Routines

(Brian here)

As I mentioned in a previous post, we are starting to settle into routines. One of those, unfortunately, is the grocery store visit on Saturday and Sunday. Lincoln has always been an early riser. Painfully early sometimes. And as much as we alter his bedtime, naps, and nightly routine, he wakes up between 5 and 5:30am.  So we embrace it and he and I head to the grocery store.

On Saturday mornings, we head to a farmers market store that has very fresh and very inexpensive meat and produce. Depending on what’s on sale for that week, we load up (see below). On that particular week we scored avocados, peaches, butternut squash, bananas, pears, blueberries, grape tomatoes, apples, a cucumber, celery, and grapefruit. Not all of that is for Lincoln, but most of it is. (I did make a kick-ass butternut squash soup from scratch though!) The store is usually pretty empty and Lincoln gets lots of smiles from the employees, and when he is not playing shy, lights up people’s faces with smiles of his own. The real reason he loves going to the store with me is due to the free items he gets. He has received free cookies, free bananas, and free organic lollipops (but don’t be fooled by these - they’re pretty terrible.)

On Sunday mornings, we head to the typical grocery store to get the other weekly items. He gets his pick of the fun shopping carts: Black Police Car, Red Fire Truck, and Pink Car. (To be honest, I can’t remember what the Pink car is. He has never chosen it.) The first thing we pick up is fresh cut fruit, either cantaloupe or watermelon, which he likes and wants to snack on throughout the store. When he gets bored of the fruit, he takes my grocery list and proceeds to throw it on the floor over and over again. We’ve become Sunday morning “regulars” and the nice check-out person, Jamie, even knows us by name. She thinks Lincoln is the cutest and wants to babysit him and introduce him to her four kids. (Probably not going to happen.)

By the time we get home, Shelley and Declan are up and the fun begins!