A. Anton meets E. Bunny

It was a rainy day in SE Ohio today. I finished my work early and we loaded up the family for our first trip to Columbus. Anna hasn't been there since last June. I've been to the hospital many times since we returned, but not up to the old Polaris Fashion Place since probably that same June trip. Anna had to let go of a pair of shoes that were near and dear to her so we had to find replacements. Don't worry, I'm building a funeral pyre on a raft that I will float out on Dow Lake, then I'll shoot a flaming arrow into it for a proper burial at sea. (Okay, stay focused, don't repeat yesterday's debacle.) Anna and I have found that our ability to concentrate or keep a coherent line of thought has gone downhill since October.
Okay, so we were strolling Anders around Polaris Fashion Place (it's just a mall, but it has a really pretentious name, so I like to use the whole name--like The Ohio State University) when we spotted the Easter Bunny. If you know Anna, it will not surprise you to find out that she recoiled in disgust at the sight of the Easter Bunny. I think it was a mixture of hatred for the commercialization of Easter, the Santa knock-off feel of the display, and her fear of clowns. It will also not surprise you if you know me that I was prepared to pay and price and bear any burden to get Anders on that bunny's lap. I won't say that Anna came around to my way of thinking, but she did begin seriously pondering the cuteness possibilities. She decided that she liked the idea so we went for it.
The Easter Bunny was really cool about everything. He/she and the photographer tried their best to get Anders to smile. Anders doesn't freely offer his smile for photos, particularly in this crazy setup. He did, however, take being handed over to a strange bunny by his father in stride. He looked a little worried, but he didn't cry or evince excessive concern. I would post pictures, but the ban personal photography so that you will buy their pictures. We got 5x7s for the grandparents and wallet photos for the aunt and uncle and us. I finally have a long-overdue wallet sized photo of Anders.
Anders was pretty wiped out by the ride back. He wouldn't allow himself to sleep at any of our stops. Plus, he chugged basically a bottle and a half at Polaris Fashion Place. For some reason, he did not sleep on the ride home. He always sleeps on the ride home from the children's hospital. I was able to transfer him from my chest to bed tonight with no protest, a rarity.
I had no idea that Polaris Fashion Place was the place to take your 0-5 year old child on a Sunday afternoon in Cbus. I guess it's not zoo weather yet. Nevertheless, there was a huge childlife preserve in the middle of Polaris Fashion Place. It was loud and totally chaotic, but I didn't see any kids run into each other, fall off anything, or cry. I thought it was an impressive display. I bet 30% of the people we saw at Polaris Fashion Place were kids. The other 70% were husbands napping in strategically placed chairs.
I can't describe how nice it is to take Anders out and do something fun with him rather than go to the doctor or the hospital or the pharmacy or have someone come over to give him a shot. Today was a really nice Palm Sunday.