Random milestones/information

* can walk up and down stairs
* sleeping in a toddler bed
* drinks out of regular cups (enjoys juice, milk, seltzer, soda, coffee)
* favorite foods include corn, bacon, pasta, pizza, pancakes, ice cream, pork, mushrooms, french fries, grilled cheese, pretzels, chips, crackers, strawberries
* favorite phrases: "Stop it, Daddy," "I'll be right back," "I did it," "Ta-dah," "Mercer do it," "No, Mommy do it," "Thank you, Mommy/Daddy."
* sits in a regular chair to eat
* sleeps with: favorite action figure or matchbox car at the moment, Grover, Grandma's quilt, a pillow, and Daddy's childhood stuffed animals, Monkey and Curious George
* favorite books: Polar Bear Night, The Pigeon Wants a Puppy, First Dinosaur Board Book, The Magic Rabbit, Not a Stick, Little Pea
* favorite exercise: climbing steps
* favorite car: bugatti veyron 16.4
* favorite movies: dumbo, the iron giant, robots, chicken run, horton hears a who, finding nemo, the incredibles, bee movie
* when asked if tired, can answer "a little," and lay down on the couch
* runs up the stairs naked after baths to crawl under the covers
* loves water; drinking and playing in it
* can hit you square in the chest like a linebacker
* won't answer the question "who do you love more, Mommy or Daddy?"
* doesn't think golf or figure skating are sports
* loves kiddie thrill rides

"No, Mercer. Later."

One of the best forms of deflecting Mercer's interest in something that either may not be good for him or not in our plans for the day, is to say "No, Mercer. Later." It kind of works for everything, and after all, he can't eat candy all day, drive our car, or go on horsey rides every time he sees one. Who has the time? Mercer will usually respond with a puzzled "Oh!" and go about his business. We realize that this won't last forever (we're talking precious months here), but we especially hope that he doesn't cash in on his "No Mercer. Later."'s. To date, we've probably promised Mercer:

* 15,897 horsey rides
* 1,090,987 bags of M+M's
* 65 tubes of toothpaste and/or suntan lotion
* 5,000 hours of driving our car
* 90 pounds of pretzels
* 500 gallons worth of ice cubes
* 300 additional hours on the playground
* 20 knitting needles and 15 sewing needles
* 95 hours in front of our computers
* 178 hours of couch/bed jumping
* 15 pounds of stuffed animal stuffing
* 976 puppies on city streets that "are just around the corner"
* 10 pounds of dirt from cars that are not ours
* 30 pounds of free cookie samples from Stop and Shop
* 1 set of steak knives

These are just rough estimates, of course. I've looked through all of Mercer's journals and I can't find an official running tally, so I think we're safe. Wait, he's asking to pound on the laptop again. No, Mercer! You can do that later!

the king of cool.

pop had to post this camera-phone picture before he forgot about it! hilarious, no? mercer was able to keep these glasses on just long enough for pop to snap a couple of shots for all the world to see. and yes, that is a pig he is holding.

mr. personality.

mom and pop were discussing what, if any, personality characteristics mercer has, and who they might have come from. we both agree that, physically, mercer is pretty much Pop, The Sequel (except for the blue eyes). no real debate there.

mercer is usually pretty mellow. he gets that from pop. mercer loves to nap and sleep and gets annoyed when he doesn't have enough of it. that's from mom. he's also willing to meet new people and befriend them right away. that's all mom. mercer doesn't complain too much when he's got a wet diaper or is hungry; he soldiers on. a lot like pop (minus the wet diapers). his cheerfulness and giggling probably comes from both mom and pop, but many of you know he can get very serious, concentrating on the task at hand. that's pop. he likes mellowing out on the couch, too, watching law and order or soccer. that's mom and pop. he also likes going to museums, parks, restaurants, and stuff like that. just like mom and pop.

so far, what we know of mercer's personality seems like a perfect split between his two parents. not bad. it's strange how we can already see little things like this. maybe we're just seeing it because we want to. maybe it's too early to tell anything about his personality. it's fun to think about, though.

sleep tight...