Trip to the mall

My daughter and I went to the mall today. Ellie will be two years old next month, and it was the first time that I've tried a mall outing with her on foot rather than in a stroller or carrier. Luckily, she's a good walker and has some pretty good stamina. Unfortunately for her, she's also become a celebrity, since her photo is plastered all over my office. We ran into a couple of moms from the practice, who gave Ellie lots of attention and "oohs" for cuteness. She's a slow-to-warm-up kind of kid, so she just stood and stared. When one mom squatted to get herself down to Ellie's eye level, Ellie responded by squatting down also! I should count myself lucky that she didn't poop in the process.

Sadly, she shows every sign of being susceptible to good marketing techniques. While we were in line at Gymboree, an enterprising salesperson spotted her, and said "You would look so cute with a little ladybug purse!" Needless to say, I ended up purchasing the little ladybug purse. But afterwards, I had to agree; Ellie looked pretty darned cute walking around with her own little shopping bag and purse. She already looks like a veteran shopper. I'll just have to get her some toy cars and trucks to balance things out.