The first time I can actually remember being at the mall was when I was about 2. It was a nice spring day, and we went as a family. My mom changed my diaper before we left and buckled me in my car seat. My sister, Leeann, who was 4 1/2 at the time sat next to me and entertained me. The closest mall, Fairfield Mall, was about 20 minutes from where we lived, so it wasn't too long of a drive.

When we got there, I was taken out of my car seat and placed in my stroller. We entered the mall and I remembered that was when I was instantly hooked. The sights, the sounds, and oh yes all the people were enough to stimulate any toddler. I knew that I was going to have a lot of fun.

Unfortunately, the fun took awhile to begin. We went to Macy's first and it was quite boring. That and people kept on looking at me and commenting how cute I was. I remember becoming antsy, and after waiting due time, I began to cry and throw a fit.

"Shh!" said my mom.

"Maybe I should take him," said my dad. He was after all a male and realized that women took forever to shop and that it could be quite boring watching them.

"No, Stevie's not going to make any more noise because he's a good baby," said mom. "Right Stevie?"

I continued bawling until she at last shoved a pacifier in my mouth. I threw it down and my mom gave me a bit of a dirty look. "Leeann, dear, could you put that back in his mouth and fasten it so it doesn't get lost again?"

"OK, mommy." My sister picked it up and stuck it back in my mouth. She then fastened it around the back of my head, effectively gagging me and forcing me to be quiet. I couldn't take it out, nor could I get up and toddle away as I was fastened to the stroller by a seat belt. I had little else to do but sit there.

Well, actually there was something I could do. I felt a mild sensation that told me that I had to go potty, as my parents put it. They had made an effort to begin my potty training, but I didn't take too well to it. I much preferred the comfort and security of a diaper to the impersonal feeling of that decrepit hole. So I relaxed and pushed a big and soon began peeing my diaper. I pooped in it as well, pushing out a big smelly mess.

What I had done was noticed as we were just leaving Macy's. "Mommy, Stevie pooped his diaper," announced Leeann.

"OK, why don't you come into the girl's room with me and go potty while I change him."

"I don't hafta go," she said, proudly announcing her success in toilet training.

"Then you can wait outside with your dad."

My mom grabbed the diaper bag from under the stroller, unbuckled me and picked me up. I was much dismayed when I saw she was carrying me into Macy's. I struggled to break free of her but to no avail. We entered the ladies' room and found a baby changing shelf. Mom put me down there while she got out the diapering supplies. She unsnapped my shortalls and pulled them down exposing my dirty diaper. That was soon untaped and discarded. Mom took the pacifier out of my mouth and began wiping my messy bottom. The motion of the wipe felt very good and I began to coo. She powdered me too and put a fresh diaper on me (I believe it was a Huggies). Since it was such nice weather, she decided to leave my shortalls off. She gave me a bottle of juice to drink before we left the bathroom. I was feeling much better.

When we got back to my dad, Leeann began bugging my parents to go to the toy store. They gave their approval and set me back in the stroller. We got to KB Toys and Leann rushed in. She was very excited by all the toys there, as was I. One particular toy, which I think was some Lego assembly with a lot of lights particularly got my attention, and I kept on attempting to reach for it.

I was let out of my stroller and allowed to toddler around the store a bit while my parents contemplated getting gifts for em and Leeann. Many people commented on how cute a baby I was, and I believe that strongly influenced my parents' decision. While I didn't end up with the Legos, I did get a nice bouncing ball.

That pretty much wrapped up my first visit to the mall. I was pretty sad when we left, and I was determined to get back there someday. Even if it meant going to Macy's. It was a risk I was willing to take.