busy baby in a bookstore

Last week I had the fabulous opportunity of introducing a bloggy friend, Alyssa of Adventures of the SAHM, to my favorite children’s book store ever (PS: yes, this bookstore was the scene of that first).She and her precious 5 month old Nathaniel joined OBaby and I for lunch and then we ventured over to admire the entire wall of board books housed inside the Red Balloon Bookshop.Soon after entering, Alyssa and Nathaniel settled in with a good book to devour. Alyssa read and turned the pages while Nathaniel sat in her lap engaged by the pictures.Meanwhile, my soexcitedtobemobile child was off in that direction.And in that one.Nathaniel, content to listen to his mother’s narration of a piece of classic children’s literature: My child, crawling so fast that I can’t properly focus the camera on him:Nathaniel:My son:(Why yes that is dry-crusted banana on the side of his jeans. Thanks for asking.)(We are a class act around here, folks.)So, we may not have sat quietly for long enough to read a single book (OK we didn’t sit at all), but both OBaby and I had an absolute blast. A blast, I tell you.The interesting thing about this unpredictable, uncontrollable almost-toddler stage is that as a mother I am finding it increasingly easy to embrace. No really, I mean that. The path of destruction in his wake? The crawling ev.er.y.where.? The food throwing? The quasi-tantrums?I can dig it.For me, compared to the early newborn stages of frantic attempts to just make the crying stop, good GRIEF just make.it.stop., pre-toddlerdom is a breeze.A messy, busy, blurry breeze.~~~~~~The winner of the Pear Tree Greetings giveaway for 5 sets of adorable address labels is……drum roll…Comment number 7 was left by Mae of Parenting in Progress. Congratulations!If you’re still drooling over those Pear Tree address labels, there is good news (even if you didn’t win)! Here is a coupon code for 10% of all orders over $19 in the month of June: PEARJUN10Happy Monday!