one year ago today....

... we finalized Mercer's adoption!

We did a "little" something to celebrate -- but we do want to acknowledge and honor that day each year. We got him a Melissa & Doug puzzle (one of our fav. brands of toys) with vehicles on it that make noises when you get the puzzle piece in the right spot. He also got to eat a little scoop of ice cream after dinner. Todd read him a couple of children's adoption books tonight before putting him to bed as well.

(You may notice a little scratch under his eye. He took a tumble off of our porch late last week.)

Mercer had a pretty good day overall. I took the little guy down to meet some friends at the Decatur Book Festival so Todd could focus on another house project. Mercer was not into the story-time reading at the kid's stage (he's definitely too young for that). He didn't really care to wander around and look at the different booths with book sellers either. He was - however - VERY into the playground that was near the Decatur square. The sign posted at the playground said it was for children 2 - 12 years old, but Mercer was all over it. He had no problem climbing up the stairs, crossing an enclosed bridge, and sliding down a slide that was about 7 - 8' high. YIKES! I was with him every step of the way (holding his hand as he crossed the bridge through the rungs and holding his hand as he slid down the slide), but he did it all on his own over and over and over again. Hence no pictures. I was focused on making sure he didn't fall off of this playground structure at any point! It was a little nerve-racking. Mercer's definitely into "testing" the waters -- to see where his boundaries are. Our friend who we met (with 2 and 5 year old sons) kept calling Mercer a dare-devil. *so true*

There was also a community garden next to the playground that all of the kids ran through. This is where I was relaxed enough to take photos! Afterwards, we all went to a friend-of-a-friend's house for lunch. There was more playing with all 6 kids in their play-room and after lunch -- another "first" for Mercer -- playing in a sandbox. One thing that was funny / cute... the 5 year old boy who's house we were at asked "What's his name?" "Mercer," I replied. "That's a nice name," he said.

Once back home, Mercer got to splash around and play in his frog pool, play with sidewalk chalk, water flowers with a pitcher, play with blocks outside, and dance to music inside. It was good day (no - a great day) indeed! Mercer took a moment to reflect on his day before turning in (rather- passing out) for the night.

ps - I did get to visit one booth that I was interested in while at the book festival. The woman who wrote a book (and developed a tracking system for kids) called "Chickin Feed." It's a Primer for modern families to track nutrition. I purchased the book, but held off on the tracking system b/c Mercer's too young and may try to eat the little chickin magnets at this point! It's a really cute way to get the kids involved in what they eat and help them understand the decisions we make for them on what they eat... help them make decisions (from about 3 - 8 is where it's geared). COol. Check it out: http://www.chickinfeed.com/