shoshi's pal jessie

when i was pregnant with sho, i pretty much went on a wild-eyed, nine month long hormonal rampage of sewing endless supercozy silky-edged blankies and soft, understanding-eyed stuffed animals.  then sho was born and proceeded to ignore them all.  she's just never been a blankie or stuffed animal kind of kid.  since i try to keep the amount of toys she has down to two small baskets (plus blocks and legos and art supplies), i've weeded out most of the stuffed animals from that pile because they just end up sitting there, gazing out forlornly and dreaming of the life they could be having with a kid who actually cares.  (sob!)

anyway, all of that changed over the weekend!  i found a little jessie doll at the thrift store, and although it was a long shot that shosh would deign to acknowledge it, i figured it was worth the two-dollar risk.  she loves her some toy story, jessie in particular.  i set it aside for christmas, but dayamn that girl of mine can sure rustle up some hidden christmas presents without even trying!  so christmas came early for her this year, and i'm kind of glad it did.  she has been glued to jessie ever since.

she informs me that jessie's nose is running, insists on taking off all her clothes for naptime (?), tells everyone when jessie is hungry or wants to play catch, helps her pet the cat, and shows her the moon.  i am beside myself with the cuteness, and with finally having a kid who identifies with inanimate objects.  (i had to sleep with every last one of my stuffed animals and play with them all equally, even the weird ones, for fear that one would feel left out.  it's a good thing toy story wasn't around when i was a kid, or i would probably still be sleeping with all my stuffed animals today, terrified to let them all down.)

she instantly picked up on the fact that the thrift-store jessie was missing her hat, and i was somehow miraculously able to dig up a wee safari hat and trick her into thinking it was the perfect hat for jessie.  (i redeemed myself yesterday by running to a craft store during my ridiculously short lunch break and finding a tiny black cowboy hat for jessie.  parenthood makes you do weird things sometimes, man.  or maybe, judging by the above story of my childhood stuffed animals, i'm just weird all the time).

i never thought i'd let my kid play with a doll with barbie proportions, but i totally am and i don't even care.  the proportions are so ridiculous, it reminds me more of one of those super-long legged handmade etsy dolls that are so big right now, you know?  like, not meant to be a realistic interpretation of actual human proportions.  is my feminism getting soft in its old age? i don't know, but then i found a box of sixty-year old barbie clothes in the basement that sho's great-grandmother made, and there was no going back.  i love that sho loves this crazy-ass (look at that face!) doll.  my grandma made the most elaborate sets of clothing, some sewn by hand and none larger than three inches long, all from scraps in her own basement sewing lair, on the very same viking that i do all my basement sewing on these days.  shimmering ball gowns, flannel nightgowns made to match my mom's childhood pajamas, teensy hand-knitted sweaters, little 1950's party dresses with miniature rick-rack, the list goes on and on.  and sho actually likes to play with it all!  i always hated barbies as a kid, but now as a twenty-eight year old woman, i finally see the strange appeal.  (just like the color pink, actually.)  

p.s.  congratulations to commentors #2 and 9, tina and shauna, for winning the lotion and lip balm giveaway!  (shauna, i don't have your contact info, please holla at me at sarahvaneck at gmail.com so i can send ya some lotion!)  thanks so much for reading, and stay tuned for another body product giveaway later this week!  
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