here, kitty kitty

One of my favorite things to do with the little man is to go to Petsmart (or the poor man's zoo as I like to call it). We've developed a regular routine on these trips and it goes a little something like this:

First we check out any critters of interest in the fish/bird/reptile section. Today it was guinea pigs based on Elian's newfound love of Wonder Pets. We also sought out a turtle (aka: Tuck in Wonder Pets) but he wasn't very exciting. Perhaps he was resting up for his next big adventure of saving a baby swan or something.

Then, we go check out the kitty-cats up for adoption. I've never really been a cat person but every time we do this I'm a microscopic allergy-causing pet dander away from adopting one -- or all of them. Elian speaks in this sweet, high-pitched, adoring voice as he gently strokes the kitty-cats through the bars of the cage while I give him the lowdown on each cat. Today, we almost missed one down at the end and he said, "Maybe he needs some love." And it turned out he did. So run, don't walk and adopt yourself one of those cats -- they're cute and cuddly! And speaking of cute, have you seen this?

Next, we make our way down the aisle for the real reason we came to the store in the first place -- to buy the dog food. Along the way, Elian tries to move giant bags of the dry stuff as he mimicks my grunting sounds, "Ugh, that's HEAVY."

What comes next is Elian's favorite part (next to the kitty-cats): The perusal of the dog-toy aisle. He especially enjoys this because all of the rubber balls are at his level. As he fondles each one lovingly, he contemplates which one he'd want to take home for himself, er, he means, Norman.

Last, but not least, our trip usually involves selecting some sort of delicious surprise treat for Norman. Today, since we are hosting Duncan for a visit, we chose two giant peanut-butter flavor cookies -- the mailman for Duncan, the cat for Norman. They even let us unwrap them before they swallowed them almost whole.