Teeth chomp

Mercer has been ending sentences with a teeth chomp lately. Not sure why. For example:

"Want new candy, Daddy." [teeth chomp]

It's usually when he's asking for something, rather than when he's exclaiming or whining.

"Want to go for a bike ride." [teeth chomp]

"Hot dogs." [teeth chomp]

Mercer visits New York

Mercer and company went to New York last weekend, but this time we took a friend: Flat Stanley. Flat Stanley was sent to us by one of Aunt Becky's students and our assignment was to show Stanley a good time. I think everyone had fun.

First, we all waited at the Ossining train station for our train to arrive.

Then we went on a nice train ride.



We took in the beautiful Grand Central Terminal.

We waited for and rode the number 6 subway train.


We found a park bordered by 1st Ave., 1st street, and Bowery. Mercer and Stanley had a lot of fun playing with the city kids.


We snacked on pretzels at the great Sigmund Pretzelshop on Avenue B.

Then we had lunch at Chat 'n Chew restaurant. Mercer had banana pancakes with bacon.




Everyone was getting sleepy so we had to go home after looking in a few shops. Who doesn't love a trip to the city?

Mercer has a pet fish.

Mercer got a pet fish from Mema and Papa for his birthday. We haven't posted about it because we weren't sure how long it would live, to be honest. But the fish appears to be here to stay. Mercer named it Sharpie because of his "sharp" looking fins. It's a very antsy fish, darting this way and that with any slight movement or noise near its tank. It is a majestic beast, yet elusive and camera-shy. It's mostly black with streaks of blue, red, and green.

Food

One of the cool things about Mercer getting bigger is that we can all now go to any restaurant we like instead of places that only have high chairs. We're still very sensitive about picking a place that is suitable, meaning no ultra-fancy fine dining places just yet. The last thing I want is our 3-year old to ruin someone else's meal/dining experience. We like to pick places where volume won't be an issue. Relaxed decor and a long menu are also helpful. BBQ and Mexican restaurants are usually perfect. When with Pop, pubs and taverns are great.

We're trying to get Mercer to open up to more foods, but it's an uphill battle. He sticks with what he likes, which I can't fault him for. Here's a breakdown of his basic favorites:

Meat: baked chicken, baked pork, turkey, bacon, pulled pork, sausages, hot dogs

Vegetables/grains: corn, peas, carrots, green beans, lima beans, edamame, Special K cereal, pasta (penne, ziti, papparadelle), mac and cheese, pizza

Fruits: grapes, strawberries, blueberries, apples, grapefruit, anything really

Snacks: potato chips, pretzels, goldfish crackers, wheat thins, popcorn

Dairy: mozzarella, milk, ice cream, eggs, butter, chocolate, yogurt

We're probably forgetting something here, but this is a good general idea. Mercer is not too fond of chicken fingers/nuggets, which is amazing since almost every kid is. His favorite meals right now are probably hot dogs with corn or what he ate last night: pasta with butter, peas, bread and butter, mozzarella.

Is it lunch yet?

Mercer's new favorite song

Mercer started liking the song "Black Wax" by the Glasgow-based band, Dananananaykroyd, over his birthday weekend. He requested it maybe 8 times in a row while dancing on Grandpa's couch (while watching himself in the mirror). It's hilarious watching him close his eyes and shake his head while yelling "wrap it in plastic!" or "that's right!"

What's less hilarious is that Pop is probably old enough to be the father of some of the dudes in this band.

Wake-up call

So Mercer is into dragons these days because we recently took him to see How to Train Your Dragon at the movies. Of course he now has a whole assortment of small toy dragons that he likes to play/do battle with. Dad's dragon, for some reason, is the red dragon. Mercer gets his choice of any of the other 10 dragons he has, but Dad's is always the red one.

The other morning, at 6:30, Dad was trying to get an extra 5 minutes of allergy-riddled sleep when the light flickered on. Little feet were heard climbing the stairs and then there was a big bounce onto the bed.

"Wake up, Daddy. C'mon Daddy. C'mon downstairs. Your dragon is ready. Your red dragon is waiting for you. C'mon."

Mercer always wins the dragon battles. When he gets bored with one, he'll say "I'm done with this dragon," and pick out a new one. Daddy tries to win, but Mercer is one tough little dragon to slay.

Birthday recap, part 4

After cake, there was more silliness, but it was also time to say goodbye. All in all, it was a great weekend and a joyous birthday. Mercer is an amazing 3-year old. We can't wait to see what the coming year has in store.

Birthday recap, part 3

Mercer got a pretty cool bubble gun from Jon and Meredith. He put it to good use by terrorizing Hanna! Mercer also got some other toys along with clothes, books, movies, and a scooter. Then he got a bicycle from Mema and Papa! Hanna and Rayla made sure they were close by for all the unwrapping festivities. Then, it was time for a giant birthday cake.

Birthday recap, part 2

Mercer turned 3 on Saturday. Amazing Mom and Pop have kept him out of trouble for this long. Anyway, the day began when Mercer woke up and snuggled with Grandpa for a little while. Then he brought a helium Transformer balloon down into the basement to wake up Mommy and Daddy. "It's my birthday?" he said.

Donuts for breakfast and a toy water pistol from Grandpa and a mini-skateboard from Mommy to start off the day. Then it was time to get into Transformer mode for the little get-together we had planned.

Birthday recap, part 1

Mercer spent the day before his birthday catching up on GQ magazine, eating cheese crackers, being a monster, and playing with his Playobil. We went to Five Guys for burgers and dogs for dinner. Not a bad day off from school and work.