This time 4 years ago I found out I was having a baby GIRL! From the moment we received the news everyone, whether they knew me or not, had something to say about the gender of the baby on the way. “OOOOOH a baby girl! They have the cutest stuff out there for little girls. Get ready to go shopping… the bows, the dresses, the shoes! You are going to have a blast”.

Now, I am not too much of a girly girl. I never have been that type, but I definitely got into the idea of having a little mini me sporting some trendy hipsters styles.

Then the sweet little baby doll arrived and for a brief time I got to play dress up. But SJ started dressing herself when she was a year old and since then it’s been like What Not To Wear child edition. In place of the secret footage like they do on the show, I have phone photos from the past year. 

She is wearing about 6 layers in this photo and her baby brother’s tie! 

More layers (that’s a fleece sweater underneath a short sleeved sweater) with flip flops. 
She’s got a Dora phone in her pocket, this girl is ready to do business. 

The plastic bag makes a good cape. 

Another cape? 

The white band across her forehead is backwards goggles. She went through a big time goggles stage. 

A baby romper as a shirt and a gazillion bows on the the neck and in the hair. 

Regular socks pulled up like knee highs and the usual conglomeration of color. 
I know a lot of kids like to do these kinds of things at home, and that’s one thing, but who on earth would let their child be seen in public like this?
 Me. I would. Why don’t I just pick out clothes and make her wear them? I will show you. The kids got I love Paris shirts from their grandma as souvenirs. I thought it would be a nice gesture to send her a photo of the kids wearing these gifts. SJ did not want to wear the shirt. These are the results. 

I never did get her to smile or look at the camera, but at least there is one shot that doesn’t look like she was being subjected to hellacious torment (the purple shirt in her hand is what she wanted to wear. I could not remove it from her kung fu grip). 

She doesn’t always get her way, but I choose my battles and I think we’ve both learned to compromise. So maybe getting to coordinate outfits for my daughter isn’t what I thought it would be, but I love her for the unique, determined individual that she is. Let’s just hope the worst is behind us and with any luck she’ll get it out of her system before she’s a teenager.