Growth

Julie mentioned yesterday that it feels like we're missing a bunch of Lyla's clothes. I traveled mentally down to the laundry room, but there were no errant baskets. In fact, the clothes aren't missing--they're too small.

I hate to say it's time to head out to Baby Gap or Target or wherever and throw money at tiny clothes. I'm still half-convinced that there might be a pile somewhere that we've overlooked. That makes us sound like hoarders, which we're not, but good grief the closest we've ever come to being hoarders is through baby clothes.

The 6-month stuff is long gone, of course, but now that Lyla's a 9-month-old, the 6-9-month stuff no longer makes sense either. There are even some 12-month items with elastic that needs a rest. With summer about to end, I'm afraid we're going to have to stock up again. Julie will overdo it under the guise of good sales. "Dan, I found some good sales today!" she'll say, and place 40 pounds of fabric at my feet. "It was buy 9 and get the 10th for a penny!"

Plus, there's the issue of shoes. Lyla has been basically shoeless so far in her life. We like that "raised by wolves" look. But again, since there are about six minutes left of summer, I don't think the daycare ladies will look kindly at our shoeless, feral daughter when she's demanding to run in the snow. So she'll need at least 12 pairs of shoes, all from good sales.

Will I be expected to match Lyla's shoes with her outfits? Anyone who knows Julie knows the answer to that question.