It's Fashion Week!

Once a year, hordes of fashionistas descend on New York to check the year's new looks. If you're into this sort of thing and read Vogue, it's a really big deal. If you're like me and prefer checking out what's new at Old Navy in the loungewear department, fashion week usually passes us by. But I do get really excited for the change of seasons and breaking out Grace's new wardrobe.

When we were expecting, we decided not to find out the sex of the baby for a variety of reasons. A friend of mine (of the academic persuasion) and his wife were expecting a boy and they were horrified at the "boy theme" of their shower. Lots of trucks, sports, and "aggressive" stuff that only an academic could abhor with such disdain. I didn't like the idea of an all pink shower so we stuck with not finding out. That meant we got a lot of yellow and pastel green clothes--all very, very cute. I swore I was not going to be one of those mothers who went over the top with little dresses, bows, and frills. They're babies after all! They don't need to look like mini-adults nor do they need to begin their lives as hyper feminine objects to dress--much akin to dressing a Barbie Doll. The feminist in me had rather strong opinions on what our daughter should and should not wear.

But once the clothes came flying in from loving family and friends, it became harder and harder to deny how cute some of these outfits were. I distinctly remember putting Grace in her first little skirt and headband and I was dumbstruck with my reaction. I started squealing, "OMG--Look at how cute she is!" Most days though, we left the skirts at home and opted for comfy wear--little pants and tops that didn't pinch, irritate, or otherwise cause crankiness.

Now that Grace is older, she doesn't wear baby clothes anymore. We've graduated into toddler wear which basically looks like our clothes, just shrunk down and less emphasis on cleavage. Her fall wardrobe features peasant blouses, cargo pants, fleece, and boot cut pants. Yup--that's right--boot cut pants for all the boots she wears. . . . But my favorite piece of clothing is overalls! I knew I would love my baby--boy or girl in overalls. They're hugely practical for a variety of reasons. One, it doesn't really matter how well they fit. This is important at the beginning of the season because they haven't actually hit the size yet so their pants tend to fall down. Not so with overalls. If they're a little long, roll them up. Second, they're an instant toddler carrier. Grace is running away? Grab her by the straps. Grace is falling off the couch (again), grab those straps! I recommend strong overalls for this exercise (Oshkosh or Carters). You don't want to curse yourself for going cheap as you're dropping your child on their face.

With the cool weather upon us, Grace has resisted her new wardrobe. Her shirts are a little long and she pulls at her sleeves. Because the shirts are a little big, this results in her 80s Flashdance look where she walks around all day with one shoulder exposed. The other day T asked me if I had taken her shirt off while she napped to which a bewildered me said, "Noooooo." She had decided to take it off. . . . This removal of clothes also applies to socks and shoes. She can't stand them! She goes after those socks and screams and grunts until she pops it off. Then she taunts you with it by shaking it at you and screeching. Now, it's kind of chilly outside and I don't feel like enduring the looks from strangers as to why my child is sockless in October. We don't live in Alabama after all. I have some new slippers which may solve the problem. I'll keep you posted.

So each morning I open Grace's closet full of fashion possibilities. Grace helps by pulling the tags off for me but more often than not, she looks bewildered by her new clothes. She points to them and makes a funny face and noise like, "What's this?" I say, "It's your big girl clothes!" as I fight off a tear or two. You see, even though her clothes are soooo cute, I hate that she looks more and more like a little girl every day. Today we're off to get feety pajamas (on sale at Sears!). After her bath, when we put on her pajamas, she still looks like my little baby. This is the time of day when she needs us the most. She needs a bath, a story, a bottle, some rocking, some singing, and lots of love. So even though I love dressing her in the morning in her big girl clothes, I love, love pajama time because then you realize just how small she still is and how much she still needs you.