Mercer's new bed

Daddy converted Mercer's crib into a toddler bed this weekend. We found some handy guardrails at IKEA and there you have it. Mercer has slept one night and one afternoon nap in it so far and he seems to like it. He hasn't jumped out once. This also gives us a chance to use the quilt that Grandma made more often. Congratulations, Mercer! You're a big boy!

St. Augustine's Italian Festival

We just returned from a fun evening at the St. Augustine's Italian Festival in Ossining. We got there extra early to beat the crowds. Luckily, the grounds had a playground to distract Mercer until the festival opened it's gates. Mercer had fun, as usual. He liked the tube slide a lot.

Once inside the festival, Mercer tore through the kiddie rides. He went on the planes first, then the truck (pink, of course), then the boats, then the ferris wheel, a dragon roller coaster, and finally, a handful of runs through the fireman's obstacle course. We tried to get him to eat a hot dog, but he was too busy dancing in front of the DJ. He only ate a little bit, but he did enjoy some cannoli cream and Pepsi. Pop had a very good broccoli rabe and sausage sandwich.








Mercer loved the rides; we think he gets that from Pop. He had such excitement and joy on his face. Can't wait until next year.

Mom and Dad's vacation in Rhode Island

Mom and Dad spent some time at a friend's house in southern Rhode Island while Grandpa had fun with Mercer last week. It was a relaxing time, though Mercer was always missed. The weather was fantastic for the most part and we enjoyed some much-needed beach relaxation.

Sunday, July 12: Arrived in the evening after buying supplies for the rest of the week. Ate a dinner of broiled cod, crab cakes, salmon, wine, and some Narraganett beers at Starboard Galley. Not a bad way to start the week.

Monday, July 13: At the beach from 8:30am - 12:30pm. Reading material for the week included Twilight, Esquire, Cookie Magazine, and City of Thieves. Went to Providence after turkey sandwiches to see our old stomping grounds. Had a couple of pints at the always dependable Trinity Brewhouse, did some shopping on Thayer Street, and then headed to the West Side to eat dinner at the delicious Julian's. The mini-Cuban appetizers with aioli were unbelievable as were the main courses. The bathroom was worth noting, too: a TV showing classic AC/DC and Black Sabbath concerts, a cabinet full of vintage Star Wars figures, and hand soap in a plastic ketchup squeeze bottle. It's all about the little things.

Tuesday, July 14: At the beach from 8:30am - 1pm. We were sitting around most of the same families from the day before. By the end of the week, we found out that we were sitting next to an extended family from the same county as us in all week. Interesting.

After lunch, we headed over to Narragansett to play some mini-golf. We needed to get our practice in before embarrassing ourselves in front of Mercer. Dad won quite handily, but Mom gave it her best shot. Then it was off to Newport to see the eerie, yet majestic Fort Adams. It was run down, but our guide was interesting and the view of the Pell Bridge from inside the fort was amazing. The fort itself was one of the largest of its kind; Sumter, Ticonderoga, and McHenry could all fit inside of Adams.

On the parade grounds.

View of the harbor.

The Pell Bridge from Fort Adams' east wall.

After strolling around Newport's hidden historic streets, with structures dating back to the revolution, we headed home.

Whoops.
But first, we stopped at Mew's Tavern in Wakefield, one of the more satisfying places to grab some interesting beers and pub grub. We were entertained by a duo singing Celtic songs. At first, Pop was petrified, but after a few drinks, it was pretty good.

Wednesday, July 15: At the beach from 8:30am - 12pm. Headed back to Wakefield after lunch to take a look around the shops. One of the best bookstores in the state, Myopic Books, is in Wakefield. They feature old, rare, and new books. We found some great things for Mercer, including a Maurice Sendak pop-up book, and a treat for Daddy - a retrospective on Barnett Newman. We headed to the market to prepare for the night's feast: steak, shrimp, corn, and salad. Once we got back to the car, however, Daddy noticed that the car had a flat tire. Oh, bother. After unsuccessfully trying to fill the tire up, we raced over to A. Quick Tire Repair in Wakefield. They were closing for the night, but they slapped on our spare and promised to the fix the tire the next morning. Good enough. We went back home and ate our delicious surf and turf dinner. After eating, Mom and Pop played a few rounds of cornhole while drinking some good Chianti. Mom won 2 out of 3 games.

Thursday, July 16: At the beach from 9am - 11am. It was quite cloudy and breezy on Thursday, so Mom didn't stay on the beach that long. Besides, Pop had to go and get the new tire for the car, so the whole day kind of revolved around that. Once the tire was fixed, we headed into Providence again. We kinda love the city. What can we say? We ate lunch at the best lunch spot in the state, East Side Pocket. It was one of our favorites when we lived in the area and it still is. Then we headed down College Hill to the RISD Art Museum. Pop had been meaning to see the museum for a long time, but never had the time while he was a student at one of the other schools in the city. The museum was quite good; aside from housing relics stolen from the ancient Greek, Japanese, Egyptian, and Roman times, the museum displayed more contemporary works by Lichtenstein, Warhol, Pollock, Rothko, and Mondrian. They even had some pieces by Monet, Chagall, and Picasso.

We headed downcity for a little bit of shopping before dining at the wonderful La Laiterie, where the focus is on hand crafted products and carefully grown vegetables and meat. We had been there once before, but when Mom was pregnant; she could not partake in any of the delicious cheese and wine. We opted for a three-course menu that included scallops with a sweet pea pesto, berkshire pork with a spicy rice cake, spinach, and cherries, and finally a mixed-berry dessert with a fantastic crust and real whipped cream. Fantastic!

We headed back to the house but first stopped off at the beach to collect some rocks and seashells for Mercer.




Gross.

Friday, July 17: At the beach 8:30am - 10:00am. Time to go home, but not before enjoying a few final hours at the beach. Friday was perhaps the best day of all to enjoy the sand and surf, but we could not stay too long. We had to beat the Connecticut traffic (which turned out to be quite light) and meet Grandpa and Mercer back in New York. It was great to see Mercer again and he was happy to see us.

Movies watched: High Fidelity (Jack Black's peak as a comedic actor, for better or worse), So I Married an Axe Murderer (absolutely putrid), Kingpin (a classic, of course), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (OK, but the 97 minutes seemed to take forever), Dexter, Season 2 (not a movie, but very entertaining).

Potty mouth.

It's great that Mercer is starting to talk more. Communication and understanding becomes much easier and results in less blow-ups, tantrums, and mixed signals. It's cute hearing Mercer say "Yes!" and "Seven" and ask questions like "Your feet are dirty, too?"

However, with the good comes the bad. Starting a couple of weeks ago, Mercer started cursing. The "S" word, specifically. Whenever he dropped a toy on the floor: "Oh sh*t!" Whenever there is a group of people walking: "Oh sh*t. All the people!" Last night, he added "Dammit" to his repertoire.

For the most part, he stopped when Mom and Pop were on vacation and he was with Grandpa for the week. Once Mom and Pop returned, though, he went back to the cursing. Of course, Mom and Pop don't want to be the ones to blame for this development, but cursing in the household has been held to a minimum since Mercer started talking and absorbing information. Phrases like "Oh, man" or "Oh no" are much more commonplace.

We're blaming day care. Mercer tends to repeat things he hears over and over at day care, so its definitely a possibility. We've spoken to the teachers and hopefully we can get to the bottom of it. We're not sure quite how to correct the problem though, whatever the reason for the potty mouth is. We've cleaned up our speech, but what to do when he curses? Punishment? Mercer doesn't really know what he's saying and he's not saying it with any vindictiveness. Ignore it? Then Mom and Pop feel like they're not doing anything. Correct him? That's what we've been trying to do, but we're afraid it's also reinforcing his memory of the bad phrases.

It's a tough f@!#ing nut to crack for f@!#'s sake. This parenting sh*t is hard goddamned work. All the people! Hopefully it's just a phrase, but if he keeps it up, we may just give in and pour him a shot of whiskey.

Mercer walks the Brooklyn Bridge.

As residents of a greater metro area, it never occurs to us to do touristy things. Not that we think they're tacky, not at all. It's just that when you live so close to the city, you think that you'll eventually do some of the things that Frommer's lists in its guidebooks. Just maybe not this weekend, because, well, it'll be there next weekend.

Well, we finally got around to walking the Brooklyn Bridge. Dad is a lover of bridges and the Brooklyn Bridge is one of the world's most famous. Mercer and Co. met up with Grandpa and our friends Jon and Meredith to make the trek. The bridge is very user-friendly and even more scenic than the guidebooks say. It was a bit hot for Mercer, but we pulled the shade down on his stroller and he fell asleep on the way back. After some cheese steaks, we made our way back home.

Busy Day, Busy People

Yesterday Mercer and Grandpa had a busy day. It started with Mercer helping Grandpa with a cable problem then a trip to the supermarket, then a nap, and hot dogs and string beans for lunch.
After lunch we started to go for a bike ride, but Mercer got sidetracked by some batteries and a pail of water in the backyard. So we spent the day transferring water from one container to another, watering the plants, playing with the hose, and getting drenched.
Aunt Vicki came over for dinner, chicken, French fries, and Lima beans. We had a birthday party for Grandma with a strawberry cake that Mercer picked out in the morning.
Uncle Matt came over and fixed the cable problem and now Grandpa has a cable Internet connection.
Grandpa and Mercer have been reading a book from the library, The Cats of Kranski Square' the past few nights. Mercer liked the picture of the cats on the cover. The story is about Jews in the Warsaw ghetto smuggling food past the Nazi's. The story is a bit over his head, but he does like the pictures of the cats fooling the Germans and their attack dogs.

(On a personal note: Today is Grandma's birthday. Grandpa misses her. She would have loved Mercer. Grandpa can give Mercer a cookie, but Grandma would have had him in the kitchen baking cookies. She would have had him at the sewing machine making a quilt, and taught him the fine art of sucking chicken bones. Happy Birthday Grandma!)

Grandpa's House, Day One

Mercer had a busy day today, Comcast Cable, the bank, the library. Then a long nap, a quick lunch, hot dog and corn, then pool time.
Mercer is relaxing now, watching Dumbo, while Grandpa tries to add a picture to this entry.
Tonight's dinner is pasta.

Dispatch from Grandpa's House

Mercer is all settled in at Grandpa's house. Yesterday was a busy day traveling back from NY. Mercer played his harmonica most of the way, playing along to Surfer Bird and Run,Rabbit,Run.
Mercer watched Finding Nemo while Grandpa cleaned up the mess the cats left.

Mercer is going on vacation.

Mercer will be on vacation at grandpa's house this week. Stay tuned for updates.

A trip to Muscoot Farm

According to their website, Muscoot Farm is an "early-1900's interpretive farm owned and operated by the Westchester County Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation. Muscoot farm offers programs for families, hayrides and more than seven miles of hiking trails."

In other words, it's a great place to take your two-year-old son for a day trip. The farm also has animals (cows, rams, sheep, horses, hogs, hens), a brief farm museum and buildings, and on Sundays, a tidy little farmer's market. The hay ride is a bit long, but for $2/person (kids 2 and under are free), we're not complaining. Parking and entry are free, but donations are nice.

Yeehaw.

Mommy has been picking Mercer up from day care lately while Daddy is in work. Below is what Mercer looked like upon arrival. Makes sense.

America's cutest couple?

Mercer hung out with Sydney this weekend. They played in the sprinkler, took out some toys, ate some barbecue, and went for a wagon ride. A great afternoon!

A Father's Day walk in the woods

The family went for a stroll in Rockefeller Park this past Father's Day. It was a cloudy, rainy day, but we managed to squeeze in a short hike before getting caught in a downpour on the way back to the car.

We're still not sure what to think of the new video camera. Watching these videos is like watching the first half hour of Saving Private Ryan, without the killing and blood, of course. It's a great pocket-sized camera, but there's no image-stabilizer, a feature that's sorely missed when trying to record a two-year old. On the other hand, we're not into purchasing the large quality camera that's needed for perfect Mercer shots. Oh well.

We entered the park and saw some mud...

Daddy handed the camera over to Mercer for his point of view ("I see that! I see that! A phone!")

Mercer saw this giant hill topped with cut grass and needed to run down...

It's a gorgeous park we never get tired of visiting.

Mercer carried the water bottle home.

Watching coverage of Michael Jackson

We heard about Michael Jackson's death from someone we passed on the street discussing the news on her cell phone. We naturally turned on the TV when we got home and Mercer was mesmerized by the monsters from the Thriller video on CNN. He didn't like when they cut away from the video...

Mercer: "No...More!!!"
Mommy: "More what?"
Mercer: "The monsters."

Non-Mercer related: ice cream kid

What better way to wish everyone a happy fourth of July weekend than to provide video of a fat kid smearing ice cream on his face?