I Go Out Walking...

George Thomas has been pulling up for about 2 months now. Petey taught him how and now everytime we get him in the morning he is standing in his crib with a big smile on his face. It's really cute.

Within the past month, he's started to "cruise" along furniture. We have a long couch and he takes his toy car and walks back and forth on the couch. He's taken both his hands off a few times and stood for maybe 2 seconds before either falling or holding on again. He does this until his little legs give out from exhaustion. Hey at 26 1/2 pounds, my legs would get tired too.

He really has never had a pair of everyday shoes. We always put socks on him to protect his toes and feet while we are out. He does have shoes, but the Robeez brand dig into his chubby ankles and the other pairs were just for special occasions (Christmas, Easter, etc.)

So Petey & I were at Best Buy and we spotted a little boy with his mom. George Thomas and he were "talking" to each other and the mom asked how old he was. I said a little over a year. She said her son was about to be 1 in about 2 weeks. The thing that stood out for me is that this boy had on a pair of real shoes. Not the thin-soled kind like Robeez but actual thick-soled sandals. And here was George Thomas, with his socks on.

So it was then that I decided the boy needed some shoes. So where does one go for shoes? Stride Rite. So GT and I went to the mall on a Saturday (which was crazy on my end) and went to the store. That store was nuts. I didn't imagine how many people would be there buying shoes.

So I waited my turn and in the meantime picked out a pre-walker shoe. The salesperson told me I should just go ahead and get a bigger boy shoe, since he will be walking soon. She picked out a couple for me. Those shoes looked enormous. So I said okay and she asked what size he needed. Uhhhhhhhh. No clue. Every other shoe I bought was in months so I don't know an actual number. So we got him sized on that cold metal thing, which GT thought was the strangest thing ever. 4 1/2 wide. The wide part figures. He is a bit of a chunk.

She got his shoes and we put them on him. They were huge from the start. But supposedly, that's how you buy them. She says that he would need a thumbs-width extra room to grow in. Okay, I guess that makes sense. He stood up (with us holding him) and the sales person asked how he liked them. He looked at his feet and yelled a big "Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" with the look of "What the heck is on my feet MOM????" She laughed and asked if he wears shoes at all. Nope, socks only I said.

After having a small heart attack at the register (I don't spend that much on my shoes) we left the store with our new shoes. He tried the rest of the day to pull them off and stick them in his mouth like his socks, but realized it was a challenge he isn't going to win.

And to end, the infamous shoes.