mr. independent

My mom came down for a visit, but we were so busy doing stuff that we didn't get any photos!

Possibly the highlight of the visit was the three of us (Todd, mom, and me) going to the beautiful, historic Fox Theater to see the Phantom of the Opera. It was an excellent performance & we are all glad we saw it / got a little culture in our lives.

While mom was in town, we all went to a pancake breakfast fund-raiser for a "friend-of-a-friend" who is in the process of adopting two girls from Latvia. We took an adoption class earlier this spring to learn more about additional avenues for adoption. It was there that we even learned that people did fund-raising for adoption. We're not sure the direction we're pursuing / if we would need to go down that road, but it was interesting to meet this family (who already has 5 or 6 kids, two of which are adopted) and talk about ideas with them.

Also, we provided mom & Mercer some one-on-one time while Todd and I were "forced" to go out to a movie. : - ) I think we wore her out, but we know she enjoyed seeing the little guy.

A couple of pics just before & just after the weekend capture two things that Mercer LOVES doing now. He likes to "drive" my car and play with the buttons on the dash, the mirror, the overhead light, the seat belts, opening the console, etc. There's also a sunglass holder above the driver's seat. His glasses were in it, so he put them on - upside down - but he's pretty cool with his shades on. (Oh yeah - I take the keys inside the house because I have a proximity sensor for my car & don't want him to accidentally turn the car on while he's playing!)

The other thing he is really into: playing with cars. He recently got a pack of matchbox vehicles (thanks grandma & grandpa groves). He is so enamored with them that he takes them to daycare with him... rushes to the car-park as soon as he gets home so he can play with them... and even takes them to bed with him. I can't recall if I've written about this, but Mercer is becoming quite demanding. He wants Todd or myself to come play cars with him. He'll run & grab us, "come" "come" as he's pulling on our hand. "Play" "sit" "sit on bottom" (if you're squatting or not really sitting down he can tell).

He's also becoming very independent. Most anything he says "I do it" (sometimes screaming and wailing 'til we un-do what we did so that HE can do it). He doesn't want to sit in his booster seat anymore. He takes his dishes to the sink sometimes. He carries his (almost as big as he) daycare bag into school. He's starting to TRY to pull his shirt over his head. Take off his own shoes. He is becoming very independent about most things - but still wants us around to play with (which is ok, as we like playing with him!)

His speech is really pretty good for his age (we think). He seems to try to repeat almost anything we tell him. Recently, he tried to repeat ridiculous / he slowly said "re-dic-us" with a slight inflection at the end - as he's a little unsure. That's a big word for a little kid. There are dozens of others like that which he at least takes a stab at saying. The development is AMAZING to watch.

We heard from his birthmother, Danielle, last night via email. It's been maybe 4 or 5 months since we've heard from her? We don't know too much about what she's up to because there's not much in the email - mostly how is Mercer doing? We gave her a full update right away & hope she is doing well. We'll send a scrapbook page in the coming month as Mercer will be turning 2 1/2. YIKES!

Have a great weekend.

busy busy weekends.

Two weekends have passed since the last post. Mercer is ALL BETTER. (so am I)

We delayed our 4th of July trip by one day to make sure neither of us were contagious any longer. We're really glad we went on our trip instead of cancelling. We went to Tennessee to visit my childhood friend, Susan, and her family.

After a picnic in the gardens of the Chattanooga Choo Choo & a quick visit to the miniature train muesum, we continued on to our friend's house. They took us to a nearby town for dinner, a walk around the downtown area, and for frozen yogurt. Mercer warmed up immediately to Susan's kids. Here he is seen holding Caeli's hand. It was really cute to see him grab her hand -- he shy about it and kind of brushed her hand a few times before grabbing it. After walking, we spent quite awhile in a church courtyard where Mercer, Hunter, Caeli, Rune, and baby Saber played "tag" with each other. (Yes, the kids are soaking wet!)

The next day, we went to visit a children's museum - but because it's the 4th of July - it was closed. Instead, we played on the grounds of the museum which had a water feature. The highlight of that visit was feeding 5 baby ducks broken-up Goldfish crackers~ We actually had a very relaxing visit.

Afterwards, however, we went on an adventure like none that we had tried before. We have begun a new hobby called letterboxing. It's sort of like geo-caching, but it's all about stamps in books. You look up clues on a website of where people have hidden boxes. Most of the people have hand-carved a stamp to put in their letter box. You take an ink pad and make an impression of their stamp in your own journal. There's also a journal inside the letterbox in which you're supposed to put your stamp in / sign / add a message. Our first letterbox was one in which you had to follow clues (requiring you to go through a small city park / around metal sculptures / by a water feature / then dig to retrieve the box out of a bush next to a bench. There was a man eating a tub of ice cream on the bench... so we couldn't retrieve the box until he left (one of the letterboxing "rules" is to be discrete so no one sees you with the box. People who don't know what it is may take it).

Enclosed is a picture of the journal and the stamp. Mercer likes the stamp we picked out for him (a frog) and he likes looking in his own journal with the stamp impression from Tennessee.

This weekend, we went on another letterboxing journey - this time to a field of sunflowers. Earlier in the day, the three of us got up early and drove to a state park. Todd played a round of golf with a friend of ours - Mike. His sons and Mercer decided to help their daddies with their practice round on the putting green before the first tee. Mike's wife, Sara, and their boys (Aaron & Alex) joined Mercer and me at a park playground, then at the park's beach. We beat the crowds and the heat by going early. By lunch-time the guys were playing golf so we all had a picnic lunch together.

Following lunch, we all parted ways. Todd, Mercer, and I went on our 2nd letterboxing journey. The box and stamp were hidden in an accessible area of the foundation of an old sharecropper's house located at the front of field of sunflowers. It was pretty easy to find -- not as exciting a hunt as our first experience -- but it was a beautiful place & we're really glad we went. The immediate grounds surrounding the house were lush and covered in thousands of blooms of various types. Then there were acres of sunflowers small and large that you could go though & cut. There was a table with plastic vases on it, clippers, and a box for depositing money for the sunflowers on honor system.

This site, as we have learned, hosts an annual sunflower festival every 4th of July. If you're east of Atlanta during the summer, we would certainly recommend a visit! The letterbox stamp - of course - was a sunflower! We think this will be an interesting hobby for the little guy. He likes stamping the impressions in the book... but we think that it will add a level of adventure in his life and create some unique experiences.

We've got to look up a location for a letterbox here in our town so we can go on another journey next weekend~ Have a great week.

sickness in the house

A quick post to say "WHAT A WEEK!" and it's only Thursday...

Sunday afternoon we noticed a rash on Mercer's face. Sunday night after his bath noticed that it had spread... so began the research on rashes. Sunday - middle of the night when checking on Mercer - the rash had spread more & the original rash had changed to blisters. By Monday morning some of the blisters were crusted over and there was more rash / more blisters appearing.

Middle of the night Sunday / Monday morning we were thinking that Mercer had chicken pox. We called the pediatrician and she told us not to worry about anything... he's contagious... keep him away from others.... but bring him in if he's infected or if it gets on his eyelids.

All right. Here we go.... Chicken Pox. By Monday night, Mercer had one bump on his eye & by Tuesday morning it was bigger. Todd called the pediatrician and off they went for an office visit. But... Mercer didn't have the pox. He had a "really really bad" post-viral infection. Upon further research on his papers from the pediatrician - a bacterial infection called impetigo. The picture here looks way more like c.pox than what I've seen of impetigo (in fact - impetigo pics look way way worse / much grosser than what his rash / what c.pox look like!). I was very suspicious 'til the antibiotic cream for his face actually started working & healing the blisters. Sooo...... Mercer's fine. He's acting his normal self (has been for the past couple of days).

I've been feeling bad the past couple of days, though. I learned after switching my research gears to impetigo that it can come from the streptococcal strain of bacteria. So, I put a call into my doctor after looking up some symptoms I've been having... and I officially have strep throat! I'm on antibiotics now, so hopefully in the next day or so our family is feeling 100% back to normal?!

What a crazy ride it's been~~~~~~

Father's Day & another new experience...

I think Todd had a good Father's Day. Mercer & I wore him out, but it was an adventure -- much like how Mother's Day turned out -- a little more than we bargained for!

We went hiking in a spot that we like going to - Sope Creek. It's got a nice river and ruins of an old paper mill. In fact, last year, we took some really nice photos of Mercer on the river back in March of last year (blog entry - http://candice-and-todd.blogspot.com/2009/02/got-some-nice-photos-this-week.html ). This year, it was a very different place. We've had a year's worth of rain and this river was quite different. It was a much fuller and faster than before. We hiked through the woods down... down... down to a point in the river; our plan was to "rock hop" back up the river and end at the ruins. Unfortunately, most of the rocks seen in the pics from last year that we were hoping to come back on were under rushing water. It was actually pretty challenging to make it back up the river and at times was a little nerve-wracking. Todd would go ahead / jump down a rock / I'd hand Mercer down to him / jump down. We did this over and over again dozens of times.

When we did reach the ruins, it was a pretty easy hike back to the car, thankfully. Also, we discovered a small waterfall that we hadn't seen before (seen in this pic with Todd & Mercer). All sweaty, dirty, and gross - we stopped for ice cream afterwards. It was a memorable adventure, indeed! Todd said all-in-all he had a good day. I think we both felt a sense of accomplishment and in the end was happy we made it home without anyone getting hurt!

This past weekend, we all had a new experience: we went to a Korean-Christian wedding. 95% of the people at the church were Korean and the majority of the service was in another language, but it seemed to follow the rituals of a typical Christian wedding, so we were able to follow along for the most part. There were a few things that caught us off-guard, though:

- The part where the minister reads a few things and asks the groom a few questions... and the groom responds with "I do"... the groom, Young, yelled "Hi-k" (real loud / real quick). The minister asked another series of questions and Young yelled it even louder! Todd works with the groom and says that he's normally quiet / reserved / often sounds unsure of what he's saying. This -- vowing to love and cherish his wife -- he was definitely sure of!

- at the end of the wedding when the bride and groom walked down the aisle as a newly married couple, people crowded around and set off these paper-filled fire-crackers. We were startled to hear POP POP POP until we saw the streamers being shot out of these paper cylinders.

- how impassioned the two ministers were when they were praying. They became somewhat animated and their voices grew ever louder. It was very interesting.

Overall, Mercer did well. He enjoyed the singing and clapped when the audience clapped. We were glad that we got to be a part of this ceremony and catch a glimpse into their culture... even if we didn't understand a word of it!

After the wedding, we went to a neighbor's house who was having a back yard camp out (there's a national event that they were doing it in conjunction with - the Great American Back Yard Camp Out). Todd set up the tent earlier in the day so it would be ready when we got home from the wedding. We went down, hung out, Mercer played with the other kiddos, we socialized with the other adults... then it was time to try to put Mercer to bed. He admitted he was tired and wanted to go to sleep (it was a couple of hours past his bedtime)... but he fought and fought laying down. Because we were in a tent? Because the older kids were still running around laughing? Because the adults were talking & music was playing? Eventually -after many many many many many attempts to get him to lie down with me - he said he wanted to go HOME and sleep. Argh!! Oh well! There will be another camp out next year. Better to be close to home instead of far from home when learning this lesson. We'll have to keep try again in our back yard 'til he's comfortable falling asleep in a tent before we give it a try for real. Oh yeah - and wait 'til he's potty-trained before we try out in the wilderness.

A few things that he's saying now:

- thank you which actually sounds like "Dit Doo"

- "I'm going to get you" (he likes to run and grab us -- which is really a signal to reciprocate -- us run and grab him)

- "Your turn" (he will do something like pile pillows on top of him and explode out of them... then want us to do it too. sometimes he does things we really can't do -- like sit in his little kid-size rocking chair... say "your turn"... and get frustrated if we won't sit in it too.)

- When accidentally hurting me (bumping heads, for instance) - he will hug and say "I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry" which is cute because he's sincere. This happened several times in the past week somehow.

- When he wants something we have, his voice gets really soft, he cocks his head a little to the side, he smiles a little and says "can I have some? can I have some?"

- He's also getting better at counting and identifying colors.

The little guy is advancing and growing.

On a non-Mercer-related note:

I am officially an "Ambassador" of a program called the Living Building Challenge (http://ilbi.org/). I went to a training last week and got to know the trainer / a woman who basically runs this program out of Portland. I brought her to our office and gave her a tour of our green building (http://www.southface.org/about/campus) -- the greenest building in the southeast -- and our new Eco Office building doesn't even come close to meeting the Living Building Challenge. The challenge is very "out there" but I'm excited about it because it pushes me outside my box and prompts me to dive deeper. I've got a lot to learn and a lot to do before I start teaching people about this program which promotes zero energy / zero water / etc. (basically off-the-grid)

Speaking of which... I watched a film this weekend that was about the crude oil industry... showing the history of oil & where we get it from... the energy crisis in the 70s... interviews with people from OPEC and professors / researchers from Stanford and Cal Tech who have been watching trends & following technology around finding and producing oil... um... there were some shocking things in the video such as: in about 20 years, scientists predict that there's going to be a major shift in how we as a (global) society function because the oil should be tapped out by then & all we will be working off of is reserves. Worldwide population keeps growing and countries like China are becoming more consumptive like America. This is not predicted to go in reverse (conservation will slow it down - but at the rate that consumption of other countries and general population is increasing - things will still run dry)... it's a little scary.

The research technology to analyze the earth's crust and depths below was fascinating to see. Unfortunately, automotive technology isn't far enough along (nor do they predict that it will be) to react to the shortage. Biofuels can't even come close to meeting the daily or annual demand (nor do folks think it's good to tap our food crops for this). Things such as air travel will cease except for the really rich. That was shocking! Mercer - when in his early 20s - may not be able to travel abroad. WOW. We've always said we wanted our children to study abroad in college because it's so enriching.

Manufacturing, farming, etc will also be affected. The video closed with an off-the-grid family indicating that people would be reliant to farm their land again like they did 50-100 years ago, practice conservation & rely on renewable energy. I am accustomed to think about this at a building scale because of the work I do... and I feel that technology is available to get us there building-wise... but transportation-wise (especially the air travel) really was shocking. I hope that the predictions are wrong... but it was very eye-opening to think about none-the-less!

Cupcakes for who?

For Todd's birthday, we went to a cupcake shop on the square after we picked up our local milk & our first CSA distribution from the farmer's market. (Community Supported Agriculture)

It appears that Mercer really enjoyed his cupcake! Throughout the day, we kept telling him that it was "daddy's birthday." He kept saying - "NO - it's MY birthday!" Eventually, he did admit that it was Todd's big day. Todd & I hired a babysitter so we could go to dinner & a movie. It was nice feeling like human beings again. It's been a long time since we've been out w/out juggling the little guy.

We, of course, are enjoying him while we juggle. One thing that's cracking us up: how excited he's getting by things that are the same & how excited he gets when he "figures" something out. He has to grab one of us.... "come".... drag us over to the object(s)... and show us what he's discovered. He has so much pure enthusiasm. It's tiring (to be dragged around & having to act enthused each time) but it's also refreshing at the same time.

Mercer had another new experience this past week: it was his first time to wash Todd's truck. Really, he only played in the bucket of water and washed the bumper several times -- but he had fun with it. He also enjoyed getting sprayed with the water and doing some of the spraying.

Some other phrases which are common now are "I'm going to get you" and "I got you" after he crashes into you. His daycare says that his new phrase there is "I'm faster."

I had a good week at work. I got to attend a lecture on Monday. There's a new green building program called the Living Building Challenge. It's pretty exciting and goes way beyond what we're doing at my office currently.

We have a good weekend ahead planned. We hope you do the same.

an interesting week....

This was an interesting week. I learned a new skill -- canning (putting stuff in jars and sealing it so that it can be stored in the pantry & eaten later). The new term is "preserving," actually. I got a free canning system - a big 21 quart pot, lid, rack, some other supplies, a book with instructions and recipes, 4 cases of jars, and some other smaller items to give away. I was asked to preserve stuff & show other people how to do it. I practiced a few times over the week and then had some girls over to the house to demonstrate. There were 2000 parties across the country the same day (it's called a "house party" and the Ball Canning Jar company sponsored every one of them the same way -- just asking people to expose others to preserving fresh foods).

I made pepper jelly, salsa from a recipe that came in the book, and a peach chipolte salsa I found online. Then, at the party, we made a 3 berry jam. Most of the party was hanging out & socializing with the short demonstration. It was a TON of work, but in the end I'm glad I did it -- and I get to keep the canning system, books, and tools. Hosting the party forced me to learn this skill; I have no excuse to let any of the goods from our garden go to waste this summer!

Todd and Mercer spent pretty much the whole day together, but we hung out as a family the next day. We saw a couple of art exhibits - one on rare automobiles and one on modern art. Little guy didn't have a lot of patience for the cars as we had hoped - so, we ended up taking turns playing with him in the children's area.

The photographs enclosed are of Mercer eating a sandwich. He's had pieces of sandwich before - but tonight at dinner, we put the sandwich fillings (grilled turkey sausage, squash, tomatoes, and basil) in a bowl for him to eat. He protested and pouted. "Samish" "I want samish" -- so Todd put the filling between a piece of bread, folded it over, and wrapped it in foil so the stuff wouldn't fall out the bottom. Mercer was really happy to be included.

Todd took Mercer swimming while I was preparing for the canning party. He's taken a series of lessons twice now. One series when he was about 1 1/2 years old. One series around the time he turned 2. Now, under 2 1/2 -- he's taking another series. He REALLY seemed to like it -- so much that he came home excited. He said "kick" "I kicked" then laid on the floor and kicked. "Bubbles" "blow bubbles" he laid on the floor, stuck his face to the ground, and made a funny sound. so cute.

One other thing that was interesting this week - he comprehends the word "same" now. One night, he went to bed clutching a yellow car. He woke up with it, then saw a picture of a yellow car. He pointed and said "same." He's got a die-cast blue Prius. He holds it up againt my car (a full-sized blue Prius) and proudly says "same!" He's been pointing things out all week that are similar. It's been pretty cool to see the development and recognition.

quick post

Mercer's feeling back to his normal self. After a trip to the pediatrician (who noticed he had a fiery red throat) and a "treatment" of frozen juice pops and a little pain reliever, Mercer was back to normal in a couple of days. 'Til then, it was really hard on all of us (he was in pain and we felt helpless when he would accept our help). Luckily, he was back to 100% on Monday, Memorial Day - so we took a trip downtown. We went to a green-certified restaurant for breakfast. They were out of high chairs, so Mercer had to sit in a regular chair. He did pretty well - but has asked to sit in a "big" chair several times since. We may be getting rid of his little booster seat soon?

After a hearty breakfast, we went to the zoo. I thought that the flamingos were cool... I've never seen them up close. Mercer liked the bird exhibit, the playground, and swinging on the guard rail as seen in these pics.