The Dress of Summer '15

Your Great Aunt Mary gave you a Lilly Pulitzer dress for your birthday at the end of May. You proceeded to wear it almost EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. of the summer. Only when it was dirty and absolutely HAD to be cleaned did you (unwillingly) agree to wear something else. Actually, you preferred to run around naked while it was in the washing machine at times it had to have a midday wash (for example, when you dragged it through the mud or spilled a bunch of chocolate milk down the front) when it couldn't wait for a wash after you were sound asleep.  When we absolutely had to leave the house or have clothes on and your dress wasn't available, you usually choose your mermaid shirt and flamingo shorts.

But seriously, you love this dress and I was happy to indulge you on this.  And really, it was pretty easy - you could have been obsessed with a a sequin-and-tulle princess dress or rainbow and leopard leotard.  So you see, it didn't really bother me in the least bit.  However, it did become pretty funny once I started commenting on our family Instagram with #favoritedress #4weeks1dress or #10weeks1dress because then people started delighting when they saw you in your dress as if it was a celebrity sighting "oh! the favorite dress!" or "that's so awesome! of course she's in that dress!"

The first day you didn't want to wear it came on the day of dad's company party at TopGolf and suddenly you wanted to wear khaki shorts and a shirt  - to match dad and Jackson you told me.  I wasn't sure you were really going to be ok with this once we got there, sort of expecting a meltdown for your dress. So I brought it along just in case.  While you were really fine with your clothing choice that afternoon (you changed back into your dress later in the day), I realized that I suddenly wasn't ready for you to not wear it any more.  I might have to stuff this sweet dress into a pillow or make a doll dress out of it.  There are a few stains we couldn't resolve along the way and a couple holes at the bottom that are getting more frayed but it's just a sign of well-loved dress.

You went back to the daily dress donning after the TopGolf afternoon and the dress run finally came to an end when school started.  You opted for your mermaid shirt, shirts and tennis shoes so you could run on the playground.  You had trouble on the playground at popsicles on the playground day (the day before Good Shepherd started back up) in your dress, stumbling on your hem as you tried to climb the stairs and rock wall.

You still wear it every few days and especially as a cover up after ballet but your strong affinity for it and desire to wear it every single waking hour has been overcome by your own practicality.

I'm kinda hopeful that next summer you may find another darling breezy dress to wisp about in again.