Ain't no stoppin' that Grayson!

Grayson is PERSISTENT! He knows what he wants and will stop at nothing to get it! And for that matter, when he doesn't want something, he doesn't. No use wasting your time asking him to consider something he doesn't want to do, say, or whatever. It can be a little frustrating at times, but persistence really is a great trait to have. It might tick some people off along the way, but it will get him what he wants in life (which is much more important than pleasing others).
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Every single day, G wants to "see" Zander, touch my belly, and hug him at least 3-4 times a day. It is so sweet. Unfortunately though, sometimes G insists in seeing Zander and giving him love at the wrong time. At home, no time is really the wrong time. But when we are out and about, there are few places I want to lift my shirt up to reveal my buddha belly. Occasionally, I tell Grayson no, he can't see Zander at that moment but he can say hello to him a little later. That never goes over well. Grayson, like his mom, tends to be a "now" kind of person. ;) So, more often than not, I try to please him. I try to find a part of the store we are in where no one is around so I can at least show G a few inches of my tummy.
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You might be wondering why I just don't let him feel and hug my bump. Well, I have tried. It doesn't work. Grayson wants to see, touch, and love on skin. He likes to turn his head to the side and rest his cheek on my belly (to hug his baby brother).
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Something new is that in the last week or so, G has decided that being able to visit with Zander is one of the few things that can make an unpleasant situation better. For example, on Friday, Grayson and I went to the store. He rode in the cart without a fuss for a while. But when he decided he was ready to get out, he was very vocal about it. There was ONE more thing I wanted to look at (for him). I knew explaining that to him wouldn't get me very far, but I always do it anyway. Since I was wrapping up and would be ready to leave the store in a matter of minutes, I let G fuss. He wasn't hurting. He was just fine. He was just being impatient. After fussing a few minutes, I guess he realized I wasn't taking him out of the cart just yet. His compromise (aka "peace offering") was making me a deal. He communicated to me that he'd be happy if he could visit with Zander. That sounded like a good deal to me. I could've easily found a spot to let him say hello to and love on Zander for a few minutes because the store was not crowded. The problem was my outfit. I was wearing overalls. There was no way to show him Zander. Zander was all covered up. Again, I explained this to Gray. I told him I couldn't show him Zander because of my overalls. As you can imagine, he wasn't very understanding. He just knew what he wanted, told me, and refused to withdraw his request. At this point, I knew it was time to leave the store. We needed to check out and be on our way. As I drove the cart towards the checkout, I could feel two tiny hands sliding into the sides of my overalls! But as soon as I pulled them out, they found their way back in! It was funny! It was a little strange too. I rarely worry about what others think, but in this particular instance, I couldn't help but wonder what others were concluding by seeing Gray try to get inside my overalls. When I looked around to see if we had an audience, I realized we didn't. It was all in my head. If someone would've given us strange look though, I think I would've tried to explain that my little boy was just wanting to see his little brother! :)
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