Only Time Will Tell 12/1/11

Today I picked the rest of the Laffy Taffy out of the bag of candy I keep in my desk drawer and ate it (Halloween candy. It's the holiday gift that keeps on giving when you need a pick-me-up.), I went out for lunch and got the manicure I talked about getting last Wednesday and never did (By far the best fifteen bucks I've spent all week.), and I decided I really, reeeaaaallly wanted a new watch. I haven't had one...a watch...since our two years as Georgia residents. It was a nice one (the nicest one I've ever had actually), but it had a habit of coming undone (It wasn't one that buckled, and I can't really put into words a good description of the type of clasp it had.) and finally one day just slipped off. I never felt it leave my arm and didn't realize it was gone until I got home and into my usual routine of taking off my jewelry first.

So I took him shopping with me right after I picked him up from school.

A night like tonight takes me back to his first eighteen months. As his stay-at-home mom, our relationship was one with good times and bad, through thick and thin, and ins and outs (of Target of Belk of Banana Republic....).

Oh absolutely. Very...very well trained.

He can dish out a compliment without any prompt at all - just because he thinks so and because he notices (i.e. "That's a cute outfit, Mommy!" And..."I like the color of your nails. That's pretty.").

And if you ask him, "Okay, Babe, do you like the brown one (as I hold up a Steve Madden purse)? Or the black one?" (holding up a different Steve Madden purse), he'll say "Ummm....(long pause as he looks at each one). I like the black one."

He needs at least one bathroom break and finds things he likes, too.

He can't "walk that far" on an empty stomach and almost always walks away with something he says is what he's always really wanted.

He holds doors and hands (Oh, I love those five little fingers in the palm of mine.); and by the looks of this, his future will include a little bit of stroller pushing.

(These were taken on Thanksgiving Day at my parents'. The stroller and cat are my niece, Emily's. He walked their driveway at least once a day - sometimes twice - to check their mail. Twice, you know, just in case they forgot something the first time and brought more. Now he does it at home...minus the stroller and cat in tow.)

And just in case you were wondering...Yes, I found a watch.