A RealFamilies RealFun Blog

Apr 20 2009

Nekkie Girl

Category: Kids & Growing Up

There's an episode of SpongeBob when after he's bitten by sea urchins, he runs around screaming "Itchy! Itchy!!" I can relate. When I was pregnant, I itched like crazy. While I didn't run around the house manically waving my arms and yelling -- that behavior came after the kids were born -- it was so bad that taking a shower and drowning myself in lotion was the only thing that helped.

Wearing clothes was the worst. I couldn't wait until work was over so I could go home and strip down to just my underpants. Everything bothered me from the label in my shirt to the elastic in my socks. I took to wearing a cotton camisole under my bra and my husband's XL flannel shirts.

Somehow Lucie must have inherited this. (Is there such a thing as an itchy gene?). By noon most days, she's stripped down to just a pair of Pull-Ups. She accessorizes with socks worn as gloves, a fluffy scarf or maybe a beaded necklace. And there's the rodeo version: cowboy boots and hat and a Swiffer as a stick horse.

Occasionally, she pretends she's at the beach. She spreads a blanket on the floor, puts her stuffed animal buddies all around, and playing the attentive hostess, passes out sippy cups and bowls of food to her small gathering. She'll then change into a swim diaper and bathing suit and join the beach blanket brouhaha.

When it comes to dress up (or should I call this dress down?) I'm pretty indulgent since all this happens in the privacy of my home. (Except for that memorable fall day when I found Lucie naked in the garage after stripping down on the front lawn.) The only thing that concerns me is that she'll get cold since I keep the heat turned low. I continually suggest how nice it is to be wrapped up like a burrito in a fluffy blanket. Or how cool it is to wear daddy's Harley T-shirt as a dress. However, I can never convince her that anything's more fun than running around the house au natural gleefully yelling, "Here comes Nekkie Girl!"