Excitement that cannot be contained...........

Mrs. Lime had a training session for work to attend, so Kali 1.10 and I were on our own. I decided to take her out for a quick dinner and to do some walking around, usually in a store somewhere.

We first went to Taco Bell to get some food. Kali's a big fan of the cheese and tomatoes, so I got a few soft tacos and a big plate of nachos for her to dig through. We sat down at the table with the food and I offered the various things to her. She, of course, said she didn't want any of it, saying 'no' to each option. I used to think that meant that she didn't want any of it, but I've quickly figured out that the 'no' doesn't have anything to do with the choice. She just wants to pick it up herself and doesn't like it when I try to hand it to her.

So I just started eating while paying no attention to Kali. Within 10 seconds, she was reaching for the foot and picking through what she wanted on her own rather than wanting my help. She asked for a fork and she dug in. She loved dipping the chips in the cheese. She also had pulled open a soft taco and was using her fork to eat it. At some point, I picked up a soft taco and began to eat it. Kali picked up immediately on what I was doing and closed her taco shell up and started eating her soft taco just like Daddy. Pretty smart kid.

We went to the nearby JCPenney's store afterwards. I take her there pretty often just because they have a lot of long open aisles where she can wander around the store without running into stuff too often. We checked out the Christmas items on clearance. We also checked out some of the Chiefs gear that was also on clearance.

Eventually, we got over to the kids clothing section. The store employees were nice enough to set up a monster rack of Disney pajamas right on the aisle where my child could see several princesses from half-a-store away. We looked through the rack and found a couple of pajamas that she likes. Despite the fact that Kali is only 22 months old, she was clearly not going to fit in the 2T size anymore. So we picked out a couple of 3T pajamas for her.

Kali was dead-set on carrying the pajamas all the way to the register. I had to remind her every 20-30 feet to hold the clothes up high so they wouldn't drag on the floor. We got up to the cashier waiting line and stood to wait our turn, much to the amusement of several people in that area.

Me: OK, so we'll have to wait our turn.
Kali: (grinning) WAIT!
Me: Once it's our turn, we'll pay for the clothes.
Kali: (grinning) PAY! PAY!
Me: Right. We can pay for the PJ's and then we'll go home and wear them.
Kali: (grinning and bouncing) PJ's!

By this point, there were several people laughing in the general area. Funny how something as silly as a kid's excitement for something new and different can lift the spirits of people all around that kid. I honestly don't think about it that much when it happens. I'm usually just talking with Kali to help her practice talking and using different words. I never notice it until afterwards when I look up and notice the comedy duo of Kali and Lime is suddenly the center of attention.

We paid for the stuff and headed home. Of course, we had to get out a pair of PJ's and wear them right away. No need for perfectly good PJ's to sit in a sack unused. She was very excited about her new PJ's and kept pointing out all the characters and their names on her shirt. Does it get any better than that? Not if you're 22 months old.