a slow week.

it's been a slow week in mercerland. no dislocated elbows, no high fevers, no real drama of any kind. mercer is starting to say his "yes"'s much more clearly now. you can tell he is working scenarios over in his head after you ask him a question. he knows what he wants, that's for sure. some other highlights:

* he is going up and down steps quite easily now. going down, he still needs to hold mom or dad's hand. as he descends, he says "careful...careful..."

* he is starting to develop TV preferences now, which is scary. he doesn't watch all that much, but we're learning that he's not a huge fan of sesame street. he likes Blue's Clues because he likes holding his own notebook when the host draws in his famous handy dandy notebook.

* he likes crawling under the sheets naked.

* he is eating better (or more easily) these days. he is more willing to try new things, it seems. he is eating cheese now, which he never ever did as an infant or 1-year old.

* his memory is impressive. earlier this week, mercer and mom were sitting outside on the front steps eating a dark chocolate bar that grandpa got for him from IKEA. the next morning, as mercer and pop were saying goodbye to mommy on the front steps, mercer kept saying "Ah Clate!" he ran inside into the kitchen, threw open the refrigerator, and grabbed the chocolate from the night before. he wanted to eat chocolate on the steps again. unfortunately for everyone, it was 8am and the chocolate eating had to wait.

mercer's first letter.

mercer drew this while watching sesame street this morning. he ran over to mommy and showed her his writing pad: "mommy!!!??? A!!!??"

good boy!

take care of the Earth.

forgive the terrible production values.

non-mercer related: got $20,000 lying around?

mom and pop have been casually looking over apartment rentals and house listings recently. pop found this house in scarsdale, ny with a rent of $20,000/MONTH:

"For rent is a 5000 square foot 1940 colonial estate with 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, and almost 3 acres of land on a private road in the prestigious Quaker Ridge school district of Scarsdale, NY. The house is 1.5 miles from the Scarsdale Pool and the Saxon Woods public golf course (2 of the many great amenities of the Village of Scarsdale)."

The ad goes on to say that the minimum rental contract is 1 year. To save you from doing the math, that's $240,000. scarsdale is one of the ritziest towns in the county, but 20K is mind-blowing. no info on whether that price includes the tent or not.

just had to share that.

mercer dislocated his elbow last night.

we were in toys "r" us last night, having a blast with mercer as he searched around for something we could use a gift certificate on. he found the big power wheels/cars that you can drive around in and of course, he didn't want to get out. even after 20 minutes. so, we had to pull him away because it was getting close to dinner time. well, we were trying to distract him with other toys, but he kept trying to make a run for it. during one of these runs, mom grabbed mercer's left arm and heard a "pop!"

mercer was then crying about both his arm and the fact that we wouldn't let him back in the toy cars. he was holding his wrist up, barely moving his arm, and couldn't grasp anything tightly. uh-oh. after making our purchase (an awesome tool box set), we rushed down to the fantastic children's hospital near us and waited in the emergency room. eventually, the doctor took a look at mercer, who at this point was pretty lethargic from the pain I suppose he was feeling up and down his arm. the doctor felt for broken bones, but after not finding anything, he suspected a nursemaid's elbow, which is basically a partially dislocated elbow found in toddlers under the age of 5. toddler tendons are not as strong as adult tendons, so it's easier to dislocate something. the doctor grabbed mercer's arm, twisted, and "snap!" it went right back into place. after 15 seconds of crying, mercer was back to normal, holding his crayons and new toy hammer tightly.

all is well now, but both mom and pop had visions of mercer wearing a tiny cast for 8 weeks or worse, undergoing surgery. ah, the joys of parenthood.

happy birthday!

today is mercer's second birthday. what a big boy he is. he's been practicing saying "two" all month and even answered the doctor correctly when asked how old he was yesterday.

mom and pop got a bunch of balloons for mercer to play with this morning, as he loves those things. he's ecstatic when he gets his hands on one balloon; his head almost exploded this morning when he saw a combination of 20 regular balloons and a dozen helium balloons littered about the living room.

it's off to grandpa's this afternoon after a haircut and shave. there will be plenty of presents to go around, as well. mercer already opened his sing-along micophone, but we also got him a polaroid digital camera (he loves the view screen), and some books by mo willems.

happy birthday, mercer. we love you and are proud of you.

the number 2.

2 is a significant number this week. mercer turns 2 on friday, but today, mercer used the toilet all by himself. he had flirted with the idea before, saying "potty potty potty" until we put him on the seat. normally, he would just sit there and read or talk to himself. sometimes, usually over grandpa's, he'd provide just a little something that needed flushing. today, however, mercer gave the toilet a bona fide number 2. good boy, mercer! mercer's preferred reading material is the Not For Tourist Guide to New York (2002 version).

happy easter.

mercer was in new jersey this weekend hanging out with relatives. he went on a train ride in allaire state park after taking some photos with the easter bunny.

on the train with bunny and uncle matt.

looking out the window with uncle matt.

mercer and hanna are trying to figure out where all the treats are.

running wild in allaire state park.

someone's got the chocolate fever!

found a basket of goodies at grandpa's house.

cookie.

mercer made a cookie monster at day care.

rock.

from the vault: young mercer photos

soft, sleeping mercer.

a popular photo. no, nothing was playing.

so tiny!

this was taken during the two days that mercer used a pacifier. i don't know why we bothered - they're so silly. oh, and mercer has a shoe on his head.

not too pleased about posing with daddy.

mercer mixtape: april 2009

mercer likes to dance.

owen - bad news
the ting tings - happy birthday (from yo gabba gabba)
jenny lewis - black sand
the get up kids - i'm a loner dottie, a rebel
dirty projectors with david byrne - knotty pine
pearl jam - once (original)
fanfarlo - i'm a pilot
the joy formidable - cradle
mirah - the world is falling apart
the thermals - now we can see
jeremy enigk - mind idea
that was something - she is the west coast

ribbit.

last night, we were watching one of mercer's favorite shows, max and ruby. in the show, max, who is a toddler bunny, was pretending to be a frog, hopping all over the place, saying "ribbit, ribbit." so what do you think mercer does? he starts bouncing all over the place - on his knees because that's how he likes to watch tv - yelling "ribbit, ribbit!!" the entire house shook because mercer isn't tiny anymore. he's basically a long, lean muscle with teeth.

anyway, that was our night.

sunday morning bonus video.

Mercer goes down a hill. Again. from mercer jackson on Vimeo.


Mercer's feet and the hill. from mercer jackson on Vimeo.

mercer and the hill.

FIRST:




SECOND:




LAST:

mercer loves trains.

here's mercer at the park watching a train go by. he loves his trains.

more to come from this particular excursion to the park. mercer and daddy were up to no good!