"I Dress All By Myself"

La Nina has moved into the phase in her life where she likes to pick out her own clothes. Some of her outfits are quite inspired, but it is shoe selection that typically puts the ensemble over the top. Today, La Nina was in rare form. She had on a purple striped skort, a blue Cinderella shirt and her "Red Shiny Shoes" without socks. Not wanting to damage her self esteem and frankly, not having time to change her again, we headed out for a few errands, including some grocery shopping at Raley's.

La Nina loves "helping" me. At the grocery store, she is the person who picks out our food. If I need yogurt, she hands me the containers, if I need bananas she hands me the bunch, if I need bread, she hands me the loaves. You get the picture. Anyway, she loves this chore, but all this handing requires a lot of conversation, most of which is quite amusing. "No honey, we only need 1 bunch of bananas, not 3. " "Oh honey, let Mommy put the eggs in the cart." "Carly, we don't eat fruit loops at our house." All this talk, typically has other shoppers laughing in the aisle, but today, the conversation and the outfit made us a spectacle.

Most of the people thought she was very cute and several Moms commented on how wonderful her age is. Ha! Many shoppers pointed out her shoes were on the wrong feet, and one grandpa offered to help her fix them. She looked up at him and chirped, "No way, Jose." (Where does she get this smart mouth?) Shocked by her cheekiness, he asked me what she said, and I covered for her by saying, "Oh she said, 'No thanks, not today'." By the twinkling in his eye, I am pretty sure he heard it right the first time.