Style Maven Elsie

So check out the Sesame Street posting and look closely--notice Elsie's yellow fingernails? Jaundice, you might ask? Not quite. I took her for a mommy-daughter pre-beach mani-pedi and this is the color she chose. I guess she didn't get the memo that any child of mine and her father's should under no circumstances wear yellow unless it is Halloween and they are dressed as a duck or Big Bird. Children of a lovely olive complexion like that of her cousins might be able to carry yellow but any shade of yellow plus pasty-freckley-always-verging-on-sunburned babies better stick with shades that highlight bright blue eyes and porcelain skin.

You see, Elsie was enamoured when I got my toes done for the first time this season and I promised to take her "next time." David asked her what color she would choose and she insisted on "yellow." Now, for all of Elsie's obvious genius, she has been a bit slow or negligent or oblivious in the color department. She just had not heretofor had time for dealing with the subtleties of shades of color, the nuances of hue. Surely, she just didn't know what she was saying when she declared that she would request a yellow manicure?! I was convinced that when she saw the wall of pinks and reds, she would see the light. But not so fast, Mama. Upon scanning the wall, Elsie immediately pointed her chubby finger at the yellow, the sole yellow in a sea of rosy shades, and there it was--yellow chubby fingers and yellow chubby toes--this season's hottest shade on a soon-to-be style icon and finally color-conscious toddler.