To recap from yesterday - best baby gifts. I guess I should break this down between “most useful gifts” and “sweetest gifts.”
The “most useful gift” award goes to Grandma, of course, for her yeoman’s work in making both Ane and Tad cloth flannel diapers for infant usage. Ane started life with a very complete set of diapers, and Tad didn’t care that he was wearing faded (by that time) pastel plaid on his butt when he was an infant, but Grandma made him cowboy, car and leopard-print flannel diapers to supplement his choices.
The “sweetest gift” award for Ane goes to Baby Cousin’s namesake, Auntie C. Auntie C. is not really related to us, but she is a dear family friend (close friend of Great-Grandma’s) who has no grandchildren or great-grandchildren of her own (her only son was mentally disabled and died many years ago) so she likes to hear from Great-Grandma how we are all doing. And Ressis has always liked Auntie C.’s name, so when Baby Cousin was born, Auntie C. was quite honored to have a namesake. Well, then how does Ane get special gifts from Auntie C., you are probably asking?
Ane was born on Auntie C.’s birthday.
After Ane was born, Auntie C. sent her two special gifts. The first was her own silver baby spoon (still in its original box). The second was her son’s china baby mug. Both items have a special place of honor on the top shelf of Ane’s bookcase in her room. A close second in the “sweetest gift” category for Ane is the Army bear that the Captain gave her when she was born, along with a personalized dogtag with her name and birthdate.
Tad’s “sweetest gift” was a cross-stitched Dumbo baby bib done by teenage family friend Jess. He was never allowed to even drool on it, it was so cute. And cross-stitching wasn’t really her “thing”, but she made the effort to give him a handmade gift, and I’ve always treasured that.
Okay, back to the real post. Feet.
I have small feet (size 6 to 6 1/2, depending on the shoe). The Webmaster does not have large feet for a man (he usually wears a 10). I took Ane shoe shopping yesterday and realized - she hasn’t outgrown her size 10 sneakers yet! Why am I shopping for sneakers??
Granted, she has outgrown her winter dress shoes, so we do need to look for those. But will a size 10 get her through the winter? Should I get a 10 1/2, even if it runs a little big (and make her wear thick socks)?
What she wants are these Hello Kitty Mary Janes, which are at Target. They are pretty cute, but that’s not why she wants them. She wants them because Lina has these shoes. But, since they are under the price limit that I mentally set for my kids’ shoes, it’s all right with me. Whether it will be all right with Lina is another question.
Tad probably doesn’t need new shoes for another 2 years. We keep receiving hand-me-down, barely worn shoes from my uncle and aunt, who are passing them on from another great-nephew from my aunt’s family. The kid has NFL genes (both his father and grandfather played for the NFL) and he’s growing like a weed out of both clothes and shoes. Lucky for Tad, he’s both younger and smaller, so he gets the hand-me-downs. Not that Tad’s worn pants or shoes (he does wear either socks or sandals when we go “out”) for almost a month, but I’m pretty sure that his size 7 shoes will still fit when the cast comes off. In TWO WEEKS!!!
That aside, sorry, kids. You are genetically condemned to have little feet. On the plus side, we’re getting plenty of wear out of your shoes!
January 30, 2007
I wish I had little feet. Actually, they’re not big, but they’re so wide that I usually can’t get them into cute shoes. Sad.
I just found out that there is a smaller size of crocs than the pair we’re holding onto for Auletta for next summer. Hmmm.
January 30, 2007
Funny that I happened to run into you at the mall yesterday and we were also shopping for shoes for the kids. We found out that Lina & Denny are both the same size! 9s recommended to buy 9 1/2. Luckily before buying I went home to check my hand-me-down/extra shoe supply. I found a decent 9 1/2 sneaker for Denny and a new pair of size 10 pink butterfly sneakers for Lina - so I think we are set there. Dress shoes can just wait a bit. It seems that whenever I finally do go buy shoes for the kids, the next week someone passes some down. They usually end up with more shoes than Hubbby and I have! PS- I’m sure Lina would be fine if Ane had the same Hello Kitty shoes - especially if maybe they got passed on next year.
January 30, 2007
First off Jess DOES cross-stitches a lot. So that is why it was so cute.
Secondly I gave your kids very cute things, you never liked them because they usually flashed and made loud noises. (There was a reason for that, you know :])
January 30, 2007
Little Cousin seems to have foot growth spurts in the summers. Once I find it necessary to get her new athletic shoes (it’s too hot in Texas to even think about sneakers), she’ll probably be one, maybe two sizes larger than she was in the spring. She’s currently wearing size 6, but I’ll have to see what she fits when it gets cooler.
Baby Cousin is growing out of her size 2 dress shoes, which were snug on her sister too, but I’ll wait until after Labor Day to move her up to size 3 black dress shoes. Her size 2 sandals still fit. It’s so cute to watch her walk in shoes!