The Short Second Life of Iron Man

Today after church, Robert and I dropped M at school and went to Wal-Mart. Our WIC vouchers turned over today, so I decided to stock up on formula, get my daily papers, and see if they'd restocked the wipes. Sucess! I got ten packs of Pampers wipes, all free after coupon. Since I bought most of the coupons on eBay, each one was basically 50 cents, but that's still  a very good price for name brand baby wipes that are normally at least 2.00 each. We also got the eleven cans of WIC formula (this is his last full formula month before solids start), and I bought a box of rice cereal to get him used to it. As soon as solid foods start, the formula ration decreases, so I want to make sure he's ready to eat it when he has to. I bought four more pounds of ground turkey, two copies of the daily paper, and a loaf of bread, then succumbed to temptation and bought two cases of Diet Dr Pepper. 4.50 for a 24-pack! I nobly resisted last week at 5.00, but I don't even remember when I last saw 4.50 a case. Oh well, we'll enjoy it, at least.

I also got Robert a new Iron Man 2 mylar balloon, as the balloon from the video has expired and stopped floating. It's not as fun when it doesn't float anymore! The total for all that, (excepting the formula), wipes and all, was 25 dollars, not too bad at all. Unfortunately, I had hooked the balloon onto Robert's carseat while we shopped, and the second we stepped outside, the 95 degree breeze grabbed hold of it and jerked it away! It was on a plastic weight, but not one heavy enough to overcome the breeze that sent it racing across the parking lot. I chased it, but with my cart full of Robert, all the groceries, and two cases of pop, I had no chance. Luckily for me, a very nice Wal-Mart employee on her break saw the tableau and went chasing after it as well. She caught it and brought it back, to my profuse thanks. Robert was thankful as well. Those balloons are not cheap!

Unfortunately, something in the chase or the catching weakened the valve on the balloon, and I think poor Iron Man is not long for this world, new as he is. Typically, the mylar balloons I buy last between 2 and 4 weeks, depending on how hard Robert is on them. But between the valve (which I taped up) and an especially vicious drubbing from the baby this evening, it's looking really sad and rather squishy. Not sure what it was about this balloon, but he was especially excited about grabbing and savaging it whenever possible, even eschewing the last of his evening bottle for a final round. I hate to have wasted the 2.75, but at least we got a good story from it. Maybe this will be a turning point, and Robert will grow up to be a supervillain due to this early success. ;)