Mall Walking

I spent several hours in malls, both today and yesterday. Yesterday I took Liam and Timothy, along with their Grandpa Bill, to the Mall of America. Originally the plan was for me and Liam to have a special outing together while Bill looked after Timothy, but Liam insisted that grandpa come along. The MOA has this deal called Toddler Tuesday, with entertainment and free meals for little ones.

Liam wasn't very interested in the music show, so we headed to the amusement park, and he asked if he could ride the train. He has a history of being very timid about these things, but apparently he has turned over a new leaf. He rode the little train all by himself - 6 times. He also went on the carousel, a bus that went way up in the air, and a hot air balloon-themed ride. But the one that really amazed me was the cars that whipped around corners fast enough to snap a person's head back. I went along as chaperone, both to hang onto Liam and to be available in case he freaked out. He laughed and shrieked with delight. Before we left, he wanted to go on the train one more time, and he ended up being the only kid on it. It circled around and there he sat, in his denim overalls, perfectly sober with those big round brown eyes. Then he passed me, and gave the tiniest smile, and I was so proud of my big boy!

Timothy pretty much slept through the whole thing. He did need to eat while we were there, so Grandpa stayed with Liam, and I went off in search of a quiet place to feed the baby. Breastfed babies, word to your mother: Nordstrom has an awesome women's lounge on the third floor.

Today I dropped Liam off at daycare, and then went to Southdale Mall for some exercise. They have a program for mommies (and presumably daddies though I didn't see any) to walk together with their strollers, which sounded like a great idea until I found out you have to pay for it, and it costs almost as much as a YMCA membership. You'd think it would be in the mall's interest to subsidize this. It's difficult to walk around there without spending any money. My latte alone set me back $4.49. I bought a nursing bra for $36 at Macy's because the cheap ones do not fit me; believe me, I tried on every style of bra in the mall and Target before settling on the most expensive one. And then there was the cute denim skirt that was on clearance, and I just had to buy it to celebrate the fact that I fit back into a size 12.