(Note: Merritt prefers to only wear the shoes that I have hidden in his closet, evidently hidden not so well. You know, the shoes that are too big, that he is supposed to grow into. Thus, he insists on wearing shoes that are too big, and, yes, he'll trip and fall if he starts running. What I need to do instead is hide the shoes that fit him. Will do tomorrow.)
Today we held a farewell dinner for our dad at one of those breakfast places . . . and Merritt was in fine style.
He cut his scrambled eggs with a knife and fork, grown-up like. He figured out how to hold onto the table and walk up the wall behind him. And he single-handedly ate *5* sausages. I KNOW!
The boys at the end of the meal decided we needed to go for cookies.
On the way to the store, Merritt played with knock-knock jokes. He knows the pattern of them (he hears it enough between Merritt and me). The one that he laughed the most at was: Knock-knock, Whose there? DADDY!!
We got the store and Merritt was allowed to walk through the store without a cart. This is a *big* deal. When we go to the store, I am usually armed with the list, two tons of snacks, and all kinds of "you need to stay in the cart" talk.
And, he loved the freedom! After the screams of delight when we found the cookies, we started toward the check-out. On the way there, Merritt RAN with one arm in the air say,"CHOO_CHOO__ All Aboard! All Aboard!" . . . totally biffed it by landing on his face, not once, not twice, but three times. This kid was so excited that he didn't cry or pause; he just got up and kept on running.
When we arrived at the check-out (because after all our noise and fanfare, it has to be considered an arrival), Merritt turns to us:
Merritt: Knock-knock
Us: Whose there?
Merritt: COOKIES!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA
(They were chocolate cookies, iced in orange, and loaded with sprinkles. We sat down right in the store by the check-out lane, on a couple of benches, and doled out the sweets. And, everyone who passed us had to make a comment about how awesome cookies are. Next time, we'll have to buy enough to share with those that pass by us.)
