Customers in Training

Handley has "winter break" this week.  Because she was out of school for a week we decided to come back to North Carolina with my mom to visit for a few days.  The 7 hour ride here yesterday went surprisingly well.  They usually do well in the car, but the last time we drove home from here the last 2 hours were miserable. Granted, I was by myself so there wasn't a whole lot I could do to entertain them and the movies/toys we had with us had already served their purpose for the first 5 hours.  This drive was nice because my mom was able to turn around and help keep them entertained.

This morning we ran a few errands, stopped at several fabric stores to search for the perfect nursery fabric (which I have yet to find) and made a quick stop by the grocery store.  At the Harris Teeter grocery store near my parents house they have these adorable kid-sized shopping carts with little flags attached that read "Customer in Training." Since we were only going to be picking up a few things I let each of the girls push their own cart.  I could not stop laughing.  They were so stinkin' cute!  Both girls felt so big and absolutely LOVED having their own carts to put the items in.  Now, while it was the most adorable idea in the world, I could NEVER actually let them do this on a regular basis if the stores near us had kid carts.  It would take me at least twice as long to get through the store because Harper kept picking up random stuff off the shelves and putting it in her cart.  I also wouldn't be able to concentrate on my own shopping list because she can't quite steer or control the cart that well, but of course she doesn't want any help.  Today she ran into every display we came near and we had several near misses with other shoppers too.  Thankfully everyone else thought they looked cute too and didn't mind having to steer clear of the cart heading towards them.

The rest of our day was spent enjoying the amazing weather outside while the girls ate popsicles and ran around.  Harper and I also snuck in a nap.  I wasn't planning on napping with her today, but after she spent an hour in her crib and wasn't going to sleep I decided to go check on her.  She'd taken her diaper off (second time this has happened in a week) so I thought if I layed down with her she might actually go to sleep instead of playing.  Turns out while I was dosing off and on in the bed she was beside me playing peek-a-boo under the covers, messing with my hair, and doing anything she could to keep herself from going to sleep.  After threatening to put her back in the crib for the umpteenth time, she finally drifted off.

Tonight, my brother Cameron came over for dinner and it was so sweet to hear Handley repeatedly tell him, "I love you, Cameron."  She's such a sweetie.  She has also had an increasing interest the past few weeks to "read" and spell everything in sight.  I LOVE that her pre-reading skills are emerging on their own and that she is so into letters right now.  One of her favorite things to do is name the beginning sounds and letters of objects and people around us.  Tonight at dinner she was sounding out (with help) and spelling (on her own) one syllable words like dog, dad, mom, Cam (Cameron), cat, and pup (puppy).  Tonight as I was tucking her in she kept asking to spell "just one more word"...so we did. :-)