I’ve never been particularly cautious about pre-washing Maya’s new clothing, but when I bought a bunch of new 3T pjs and whatnot last week, I washed every single piece, because my gut said so.

The dress Maya wore today, however, wasn’t part of that purchase; it had been sitting in the back of the closet for months, unworn. This morning, when Maya asked for it (I’d left it sitting out in the room), I thought, “no problem,” and pulled off the tags. Mistake. When I picked her up from school today, I immediately notice a patchy bumpy rash on one shoulder. On examination, I noticed it was EVERYWHERE that the knit portion of the dress had touched.

I’m sorry, baby.

A shower and hydro cortisone later…she’s less itchy and heading to bed. That’s the first contact rash she’s gotten since long ago when I discovered that Pampers were a very bad idea (due to their perfume content). SIGH.

This is what happens when I let Maya choose her own clothing in the morning. Purple dress? Purple dress?

You want to wear this dress, Maya?

YEAH!

Note that her sunglasses are pink. She chose those too, over the tortoiseshell ones I suggested. Like it or not, I am most definitely the parent of a GIRLIE GIRL.

Making up your own lyrics is not only optional; it’s encouraged.

There’s something to be said for a 37-year-old man who had no exposure to kiddie shows/music until we met…and who now sings Wiggles songs even more than I do (even if he still doesn’t know the words, he sings them anyway). I found a good one!

All of that early hiking has paid off — Maya *loves* to be outdoors, and at times will even go grab my Ergo carrier and hand it to me insisting, “Mama — Back!”

I did, however, recently discover that if we’re going hiking, I need to NOT mention it until we’re ready to go out the door. A couple Sundays ago, I told Maya that after lunch, we were going to go for a hike. Here’s the resulting non-lunch.

And yes, she did get her hike. At least, we went halfway up the mountain, until my (2nd try at) new hiking boots gave me nasty blisters. We’ll be sticking with trail runners for a while, thanks.

Yes, yes. I’ve been quite the blog slacker, no?

Maya continues to morph into this amazing and astonishing creature. She’s funny, smart as a whip, and can charm nearly anyone she meets. That’s good, because with her current phase of yelling “NO! MINE!” at people who come near (No, Maya…that old gentleman isn’t going to steal your cookie. Relax, already.), she needs all the charm she can get. This phase passes, right?

Last night, I put Maya into some new size 3T (!) jammies for the first time, and they were so darned cute, I had to do an impromptu photo session. Rather than running around, being the moving target, Little Miss actually *posed* for me. What a character.

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This isn’t a first. Recently, she’s taken to making all sorts of faces during any given photo-op.

Off to school recently:

Given jellybeans from a care package from Grandma Collins:

Contrary to appearances, these photos were immediately followed by, “more pink jelly beans, PEEEEES!”

Eating her beloved mac-n-cheese:

Strike a pose, much?