Happy Earth Day

Dennis and I celebrated Earth Day this year by buying recycled (and recyclable) fabric shopping bags (and using them) and changing out a few more lightbulbs with compact fluorescents. And we talked about how many diapers he's contributing to the landfill, but he thinks that's ok because he's saving so much energy by not running the washer and dryer constantly. Oh, and he wore a cute t-shirt that features a large planet Earth and the words Earth Friendly, though I cannot possibly imagine who thinks that babies are earth friendly. And we saved gas today by bumming a ride to Birmingham with Gran. Our dogs got into the trash today and ate some--I think that qualifies as recycling.

We took him shopping for pretty much the whole day. Gran was looking for a stroller to keep with her since the one I use is too short for her to walk comfortably pushing it. It's real work finding the perfect stroller. We put Dennis in many strollers to test them. We had to find one that was lightweight, had a reclining seat, had a decent sunshade, had storage underneath, was easy to fold, was easy to push, and had non-stainable fabric that was light enough in weave to be suitable for hot weather. We bought one and then found one at a different store that was even better, so we had to backtrack to make the return. The one she ended up with met all those criteria plus had 2 cupholders and an ipod dock and speaker. And it's red. Very cool. Dennis slept all the way through a Target shopping trip in it, and he had enough room to sleep with his elbows out and his hands behind his head. I think it's a winner.

He said "juice" today, and "booger" again, and when his Gran asked him if he was done drinking, he said "uh-huh". We went and visited Pop at work today, and when we drove away from his work, Dennis said "bye Pop" repeatedly. When he spoke to his Daddy on the phone tonight, he said "hey Daddy". Mostly his acts of brilliance today were physical. He pushed the shopping cart around some, and he walked all over the place in the stores. He found a toy he liked and grabbed it and headed for the nearest shopping cart which actually belonged to someone else. He was undaunted. He picked the toy back up and walked with it straight toward the cash registers at the front of the store. He found a rocking chair he liked at one store and sat back in it and kicked off a shoe, then leaned forward and back to rock it a little (he's just learning how to do this), giggling the whole time. He managed to get out of the chair, and when I went to scoop him up to put him in the stroller, he escaped and went back to the rocking chair and climbed up in it. It was a nice chair, and in retrospect I wish I had purchased it for him, if only because it was the longest I'd ever seen him sit still in a chair. Tonight when we got home, he was demonstrating his walking skills for Pop, and Pop was surprised at how fast he's gotten.
He actually almost got away from us earlier today when he walked under a set of shelves to get to the next aisle. Fortunately he was so impressed with himself for this feat that he wasn't paying attention to me coming around to head him off when he got to the next aisle, and I was able to catch him before he ran somewhere else. I'd better be starting my diet soon so I won't lose him in those hamster tubes that serve as playgrounds at certain fast food places around here.

Lots of giggling today, and that's my favorite thing, hands down. He was helping us shop for pocket shirts for Pop, shirts that are increasingly hard to find, but Pop has to have that pocket for his pen and notebook. I think it'd be simpler to get him a purse. At any rate, Dennis had a big time grabbing all the shirts that he could reach from his stroller. This was a major source of his laughter for the day. He certainly livened up our shopping day. It wouldn't have been near as fun without him. Life in general wouldn't be near as fun without him.