Summer days in Durham are bright hot and unbearably heavy with humidity. Juniper loves every minute of it. She begs to go outside in the wilting heat of midday. Unfortunately for her, at 26 weeks, this pregnant mama wants nothing to do with Summer heat indices north of 100.
When we do indulge our little nature girl, she zig-zags around the back yard, gently smelling every flower and sinking her fingers into the clumpy clay dirt. She says "hi" to every butterfly and dragonfly. We sit and watch them dance from bud to branch. Young deer hover around the perimeter, waiting for their chance at the peach tree. Giant fuzzy bumblebees nestle in the zinnias. "Bees!" she yells, giggling with delight, unaware of stings and such things.
She mimics her daddy, inspecting the grass, pulling up weeds. She delights in any little breeze that might come our way. She wanders and explores.
Back inside, we watch the birds on the feeders - extravagant cardinals, impossibly tiny hummingbirds, noisy little finches. I think of all that she must be learning, every moment of the day - things I don't have to teach her, things she learns just by being in the world. It is humbling, dizzying. The swiftness of it all. And the simplicity.
And this dress. I love this dress. Light and poofy, loose and full of movement, it is just the thing for our little explorer. The pattern is the Bubble Dress from Oliver + S. I'm so glad I snatched one up before it went out of print. It was fairly simple to follow and came together very quickly. It is fully lined, so not a single itchy seam is showing. And the 2T fits Juniper well with room to grow. I want to make dozens of them, so she can bubble around the yard all Summer long. Especially since I made a bit of a mistake on the back of this one. Details.
The wonderful butterfly fabric is from the FreeSpririt line by Momo for Moda.
(making a Daddy face...)