girl time

I haven't written much about my daughter lately. She's humming right along in school academically, now in second grade, and also socially understanding and becoming affected by so many more "big kid" type things. She's my first, so with her there are struggles and "growing pains" for us as her parents, that probably won't be there by the time her little brother makes it up to this age. She's had some more emotional moments this week and I think it's time for some mother/daughter time. I tend to focus on the necessity of her having a "daddy date" time, as I know how important it is for the two of them to have a strong relationship. Afterall, it feels like we are together each day after school, but now that Zane is a part of our family I need to make sure we have "girl time" away from little brother and daddy. She is becoming more fashion-conscious and has looked through some of the ads that came in for black friday and shared a few outfit styles that she likes. She's in that gap of seeing newer trends and liking them but also still drawn to the "cutesy" type shirts with an animal or figure on them. So I'm kind of torn - do I take her to a Gymboree-type store or to a Kohls or department store where it's trendier? She's really good on being mindful of modesty and will point out outfits that lack that. I searched online this morning to get an idea of what stores are carrying...
I think she'd go for one of these from Gymboree,

but what she pointed out in the ads this weekend were more like this (courtesy of JC Penney),

Well, I don't know about you moms, but I would rather head to Gymboree and take "cutesy" over "trendy" any day. But, the tunic-with-a-belt style is fine with me and fits within our modesty guidelines, so I will let her decide. I think she'd like a tunic with leggings, so that's what we'll set out for at one of those stores!
The poor thing only has a few hand-me-downs that fit and some leftovers from last winter that she has growth-spurted out of, so her dad agrees that we are due for some girl time of shopping. I think the grandmas will come through with some new clothes for Christmas, so while our trip will be more about time out together and less about the shopping, a new outfit or two is in order. I was also able to book her a hair cut on Saturday morning as well, so I'm looking forward to pampering her a bit. Girl time, here we come!
What do you think? Do you have a daughter in this age "gap" as well? How do you balance your vs. her clothing desires?


update: After previewing a few shopping choices on the internet before shopping, my daughter chose the shirt above, of the girl walking the dog. :) Thata girl. Still my little girl...
The morning was a terrific one - we both really needed it. No rushing around. I let her have all the time she wanted to look and show me things in a bunch of stores. When we got home, she said she was "so excited about getting some squinkies" (something she actually bought with her own money while we were out). I asked her if that was the best thing about the morning or "if it was getting her hair cut or getting a new shirt or spending time with your mom"? She replied, "I just didn't say it first, but the best part was being with you." Awww...! Precious!