Big Boy Shopping

First, an apology for the horrible picture. Trying to walk backwards through a crowded store to focus on a moving 3yr old is tough!

After work yesterday I swung up to the co-op to pick up some groceries. At one point I heard a really familiar sounding voice and sure enough in the next aisle was Faith and Zane, with Zane pushing the cart. Now I’ve tried having him push a cart a number of times but he either lost interest in it too quickly or ran into everything without a steadying hand. But here he was pushing it, navigating among people and shelves, and doing a great job!

The other change is that he now has a huge interest in everything in the store. Thus the baguette, a block of stinky cheese, and eggplant that we ended up buying. I managed to exchange his eggplant for the smallest one they had but even so if anyone has a sure-fire, kid tested eggplant recipe send me an email.

Seems like everyday now he does or says something and we’re both like, “he’s so grown up!” His language skills have really blossomed. He’s able to carry on and even instigate long, complex conversations. Even watching him play with toys you can see a change in his understanding and planning.

He and Faith got back from the store a little after me and he’d fallen asleep on the way. She carried him up to his room and I helped put him on the bed, which usually wakes him up. He rolled over and said “take off my shoes!” By the time I got the shoes and jacket off he’d lost interest in napping. I tried the old ploy of laying beside him with a “daddy needs a nap, too.” He got out of bed, walked to the door, and said “goodnight daddy, sweet dreams!” as he left me to nap on my own. Dang, backfired. Then last night when it was time for bed he decided that he wanted to sleep in the family room, in his big house. The big house is one part of the tunnel and tent structures I bought him for xmas a couple years ago. It’s about 3×3 feet and made of a really light material. He setup a pillow and blanket and then invited me to spend the night in there as well. I managed to convince him that he can’t “camp” in the family room during the week, but I suspect we’ll be sleeping down there this weekend.