Suckers, Strollers, and a Mall Walker

Ernie has a bit of cold, and so is on the cranky side of lovely this week. She did however manage to cheer herself up yesterday- I was so glad she was entertaining herself quietly while I worked on a project, I didn't think to wonder what she was doing. My house is almost Ernie-proof when I shut all the child-locked doors, so I don't worry much about what she gets into.



She found a sucker, and slowly wandered in to show me after 15 minutes or so. Notice the sly, "What are you gonna do about it?" look, the dribbles down the shirt, the quiet aura of contentment surrounding her tummy....truly, a content child!

We discovered something else that makes her a content child- after picking Daddy up from work yesterday, we decided to go out to dinner at the local "buffet-style" restaurant. There are lots of food choices, quick food delivery to the child, and soft-serve ice cream. Perfect! Afterwards we let Ernie run off her steam in the mall halls, and we just followed her around her shopping excursion. She was a girl on a mission! She wandered into a "lotions and potions" store, just to check out what's in their bins, then into a clothing "big box" store- that was hilarious! She's a mall walker extraordinaire- the faster she went, the faster her arms and knees pumped. She doesn't run, she trots quickly with knees pumping towards her tummy, fists clenched, sometimes with a low "aaaaaaaah" just to hear her voice bounce in rhythm with her shoes. She wandered down the purse aisle, took a left to the bikes, found a baseball and threw it towards the skate boards, and checked out the strollers (that was exciting- "Baba! Baba!", naming them after Grandpa A's stroller, Bob.)

To cap the night off, she got a call from Nana! She was pretty excited to hear her voice, and Grandpa J's, too. Unfortunately, Grandpa J wanted to pass the phone back to Nana and said goodbye to Ernie...so she brightly said "ai!" and hung up, so pleased with herself to have mastered the art of phone conversations.