Clothes, Clothes, Clothes

You often hear parents' say, "I hope you have a child just like you when you're a parent!"  Well, it always seem to work out just that way.  Rose acts very much like I did when I was a toddler.  For one, she is VERY picky about what clothes she wears.  She always wants to wear a dress or skirt...and not just any dress or skirt, of course.  We have had our fair share of meltdowns over what she should wear that day.  My mom said when I was her age, she would make me pick out my clothes for the entire week and hang them in my closet accordingly so that I couldn't argue with her every morning...maybe that's not such a bad idea:)

Maybe I shouldn't care so much...my friend Kathy let her 4 year-old wear his polo shirt backwards one day just because he wanted to and I once saw a 4 year old girl carry up the gifts at mass completely decked out in a Cinderella costume and dress up shoes:)  I am getting better about letting them wear whatever they want to go outside and play and I don't even make them get their hair done everytime.  They actually love it when Paul does their hair before they go outside because he lets them stand on the kitchen table and puts it in a ponytail/bun.

Ava is starting to get picky about her clothes too.  I don't know if it's because of Rose's example...Paul says it's because they take after their mother;)  Ava loves dresses too, but her favorite thing to wear lately is her swimsuit.  I think every day for the last month or so, Ava has come down from her nap in a swimsuit and a pair of shoes.  She loves to try on all the shoes in her drawer.  And she comes up with some pretty interesting combinations (see photo below).  Dress-up is a big part of our lives right now!

Luckily Madeline doesn't care what clothes I put on her.  Today she did learn to take her shirt off by herself though.  We were playing outside and she kept pulling her shirt over her head.  No more loose shirts for her!

*Side note: Tonight at dinner Ava asked Rose why she got to have more apples and Rose so humbly replied, "Because I'm awesome!"  I about died laughing.  What would we do without the innocence of children:)

Hugs!