From Bouncing to Pouting

As Audrey has gotten older, she has become less and less cooperative when shopping. She used to be content in the stroller or sling for hours. Now, 15 minutes after arriving at the mall, she wants out of her stroller so she can run around, hide under the racks of clothes, and ride the escalators to her heart’s content. This weekend, however, we discovered one item that she really enjoys shopping for: mattresses. Billy and I had been discussing the fact that we would like to purchase a new mattress for more than a year. While he was in Israel, I found a new bedspread that I liked and determined that we also needed to paint the bedroom a different color. In trying out the new bedspread and reviewing paint samples, the fact that we needed a new mattress became painfully obvious to both of us. So, this weekend, we set out on a mission.

From the moment we walked into the first store, Audrey enjoyed the experience. She has always liked playing on our bed, so a store with at least 20 beds available for her to explore was a dream for her, I am sure. She couldn’t climb on most of them without assistance, but once she was on a bed, she would do somersaults, twirl in circles until she got dizzy and fell over, flop down on her back and kick her feet up in the air so she could play with her toes, etc. There were a few times when she almost flung herself off of the side of the bed, but we managed to catch her and avoid any injuries. She did prove to be a good test for how much you could feel another person moving around on the mattress. After visiting 6 stores, 2 of them twice, over the course of two days, we decided on a mattress that we both like. By that point on Sunday afternoon, Audrey was way past due for her nap, but still would not take a rest from rolling, bouncing, and twirling on the mattresses. We basically had to drag her out of the door.

As a result of Audrey’s lack of a sufficient nap yesterday, she was extremely fussy last night. That meant she would throw a fit and cry at the drop of a hat. At one point, she was sitting on her daddy’s lap and decided to kick him in the face. When he told her “No” and scolded her for hurting him, she started sobbing. The tears streamed for at least 5 minutes before she was calm enough to stop. Still, she determined to make it clear that the lack of tears did not mean she was happy; so, she did what any rational person does…she stuck out her bottom lip and pouted. She has done this a few times before, but this was definitely the most pronounced pout we’ve ever seen. I couldn’t help but laugh, and, of course, snap a picture of this priceless moment.