My Big Helper

Lily wants nothing more than to be a "big girl" these days. She wants to attempt many things by herself, and she tries to "help" us often. Last night was a great example of this. She and I went to Publix together after dinner. She loves the grocery store, and I like getting to spend a little alone time with her because we talk the whole time. It's also a great learning experience because we look at the numbers (i.e., prices) together to see which one is less and we identify colors, shapes, smells, food categories, etc. She also loves to look at the cakes in the bakery. Anyway, on our way into the store, she was pretty adamant that she was not going to ride in the buggy; she wanted to walk with me, so she could show me where the Nemo vitamins were. I told her she could walk but she had to stay with me the whole time, and if she walked away from me, I would put her in the buggy; she agreed.

She did great for our whole hour visit! Normally, it doesn't take me an hour at Publix, but it took a little longer because Lily wanted to put "her items" on the bottom of the buggy; that would be vitamins, Cheerios, Rice A Roni...basically anything that was not in a flexible package. She agreed to put the bread, refrigerated and produce items inside the buggy. She was so careful in arranging everything on the bottom rack; she wanted to make sure that nothing fell through the cracks. She said she was making a big square. She walked right beside me most of the time "helping" me push the buggy, but towards the end she got tired, so she stood at the end of the buggy and let me push her. She would squeal "wheee!" with delight each time we turned a corner. The best part was when we got to check-out. She pulled each item out from under the buggy and loaded it onto the conveyor belt. It was actually very helpful. When we got home, she pulled each item out of the bag so she could show Ryan. She was so proud of herself, and I have to say, she was a big helper!