A lot of our walks these days are without the stroller. I’ll attempt to pull the stroller out from our hall closet and Ishu pushes it back in saying, “No stroller. Only walking.” 

It’s his new favorite phrase, “No _____ (fill in with something mama wants him to do), only ______ (fill in with something Ishu wants to do).”

“No food, only Curious George.”

“No black beans, only gummies.”

So, no stroller, only walking. 

Our poor stroller gets left behind a lot of mornings these days. 

Yesterday, I didn’t even attempt to pull the stroller out. I simply unlatched the top lock of the front door and Ishu squeezed his way through. He excitedly ran out the door toward the elevator, feeling very pleased with himself that he was free of his stroller restraint.

He pushed the button to go down.

“No up, only down,” he says.

When we reached the ground floor, he busted out the elevator doors, screaming “GOOD MAWNING, MISTA DAVE.”

And then pushed his way through the revolving doors. 

“BYE, BYE MISTA DAVE,” he shouted before leaving.

The thing about living in a city is you gotta be on high-alert with a toddler who wants to walk right into the taxi cabs and the double-decker buses.

We’re constantly trying to dodge the bikers, the puppies that come yappin’ at a human their size. 

And, unfortunately, we also have to dodge the poop. Ishu never notices the poop. So I have been trying to stop and point it out to him in an effort to have him NOT step in it. Or, worse, mistake it for something that he wants to put in his mouth. “That’s rabbit poop. We leave the rabbit poop on the ground. We can play with the rocks instead,” I try to explain.

“Oh, there’s dog poop. Let’s walk around the dog poop.” 

Every time I point out the poop, he wants to pause and take a good, LONG look. He’ll squat down real low, examine it like he’s in some sort of lab, about to discover something unique.

And when he’s done, as he does with everything he leaves behind him as he charges forward, he waves to the poop and says, “BYE BYE DOG POOP.”

It really is quite the sight to see.

The toddler examining the dog poop.

Not the dog poop itself.

Anyway, when I say this kid can be entertained by anything, I actually mean a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g. Dog poop included.