Mall toddling

Henry is officially a toddler. He's walking all the time in all directions with zero assistance from his parents. That is, of course, unless he is stepping into an elevator, in which case he requires the hand of an adult to hold while he crosses over. He's still a touch unsteady, particularly when traveling down any kind of sloped surface, but he's definitely toddling with gusto now. 

He's also more resolute in his desires, which is a polite way of saying he is entering the tantrum phase. So far these small disruptions of the peace include arching his back and throwing his head around while quietly screaming in protest. I write "quietly screaming" because these are not the full-throttled howls of torture we've been subjected to a few times since he discovered he had this hidden talent but rather a softer, less intense version. Yet, he is still clearly screaming. I'm not sure what is traditionally done to avert these unfortunate episodes but I generally scoop Huck up, remove him for the current location, and try to divert his attention. We're also experimenting with a few of the ideas from The Happiest Toddler on the Block book. When Henry is particularly unhappy in his car seat, a empathetic chorus of "Out! Out! Out!" from his parents in the front can bring on the giggles.

Today, I took Henry to the mall because I had a few things I wanted to pick up for some care packets we're putting together to send to Darr's cousins who just returned to college after their winter break (more on this later). Henry's newfound independence had him traveling all over. Keeping him on track was a bit like trying to herd a bunch of unruly sheep but I managed to not lose him so I'm calling this our first successful mall journey with toddler in tow.