TeeTiny Footie Pajamas

Heath has always had a thing for fleece. Pajamas, blankets, jackets, pants. Could wear it all the time. And I can't blame him. It's a favorite of mine, too. It's soft. It's warm. It's cozy. And it holds the fragrance of fresh laundry detergent better than any other fabric. So last night when I tackled the project of putting away some wintry/Christmas/too small pajamas, while trying to take stock of what needs to be purchased for Spring, I ran into a little Heath snag.

In Stella's closet, I'd found two pair of zip-up footie pjs completely smothered in Skating Penguins and Sledding Snow Bears. The blue pair, sized 12 months, was worn by Heath and Stella. But no one is fitting into that size these days, so I set them aside for storage. The red pair, 24 months, was worn by Heath, and Stella might be able to wear them in the Fall/Winter, so I put them in a use-later pile. Early this morning, Heath upended my piles, and discovered the pajamas.

All day long, he carried them around, insisting that he could wear them tonight after his bath. He took them in the car with us when we went out this morning. He took a nap with them. He ate lunch with them. He took them in the car when we went to the park this afternoon. And sure enough, after his bath, he was determined to wear one of them to bed.

Despite my insistence that they are both WAY too small, he demanded that he try them on. The red 24 month were three -quarter sleeves. And when he shoved his big old feet into them, he couldn't zip up the front.

These are too small, he said, and I was relieved that this wasn't going to be a big deal. But I forgot that he was giving up so easily because there was another pair to try. Sized 12 months.

He got one arm in, pretty much short sleeves, but they are so tiny, he could not get both arms in. Then he tried repeatedly pulling the pj leg down, so he could cram his leg in, but of course, it was too short, so he ended up sort of chasing himself around in a circle trying to catch the uncooperative fabric. He pulled and yanked, and I said, You've just grown so big, Heath, and he got angrier, pulling at the Sledding Polar Bears and snowflakes, stretched beyond their capacity. I kept waiting to hear Riiip! Finally, he just fell over, stumbling over the infant jammies that were unwilling to let Heath have one final spin in them.

I expected more of a meltdown about not being able to wear the snowy sleepwear, but he just threw them back into Stella's room and put on his Fire Truck fleece. While we were reading Curious George Goes to the Chocolate Factory, having a sleepy, cozy, quiet moment, Heath sat up straight and said, Hey, I got an idea. I'll let the snow pajamas grow and when they get bigger, I can wear them tomorrow.

He settled back into me, ready to hear the rest of the story, obviously pleased with his problem-solving.

If he doesn't move on to another project by tomorrow night, where, oh where, am I going to find Christmas fleece pajamas in a 4 or 5T in March?