I think that a two hour time frame for a shopping trip in a store 45 minutes away with a 10 month old should be daunting. But for us it wasn't. I cleaned Emily up, changed her clothes, plopped her in the car and away we went. She held onto her chopsticks for half the trip then took a nice little nap. By the time we were at the store she was ready to roll.
We spent an hour or so strolling through the books. I got a bunch of kid books. (My primary reason for getting to the store early in the sale was for kid books which sell out fast.) I looked at a lot more kid books that I did not buy. Then we spent awhile sitting on the floor near the craft section while I flipped through all the books I wanted, but didn't really want to spend money on. For an adult who likes books this sounds like a great trip. For a 10 month old toddler-to-be this might have been pretty boring. Unless you're Emily.
Emily got numerous compliments on how she just sat there and played with her toes while Mama flipped through another knitting book. She talked to me, she talked to the books, she talked to the people, but she never whined. She didn't cry. When I took a particularly fragile book from her she moved on. Seriously, the only black mark on my child was the fact she still had cheese all over her chin. It was dry, but it was cheese.
Living with Emily I sometimes forget that parenting is supposed to be stressful and hard. Sure, it isn't easy, but Emily seems willing to pretty much willing to try all the things I want to do. At least as much as I try all the things she does. Dinner out? Sure - then maybe a trip to see the puppies and good chewing session with a straw. She saves all her tantrums and fits for when we're at home and even then she's reasonable in her requests: milk, freedom from sore teeth, lots of hugs.
I have the kid everyone always thought they'd have when they dreamed of babies. And she's all mine. So there!
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