Gabi Reinvents Fashion

   We decided not to find out the gender of our first child before birth.  Everyone was so sure that we were having a boy, and I must admit, I was almost certain of that fact also.  When our beautiful baby girl was born, we were so surprised and thrilled!  I immediately started thinking of all the wonderful girly dresses and socks and hair bows and hats and shoes; and of course, everything had to match.  I was convinced that my darling little girl would be the epitome of a fashion model at all times, with hair band, dress, sweater, tights, and shoes matching.

And for a while, I succeeded:

I mean, what was she going to do about it?  She just laid there and cooed and smiled at me while I gussied her up in the sweetest outfits and prayed that her hair would grow long enough for more hair accessories!

As you can see, I even got that girl all dolled up in a Kenneth Cole tweed blazer.  Sigh. . . she was beyond adorable. . . 

Note also the matching hair bows - always!

And then things started to change.  Little Miss Agreeable suddenly had a penchant for crazy ball caps and pants that were too small for her.  Not to mention that she started to refuse to wear socks. . . 

I'd manage to pull together a cute outfit for her, and she always wanted some crazy accessory.

Ah, here she is, back on track.  Not smiling though.

Blissfully, she was still mostly unaware of what went on her body.  She was perfectly happy in this outfit because it "had a doggy on it;"  I was happy because it all coordinated.

Awwww.......

At an outdoor wedding......

Being cute and adorable.

But now, things have changed.  Matching outfits are pretty much reserved for Sunday church only.  On any given day during the week, you will find Gabi happily attired in a rainbow of colors.  Bright shirts, even more colorful skirts, and rainbow tennis shoes are in residence in her closet.  No hair bow or three crazy non-matching ones is the norm now, and the wilder the colors, the better!  The hubby and I were at a consignment sale last weekend, and I found this Barbie raincoat that I knew she would love:

She has been basically living in that coat since we got it.  She's bright;  she's bold.  She's definitely an attention-getter wherever we go.

And I smile, remembering not so long ago when another little girl wore neon colors and "did her own hair", happily making her own fashion statement.  I'm not about to take that joy away from my sweet little girl, and if wearing the same rainbow tie-dyed shirt every week makes her happy, so be it.