A Little Girl’s Summer of Dresses

As our weather cools and winter approaches, a shift in my little girl’s wardrobe is inevitable. The collection of summer dresses that has been our clothing staple will turn to sweaters, cardigans and jeans. But when the weather is hot and the hues of our world are bight, this little girl enjoys the ease and flow of a summer dress more than any other piece of clothing.

Alina has a collection of summer dresses. She has her favorites, as do I, which are usually the toddler dresses that make a definitive statement while keeping true to age appropriate expectations.

Although I love the sweet pinks, the v cut neckline of the dress in the upper right was one of the favorites this summer. The stripes add a modern twist too. The same goes for the dress in the lower left, a frilly tutu-inspired number that is cut short {maybe shorter than Daddy would have liked} to give it a bit of an edge. I loved those two. Sweet spring/summer floral dresses are very endearing and never go out of style. Alina wore the summer dress in the bottom right for Easter 2012. And she wore the adorable, gingham yellow and black summer dress to my best friend’s baby shower in the spring of 2012. But in truth, each of the dresses in her collection were in our daily wardrobe round up. Nothing was too fancy or frilly. They were all worn over and over. And they will be missed.

While sorting through Alina’s clothes this week, it occurred to me that most of her dresses won’t make it till next summer. At least not on her growing-by-the-minute body. So, before washing and packing the dresses away for Alina’s cousin Baby J, I made sure to get a few last pictures. I love seeing her knobbly knees, although you wouldn’t believe me that at the beginning of summer, most of the dresses were below them. My girl is growing too fast; each day brings new parts of our lives that we must store away and preserve; memories to document and cherish. I feel like I am always trying to hold on just one moment longer.

This week Las Vegas experienced a down pour of rain and a sudden decrease in temperatures. I’ve had to pull clothes from other parts of her closet, reminding me that these toddler sized summer dresses will be a thing of the past for us very soon. It won’t be long until shopping in the toddler girl department will also cease to exist, and we will be forced into the little girl section. And then school, and parent-teacher conferences, and friends, and…. boys. Shutter.

For now she is still my sweet two and half year old who happens to wear big girl sized clothes. That’s what I see in her eyes in the above picture: a baby no longer, a big girl not quite yet. One more season under her belt, ready for the comforts of winter, but forever remembering the joys of a little girl’s summer of dresses.