lank.

mom came home from her business trip today and mercer was excited to see her. so was daddy! pop took the day off to spend it with mercer and they basically wasted it napping and lounging. actually, that sounds like a fun, relaxing day.

the family did a little shopping in the afternoon and picked out their christmas tree on the way home. it was mercer's first christmas experience and he spent it napping. oh well. he seems puzzled by the presence of a large tree in the living room, but he'll get used to it, as we all have.

mom plans on stringing the lights tonight and we'll decorate it tomorrow while wearing our matching red turtlenecks, sipping apple brandy, and staying warm by the fireplace. ok, we don't have the turtlenecks, brandy, or fireplace, but we do have the tree. we'll just stick with that. let the christmas season begin.

sleep tight.

male bonding.

mommy is away on business, so it's just us guys living it up for the next couple of days. dishes are piling up, garbage is being left out, high-fives are being exchanged, and questionable characters are coming in and out of the house. just typical guy stuff. tomorrow we're going fishing and then we're going to haul some concrete around in our pick-up truck.

of course, that's all false. except for mom being away. basically, mercer came home from school happy, played a bit, ate, played some more, and is now sleeping. nothing eventful at all. he was in great spirits and very cute today. pop thinks he'll sleep straight through the night again because he didn't take any naps after school. sweet, slumbering mercer.

sleep tight...

the first pearl.

over the thanksgiving holiday, mom and pop discovered that mercer's first tooth had broken through. mom had suspected something a little while ago as she was feeding mercer with a metal spoon. she thought she felt or heard something against the spoon, but couldn't see anything. PaPa had suspected something as well, but we finally saw the tooth on november 21st. it is along the bottom row, which is where they usually come in first. mercer hasn't been overly agitated or drooly recently, so again, we're very lucky that mercer is such a good guy. we're going to put him and his tooth to good use by opening canned goods.

mercer is whining his way to bedtime now, listening to mom recite curious george and the big city, which contains a number of great new york city landmarks (empire state building, guggenheim, rockefeller center, etc.). soon, mercer will be slumbering, clutching his cuddly blanket.

mercerMusic:
ingrid michaelson - "the way i am"

roll call.

mercer would like to thank all of the friends and family members who helped make his first thanksgiving so memorable. he even got his very own gobbling turkey toy and was so happy to see all the fun, smiling faces.

mercer can't wait to see grandma and grandpop, MeMa and PaPa, uncle quinn, great aunt vicki, aunt becky, aunt jen, uncle matt, uncle toby, great aunt karen, great aunt amy, margie, brian, scott, uncle rob, aunt amy, kayla, and nathan again soon!

it's been a long and exciting holiday. time for some sleeping.

the gobbler.

mercer and company are getting ready to see family and friends for thanksgiving. this blog will be inactive for the next few days while we eat, drink, and get merry.

we've changed formulas and mercer is becoming much more regular than before. for those who don't know, mercer had a lot of problems when he was a very young cub. days and days would go by without anything "passing" and mom and pop always worried. mercer never showed any signs of discomfort until it was time to take care of business. now that we switched from similac to nestle good start, things have been - how should we say - running smoothly. sorry to be so revealing, but hey, this is mercer's diary as well as his blog. it's been a pretty important part of his life so far (unfortunately) and we'd like to document his improvements! mom and pop think everything is back on track now. we also think that the introduction of mango, spinach, squash, and the like have helped out quite a bit, too.

on that delicious note, happy thanksgiving from team leonowicz. mercer is looking forward to sitting at the table with all the grown-ups and eating some squash.

mercerMusic:
chris walla - "sing again"

sleep tight...

early to bed, late to rise.

for the past week or so, mercer has been getting tired a little bit earlier each night. on top of that, he's been wanting to sleep late every morning. he'll wake up at his normal time, talk, and rustle around a little bit in his crib. but then he can go right back to sleep, which is odd for him. the same goes for if we have to get him up for day care. we can change his diaper and dress him, but he'll fall right back asleep on pop's chest if you let him! so tonight we're trying to put him to bed a little bit earlier so our growing boy can get some more sleep. we'll see how it works. we'll keep you posted, of course.

the latest poll is over! most of you thought we should keep mercer's hair short when it decides to grow back. letting it grow wasn't far behind and a few jokesters even voted for the mullet. we'll see what his hair looks like when it really starts coming in, but I think I can guarantee there will be no mullet.

mercer saw his first snow this morning. another of mercer's many firsts.

mercerMusic:
the arcade fire with bruce springsteen - "keep the car running"

at home with mercer.

mercer spent a playful and fun weekend baking holiday cookies with MeMa, aunt becky, and aunt jen. they made congo squares, peanut butter surprises, chocolate chip-raisin-walnut oatmeals, cranberry-orange oatmeals, chocolate pretzel bark, and a few more. pop spent the weekend in pennsylvania with jeff, brian, scott, and his wife rachel. he's still sore from an intense session of wallball, but he'll live; much fun was had by all.

mercer was a treat all weekend and well-behaved for his guests. he was so excited when dad got home, too. they played for a long time until mercer realized he was hungry and started to whine a little bit. after a snack, mercer took a long nap. he was then snuggle-tag-teamed by mom and pop at 7 to ensure that he would be awake for his nightly ritual. he was startled at first, but smiles, giggles, and snuggling ensued.

on another note, mercer is now seven months old! a new kodak gallery will be sent out shortly. stay tuned for the cuteness.

mercerMusic:
st. vincent - "these days" (cover)

sleep tight...