Holiday Shopping with Gus

Gus has been with me for all of the holiday shopping and was such a trooper until this morning at 11. That's when I placed the very last straw on his poor camel's back, and he informed me, and all the other Target customers, that enough is enough.

I should have known today would be the day when I woke him up this morning. I went in and he had both legs in one of his pant legs. He stood up and hopped along the rails of his crib. Hilarious. Usually he doesn't leave the pants on if he can't get them on right, but for some reason, this morning was different. He was feeling extra feisty and determined!

So we went to the mall to finish up the shopping. After about 45 minutes, both shoes, one sock, and his hat were off. I've learned to keep track of his accessories as we stroll along, so as they get dumped out of the stroller, I throw them in the basket underneath. Usually everyone and their mother stops me (sometimes only 10 feet apart) and asks me, "Did you know your son only has one sock on? Where are his shoes and his other sock?" I explain to everyone along the way, that I do know, and they are all safely stored under the stroller. I really appreciate the general public's concern for Gus' shoes and socks, but if they only knew about the thousands of people who have already asked me, I think they would mind their own business. Can you imagine how many socks and shoes I would lose if I didn't keep track? I'm polite every time, but it got old about a year ago. It's how Gus hints to me, or informs me, that he is very ready to go, and if I'm not out of there soon, he'll be sporting his birthday suit, and that would make everyone very unhappy.

We went back to the van and I accessorized him again. He asked to watch Woody (Toy Story 2) and I turned it on for him for our 2 minute drive to Target. I'm such a pushover when it comes to Gus! He knows it. It will not be good when his little brother comes along. When it was time to get out, he lost it. Screamed bloody murder. Getting him in the cart was not fun. I bribed him and told him we could go look at the Woody toys. He kept quiet, for the most part, until we almost got to the toy aisle. There are six action figures from Pixar movies that Gus has been eying for weeks. The package was $4 and I finally caved and decided to buy it. I kept telling myself that this is not a precedent, just a special occasion. I thought hanging onto in the store would help him. It did for all of five minutes. He kept saying "Hep me! (help me) Tuck! (stuck) Woody! Buzz! Owwkey! (Mike Wazowski)" I told him we would open it in the car, but it could be a great drum in the store. He asked "Why?" 50 times and then he threw it in the back of the cart. He wriggled himself out of the straps and stood up in the cart while I was getting stuff off the shelves. It was a bad time. The he screamed, "Tuck! Tuck!" telling me he was stuck in the cart. I wasn't feeling too charitable, so he stayed in the cart for another 10 minutes. By the time we got to check out, he was screaming. His shoes and hat were off and I had to hold him and push the cart. If I held him, he whimpered, instead of screamed. If there weren't so many people in the store, I would have let him wail. That was my gift to all the people shopping around me, a whimpering child. If they only knew how kind I was.

We got in the car and I gave him his Woody and Buzz action figures and turned on the show. When Woody would come on the screen, Gus yelled, "Woody!" and put the Woody action figure up. The same thing happened with Buzz. It was so great. I finally get why there are action figures! He totally felt like he was part of the movie. It must be a boy thing, re-inacting or something.

We picked up Lucy from school. She got to be line-leader today, so she was especially happy. Lucy turned to Gus and said, "What do you have Gus?" My heart sank. I didn't know how she would respond to Gus getting something and she didn't. He held Mike Wazowski up and said, "Owwkey!" then Woody and Buzz. Lucy said, "Oh Gus! That's so cool!" Then Gus handed them to her (they are both finally tall enough that they can pass stuff back and forth to each other in their car seats) one by one! After each one Lucy thanked him for sharing and then handed them back to him. The whole morning of shopping with a frustrated male made that moment totally worth it! Lucy is learning to celebrate with Gus and not just think about herself. And Gus is learning to share! Wow! It was a big moment.