Why You Don't Take Your Toddler to the Mall at 4p

I took Luis the the LL Bean store yesterday afternoon to look for a fleece vest for him and for me. Luis spotted the above dog about 15 seconds after we walked into the store. Because Luis is my first child, I actually thought that he could hold the dog while we shopped, but not actually leave the store with the dog. Turns out I was wrong. (Also turns out that stuffed animals at LL Bean are pretty pricey.)

I also wanted to buy him a pair of slippers because he mostly refuses to wear socks and/or shoes in the house so his little feet are often like ice cubes (because I mostly refuse to turn the heat up above 70). The only slippers they had in his size were these bear slippers. I actually think they are super cute. I hadn't intended to spend $17 on slippers -- but once I put them on his feet for a "test fit" they did not actually come off his feet again until bath time (the checkout guy was sweet enough to come around the counter and scan them ON Luis's feet).

We also stopped by to look at the "fisheeez" and the "rox" inside the store - LL Bean has a mini pond. I was sad that Diego wasn't there to properly name all of the fish; the only one I could identify was the cat fish (which Luis preferred to call the doggy fish).