shopping adventures

we ran some errands this morning, and the adventures and silliness started right away! our neighbor has landscapers fixing some work, and as we were getting in the car, k spotted one of them. "hi...hi...hi...hi...hi..." until this poor guy noticed him and said hi back. well we can't just leave it at that now, can we? i get him in the car, all strapped in, and i close the door. as i'm walking around the car to get to my door, i hear this high pitched squeal, followed by laughter, followed by that coy "nnnooooooo!" that he jokes with all the time now. i turn to see the guy playing with him through the window. it was great! i get in the car, k blows the guy a kiss, says bye bye, and we're off!

we get to the first store for a quick return, so i didn't even bother with a cart. this is a mistake. we got to the counter, and k threw himself on the floor and started crawling around. by all rights, i probably needed both hands to carry in the storage bins i was returning, but sacrificed one so i could hold his hand. i had to let go so i could get the bins on the counter though. i quickly pick him up, sign the return slip, and we leave. on the way to the car, i give the, "remember how we talked about being a big boy?" speech. he smiles, gives me a hug, and we're off to the next stop.

we get to the grocery store, and enter through the produce section. i have never been in this store before, so i stop to figure out where the heck i am going. as i'm looking at the signs, i hear k yelling, "mama! ball! ball! please? ball!" i look around, and there are no balls to be found. there IS, however, a crate of watermelons that he's pointing to. poor baby! i don't think he's ever eaten from a whole one, so he doesn't know what it looks like! we walk past quickly. we get our shopping done, as he says, "hi...hi....hi" to everyone he sees, and only stops when someone answers him. he decided (with some encouragement) that instead of the ball (watermelon) he wanted grapes. so before we left, we went back and got some grapes. he carried them all the way to the checkout, and even put them on the belt. in the checkout lane, he takes his shoes off. i only know this because an employee walked past to let me know that one of his shoes was on the grate under the cart, and she didn't want me to miss it. i am in front of the cart at this time...when i quickly push him through so he doesn't push the buttons on the credit card thingy again and they have to start over (yes, this has happened!). he takes off the other shoe and immediately puts it in his mouth. ugh! part of me wants to keep his shoes off when we go to the store now so he doesn't eat them, but i might be turned away because he's not wearing shoes (heard this morning that a mother and 6 month old were asked to leave a burger king in missouri because the baby wasn't wearing shoes). we pay, we get to the door, and we are on our way to the car...where no less than 3 people walk past and pinch k's cheeks or pat his hair and tell him how cute he is. really people? is it just ok for you to touch strangers' children? i don't know you, i've never seen you, and i probably never will again. do you think i want you and your germs on my kid? the answer is no! but i grit my teeth and smile, simply because at 9 AM, it's all elderly ladies...and i know that's just how they are.

on the way home, i am feeding him grapes. i keep a small dish in the car for these occasions. i give him a bowl of grapes, he eats, life is good! then i hear, "oh no! ma! uh oh! hep! hep! hep! (that's help). than God for the red light just then because i think something is terribly wrong. i turn around, and he's handing me a grape...it had a piece of stem on it, so there was something wrong with it. i remove the stem, he thanks me, pops it in his mouth, and smiles. he then starts singing a song. "doops, doops, yay doops, la la la!" it took me a minute in the store, but came to the conclusion that that's how he says grapes. do you remember what it was like to be so excited about something so small that you had to make a song out of it? life doesn't get better than that!