Perhaps I lack competitive spirit. But I honestly don't give a crap that my kid can't walk. I just don't. I'm sure he'll get around to it eventually. But our neighbor, Dandy, is a little more "conscientious" about these things. She and her husband were just out for a walk with their daughter, Little Bear, who is just five weeks older than Gus, and they stopped by our house to say hello.
"Hi!," Dandy said, peering into the house as I scooped Gus out of his chair to greet them on the front porch. "I can't believe Gus is still sitting in a bouncy seat!"
"Oh, it's not a bouncy seat," I explained. "We just got that for him at the Dollar Store. It's a miniature papasan chair for toddlers. He loves it."
"Oh!" Dandy said. "I was going to say! Little Bear grew out of her bouncy seat ages ago!"
(Little Bear is a GENIUS. She's ALWAYS growing out of things.)
"Is Gus walking yet?" Dandy asked.
"Nope. No interest."
"Ugh! You're lucky!" Dandy informed me. "Little Bear loves to walk! She actually runs all over the place! That bruise on her forehead? That's from running."
(Oh, I KNOW! I run every morning, and look at my forehead! COVERED with bruises.)
Gus, at this point, is salivating over the red convertible that Little Bear has ridden up in.
"Do you like Little Bear's car, Gus?" Dandy asked. "We just got it! It cost EIGHTY DOLLARS! Leave it to me to spend EIGHTY DOLLARS on a kid's car, but Little Bear just had to have it. There was one for forty dollars we were going to buy, but of course, I had to buy the one for EIGHTY DOLLARS! Oh well!"
(In case you didn't catch that, the car cost EIGHTY dollars.)
Dandy's husband kindly offered to give Gus a ride in Little Bear's convertible, and Gus was beside himself with joy. Beaming from the driver's seat. Shifting the gears. Honking the little horn and waving at me. (GOD he'd cute.) As the two babies were standing side by side on the sidewalk, Gus measured about an inch taller than Little Bear. The ONLY reason I noticed this is because Dandy said, "Oh Gus! You're almost as tall as Little Bear!"
"Growing like a weed," I said.
"Is he drinking milk yet?" Dandy asked.
"Yes."
"Only milk?"
"Yes. He loves milk."
"Does he still take it in a bottle, though?"
"Yeah, sometimes. He's pretty good with a cup. I guess we should probably wean him off the bottle someday ..."
"Little Bear only takes one bottle at night."
"Wow."
"Yes, she moved up to the one-year-old class when she was only ten months old because she was bored with all the little babies, and she just stopped taking a bottle after that. "
Little Bear tries to blow me a kiss.
"Oh, cute!" I said. "Gus is learning how to blow kisses. He kind of puts his hand over his mouth when I'm getting ready to leave in the morning, like he's trying to blow me a kiss."
"Oh, Little Bear does the whole arm motion," Dandy said.
"Gus, are you tired?" I asked, lifting him out of the car. "You look tired!"
"You should come swim in our new pool this weekend!" Dandy said.
"You put in a pool?"
"Well, it's not a pool pool, but a pool for Little Bear."
"Oh, like a blow up pool?"
"Yeah."
"Gus loves his blow up pool."
"Do you have the one from Target with the crabs?"
"No, it's just a little round pool."
"Oh, well, ours is big enough for all of us to sit in. And it has crabs."
"Cool."
"And the crabs spout water."
"Neat."
"It's just the best."
Well, of course. If it belongs to Little Bear, how could it be anything but?