presents for the little miss

with the weather (supposedly) cooling down and with elinor's third (ohmyfreakinggoodness) birthday right around the corner, it is time to add some fresh threads to our little lady's wardrobe. she already has a nice collection of leggings and skirts. and a few of her sweaters and outerwear items still fit so it is really just about adding some fun pieces that can be used to layer or mix-and-match.

liiiiiike that amazing coat up there. can we talk about that amazing coat up there? i wish they made it in my size so we could mama-and-me that sucker.

but back to elinor. we bought her some fresh pants, a sweet skirt, some shimmering dresses, and a few fab tops...and i am going to do my best to tuck them away for her birthday. did i mention that she is TURNING 3?!?!

they will be wrapped up along with some new books for her library and most likely, a toy or two for her playroom. i am planning to remove some existing toys and move the new ones into rotation. we are big fans of the "one in, one out" policy when it comes to kid stuff. it helps contain the clutter and keeps the playthings from getting overwhelming. you can give stuff away or just stash a few items somewhere and bring them out later...then, it is like they are brand spankin' new! neat trick, huh?

this goes for books too. elinor has SO MANY BOOKS. which, of course, we love. but she goes through book phases and once a book moves into broken record mode, i like to pull a sneaky mama move and set those aside (ahem, hide them) so we can get a little break. adding a new book gives me a great opportunity to move some of the less-than-favorites out of the way so we can try some new material.

at this point, i am thinking about a couple of books and a play doctor kit. i think elinor could use a cute little medical bag with goodies inside. she already repurposes items around the house into medical implements so...probably a good idea to upgrade her tools of the trade. that way she doesn't have to use my phone charger to listen to my "heartbeep", as she loves to do.

aaaaaaand then there is the violin situation. pretty sure we are going to be jumping into all that sometime soon. and a birthday might serve as the springboard. elinor is just far too interested in papa and his violin. i have already made ben solemnly swear that he will handle ALL practice and logistics. that is a bit out of my wheelhouse. but new clothes, that i can handle. for sure.

happy (almost) birthday, elinor! we can't wait to celebrate another year of YOU!