rise and shiner

when we got jack from his crib this morning, it seemed our little peanut had become a black-eyed pea!





his mother was horrified ... his father was proud ... jack wonders why this picture of him looks like a mug shot ...

and although mommy was a bit taken aback, we actually were not too surprised to see this. roxana told us that he had banged his face into the table leg while playing after his bath but before bed. she said it was red, but that he cried more from the ice pack she tried to put on it and less from the actual incident. our little bruiser!

anyway ... this may be the first black eye, but something tells me ... knowing our danger mouse ... it won't be the last!

villa alegre

roxana's older daughters are out of school for two days because of parent/teacher conference days, so they came to play with jack today.

leslie (left) and diana (right) thought he was pretty cute and were having a good time playing with him. jack always loves attention from pretty girls, so he's very happy. in fact, it's one big villa alegre over at our house.

just call him ll cool j -- cuz ladies love cool jack.

dressed and ready to go

jack was dressed early (before breakfast is early for him) so that he could go to his first storyhour (which lasts 30 minutes) at the library down the road with roxana. he went to the library for a general visit last week. after jack pulled all the books off the shelf and crawled around under the librarian's desk she commented, "he's new here, huh?" let's hope he makes less of an impression this time!

in other news ... jack often exhibits many traits of his father's, but seasonal allergies have brought out one of mommy's: the nose rub. after sneezing a couple of times, jack was repeatedly rubbing his nose with his index finger. and anyone who knows jack's mommy knows that she does that quite frequently. too bad we couldn't capture that on camera. maybe next time.

where's the fire?

jack has started playing a bit on his own and he loves to push the fire truck his grandma and grandpa brought him for president's day!

dudley = cheerios

jack *loves* cheerios. a lot. when mommy and jack went to the baby store to buy a new car seat, we also bought a snack trap to keep our cheerios in. it seemed a foolproof way to let jack be a little mobile with his chi-chis (i realized this was prudent after a morning spent picking cheerios up from under the family room coffee table where jack had flung them out of his "weird harold" bowl). the problem is, jack had "outwitted" the snack trap in the first ten minutes he had it -- pulling the top off and managing ... even when the top stayed on ... to make half of them fall out the expertly engineered "trap."

our friend dudley came over sunday afternoon, and jack delighted in showing him how he could eat cheerios. dudley was only too happy to help provide the "fodder" for jack's show.

being offered the cheerios ...

taking the cheerios (but not relinquishing the remote) ...

munching the cheerios ...

boy these things taste great!

jack likes it when dudley and jen come over. it means cheerios for jack! and don't even get him started about trying to drink auntie jen's water ...

new seat

jack got a new car seat! he's stylin' in the big-boy seat!

i'm feeling much better now, thank you!

not 100%, but we're all feeling much better than we did yesterday!

hiatus

the blog is not publishing today.

the entire jennings/mershon clan is laid low by the stomach flu.

TIP: buy stock in pedialyte.

we'll return when we quit yacking.

havin' a ball

jack loves playing with his taggies ball ... almost as much as he likes chewing it ..

today he went with roxana to glen echo park and played with some "big kids" (14 months and 20+ months). they had lunch there. he cried a little because he wanted to have the "big kid food" that the others were eating. no such luck, jack. he did get some whole wheat bunny crackers for the first time though.

eat your veggies

jack is really a great eater. considering he's a so-so sleeper, mommy figures he owes her that. he loves meat -- chicken and turkey mostly so far -- which some kids have problems with at first. his diet is full of vegetables and fruits and is very varied.

in many ways he is really his father's son, but in this regard he is much more adventurous than his vegetable-averse father. and, according to survey results released by the cdc last week, much more adventurous than most american adults!

a funny story -- sometime last week or so, i call home and his nanny roxana tells me "hizé zanahoria amarilla para jack," which means: "i made yellow carrots for jack."

now, sometimes roxana is not familiar with certain vegetables. being from el salvador, she's much better with tropical fruits than root vegetables. for example, it took her two days and several consultations with friends and family to figure out how to say peas in spanish (for the record: gandules) because she wasn't used to eating them.

so, i'm thinking: "yellow carrots?? what the heck is she talking about?" and i tell her, "no, the yellow things are wax beans" ... and she insists carrots ... and i tell her, no, we're out of carrots ... and she tells me they were in the fridge ... and i counter that carrots are *orange* ... and we're at an impasse when she describes how she took the "big yellow carrots" out of the crisper in the fridge where they'd been for a while. and then it hit me -- she had made ...

PARSNIPS!!!!

which, in spanish, is pastinaca.

incidentally, jack loved parsnips and they're now on the menu (ironically, usually with carrots!). today he will be trying garbanzo beans for the first time. considering how he's taken to everything else, i'm sure they'll be a hit.

however, i'm questioning the wisdom of beans today after the morning we had. suffice it to say that daddy went in to change jack's dipe this morning, only to call out moments later, "mommy, can you come in here and help me?? this is a two-man job!!" and, again, suffice it to say that he was not exaggerating. it *was* a two-man job. let's hope garbanzos don't make it worse!!

scurrilous accusation

it's jack here. i just had to send an email to chime in and refute my mommy's scurrilous accusation that i "stole" her blackberry. i was simply borrowing it. i mean, how's a guy supposed to check his email otherwise? especially now that mommy and daddy are keeping the study door locked. what's that about?!? j'accuse for that!

on another note ... daddy is under the impression that people don't want to hear from *him* on the blog. he said he wanted some proof via the "comments" section of the blog that people are interested in hearing from him as well as mommy.

personally, i think his wry wit is perfect for the medium of the blog. don't you all agree? and, as referenced above, mommy's posts are full of half-truths and distortions. so send your comments in to convince my daddy he needs to post more.

gotta go ... i'm getting blackberry thumb. and, there are some cats that need chasing ...

i'm jack mershon, signing off ....

get up, stand up ...

so jack stood today without holding on to anything (except mommy's blackberry, which he had stolen)!

and he maintained said stance for 8 seconds or so before falling back on his bum. long enough for daddy to witness it, but not long enough for mommy to capture on camera.

it was an exciting (and terrifying) development today ...

we'll try to get pictures next time.

you can leave your hat on

jack finds a way to play with *everything*.

usually it's electronics, but this time, his capitol hill baseball cap from dawn price baby that jim and lisa mcgovern gave him was the toy.

but soon enough jack tired of the game ...



... and of the paparazzi ...





in his best garbo impersonation: "go take pictures of brangelina's new kid and leave me alone!"

verboten

i know michael banned posts about doo-doo, but this story is too good to pass up.

so, if you're against reading posts on #2, stop here ...

if not, well ... here's the poop (so to speak):

jack had a *huge* blow-out this morning. we think his tummy might be bothering him a little bit. frequency has increased and consistency has ... well, let's just say it's changed a bit.

so, this morning when jack woke up, we found that he was the victim of the old "up-and-down." and, needed a change of his diaper ... his pj bottoms ... and his pj top.

these days, jack is not the most cooperative on the changing table. in fact, he's a squirmy wormy! so, while daddy is trying to deal with a diaper too filthy to put in the diaper champ without a second diaper wrapped around it (not to mention a dirty bottom scooting all over the place), jack was interested in crawling around.

so, daddy has no choice but to put jack on the floor while he tries to deal with the mess. so jack is crawling around his room naked, wearing nothing but his socks, and trying to turn on his CD player.

once "poo containment" is achieved, daddy goes after jack. he finally wrestles jack into a new pair of jammies, only to realize that in his early morning haze he's forgotten to put a diaper on! so, start over -- jammies removed ... diaper put on ... jammies put on again.

phew! a lot of work but finally jack is presentable. do you see why mommy sleeps in??

but, clearly, i've got some laundry to do!

everybody's working for the weekend

are we ever! it was great to have a full day with jack on our hands. although michael kindly handled the early shift and let me sleep until 8a, it still seemed like a full day with the boy.

mommy and jack headed off to pace group. we're still meeting after nearly 9 months! it's great to have that as an outlet. and, unlike last time when he got scared and fussy, today jack was *loving* being with the other kids.

we arrived first, which gave jack a chance to warm up to the house and to the boy in the group who lives there -- kai.

other kids slowly arrived and jack took it all in stride. last time he was wary, but this time he was playing and at the center of the action.

the two oldest -- kai and bea (seen here) ...

... are 12 months and 14 months, respectively. and although they have at least 3 months on jack, that did not stop him from wanting to emulate them. especially when it came to climbing the stairs!!

unlike boring old mom and dad's house, this house did not have a gate at the bottom of the stairs, which meant jack chose to ignore all the cool toys kai had (although we did like a certain puzzle with furry animals) ...

... in favor of trying to summit the hard wood stairs. and, considering jack does not get to do it all that often, he was a natural.

the other moms of kids closer to jack's age, like darian, who is about 2 weeks older than jack ...

all commented about how active he is. they kindly did not comment about how haggard mommy is! it seems the two are related ...

the other things the moms could not believe is that:

• jack only naps for 25 - 40 minutes at a time
• jack goes to bed at 5:30
• jack still wakes in the night to eat

i sometimes can hardly believe the above myself! it seems that jack has some sleeping challenges. but, other moms complain that her kid sits there and barely crawls at 9 months or that her kid has to be chased around and force fed because s/he doesn't like food. so, nothing's perfect.

after a crazy day at pace, mommy needed a nap, but not jack. we got by today on three naps of 25 minutes, 10 minutes and 10 minutes. luckily, despite our lack of sleep, we were still in a good mood when nana came over in the late afternoon to feed us dinner and help give us our bath.

we even went out and checked out the pool we've joined for the summer, to make sure it met jack's standards. it does, and so we'll be enjoying ourselves come memorial day. luckily jack is signed up for swimming lessons, so i'm sure he'll be doing laps in no time. let's hope mommy doesn't drown trying to keep up with him!

it seems no matter how much energy you have, they always have more. ah ... the paramount lesson of parenthood ...

hey, where'd ya go?

jack has been funny ... and who knows if it's related to mommy having been away or not ... but lately it seems he's most interested in whomever is *not* there.

today, he was playing downstairs with daddy while mommy was taking a shower. he wanted to do nothing but stand at the bottom of the stairs looking up at mommy blow drying her hair. later, when mommy was playing with jack, he wanted to go looking for daddy ...

are ya in there dad? huh, are ya? are ya comin' out, dad? when are ya comin' out?

of course ... more than either of us ... jack's always most interested in the cats ...

i love coffee, i love tea

i love the java jive and it loves me ...

everyone was a little tired today. well, actually ... mommy was tired and assumed everyone else was too. but, we all needed a little coffee to get us going this morning. in case you're wondering, jack takes his with cream and sugar.

coffee and tea and the java and me
a cup, a cup, a cup, a cup, a cup ... boy!

a new toy for mommy

mommy's trip to latin america is almost over ... and it's been a good trip. it's been nice to get back in the swing of things and back out on the road. but i have been missing michael and jack something fierce.

i don't know how much travel the future holds for me. i am hoping to avoid covering the g8 summit in germany, because it would mean missing jack's first birthday. i can handle a lot of things ... that's not one of them.

but in any event i will likely be traveling again, so i need a way to keep in closer touch with my boys when i'm away. that's where the toy comes in.

my colleague antoine has been using "ichat" on his mac for years to talk to his family face-to-face.

last night, he was able to be there for his daughter isabel's 6th birthday.



he even had a place at the table for a virtual dinner with his wife, girls, mother, and in-laws.



and, the great thing is there are no calories in these dinners ...

so ... jack ... if you're reading this (and i know you are) ... mommy wants it!!!

Cousin Love ...

Auntie Amy sent along this really cute picture of Jack's cousin Parker "Bird" Plummer. Jack and Parker first met way back in July, when he and Amy came for a visit.

Jack and I have had a great week of male bonding, taking walks to the park, drinking martinis, playing with knives and matches, and sledding down the stairs. It's amazing that at just 9 months, he's already very good at steering the car. This solo childcare thing is a snap!

Alicia gets home in 26 hours, 8 minutes and 41 seconds.

the children of guatemala

guatemala was a study in contrasts.

we were staying at the westin camino real -- a very nice resort-style hotel in a chi-chi section of guatemala city.

there were a lot of americans there -- and a lot of babies! wheeling around the lobby in strollers ... hanging around the pool ... sitting in the restaurant. maybe it was the 23 hour day on sunday ... maybe it was the 3 hour turn-around before I had to be up for the today show ... but I didn't put it all together until mid-day today -- guatemala is a thriving adoption market.

rather than the happy vacationing families i imagined i was seeing, i really was seeing instant parents trying to bond with their new indian babies.

even president bush mentioned the issue in his press conference with president berger.

I don't know if my fellow citizens understand this, but there are a lot of U.S. families who adopt babies from Guatemala, thousands of babies. This year it is very important for the United States and Guatemala to implement the Hague Convention on adoptions to help protect children and families during the adoption process. We found common ground on that issue. And I appreciate your strong stand, Mr. President, and I assured the President we would follow through, ourselves.

where had i been? how did i not know?!?! could *i* get a little baby back home in my suitcase on the charter (just kidding jack!!)??

but, in addition to these newly very privileged children, there were the reverse ...
their negative ... el opuesto.

we visited a poor neighborhood in zona 17 of guat city where we saw a number of boys like this one.

boys like jack might become, were he not the fair-haired son-of-the-son-of-the-son that he is.

my mother, as is her wont, pointed out that the nyt was advising against this excursion of mine ...

But signs of danger are here, too. Reporters traveling with the president were told to stay within two blocks of their hotel, because the security situation "deteriorates" beyond its immediate perimeter.

but ... we needed to shoot a stand-up about the appeal of hugo chavez with a backdrop of paper-walled shacks and ratty laundry on the line, so we got in a cab and away we went.

unfortunately, while we were out, the show called to tell us they were killing the piece in favor of a q&a with a reporter on gas prices. our piece would only be seen on the web.

and although we didn't get our (in my opinion) rightful place on the evening newscast, i wouldn't forego my trip to zona 17 ....

or my stay at the guatemala city westin! for the 3 hours i was in it, that bed was heavenly!

missing mith

today would have been jack's great-nana's birthday. although it's her second birthday to pass since we lost her, somehow it seems i feel it more accutely with jack in the world. it's such a great regret of mine that she never met jack. i never even got to tell her that he was on his way ... but i'm pretty sure she knows anyway.

i often imagine what a kick she would get out of jack. i'm sure she would dote on him endlessly. she always had a weakness for a good-looking guy. and i know she would have been tickled that his name is jack, even though he's not named for either one of her great loves.

so, jack will go on about his day as usual -- playing, laughing, eating, trying to walk -- and he won't even realize that which i am sure of ... that she is looking down on him and smiling at her handsome great grandson.

spring forward ...

or is it fall back?

depends on where you are.

last night uruguay "fell back" while north america was "springing forward" and it's hard to know which end is up. we went from et+3 to et+1 and now in colombia we're et-1. soon, in guatemala we'll be et-2. i can barely keep up with all the watch-changing that's required!

also, the fact that we left the hotel for colombia at 3:15a et and won't get to our hotel in guatemala until after 1a et is probably not helping my traveler's vertigo either. 22+ hours of pure latin fun.

but, one person seemingly responding well to the time change is jack. he apparently woke up in the night as usual, but was able to put himself back to sleep without a bottle. and then he slept until 7a! if michael gets this new schedule to stick, i will *totally* owe him!

maybe he'd like colombian emeralds ... that i could borrow, of course! :-)

uruguay, myuguay

so far montevideo has been a mixed bag. while jack was playing with his grandparents today, i was working in the filing center with our correspondent kelly o'donnell, my fellow producer antoine sanfuentes, and cameraman rodney batten. we are a serious group.





montevideo is somewhat known for its architecture. on these trips we often don't have much (read: any) free time, but today -- because the president was at rancho anchorena, the uruguayan camp david ... and because he was a three hour's drive away from monte-where-we-make-the-video, we had a bit of a break after his press conference. and, in our break we walked out through one of the capital's nicer neighborhoods to a nearby market, taking in the architecture.

the feria was not all that we had hoped for -- it was less about great folkloric artisans and more about grateful deadheads, but i did manage to negotiate to buy this donkey:




i am hoping he will be able to walk up the steps of the plane with no problem. otherwise it's a long walk/swim to colombia ... even for a mule.


there was not much good shopping at the market ... unless you're in the market for incense or jam ... and really, who couldn't use more jam?

but it was just nice to get out in the fresh air and stretch the legs ...

one thing i did find interesting: we saw a great number of children while we were out and about. babies being carried, strolled in carriages and strollers, played with, bought for. it really seems to me that uruguay is a pretty child-focused culture. but then again, maybe i notice it more since i'm missing jack ...

i'd put pictures in of this, except that i didn't take any. i thought it seemed weird to take pictures of other people's children. and i didn't want jack to get jealous!

Conseguí

Success! I found my Zoomp jeans. After only 20 years of pining for them. I took pix but my camera phone won't send text messages in Brazil, so I can't post them. But they're cool, and all I have to say is Jack better not barf on them!!

um otro dia, um otro real ...

another day, another dollar ...

things in sao paulo are going well. potus arrived without incident and meets president lula in a couple hours to make an announcement about an ethanol agreement between the two countries. in the interim, i'm hoping to sneak out to the nearby mall in pursuit of zoomp jeans that i've been coveting since i was 13 years old.

jack is doing well. he had another okay night with only one wakeup. this morning he was up early (5:30a) but was content to play by himself in his crib until the more civilized hour of 6a. and, a new "best practice": jack fed *himself* his morning bottle in his crib while daddy got his shower. everyone was happy for 15 minutes.

tonight nana and grandpa jennings come over to babysit and spend the night. hopefully jack will wait until that same "civilized hour" to wake up and play with his grandparents.

gotta go -- o zoomp esta chamando!!

chegé

so mommy has arrived in the land of her birth after an overnight flight from andrews afb. we were delayed in leaving because king abdullah of jordan cut in line ahead of us. something about royalty and head of state taking precedence over the fourth estate ... pshaw! but, we took off around 1 am and i slept from about 1:45a to about 6:45a, after watching about half of "a night at the museum." when i woke, it hit me, i usually don't get to remain horizontal for five uninterrupted hours.

daddy reports that jack is well. michael's now experiencing what it's like to not get that extended uninterrupted laying down time, as jack woke at 2a for a bottle. but, true to form, jack went right back to sleep until 6a and they spent a nice morning. although it will be wearing for the next week, hopefully things will continue to go as smoothly.

depending on citizenship rules, jack may also be "brazilian" so mommy will be on the hunt today for appropriate vestments to show off the national pride.

that's the latest from the southern hemisphere ...

what to pack?

so, mommy is about to be leaving on a jet plane. my first trip since jack was born -- to brazil, uruguay, colombia, guatemala and mexico. i've never been away from him a night, and now i'm going for a whole week. should be an interesting trip -- i've never been to uruguay or guatemala -- but it will probably be hard too. mommy is sure she will miss her varoncito pequeño (little boy). my colleague tells me that now is actually a *good* age for me to travel. he says when they get older, they start saying, "why do you have to go?" and "i miss you!" in a most heart-breaking fashion. something to look forward to ... great ...

maybe it's psychological, but i put off packing until this morning. also, it was partly the fact that we forgot to get the suitcase out of the attic tuesday morning and didn't want to wake jack last night. so, as i was packing, i had a little helper ...



do you think i'll fit in the suitcase too, mommy?



would that you could, varoncito ... would that you could.

the latest in the great bell stand-off

this round goes to jack ...

i love lucy

our very good friends auntie dine, uncle daweed and their daughter la luce -- came over for brunch on sunday.


we ate a yummy egg, bread and cheese casserole and some sausage. jack joined us for brunch, eating cheerios, but daddy decided to give jack some sausage to try as well. dipped in maple syrup. mommy was a little bemused, but boys will be boys. and, not surprisingly, jack *loved* sausage! note to nana -- you're now officially out of trouble for giving jack syrup. it's now apparently s.o.p.



after a delicious-but-heavy meal, it seemed like we needed to exercise to work off the calories. lucy decided the perfect anecdote would be yoga:





and, apparently it is proper yoga etiquette to remove ones shoes, socks, and, umm... pants??? so, lucy did. and jack watched attentively.











jack even got in on the yoga fun -- trying the cobra pose:



after we said "namaste" to yoga, the kiddos decided to play with some of jack's toys, although jack wasn't totally sure about sharing ...

but in the end, he warmed up to the idea of lucy touching his toys, and there were many hugs and kisses exchanged.