Shopping with a toddler

Fall pictures are tomorrow at Jacob's daycare. Of course, I want another adorable picture of my son, so I went through his clothes to see if he had anything suitable that fit. I haven't done much shopping for winter clothes for him yet. Mainly because, like every other toddler, he is growing, and I don't want to buy clothes that won't fit him when it the time comes to actually wear them. I decided to take him to the outlet mall near my house on Saturday and see what we could find. Little did I know what I was in store for. Jacob is a very good boy, as far as toddlers go. He is happy, healthy, loves (I mean LOVES) to read books, and doesn't throw major temper tantrums (yet). However, he doesn't listen very well to that word, "No." He also has a habit of throwing things. The only time that is really a problem is when he is in his stroller and mommy is looking the other way. He recently lost his "gaas"(translation--glasses/sunglasses) on our daily walk. We rewalked our route, and found them in the grass in someone's yard.
Anyway, we went to the Carter's outlet first. They were having a huge sale!! I was so excited!! He had one of his favorite toys with him: Duckie (he named him). Duckie is just a stuffed duck rattler with a long silky tag that Jacob loves to rub. He pretty much takes him everywhere. I tried to keep up with Duckie to make sure he didn't lose him, but my excitement over the sale and the countless attempts to get Jacob to sit in his stroller apparently distracted me. We had checked out, left the store, and entered Old Navy before I realized Duckie was missing. He had thrown him on the floor somewhere in Carter's! I began to panic. I had visions of a small child spotting Duckie and taking him, and Jacob crying hysterically when he couldn't find Duckie. We rushed back to Carter's and I frantically began the search for Duckie. No one had turned him in to the cashiers and I couldn't find him anywhere. I searched under every clothes rack on the boys' side of the store. I was almost in tears over a stuffed duck. This is what my life has become...tears over a duck that my son might or might not have missed. You know that saying "out of sight, out of mind"? I was afraid to rely on it working in this case. I decided to look in the front of the store one more time, and lo and behold there was Duckie!! I wanted to scream with glee. My racing heart quickly began to slow down to it's normal pace, and we calmly left the store as I thanked God under my breath.
Back to Old Navy we went. I was once again disappointed in the selection of clothes for boys. As we waited in line to buy a pair of jeans for him, Jacob took a stuffed dog toy off of the shelf and began to play with it. He decided he didn't like that one, so he threw it on the floor and picked up a different one. He threw that one, too. I picked it up, put it back on the shelf, and proceeded to check out. Little did I know, Jacob had grabbed another dog toy and was rubbing the tag on it. We walked to the car. I put the bags in the trunk. I went to pick Jacob up to put him in the car, and guess what he had in his hands! The damn dog toy!! My son had stolen a f*%$ing dog toy! Of course, he didn't know any better. I, on the other hand, began to worry that someone would come rushing out of the store yelling, "Stop that lady! Thief!" I sighed deeply, cursed under my breath, locked the car, and proceeded to stroll Jacob back to Old Navy. I apologized for my son taking the toy and gave it back. The cashier just laughed and thanked me.
I decided it was time to go home. Luckily, I found him an outfit. Otherwise, Lord only knows what would have happened next.
Memories, aahhh, memories.