The Burberry Zucchini

The other morning I asked Big Girl which bathing suit she wanted me to pack for camp.

Me: "What suit do you want?"

Big Girl: "Um... My zucchini."

I smiled. "Your zucchini, huh?"

I couldn't bring myself to correct her. This was too cute.

"Yes, Mom. My zucchini!"

*

When we were younger, my sisters and I used to call magazines mazagines and Parmesan parsabom. Mom couldn't bring herself to correct us. It was too cute.

*

When Big Girl was born, one of my best friends Tree (no, not the one who dated JP!) gave me a baby gift. I opened it and cracked up. It was an itty-bitty Burberry string bikini. Big Girl wore it for the first time when we took her to Cape Cod that summer. She was six months, bald as can be, thighs full of delicious baby rolls.

Less than two weeks ago, we went to the Cape again as we now do every summer. I was eager for the trip, to get away, to soak up the sun and feel the sand in my toes. But I was also eager to break out that tiny suit once more. As I finagled Little Girl, now four months, into her big sister's "zucchini," I couldn't stop smiling. There she was, my tiny creature, yes bald, yes chubby, in that stringy thing.

These girls with their mixed-up words and fabulous hand-me-downs? They bring me endless joy. It's true.

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Did you mix up words as a kid? Do your kids have any cute words for things? Do you enjoy hand-me-downs for the memories they conjure?