Brooms, Blueberries, and Balloons

Did you know that these three things--brooms, blueberries, and balloons--are the most exciting things at Central Market? Really, they are. Well, according to a little 18 month old boy they are. If you ask me, it's the chocolate, wine, and seafood. With these three things today, our trip to Central Market was glorious. Filled with smiles, giggles, wide eyes, and a belly full of blueberries.

The second we walked into the store, Cooper pointed over to the balloons and asked "ba ba?". After picking out a bright green balloon, I tied to it our basket and headed through the produce. But, not without stopping for the "bebes" first...that's "blueberries" in Cooper speak. Then, after a long time admiring the lobster tank, we rounded the corner and what did we see? A "boo boo"...yep, that's "broom"...leaning in a corner. Talk about excited!

I've realized recently that Cooper has an amazing broom radar. He is obsessed with them and can spot them anywhere. Sometimes it's as obvious as someone using the broom near us, but more often than not, he can spot them leaning in corners, poking out of doors, even through a swinging kitchen door in a restaurant. It's almost like he goes into a place thinking, "I wonder if they have a boo?!".

Like this broom, for example. It was sticking out of a door at the mall. Coop started smiling and waving his arms and kept trying to drag Philip and me back to this spot, and when we followed him, this is what we saw.
Cooper loves brooms so much, in fact, that I had been on the hunt for a small broom with a short handle because every time I opened the laundry room door at our house and Cooper saw our broom, he would get really sad when I wouldn't let him play with it. So, a small broom with a short handle was a must!

So, one Saturday recently Philip and Coop ventured out to Lowe's to search for a small broom. The second Philip turned the shopping cart on to the broom isle, it was like Cooper had hit the jackpot. His eyes got really wide, his arms were waving, and he tried to touch every broom! After picking out the perfect Cooper-sized broom, Coop insisted on getting out of the shopping cart. Why? Because he had a store to sweep.
And sweep. And sweep. And sweep. An hour later, Coop was ready to take his new broom home and continue the cleaning!

PS: Drake, keep your ball out of my dust pan.