Grocery Fun!

Little Z is getting bigger and bigger and has now entered into a whole new stage: the Toddle Stage. He is walking, more than ever, tottering around with his hands waving to help keep him steady. He is oh so very cute, as all who spend time with him will attest. But, with this new stage has come the standard headstrong will. Now when we go grocery shopping, he does not want to sit in the cart (there's no action there!). No, he wants to walk, securely between mom and the grocery cart, pushing the cart around with such strength for such a little guy. We literally walk laps around the grocery store, me grabbing items from the shelves as we pace by, trying to keep him from running us into other patrons. Every once in a while when I need us to stop, I lodge him into a corner, which he has quickly adapted to by pulling the cart back and turning it a bit and then pushing again... repeat until that works! The alternative is me lodging my foot under the cart wheel so it can't go anywhere, which results in Z pushing with all his might (think practically horizontal baby) and crying out in frustration. Part of me thinks that he sees pushing the cart as his very important job in our grocery shopping endeavor. Unfortunately, he just doesn't know when to stop, and things always go south when we reach the check out line and the time for pushing has come to an end. Then, I'm stuck juggling pulling items out of the cart, while making sure Z doesn't shove the cart into the person in front of us, or while holding a squirming, very unhappy little boy. Yup, checkout cannot go fast enough. We may have reached the stage where little Z will have to stay home with one parent while the other shops... at least until he's old enough to run down the isle to fetch items for me - another adventure I'm sure. I must say though, it is pretty cute seeing him put all that effort into pushing the cart. So much gumption for such a little person!