monolos

So true story: I have a 4-year-old cousin, male, who is OBSESSED with shoes, high-heels to be exact. Ryder cares nothing for tennis shoes, and simply has no time for sandals, but if you walk into the room rocking a stiletto, you're lucky to last five minutes before he rips it off and claims it as his own.  I always wear my fanciest heels when I know I'm going to see him, and a good pair will amuse him for hours.  With his diapered-tush swaying, he  actually walks around better than I can in most. His special technique is putting them on the wrong feet (I think they fit his tiny toes better that way).

For Christmas this year, my Aunt Shelby, his mother, took Ryder and his little brother to take Santa photos.  Landon informed Santa that he wanted cars and trains; when asked what Ryder wanted for Christmas, his reply was "High Heels and Barbies!" 

 Naturally. 

My MeMe gave him the latest Princess-Sparkle-Rainbow-Sunshine Barbie (the name of this year's "it" Barbie escapes me, but you know, it's always something along those lines, so we'll just go with Princess-Sparkle-Rainbow-Sunshine), and upon unwrapping his shiny new toy, he exclaimed "(gasp!) Princess-Sparkle-Rainbow-Sunshine BARBIE!! Oh! THANK YOU, MeMe! THANK YOU!" and gave her a big sloppy kiss.

The best though, was one day when Shelby took him shopping to Saks.  Now, Ryder is a wild child who loves shopping as much as any girl.  Mostly he loves running through aisles of clothes, throwing them everywhere and hiding between the racks.  So on this particular occasion, he was firmly strapped into his stroller when they passed through the shoe department, and - I shit you not - Shelby swears that he started freaking out, crying, fruitlessly trying to break his bonds of imprisonment to no avail in order to frolic through all those lovely shoes and started screaming

 "MANOLOS! MANOLOS! MOMMY, MANOLOS PLEEEEASE!!!" 

And reaching for them with his tiny fingers, desperately pining for the perfect pumps that just exceeded his grasp.  Shelby said the salesman nearly pissed himself laughing.  Also, I just thought I'd include a video  of his quirky idol:

<

Found by: Laura