I hopped out of bed and found us red outfits and as he rubbed his sleepy little eyes I told him our plan for the morning: out for breakfast, a stop to buy candy, and trip to his favorite store Home Depot!
 |
| Photo by my other Valentine |
We had our milk and watched the news with Sean until he left for work and I introduced Dylan to an awesome version of We Are Young performed by Pentatonix [you know, I've never actually heard the original version of this song] which of course in true Dylan fashion had to be played about a hundred times so that he could learn the words and dance a bunch.
We went to our favorite diner and Dylan enjoyed a sip or few of some decaf tea ("It's coffee, Mama!"), ate most of my pancake plus half of his breakfast, watched for trucks out the window, and imitated the group of men in the booth next to us under his breath. He was fascinated by all of their reflective vests and loud voices but intimidated each time they came over to chat with him about how polite he was acting or compliment him on his cool snowman hat.
After breakfast and a quick candy stop we were off to Home Depot.
We didn't need anything at Home Depot--although we picked up a new toilet seat for Sean's bathroom [Happy Valentine's Day, sweetheart!]--so I found myself just enjoying Dylan's company instead of paying attention to things that needed to be done. I let him pick the cart, he chose the biggest one he could find, and I asked him which aisles he wanted to see next. We found ourselves listening for the beeps of the machines backing up and then hunting them down. That giant cart was quite noisy so any time Dylan heard a beep he'd say, "Mama! Stop walking! Do you hear dat!?" and I'd freeze in the aisle as we listened. It was seriously the best time I've had with him a store. He is slowly outgrowing the horribleness that began the minute he turned two in which he suddenly hated everything about shopping and needed to be bribed with lollipops and animal crackers just to sit still in a carriage for five minutes. Suddenly he asks to go to the store and behaves like an angel.
He enjoyed another piece of candy once we left the store. This overly satisfied laugh cracks me up!
We sang all the way home and he immediately went upstairs for a nap. Hallelujah. I'd say today has been pretty perfect. What a difference from the mental cacophony of yesterday's hormones. Today I haven't stopped smiling. A Hallmark holiday? Maybe. A day I'll not soon forget? Absolutely.
Happy Valentine's Day to you and your loves!