Daily Serena: Christmas Shopping

This morning, Serena and I headed out to finish off our Christmas shopping. It's very different shopping with a 1-yr-old as opposed to the 4-mo-old I had last year! Last year the hardest part about shopping was trying to find a place to sit and nurse her every 2-3 hours. Big deal. Other than that, she just hung out in the Moby wrap and was very content! This year, she's in the stroller and I dare not linger too long in one place! Browsing? I have a feeling it will be YEARS before I can truly 'browse' the racks in a store again! And the TOY AISLE! THAT is a different experience this year, too! Her little interest indicator dial goes all the way over to red and hits an alarm bell - DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You might think I'm being facetious with the 'interest indicator' and all, but if you could see her face you'd know exactly what I was talking about! ;) She's not too grabby, thankfully, if I can just keep her far enough away from the toys that she doesn't think she can reach them. Mostly she rides along in the cart completely enamored by all the bright shiny toys. But, if I pick up a toy or (rookie mama mistake!) push a button, then it's apparently open season, and it is not a good idea to try to put the toy back on the shelf until Serena has been able to push at least 3 buttons! Usually, I let her hold it and play with it until she loses interest and then I sneak it out of the cart when she's not looking. Heehee!

We hit the mall, IKEA, and Walmart today, and Serena did splendidly. When I go into a store with carts in it (i.e., Walmart), I usually have Serena walk in holding my hand rather than carrying her nowadays. With back pain starting to be an issue in this pregnancy, I'm trying to keep my holding/carrying Serena to a minimum. Serena seems to like being able to walk into the store herself, though! She gets that "I'm a big girl" air about her and swings her free arm like she always does when she's pleased. As soon as we get inside the doors of Walmart, though, she lets go of my hand and rushes over to the carts! She can hardly wait for me to lift her up and put her in one! It's so funny, because this is only a very recent turn of events! Up till this week, it was a toss-up whether she was going to fight being put in the cart or not. I'm not sure what made the difference, but I'm happy for it!

By the time we made it home, it was a good hour or more past Serena's naptime. When we were in Walmart (our last stop), I had been feeding her apple slices since she was getting pretty hungry. After I put her in her carseat, she made the sign to me that she wanted more to eat, so I gave her another apple slice. A few minutes later, I looked back and she was sound asleep, apple slice clutched in her hand, uneaten. She snoozed all the way home. I hated to disturb her much-needed nap (last night was a rough one), so I sat in the car and later in the front yard with Jordan and the dogs while she continued to sleep for over an hour and a half! Thankfully, it was an absolutely gorgeous day! :) When she woke up, she looked around and saw us out the window. We waved to her and she looked so confused, haha! Then Jordan got her out, and she started her chatterbox up right away! She's so like him, able to wake up and immediately strike up a conversation, haha! ;)