit with quite an ice storm. this morning, pop was taking out the recyclables to the street when he took quite a tumble down the outside steps! whoops! the entire set of steps was coated in slushy, slippery ice. to make matters worse, there was a car right in front of the house, apparently waiting to pick someone up nearby. not sure if the person(s) in the car saw anything, but they certainly didn't get out to help. not pop's finest hour, but he didn't let go of the two bags of recyclables! now that's determination.

anyway, mercer has a new game of hide and seek where he hides under our quilt at the foot of the bed. pop didn't implement any kind of lighting standards here, but you get the idea and mercer is pretty cute.




mercer is dancing to:
cut copy // feel the love

roast pork and kraut.

aunt alyssa was kind enough to let mercer and company join her family for their annual pork and kraut party on new year's day. it was a fantastic feast that included many delicious snackables.


things got crazy after everyone left. really crazy. just look at this picture. mercer wanted everyone to try on these glasses. pop forgot the camera but mom had the trusty blackberry.






even aunt alyssa got into the action.

mercer and aunt alyssa's puppy, murphy. they got off to a rough start, but became fast friends. collectively known as "murpher."



it was a snacking kind of weekend. mercer loves tortilla chips.

we topped the holiday off at skeeter's bbq for lunch with aunt nicole and her 9-month old babe, niko. it was the first time mercer and pop had met the new guy. all in all, not a bad way to spend new year's.

pop is listening to:
los campesinos / we are beautiful, we are doomed