Friday with Abby

Once, a couple of years ago, Abby tried to convince us that we should have Abby Day.  She thought there should be a party with family and friends and probably a clown and pony rides.  She thought there should be presents and that we should do all of the things that she wanted to do, including, but not limited to: going out to eat, going shopping and buying whatever she wanted.  We should make all of the foods that she loves the most.  Abby Day would be like a birthday, but on a random day of the year.  We told her to go clean her room. 

This week, however, she got an Abby Day.  Uriah has been on stay-cation this week (like vacation, only staying home) and on Wednesday after school, he whisked Abby off to an afternoon that was all about her.  

Before I go any further, let's go back a couple of weeks, shall we, when Uriah and I first took Abby shopping for some new fall clothes.  It was getting to be that time of year when the summer shorts and tank tops get replaced with jeans and long-sleeved shirts and turns out Little Miss grew over the summer and didn't fit in any of her cool-weather clothes from last year.  So we took her to Old Navy and gave her the run of the place...

"Pick out whatever you want," we said.  

"Anything?" she asked.  

"As long as it's cool-weather appropriate - long sleeves, sweaters, jeans - anything you want."

And so she looked.  And she ran her fingers over sweaters and fleeces.  She looked at different colored shirts and some jeans and pajamas.  And then she decided that none of it would do.  

"Nothing?" we asked, looking around astonished.  "Not the cute fleece pullover?  Not the blue shirt with the owls printed on it?"

"None of it is...me." she said, crossing her arms and tapping her foot.  "I don't like any of it."

So, we took a collective deep breath and moved on to Target.  Surely, we would find something to pique her fancy there.  She moped through the aisles, not picking up a single item.  I threw up my hands and left her with Uriah while I took Finn to shop for baby clothes.  I came back to an empty cart.  

Not. One. Thing. 

"What are you looking for, Abby?" we asked.

"I want it to be me." she said, shrugging her shoulders and pouting in the back seat of the car.

"I don't know what that means." we said.

"I'll know it when I see it.  I want something blue, but not too blue.  I like prints but not wild prints.  I just want it to be my style."  She paused.  "I want designer clothes."

So that was it.  Target is no longer cool.  Target is not designer.  We went home; everyone was frustrated.  Everyone except Finn, that is.  Finn got two new shirts, a new pair of pants, a sweatshirt and some socks.  Finn does not care about designers; he would be naked all day if he could.

So, on Wednesday, Uriah took Abby first to get her hair cut.  She got to tell the stylist exactly what she wanted.  She, of course, had a long discussion with the very patient girl and when the scissors stopped snipping and the hair dryer stopped drying and the dust had settled, she looked like this:

And from the back, she looked like this:

Uriah took her to Marshall's, where their slogan could be Brand Names For Less and Abby got to pick out her "designer" clothes.  Uriah just stood back, like the good and patient Dad that he is, and let her pick out a couple of new outfits.  I got a fashion show when I got home from work...she was so proud of her choices and so excited about her hair.  She couldn't stop bouncing through the house and she talked non-stop about all of the things that she looked at when she was shopping and how she decided to get bangs, but not full bangs and how she was going to wear the brown shirt with the skinny jeans for school pictures.  

Outfit #1

Outfit #2

I nearly started crying when I saw her.  This little kitten looks so grown up!  I know she's going to be 11 in a couple of weeks, but I also remember when I first met her.  She was a teeny little 7 year old with a squeaky voice and long hair.  She still carried some of her baby roundness and she was high energy - bouncing around and talking constantly and wanting to perform for the video camera and heaven help us if someone was taking pictures...she wanted to be in every single one!  In those days, every other weekend was an adventure...playing Barbies, going miniature-golfing, swimming, making cookies, biking, reading books.

Wednesday I caught a glimpse of what she's going to be like as a grown up.  She has such confidence and she couldn't stop swinging her hair.  She was so proud of her clothing choices and so excited about her new skinny jeans.  For the first time in a couple of months, I really looked at her...I mean flat-out stared at her... and it hit me, all at once, that this period is going to be so short lived.  Pretty soon she's going to want to hang out with her friends more and she's going to want a cell phone and going places with her family will be so boring and her parents will be so uncool.  As much as Finn changes every single day, so does Abby, and I really need to be more in the moment with her so that I can wrap myself up in these good memories when she hits the teen years with both feet running.  

Today I am enjoying Fabulous Abby and her Fabulous New Self.  I hope you find something equally fabulous to enjoy this weekend!