Me and Mow-Mow

It was a dark and stormy day in Memphis, Tennessee.  Walt and Mommy were staring gloomily out the front door wondering what they would do to pass the time on this soggy Saturday, when all of a sudden, a little ray of sunshine appeared on their doorstep -- it was Meredith! 

Yes, since toddlers are rarely helpful when it comes to manual labor, Meredith came and spent the day with us as her parents worked on moving into their new house and sprucing up the old one for the open house tomorrow (adorable 2BR, 1 BA with incredible backyard, in case you're interested).   We spent the morning playing  in the tent, shooting hoops, reading books and dancing our little hearts out to Jack's Big Music Show.   

After a nice, long nap for Walt and Mere, we reconvened around the train table (aka, the coffee table)  this afternoon.  It was then that Meredith decided that she wanted to play with the red Jeff Gordon car.  Now, while this is one of Walt's favorite cars, he had not so much as looked at it all day.  However, once Meredith wanted it, of course it was all Walt had eyes for.  A tantrum ensued and Walt was sent to a two-minute time out to cool off.  It seemed to have done the trick because he came back all smiles and seemingly willing to settle for another vehicle.

A little while later, I caught a whiff of something and once I had identified the culprit, Mere and I were off to powder our noses.   I was taking care of the situation when Walt strode purposefully into the room and reached up to Meredith with an offering.

"Mow-Mow wan fire-cruck?"

What a sweet, thoughtful boy I have raised, to have worried about Meredith's boredom on the changing table.  I entertain visions of sitting proudly at the Nobel Peace Price acceptance ceremony, as my son humbly accepts his trophy (I'm assuming there's a trophy).  But I hadn't even gotten to the part where I quietly dab at my eyes with a delicate hanky (no mere Kleenex will do for this important occasion!), when it hit me . . . that fire truck was the vehicle that he had settled for after being punished for trying to take the #24 car away from Meredith earlier.  That little rat had swiped her car while she was lying helplessly getting her diaper changed!

Sure enough, Mere and I return to the living room to find Walt sitting on the couch, clutching the little car and grinning from ear to ear.  So much for the Nobel Peace Prize.  Meredith was none too pleased and Walt, quickly sensing another time-out in the offing, gave it up without a fight this time.  But a few minutes later, Meredith, being a bit more of a rookie at the toy hoarding game, put the car down in order to retrieve an apple slice from the train bridge, and in a split second, Walt scooped it up again.  At this point, Meredith seemed to have forgotten about it, so I decided to let it go too.  But apparently she was only feigning disinterest because in a couple of minutes when Walt got distracted and let the car out of his sweaty little fist, Meredith swooped in on it triumphantly.  All in all, I think the car changed possession about five times before things started getting heated and I confiscated it.  I guess all's fair in love and Nascars.