Småland

You might think it's strange that my mom felt compelled to document this milestone, and frankly, I agree. But she and Dad have been waiting until I could do this since I began making shopping difficult...which is like...since I was born.

See, there is a little place in Ikea where parents can leave their children while they shop. This glorious place is called "Småland." Children that are fully potty-trained and 37″-54″ tall are welcome to come into this exclusive club. (It's exclusive because parents and their younger siblings are not welcome). After signing a bunch of forms, then getting matching bracelets and hand stamps and one of those electronic pagers chain restaurants give you when waiting for a table (basically everything short of a retina scan and urine sample), parents can leave their little critters and shop in peace. Ahhh...peace. Now do you see why my parents have been waiting for me to reach this milestone?

So, last night, Mom and Dad (with Ping Pong happily bouncing around in the baby bjorn) left me to color, run around, and dive into a ball pit while they sat on every sofa in Ikea.

When I came into my folk's room this morning, the first thing I said was, "Good morning, Mommy. Can we go to Ikea this morning?" Then when Daddy was watching the news (ahem...Saved By the Bell) while we ate our cereal, I asked, "Daddy, when you're finished watching your show, can we find a show to watch about Ikea?" In fact, our excursion was such a success, Mom is thinking of taking me there once a week just for fun. She can leave me in Småland and go sit in the Ikea cafeteria with a cup of coffee, a book, and a sleeping Ping Pong. What? Does that sound bad?

Here are some pictures of this momentous occasion:

Tall/short enough? Check!



Bracelet? Check!



And he's off!



Straight for the ball pit! (Big surprise).



Thank you, Ikea. Not only do you offer inexpensive furnishings and delicious cinnamon rolls, you babysit too. God bless you.