Things to Carry

The M and I spent the middle part of the day (between naps) doing errands. Well, errands of the sort that you invent to get yourself out of the house.

We went to a fabric store—a fancy one with racks and racks of beautiful silks and batiks and things that people with actual sewing ability use to make gorgeous outfits. We went there to buy a couple of yards of oilcloth. The bright colors and 1950s-style flower prints had caught my eye before, and I wanted to get a big piece to use as a table cloth to keep art messes contained. (We aren't that far from the day of art messes!) So I bought a yard and a half of red with yellow and pink and blue flowers, and it turns out the Monkey is as enraptured with the design as I am. The woman rolled it on a 46-inch cardboard tube for me to take home. The M is thrilled with her new ability to carry things, the larger and more unwieldy the better, and this was her ideal object. She helped me carry the rolled up cloth out to the car and then could barely stand to be separated from it for the three seconds it took to maneuver her into the car seat. A match made in heaven: a girl and her oilcloth.

And we needed a birthday gift for some friends' baby's first birthday, so we hit the nearby somewhat fancy toy store and picked up one of these, for which I hope my friends will forgive me. It seems to have quite a pleasant sound.

I'm not usually a big shopper and never have been one to covet baby items much, but before the Monkey came on the scene I kept encountering these little suitcases in various gift shops, and I resisted buying them, not wanting to have a lot of stuff around reminding me of the lack of baby. Today I bought one—a red one that's yellow inside—for the Monkey. She has a gazillion toys and is entirely happy carrying around the watering can or an empty grocery bag, so I'm putting the suitcase away until an especially rainy day. It's fun to know I have this sweet surprise for her tucked away.