Retail Therapy

What do we do to entertain Iylah (and mom)???  Shopping!!! 

There are many shops that Iylah hates: J.Crew, Banana Republic, Magic Beans...she tends to fuss and cry in all three. BUT this afternoon I discovered there is a store that Iylah REALLY likes:  

Anthropologie is not just a store.  It's a smorgasbord of very interesting sights, smells and textures.  Iylah was in her front carrier (perfect for exploring) so I walked her around the store and we talked about colors, texture, household items, art etc.  

Here are some of things we explored:

Colorful coffee mugs with high-contrast owl pattern

The conversation went somewhere along the lines of : "Check out at all of these are fancy coffee mugs.  This is an orange dotted one.. this one is green  "Here's an owl... Can you see the owl's high contrast pattern?" I probably sounded like an idiot (if anyone was even listening to us) but I didn't care.  I was teaching Iylah and we were having fun. 

Broom art...  fascinating for Iylah to both see and touch.

I don't even know what to call this...  the stairway forest? 

We also smelled all the candles.  Baby's actually have a very keen sense of smell.  The iPhone App from Baby Center suggests a developmental "smell the spice rack"" game.  My spice rack is not very extensive, nor do I actually hang out in the kitchen so I figured a little candle smelling would be just as enlightening....

"What is this thing?  Can I eat it?"

 "Hmmm... I think I'm getting the hang of this.  Yes, this is definitely jasmine with slight hints of nutmeg -  wait, wait, .. I'm getting hints of something else...hmm...vanilla?...  Yes. This is jasmine nutmeg vanilla!!  Delicious!"

Overall, the shopping trip was a huge success:

• Iylah was happy exploring new textures, smells and sights
• Mom was happy shopping at one of her favorite stores
• Dad was happy making phone calls to catch up with family while waiting with the stroller outside of the store.  He was also happy that it was too hard for mom to actually try any clothes on while Iylah was in the baby carrier (hence limiting potential shopping damage).  

Iylah exhausted at the end of the trip - shopping is hard work! 

A big thank you to Dad for being so very patient while we shopped!   We love you.   

~ Iylah & Mom