an MLK day post...

I had the day off from work today so I thought I'd post -- as it's been awhile.

Let's see... we've had 2 soup nights. The first one (Sat the 10th) was pretty good size and there was lots of activity (and kids singing at the top of their lungs) so Mercer had a hard time leaving the party to go to sleep... but overall he did really well with the crowd. He did wake up screaming, however, because the LOUDEST boom of thunder I've ever heard scared him... poor guy! (or did he just want to re-join the crowd?!)

Also, last Sunday (the 11th), we visited a church up on the square... we said that when we had kids, we'd raise them in a church. It was just the first one we went to, but we enjoyed it. We took Mercer into the (contemporary) service with us, but he wasn't really that well behaved, so I missed a good portion of it. We sat in the back and brought him in when they sang... because he loves to sing. Seriously! (It's just one or two notes at this point, but he has to start somewhere). After the service, a friend of ours who we ran into showed us the nursery and we went to lunch together / talked more about it. We'll visit another church next Sunday.

Todd was in Asheville Monday & Tuesday... and on his way home, he found a Nintendo Wii at a store. (We've been looking for one here, and no one has them.) This was our Christmas present... we had several gift cards towards the purchase (thanks mom, Todd's mom / dad / brother!) Todd set it up right away and set up Mii profiles for himself, me, and Mercer. The next night, he set up the Wii fit... and gave it a try. So far, so good. Some things are a little cheesy, but overall it seems pretty cool. We joked that Mercer's going to be our exercise program in 2009... but this will be a great way to keep it interesting and to keep track of things.

Friday, Todd and I went to the Cirque du Soliel show - KOOZA. We "hired" our first teenage babysitter (the very young-looking, but responsible 18 year old daughter of a friend). I enjoyed the show more than some of the past shows we've seen. I heard that this one went back to it's roots... they had contortionists, jugglers, tight-rope walkers, a guy on a unicycle, trapeze artists, etc. Of course all of these people did really trumped-up stunts... some of them were hard to watch because they were so dangerous! (And the contortionist finale was a little disturbing, actually!) It's always such a visually fascinating show -- and the live music grabs you. It's such a terrific production... and definitely on our "splurge" list - for we have to see it when it comes to town. (Here's a link to the promotional video, if interested: http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/CirqueDuSoleil/en/showstickets/kooza/intro/intro.htm )

The following morning, I headed back downtown to meet up with a bunch of my co-workers. My company has a number of volunteers at a MLK service event every year -- helping low-income / elderly make energy-improvements to their homes. Other civic groups, companies, and individuals work on the houses too painting, doing carpentry, yard-work, etc... but our group does specialized things to help them save on energy bills. I've done it before... and learn a lot -- things to actually apply to our home. I don't like that it took me away from the family, but I feel that it's important to teach Mercer about community service / helping others.

Here are some links to some (simple) things we did at Bula & Jessie's house Saturday... Check it out / get your hands dirty / save some bucks if you're interested in employing these strategies at your own home. (We mostly did "air sealing"... I worked on caulking HVAC penetrations... and a couple of people worked in the attic while someone else installed weatherstripping.)

http://www.southface.org/web/resources&services/publications/factsheets/8_airsealing.pdf

http://www.southface.org/web/resources&services/publications/factsheets/9atticaccess.pdf

The second soup event later that night (on the 17th) was much smaller -- mostly neighbors -- we assume because there were actually snow flurries Saturday night! Unfortunately, none of the snow stuck. On the positive side... one of our favorite soups... we had a lot of left-overs. I know Todd was happy about that!

We got some shots yesterday of Mercer playing with "dit-dee." It's his way of saying Kitty Cat. Pigg doesn't really respond to him too much, but Mercer is SO interested in him!

Mercer has really mastered climbing up our stairs... 6 steps in the first run.... he scoots across the landing then he goes up the 10 additional steps. He gets tired out at the top of the second run of stairs, but when I bring him back down -- he's ready to climb up again. I mentioned he's going to rock our worlds soon?!

Speaking of which... he's gotten so much better at "creeping" along furniture and walls in the last week since I've posted. He is becoming brave and he will lunge towards us letting go of whatever he's holding onto. So far, we've been just 2 - 3 feet away from him when he does this so we've been able to catch him, but.... oh.... I dread the day when we're not able to catch him in time. He's very trusting and/or doesn't have a sense of depth yet to know that we're just out of reach. Scary!!

That brings us to today. (Long post. Sorry!) I took Mercer to daycare so that I could work on the nursery. I painted a big piece of furniture that's been in his room and hung some pictures on the wall. I still have a little bit of stuff to do in there, but it's getting close. Mercer's 1st birthday is coming up... and we're flying the birth mother out. I'd love to get his room 100% done -- just to have a deadline.

The wrap:

I've been watching new shows... some daytime t.v. interviews and reading the paper this long weekend. There's SO MUCH buzz about serving others... pitching in... all of us - as a WHOLE helping out in our communities. Some of the buzz is in the name of MLK day. Some of it is due to the inauguration and renewed interest in the leadership of the country. I liked these links:

http://www.oprah.com/media/20090119_tows_ipledge

http://www.usaservice.org/content/home/

I'm interested in getting involved in the events tomorrow. I think that I'll actually watch the swearing in & inaugural speech online from work (during lunch?). I've never watched one -- but there is energy in the air about this historic event. It's pretty amazing how the excitement is building... as tomorrow is the beginning of this new era.

Later!

Candice

Back in the Grind....

Since the last post, we wrapped up the trip to Asheville for Todd's work... thankfully, the contract for his project has been extended another 4 or 5 months - as the work out there is not yet done.

We had our 2nd stay at the Bed & Breakfast that allows children (Todd normally stays at another one closer to the jobsite but does not allow kids). We actually really like this one -- and feel very comfortable / very at home there. So much so that when I need, I can just pop into the kitchen to wash Mercer's utensils and bottles. (which we really needed after being on the road for a week + )

There was one thing that happened at the B&B, though. Mercer shed his "first blood." He did a face-dive into the hardwood floor as we were playing "chase." Oh I felt so bad. I thought he fell and it scared him (like is common here at our house)... usually a little bit of cuddling and comforting is all it takes before he's ready to get back into the swing of things. But this time he kept crying and crying... I said "you're ok" and pulled him away from the cuddle. My shirt and his shirt were covered in blood. He wouldn't really let me look at things in his mouth, but it was evident that some of the inside of his upper lip got caught in his two front teeth b/c it was hanging down. I was able to get him to suck on a washcloth with ice in it... and eventually he was fine, but his mouth was sensitive and his gums were swollen for several days afterwards.

A good thing happened while we were in Asheville too... we caught up (briefly) with our friends Tad & Ashley who live there. We all went to the Grove Park Inn to check out the National Gingerbread House Competition. The inn is amazing and our favorite art gallery (Grovewood Gallery) is right behind it -- which we didn't get to see this time. We always love to head to that part of Asheville to check them both out. Here's a link if you want to check out the winners... ( http://www.groveparkinn.com/gallery/Gingerbread2008 ) the top 4 in each the adult, youth, and child categories... as well as the grand prize winner. My favorite house isn't in there - it was in the top 10 for adults... and is a bird house, actually. In the lower level of the inn, they have all of the contestants who did not place and it's fun to look at those too -- it's literally eye-candy as far as you can see. (sorry - couldn't resist!)



Afterwards, Todd, Mercer, and I drank some (real) hot cocoa (well, not Mercer just yet). We also sat outside on the big covered porch to check out the "last light" of the sun peeking over the mountains. Then we stopped for a quick photo in front of ONE of the fireplaces in the main lobbies. Notice that the opening for the fire place is over my head! The one at the opposite end of the lobby had a roaring fire in it. It's really beautiful there.

We had some neighbors (and their kids) over for New Year's. Mercer made it to 10 pm. Some of the neighbors left around 11, but two couples stuck around past midnight -- one of them with two children (Jackson 13 months and Glady 3 years) who rung in the new year! We were impressed.

Since then, we've basically been working (I'm really trying to be better about hitting my part-time hours in 2009), doing laundry, and unpacking. I just finished unloading the last suitcase and putting it away this morning. The Christmas decorations are still up -- those will (hopefully) come down tonight. And - we'll begin preparing for Soup Night this weekend. We went to have soup with a former co-worker and some of her neighbors, children and husband last weekend. Mercer is SO GOOD around older kids. He watches them intently as they pick him up / set him down / go play with something and then come back to him. He LOVEs being paid attention by all of these little girls ages 3 - 9 !! We noticed it over the Christmas holiday, too, with Todd's neices. So cute!


oh yeah -- Todd posted some videos from November on YouTube.
- A crawling sequence from November (he's totally mastered crawling now -- and can go up steps even!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg2wT_hQmpg
- A standing and "creeping" sequence in Mercer's crib (he does this a lot now too... pulls up to stand and walks / creeps along furniture all the time now) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obI1OoivVE0&feature=channel_page
- A messy messy episode with a teething biscuit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZVZUx9PyHA&NR=1

There are some December ones too of Christmas travel -- but my favorite one is him kissing a stuffed animal bunny his daycare teacher gave him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNBa59eYKfc&feature=channel_page (you'll notice too how he imitates us now in part of the video. "ooohhhh. mmmmmm.")

Times are tight right now.... and we've had to make some adjustments... but feel fortunate for all of the wonderful things that 2008 brought our family. Our thoughts are with the many people we know whose times are even tighter right now. We really do hope that each of the blog readers has a special year ahead and that the photos and videos we share keep you close to our family and bring you a little bit of joy.

- Candice, Todd, and baby M

“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!