Bean is four months old. You’d think by now I’d have an understanding of how sizing for baby works. I don’t. I just went to dress her in yet another cute shirt that I was “saving” and it doesn’t fit. It’s too small. I missed that tiny window of opportunity. Damn. Now I have to wait for our next child before we can oohh and ahh over it. I find this frustrating.

I remember opening boxes of darling outfits for Bean thinking, “I can’t wait for her to wear this!” And now her tummy is busting at the buttons. Not quite the look I was saving for. Sigh. We’ll put it away for number two. If ever there was a reason to have another kid, this could be it. (I apologize in advance if our next is a boy but this pink cupcake shirt is too sweet to never be seen again.)

Seriously, I have a storage container filled with clothes for Bean that debuted once, maybe twice, before they got packed away. How do I remedy this? I had a system. The idea was, one drawer for current clothes, one for clothes that almost fit and a third for clothes in the distant future. This system is not working. When she was a newborn, three months (drawer #2) felt forever away. Now it has come and gone and she will never get to wear this very cool, brown and blue-hearted dress that her Aunty gave her.

I know this is truly trivial but I have to admit I am a little stressed. It’s a frantic feeling, like being afraid I am going to miss out on something. We have to hurry and find occasions to sport those funky jeans before it’s too late. Either that or these fun little numbers will simply be doll clothes one day. I can see it now. I will fight with Bean to play with her dolls just so I can dress them up since I missed my chance with her.

Help. She is four months now. Does this mean she should be wearing six-month-old clothing? The annoying factor is that I don’t want to be bored of her clothes by time she is six months. I’m trying to find that perfect timeline. (Don’t get me started on the items that are sized by weight.)

My plan (unless moms out there can share some insight on how they have maximized the time clock of baby clothes) is to not wait for the perfect outing, and to Carpe Diem—as they say, “Use the good china—don’t save it for a special event.” I’ll use her good clothes whenever I can.

I know Dale is going to ask me why Bean is wearing that heart-patterned dress to bed tonight. I’ll simply explain that life’s too short. Well—the lifespan of baby clothes is, at least.