Did you like how I baited the weather gods with that taunt about the fifth of July and they FELL FOR IT and gave us a week of sunshine just to be contrary? Granted, it isn’t all that warm, but in the shelter of the back yard it was pleasant enough to shuck off jackets and fleece boots for a quick photo shoot with new summer pants.

Ada’s little friend Etta has a pair of these sewn by an auntie; they’re so cute I had to track down the pattern. It’s the Big Butt Baby Pants from Made by Rae, and I could sew little pants like these till the cows come home. Except that we’ll call them Big Bottom pants, because my mother reads here and she thinks “butt” is crass unless it’s a verb, an archery target, a cigarette end, or a cask of wine. No crass pants for your granddaughter, okay, Mum?

I started with the pinky-orange fabric with the jars of tadpoles (can you stand it?), which has been in my stash for a couple of years, and then chose the orange print to go with it. Turns out my orange is just a slightly quieter version of the fabric Rae used to illustrate the pattern — a coincidence, but who could resist orange with circles?

They’re too big for her right now, and that’s intentional. I made the 12-18 month size so she can wear them all summer. I’ve got a second pair cut out already. I figure she needs one for every day of the week.

(Ada is holding a very small stick in this picture; I imagine Lark is either hoping she’ll throw it or wishing to teach her what is best to be done with small sticks: they must be obliterated by crunching them to tiny bits and then rolling in them. At least Ada is already inclined to put sticks in her mouth, clearly promising to be more intelligent than either of her parents.)

Mama likes to think this twig looks a lot like a #1 double-pointed knitting needle.
Can her first pair of socks be far away?

And oh, the glories of bare feet and inquisitive fingers and real dirt to put them in! I’m taking real pleasure in watching my daughter begin to explore the little ecosystems between the patio bricks. (And fertile ecosystems they are indeed on our particular patio!) I hope it’s just the beginning of a lasting love for the natural world.