Style vs. Practicality: Skinny Jeans and Little Boys

A few weeks ago, I had a pretty big mommy fail. Choi Boy, who has been fully potty-trained for almost 9 months, had an accident -- only the 3rd pee accident he's ever had since those first 3 days. And it was TOTALLY my fault.

You see, my little boy, who is eager to grow in his independence, headed to the bathroom by himself while we were at a Christmas party. He does this all the time at home and knew where the bathroom was at his friend's house, so it didn't seem like it would be an issue. In fact, I didn't even realize CB had headed to the bathroom until I heard him frantically shouting, "Mommy! Mommy! Come fast!!!" I rushed into the bathroom and found CB in tears saying, "I had an accident, Mommy! I peed in my pants..." He was so sad...and *I* was so sad when I realized that the reason he peed in his pants was because he couldn't get his skinny jeans off by himself.

:(

Sigh.

Back when we initially potty trained, I relented and kept Choi Boy in elastic-waist pants and shorts to help the process go more smoothly. Normally, I'm not a huge fan of little boys in sweatpants and basketball shorts all day, every day. And I know there's probably only a small window of time before that's all CB wants to wear! So, once the cooler autumn weather rolled in, we were back to skinny jeans and cords for CB...

He has been really great about getting his pants off and back on by himself and asks for help if/when he needs it. And never once has he complained about the clothes I put him in (secretly, I think he likes them ;)...despite how miserable he might look in that picture!).

I guess this time he had just held out for too long and the jeans were just too skinny. And after seeing his face last week, I'll most likely retire that pair.

We won't be abandoning button and zipper pants altogether, but we'll be leaning a little more heavily on elastic-waist pants. And while little girls definitely have a leg up (haha) in this department with all the variations of adorable leggings that are available to them, take heart, moms of boys, because we aren't just limited to sweatpants -- hurrah!

We have this pair of cargo pants from the Gap that we bought early in the Fall and we also have these elastic-waist skinny cargos from Korea that are a pretty close second to CB's now-retired skinny jeans.

(Not sure why he's standing on his tippy toes!)

I don't plan on buying any more pants until Choi Boy is ready for the next size up (his old skinnies are actually 18-24 months...and yes, I do still feel terrible about the whole incident!), so we will have throw sweatpants into the mix more frequently. But, when CB isready for new, bigger pants, you can bet we'll be looking into these very cute, non-sweatpants elastic-waist pants!

1) Gap; 2) Zara; 3) Zara; 4) H&M;

And when we do get to the point where all CB wants to wear are sweatpants, I might be okay with it if they're as cute as these:

Marled terry pants|Gap

I said *might*. ;)

small style: summer sunday best.

confession: most of our small style shoots are done on sundays after church. because, let's face it, i'm not about to send choi boy to daycare in a linen shirt only to have it come home splattered with paint. not that casual clothes can't be super stylish, too! but, we'll tackle that another day.

i struggle a bit with how to dress cb for church on summer sundays because i don't want him to be too casual in shorts, but i don't want him to be super hot, either. solution? dress up those shorts!

ta-da! a perfect blend of summer-y style that's church-appropriate for a little dude.

but, so much for keeping those sunday clothes clean...

because here's how cb usually feels about our small style shoots:

:)

can't blame him.

his momma is so annoying with the "cheese!"s and "look here!"s.

so, i let him run off and play with the sidewalk chalk he was itching to get his hands on.

sidewalk chalk that promptly got all over his hands.

which he then proceeded to wipe on his clothes.

v

whatevs. we do own a washing machine and everything's washable! we do also own an iron, but i have yet to fully figure out how it operates and i despise ironing. we'll see what that linen shirt looks like after a washing and non-ironing. ;)

the details:

hat: children's place

shirt: gap (gift from my momma)

shorts: did too (nordstrom's -- gift from a family friend)

shoes: tiny toms (gift from my sister)

small style: the cropped pant.

*disclaimer: most of these photos turned out very dark, so i fiddled around with the exposure and some vintage-y effects while editing them in order to make them semi-presentable. i'm not totally satsified with them, but they'll make do. on another note, if a photo-editing whiz would like to take pity on me and tell me what i can do to fix underexposed shots, i'd be so, so grateful. and on another note, i really need to learn to use my camera!

there has been a long standing debate about the appropriateness of cropped pants/capris on men.

no? you don't also have deep conversations about this subject?

yes, perhaps there are other things to talk about.

anyway.

my little guy has an annoying problem. he's too skinny for 2T pants, but too tall (tall being a very relative term here) for 18-24mo pants (skinny people problems). so, when his (okay, my) favorite pair of jeans began to look like highwaters, i decided to roll them up and turn them into bonafide cropped pants. because i also decided that whether or not cropped pants are appropriate on men, when you're two, you can get away with anything.

 

see? voila!

add a fedora and a cardi and you've got an especially euro-chic little man.

:)

and after you toss the hat to the side and then decide to take the cardi off, it also maks a really good whippy thing with which you can jump around.

and even after you toss all accessories aside because you just want to be a normal little boy with a ball and not a silly hat or sweater, your cuteness ends up being the best accessory of all.

i can't even stand it...i just adore him to bits. ;)

 the details:

 hat: children's place

cardi: h&m

polo: gap (gift from my momma)

 jeans: gap (gift from my sister)

shoes: tiny toms (gift from my sister)

small style: rock on.

black jeans always remind me of classic 80s bands. like styx or journey. or say, jesse and the rippers. ;)

my sister got choi boy a pair of black skinnies and every time i put him in them, i can't help but picture him rockin' out. with some awesome feathered hair. i think his hair would feather quite well.

so, anyway. we had a little fun in the black skinnies. because, it turns out that black skinny jeans + electric guitar = insta-rocker.

cb might have been a little skeptical at first,

but the equation proved to be true.

in fact, once he got going, he totally lost himself in the music.

and what kind of rockstar doesn't also sing?

loudly, i might add. ;)

but, don't be fooled, this rockstar is still a little sweetie at heart.

but when he's ready to be a full time rocker, i'm pretty sure this'll make an awesome album cover:

and here is the breakdown of his rocker wear:

black skinnies: gap (gift from my sister)

purple oxford: did too (gift from family friend)

suspenders: american apparel

sneakers: vans (gift from my cousin, liss)
tats: thomas the tank engine

small style: the sickies can't get us down!

the sickies hit us fairly hard last week. they came in spurts and kept sneaking back up on us just when we thought they were gone. it was part cold/virus part nasty allergies and alllllll gross. there were snots coming out of choi boy's EYES. okay, maybe not snot, per se, but definitely yellow-y, mucus-y gunk.

have i totally disgusted you yet? sorry. i was partly facsinated by this fact and needed to share. aren't you glad i did? ;)

thankfully, cb felt well enough for us venture out for a bit on saturday afternoon so we could head to the chick-fil-a fire and rescue event. it was just what we needed -- some sunshine, vitamin D, fire trucks, and of course, food!

i've decided that an oxford shirt, t-shirt, shorts, and kicks is cb's go-to spring/summer outfit.
and cb?
 

he couldn't care less. ;)

he was just excited to be outside again!

my mom, on the other hand, was happy to cb in his outfit and immediately whisked him away to show him off to all her friends.

and after doing all his tricks for all the ladies, cb ran off to ogle the rescue vehicles,

do a little jig,

and hug a cow.

 

but that's not all.

cb also got to kick back,

consume lots of chick-fil-a,

point out helicopters (there were 2!),

and enjoy a treat!

take that, sickies!

and whohoo for the very long (and much needed) nap that followed! :)

details:

sunnies: target dollar spot

t-shirt: crewcuts, gift from a friend

oxford: did too (nordstroms), gift from a family friend

capris? cropped pants? euro shorts? whatever the bottoms are called: h&m

shoes: gap

and i realized i never picked a winner for the giveaway...oops. i'm blaming it on the sickies. so, without further ado, the winner is tina! i'll get your sandwich cards to you pronto! :)



small style: batter up!

we love that springtime means lots of time outside. and choi boy loves being out in wide open spaces, showing off all the skills that he honed during the cold indoor months. to him, playing tee ball with an actual ball (and not a pretend one or a super squishy one) and hitting it as far as he possibly can = heaven. :)

an added bonus for us? it's really cute to watch.

{i'm slightly alarmed/mostly highly amused by how much cb looks like a preppy frat boy here. he's all, "c'mon, bro. let's ditch the books and go play ball in the quad!"}

here's our little slugger in action:

there's the set up:


the wind up:



the swing!


the hit!


and the utter concentration and readiness to do it all over again!

:)

i made him pose like he was taking his team photos:

and then i shed a little tear and made him stop because he suddenly looked to be about 6 years-old.

and then he was done.


and wanted to go back to being 2 and a half and playing with his pororo cars.


cars that happened to be sent all the way from korea from his sweet, sweet foster mom.


we are so blessed to continue to have this amazing connection. 감사합니다! :)

so thankful for sunshine and warmer weather!


and the small style details:
sunglasses: target dollar spot (holla!)
checkered shirt: gap (gift from my aunt)
yellow tee: gap (gift from my aunt)
shorts: company 81 (gift from my cousin, april)
kicks: vans (gift from my cousin, elissa)