My Daughter the Cupcake

The most excited little girl in the world

SI in her Passover dress and sparkly shoes

This was not the first time we had disagreed on clothing.  For those of you who have never had one, two year olds can be remarkably opinionated on their appearance.  Mostly, so far as I can tell, because they have absolutely no self awareness when it comes to the way they look- it's all about wearing the things that they like.

This is why DD frequently has thirty bows in her hair.  This is why we find ourselves in the grocery store with her wearing blinking Blue's Clues shoes, bright green and orange stripey socks, and a purple paisley dress.  I am not color blind- I am bending to her fashion whims.

So several months ago, we were on a trip to Sam's Club, and encountered a gigantic rack of fancy dresses for little girls.  And I thought to myself, "Hey- here are about fifty lovely varieties of grubling gowns, and they're all about $15.  I think the girls can just go nuts and pick out their own for Passover and we'll get it over with!"

The most excited cupcake ever

I offered the girls the chance to pick out their very own pretty dress, and they were thrilled.  SI picked out a dress that I found no objections to, and happily threw it in the cart.  DD, however, picked out... the ugliest dress on the rack.

Now, you might be aware that I am seriously opposed to the color PINK.  I can't stand pink.  I will go out of my way to avoid pink.  I. don't. like. pink.

And here was my daughter, clutching this contraption made of poofy pink frills and rosettes.  Several shades of pink, all coiled together to give the illusion of... a heavily frosted cupcake.

I hedged.  I tried really hard to persuade her to pick another dress.  I even had her sold on a lovely blue dress- which maddeningly didn't come in her size.  Eventually I relented, and we put the horrible pink thing in the cart.

Seriously, that girl is stunning.

Once the girls were thoroughly distracted, I hid the dresses in the closet to wait for Passover.

And on Friday, Passover came.  The girls were prepared- bathed and excited, and thanks to Aunt K they were ready to get into their dresses.

SI looked lovely and grown up in her dress.  She was stunning, even when she insisted on wearing her big poofy purple headband along with it.  On her, it didn't even seem to clash.  And her favorite red Dorothy shoes even matched the not-so-subtle sparkliness of the big orange flowers on her dress.  But DD?

THE CURLS!  AAAAAHHH!

That dress?

It was a vision.  I'm not exaggerating.  You know that moment when you see the bride at the end of the aisle, and even if you thought that the unwearable contraption of sequins and crinolines was horrific, you realize that it's absolutely perfect for her and that she's the most beautiful that she probably will ever be in her entire life?

That was DD in that awful, crinkly, pink cupcake dress.  It was perfect.

"See Mommy? See my pretty dress?"

The way her hair curled into perfect little spirals matched the little curls of flowers covering the dress.  The neckline accentuated her adorable little chin.  The cap sleeves made her dainty and feminine.  She put on a headband with a pink flower in it that matched perfectly, and really pulled the whole thing together.  In short, it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen on my daughter.

I wish I hadn't been so busy preparing food and hosting the seder- I would have taken a million pictures of her that night.

(I still did take a million pictures- I managed to get her back into (and out of) the fancy dress again a few days later so that I could take these pictures.  In natural light, as well.  I just wish I had found little white gloves for her to wear at the same time.  She would have looked like a Southern Belle.)

Pretty Passover dress hugs for all!

I have no doubt that as she ages, I will find ample opportunity to disagree with her in the realm of fashion choices.  From Daisy Dukes to tacky t-shirts, we'll inevitably find that we're on the opposite side of a fashion faux pas in many an occasion to come.

But I hope I can remind myself that now, even at two years old, the girl knows what she wants.  She knows what she likes.

And honestly?

She's got some good taste.

...you know.  For a cupcake.