“Aunt Shelli” requested a blog entry

She said it’s been too long since the last post. So – here it goes:

I posted right before we left for NC the Saturday before Christmas. We went up to visit my mom & dad’s family there. On the way up, we stopped in SC to visit my college friend Cindy and let Mercer stretch his legs / crawl around / play for awhile with her children.

We saw all of my mom’s family at a Christmas gathering on Sunday. Mercer enjoyed himself at the party too and could’ve played with the bow from a package all night if we let him. (It was hard to get him to open any presents, honestly, after the thrill of the shiny bow!) He did take interest in a red remote-controlled car that was opened nearby and kept crawling over to it – trying to grab it.

We also went to see my dad’s mother – Mercer’s great grandmother – as well as his sister for short visits with each. We didn’t get to see everyone that we wanted to, but our time in NC was brief (basically 2 full days).

Tuesday, we loaded up the car and headed for Washington DC – where Todd’s brother Jim lives. Mercer was able to meet two cousins there, Nathaniel and Marley, who he had not seen before. He also got to partake in a Hanukkah celebration, as Jim’s wife, Becki, lit the candles of her menorah as well as that of their kids. And – as luck would have it – they were having a pot-luck dinner that night with their friends, so we got to partake in that as well.

Wednesday, we were back in the car – headed up to NJ to stay at Todd’s parent’s house. Todd’s sister (and 5 children – ages 17 to 8) arrived shortly after we did and the festivities there began. It’s always very busy / bustling there with that number of folks under one roof. They were all very excited to see the baby. The next morning – Christmas morning – the excitement and activity level rose as the kids all wanted to open gifts. They were allowed to open their stockings but – they had to wait a short while for Todd’s brother, Bob, and his son, Sam, to arrive before opening. Mercer was drawn to the shiny wrapping paper, of course, but did seem interested in some of the toys (there weren’t many bows to distract him). He was especially interested in the remote-controlled cars that the cousins got that rode on the ceilings. Yes – that’s correct. They were vacuum-powered and the suction held them on the ceilings and walls. He got one too, but we haven’t opened it yet. Todd was happy to see this gift... click to enlarge! There was enough activity with the others riding all over the place! Also – Mercer got in the habit of pointing up. That meant “put a car on the ceiling… NOW.” (translated, of course.) Todd’s brother Jim and family arrived that night. So – in Todd’s parent’s house there were his parents, the 4 children (Todd included) and their spouses, and 9 grandchildren. It was / always is crazy!

We were in NJ a full two days as well, then packed back into the car at 4:40 am Saturday morning (ugh) and drove for 12 hours (including stops) back to NC. We got in one last visit to my grandma and grandpa – Mercer’s great-grandmother and great-grandfather… as well as a visit from an aunt. We were there for less than a day before we packed back into the car and headed to Asheville NC where we are now. Todd’s project in Asheville is beginning to wrap up and he has been doing punch-lists and walk-throughs of a number of the buildings. I’ll blog more about Asheville and the final leg of the journey home later. But I “needed” to get this done to get Shelli off my back. : - )

There have been a few things that Todd & I have noticed over this past week with Mercer:
His crawling – he’s mastered it… and is pretty fast now. He’s pulling up on furniture a lot and seems to want to stand more than sit. (We’re in trouble, for he’ll be walking sooner than later!)
He’s beginning to throw tantrums (at least with me) when I feed him… pushing the spoon away or grabbing it and throwing it! We’re tinkering with his feeding amounts and schedule, as he seems to be hungrier than he has been in the past / he can’t seem to eat enough. (Suppose it’s the crawling around and burning of extra calories – or maybe he’s hitting a growth spurt?)
He’s starting to communicate more and understand us more now. He points at things that he’s interested in. He pushes things away that he’s not interested in.
He’s starting to really emulate us. We say bye-bye. He says bub-bub. Bottle and ball come out as “ba.” We say uh-oh. He repeats that. We say ok. He says oh-aye. He’s trying to copy the sounds that we’re saying and the variation of voice (higher and lower pitch). It’s really pretty interesting.

He’s turning into a little person… looks and acts less like a baby this past week!

We hope that each of you had a safe and happy holiday. Our best to you in 2009! (The next post will probably be “next year.”)

A quick post...

It's been awhile since blogging... things have been INSANE lately. This time of year is always busy -- and more so now that we have Mercer.

We went to a Christmas party last weekend in our neighborhood. It's been going on 5 - 6 years, but this is the first year that we've been able to attend. We've been wanting to attend for awhile because they have horses pulling a wagon around the neighborhood! These are our friends Les & Jen, their two girls August and Skyla, and their 6 month old baby boy Jude -- who we're sure Mercer will be fast friends with. The girls wanted to sing carols as we rode around... so we did. It seems like a nice tradition to begin. This Mercer's first time seeing horses up close.

Mercer also had a little Christmas party at his daycare. He's still the youngest one there and couldn't really participate (decorating gingerbread cookies and making decorated Christmas trees out of upside-down ice cream cones covered with icing and candies.) There is a kid there who's a few months older than Mercer who didn't decorate one either, but the teacher made a cookie for him / set it down in front of him in a high chair / and let him at it. I think Mercer was the cleanest kid in the class that day!

Here's a picture of his teacher, Ms. Angela. She's really sweet and sweet on Mercer.

Well, we've got to run, but we hope that each of you has a great holiday.... Happy Hanukkah... Merry Christmas! Be safe. Savor the time with family and loved ones!

Do any of the blog readers have a suggestion....

... for travelling with a 10 month old on a long road trip?

We're gearing up to do our trek up the East Coast and we're trying to figure out logistics.
We will need to stop every couple of hours for feeding solid foods and bottles alternatively... but Mercer's crawling and we're horrified at the thought of putting him down on the floor of a restaurant so he can stretch out and move around.

I'd love to hear suggestions and/or baby-friendly places. Please post a reply or email.

(One suggestion is to drive overnight while he sleeps, but neither Todd nor I are thrilled with having to drive all night.)

thanks!

Oh... my heart is breaking.

Mercer did something today that sounded WAY TOO GROWN UP for his age.
When I picked him up from daycare today, he waved and clearly said (loudly) "bye"

Not the bbbb....bbubbb.....bub he normally says when we prompt him to say bye bye. Flat out -- clear as a bell "bye" -- 3 other people heard it including someone in another room it was so loud and clear. Ugh.

He sounded like he was a couple of years old. Oh this growing up too quick is KILLING me~

We do have some photos to post. We took Mercer Sunday to see Santa up on the Square. He did ok. I LOVE those crying baby photos, but we didn't get one. Even though we everything we weren't supposed to do to get a "good" Santa photo, he was pretty good -- of course. We took Mercer out walking around that day for part of the Christmas tour of homes, he missed a nap, AND we were about 1/2 an hour late for his feeding. Amazingly, he didn't cry at all (he's such a good baby).







Saturday I worked for a couple of hours for the tour of homes with a neighbor and we received comp tickets for the tour. She and I only went through 4 of the homes because Saturday afternoon / evening, Todd & I had a "date."

We went to see the King Tut exhibit that's here in Atlanta. I'm really glad it came here because we missed it when it was on it's original 3-city tour here in the states. (Philly, Ft. Lauderdale, and Chicago). It's now in Texas AND in Atlanta through May 2009. I'd highly recommend that anyone who's at all interested should go see it. http://www.kingtut.org/home They recommend 1 1/2 hours to go through it, but it took us close to 2 hours. It is amazing how intricate and detailed these items that came out of his tomb were. Even the vessel that held his stomach organs was fascinating!! And the jewelry... and the new cat scans.... etc. Check it out if you can!

A few interesting things this past week...

Lately, we've noticed a few additional things about little M.

He's more into "discovery" -- while folding laundry in his room one day -- I let him crawl around in his bedroom. He'd go over and pull a bin of toys off of the shelf (not to worry -- that was the plan). He'd go through the toys and pull them all out. After awhile, he'd crawl a little more and then he actually went out the door into the hall. He stopped and turned to see where I was. It was cute. Then, once he felt comfortable (I guess?) he crawled across the hall to the bathroom door, but stopped there. // That same weekend, he would crawl from the living room into the kitchen. He's learned that he can get from point A to point B. (Yes, he'd crawl around a little bit before -- but it was mostly to go after a toy or something... not to get someWHERE or to expolore what's around the corner.) Cool.

Another thing we saw was him stopping mid-crawl and "scratching" at things. In the kitchen floor, for instance, it's pine, but the old nail heads are darker in color. He would stop and scratch at that dark spot; he noticed a difference in color or texture and wants to see what it's all about.

He's also been sleeping differently. He still sleeps on his stomach, but he scrunches up now with his butt up in the air. For the yogi's out there... it's sort of like "Child's Pose." Which is aptly named! I feel bad because I snapped a couple of shots while he was peacefully sleeping. Didn't wake him, thankfully.

We got Mercer's birth certificate this week too. It has his original birth date and birth city / state... but now has OUR names on it... AND the name that we gave him. (The previous birth certificate we had for him had the birth mother's name and the name she gave him.) So -- that was really the LAST document that we needed to make all of this official /finished. We can apply for a social security number, 529, passport, etc now.

M did get sick on Sunday. He had the croup again, but we caught it early enough by going to a Children's clinic on Sunday morning for the treatment to clear his air passage... He was much improved by that afternoon / evening. They told us to follow-up with his pediatrician Monday morning. Todd took him... and they said he sounded good. While there, we asked if they could give him a couple of immunizations which he was supposed to get anyways. They agreed that he sounded like he was over the croup / healthy enough / so he got a couple of immunizations. Unfortunately - as a side effect - he got fever off and on for a few days... but we think he's pretty getting back to normal now.

Finally, something interesting that I got to do Tuesday night -- attended a lecture by a famous architect,William McDonough. He does more than buildings... he works with scientists to develop and improve products so that they never have to be landfilled. It's a process called "Cradle to Cradle." (Often, after recycling something over & over, it gets down-graded and will eventually need to be landfilled. C2C products do not. They can either be composted and turned into technical nutrients or can be re-manufactured infinitely. (Basically waste = food.)

The company I work for was asked to come set up a table at the event (which only had about 100 attendees). It was very small. Very intimate. Very casual and pretty interesting. Check out the concept if you're not familiar. (I know a couple of blog readers are familiar, as they sent me a Cradle to Cradle link about the g-diapers we use.) http://www.mbdc.com/overview.htm

We've got a good weekend in store. Hope you all have a nice one wherever you are!