Friday, September 17, 2010

Ballet Slippers

The kids and I decided to take our houseguest on a little trip to the beach today.  Since we were in a bit of a rush to get out the door, Elizabeth decided not to cooperate.

"Baby!  Hold still and let Mommy get you dressed," I struggled to pull Elizabeth's shirt over her head.  Scrambling, I grabbed hold of a kicking leg and wiggled it into her pants.  I wondered how many calories "dressing a baby" burns as I blindly reached for Elizabeth's box of shoes.  I grabbed the first shoe I felt while calling out to Joseph over my shoulder.

"Get your shoes on!  We need to leave five minutes ago!"  I looked down to see that I'd placed a silver ballet slipper on Elizabeth's bare foot.  "Sorry, babe.  Let me grab your sneaks."  I pulled off the slipper and reached for her leather sneakers.  Pulling them on her feet, I set her on the floor to play while I went to check to see what was taking Joseph so long.

Elizabeth immediately started crying.

"Oh hon!  What's wrong?"  She looked up at me, her lower lip trembling in an upside down smile, her eyes watering.  "Baby.  I'll pick you up in a minute.  Just let me go get your brother and our beach bag."  She opened her mouth in a scream.  I picked her up (of course) and held her as she arched her back and let out a cry that echoed off her bedroom walls.

I shifted her to my hip and started to walk out of the room.  She kicked and squirmed to be put down.  I set her on the floor.  Still crying, she toddled on unsteady legs to her shoe box.  She reached in and pulled out her silver ballet slipper.  Plopping down on her diapered bum, she tried to put the shoe on her feet, crying the entire time.

"Do you want to wear the silver shoes?  They're not really beach shoes, baby."  She tried to push the slipper over her sneakers.  "Fine."  I pulled of the practical sneaks and slipped on the ballet shoes.  Instantly, her cries quieted and like the sun coming from behind a cloud, her face lit with a smile.

Apparently, at 13 months, Miss Elizabeth knows what she wants to wear.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh dear you are in trouble! This girl is going to be hell when she is a teenager! One goog thing she will make a good lawyer or president or some job where she has all the authority. Best of luck! She is really cute though in that hat!
K

Ashley (fadedsecrets) said...

That is so adorable. Reagan didn't care until THIS year what clothes/shoes I put on her. Now she's still pretty chill about it, although she does have her favorites. Chloe, on the other hand, is very particular and has fought me for the past year. lol. I've taken to pulling out two options of clothing and letting her "choose". I've also learned to never, ever put something on her and then change my mind, otherwise we get an episode like you described! She is so precious in that picture, also. :D

Anonymous said...

K - The hat is one of my faves. I wish I could find it in my size!

Ashley - You know, with Joseph, he really didn't care how many times I changed his outfit. He STILL doesn't care. But of course, now that I have a girl that I can play dress up with, she has to get all particular. :D