She's Definitely Growing!

When you see your child everyday, their growth is not completely obvious. I find that I only realize how much she has grown when I look back at old photos. Clothing and shoe size is also an evident indicator. When Gabriella came home almost a year ago she was wearing mainly 18 month clothes and some 12 month clothes. She is now in size 24 months. I believe she was in a size 3.5 shoe when she came home. At the beginning of the summer her foot was measuring at a size 4, so my sister and I went to the Stride Rite outlet (thanks to Auntie Kathy for getting me hooked on Stride Rite!) and bought her 3 pairs of summer shoes, 1 pair of sandals, and 1 pair of sneakers in a size 4.5. She also had a couple pairs of L.L. Bean flip flops with backs that she spent a lot of the summer in. So, a few weeks back I decided to go back to Stride Rite for her fall shoes. They measured her at a size 5.5 and recommended getting her a size 6! I was dumbfounded when I heard the size and then my emotion quickly changed to that of guilt because she was wearing shoes that were too small for her. I felt horrible. Thank goodness she was mostly in sandals or flip flops so her feet were not cramped in tiny shoes. Worse of all, I had brand new size 5's that she could have been wearing instead, but never wore. I guess I am going to have to stay on top of her shoe size more religiously!