A Kitty, A Train Ride, and Santa

Let's be honest, sometimes little brother's get the shaft.

They don't get to go to school with their big brothers (he still cries almost daily because of this).
They don't get to stay up as late.
Their toys are not as cool and the older sibling usually dictates what they do...

At the beginning of the week, Toren and I scheduled a date for just the two of us.
I had taken Landon on a date last month to go pick out a new Christmas tree, so it was Toren's turn to get some one-on-one time.

It's hard to determine what a two-year-old really likes. He really just likes whatever Landon likes by default.

However, I know for a fact that he loves the train at the mall. So that's where we went.

But, not without stopping and getting a slushie first.

We had a great time people watching all the mall goers who were running around like chickens with their head's cut off looking for the perfect Christmas gifts. 

Have these people never heard of Amazon Prime?

As we were walking to the train, the real reason we came to the mall in the first place, we passed Build-A-Bear which I'm sure looks really enticing to a two-year-old.

So, of course, we took a detour and went in.
We were planning on just looking, but then he fell in love with a little black kitty.

He just loved this kitty so much and they were having a good deal. 

So we splurged.

He loved putting the stuffing in and picking out a heart.
He was so proud of himself.

Naturally, he named it Mico which is the name of his real, black cat. 

He wasn't interested in the cute little box they give you and he happily carried Mico throughout the rest of the mall, showing it to anyone who gave him attention. 

Finally, we found the train! But it was currently in route, so went to see good ole Saint Nicholas. Except Toren wanted nothing to do with him. 

Toren told Santa that he was tired and refused to even be close to him. 

The train ended up being a big hit though!

The point of this post, is to share one of the only bits of parenting advice I have to offer...

Take your kids on "dates" or whatever you want to call them. 

Spend the one-on-one time with them. 

They get your undivided attention, you get to hear everything they say without interruption, and you get to know them more as an individual.

And one of the best parts is when you get home and they reunite with their siblings and act like they haven't seen each other in weeks. 

Here is a highlight video of our date...