The Toy Store Maturation

We've been to the large toy and baby store many times with our children.  I remember one of the first times my son was able to hold himself upright, I put him in a shopping cart and was so proud he could sit up and view his surroundings.  Both children like the toy store and don't complain while we're there, but until yesterday, they were more passive family members, along for the ride.

As we were getting ready to go I told my son we were going to the toy store.  He got excited.  He wanted to go to a place where they had toys.  He was happy to put on his jacket and when we got to the store he did his, "ABC's!" comment as he pointed to the large sign over the entrance spelling out the name of the store.

We got inside and suddenly, he was an active participant in the whole shopping process.  My husband and I got our discussions and decisions done between my son's cries of excitement mingled with requests for objects.  It sounded something like this:

My son, "I see the truck!"
Me, "I see the truck too."
"That's my truck."
"Is it?  I didn't know you had a pink truck?"
"I want the ball.  I want the big ball.  I have the big ball."
"Maybe another time.  We aren't shopping for balls today."
"Train!  That's a train.  I see the train.  I see the motorcycle.  I see the helicopter.  I want the helicopter."
...and on and on...

He saw everything in the store.  He doesn't have the filters we do that help us hone in on what we're looking for by ignoring anything that doesn't meet our current search criteria and he lets you know about everything he sees if it's something he knows the word for.

At this point it's relatively easy to tell him that we're not looking for that particular item right now and he mentally moves on quickly.  Much of the time I just ignored him and he immediately found something else to ask about, want, own, hold, etc.  Soon though, I fear the days of easy distraction will be over.

The Big Boy Update:  The mystery Ho Ho.  In addition to all the questions and requests at the toy store from above, he did ask for something that eluded me for a bit while we were in the book aisle.  He was pointing and repeating, "I want the ho ho."  I had no idea what a ho ho was but after offering multiple options it turns out he wanted a book from the, Jake and the Neverland Pirates Disney series.  He must have seen it a few times, but I didn't think he'd paid attention.  In the show they say things like "Yo ho, let's go!" and other statements with the word "ho" in it.  That's the "ho ho" he was asking for.  So I bought one of the books and today when I pulled it out he repeated the "ho ho" name again and sat down to tell me about the nouns in the book he knew.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Kissy.  She decided to give me a kiss the other day.  My cousin Rebecca taught her this a while back, and I had forgotten about it.  It's very sweet, she slowly leans in to give you a very soft little baby kiss.  It was so sweet I asked her to do it twice more. 

Someone Once Said:  Dirty linen is best kept in a cupboard.