Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

Baby Fat

                                       Frenchcottonbabyshirts

When I was expecting my first child, my Belle Mere (Mother in law,) gave me a dozen, antique, pristine, hand-made, white cotton chemises for the baby-to-be.

I was thrilled.

I folded and refolded, those little pristine cotton chemises, over and over during those nine months. I stacked them in the armoire, and imagined how darling my little baby was going to look in those sweet things.

When Chelsea was born she weighed ten pounds. Oh those pinch-able plump cheeks! Those rolls that looked as if someone had tied silk threads along her arms and legs. Those ten pounds that would-not-could-not fit into those antique, pristine, hand-made, white cotton chemises, that my Belle Mere had handed down. Try as I may I could not stuff my baby into them. Maybe that is why they looked brand new…no baby had ever worn them.

Photo: French antique baby clothes.

Note: Chelsea received her BAC with honors yesterday. I am pinching her cheeks and doing a happy dance.

Comments

69 responses to “Baby Fat”

  1. Chantal

    Toutes mes félicitations à Chelsea !!! You must be doing the happy dance right now. Those little “chemises” are so beautiful. Keep them safe to hand them down to Chelsea one day 🙂

    Reply
  2. Charlotte

    WELL DONE CHELSEA!!!!!!! Grown up… mmmm… lets say student life starts now and it’s the BEST!!!
    Hope you’re partying hard to celebrate!!!

    Reply
  3. sognatrice

    Brava! The baby clothes are truly gorgeous…maybe a grandbaby will fit into them someday 😉

    Reply
  4. Tara Larsen Chang

    That is one of the disadvantages of big babies (which I also had. We got to completely skip ‘newborn’ sizes and jump straight into 3 month clothes).
    Maybe use them on dolls, to display? 🙂

    Reply
  5. Merisi’s Vienna

    Congratulations, daughter and parents! Well done. 🙂
    Ten American pounds, I hope (for you *g*), 4540 grams. My firstborn was only 3890g, but she never fitted in the tiny size neither. We started out with size 6 months, by age 3 months she needed size 24 months. She’s as svelte as can be, btw. ever since she grew out of her breast milk nurtured baby fat by around 4 years of age. 🙂

    Reply
  6. Mary

    In my daughter Margot’s cupboard hangs the little white dress that I wore to my first holy communion. It was sent to Australia by my Oma who had made a big fuss about how beautiful it was. It was not the white confection my mother thought it would be but a very simple broderie anglaise dress – that maybe Margot (who is four) might wear one day – if she fits into it! And one day I hope to be pinching her cheeks and dancing with her on completing her school life – congratulations to Chelsea ! Mary (BlueMountainsMary)

    Reply
  7. marita

    toutes mes felicitations, chelsea. la fête de l’été t’attend!
    the petite white cottons are beautiful. perhaps they could still serve one day to your grandchildren
    😉 some day their blog will have a post about…
    ‘les cotons de mamie’ 😉

    Reply
  8. Pascale

    Félicitations à Chelsea !Good luck for her projects…One of my son had also her BAC yesterday…

    Reply
  9. ‘The’ Kristy

    Well done Chelsea!
    Those chemises are just beautiful.I hope you have them somewhere they can be seen.

    Reply
  10. Marie-Noëlle

    Fat… but brainy baby !
    Bravo, Chelsea!

    Reply
  11. Jeanne

    Congratulations to your lovely daughter and how beautiful and precious is every moment of the golden times shared with our children.
    The clothes are divine!
    Blessings!

    Reply
  12. Hasmin

    Corey, those chemises are adorable. I can relate with having a “big” baby. Two of my kids were born 10+ and 9+ lbs. and one was a mere 8+ lbs.
    And a big congratulations go to Chelsea, for getting honors on her BAC. Hooray!

    Reply
  13. My Melange

    Congratulations!!!!! What a cute image….who doesn’t love a fat baby?

    Reply
  14. Paris Parfait

    Congratulations to Chelsea for her wonderful accomplishments!

    Reply
  15. Jann

    oh, too cute-but now you can use them for the grandbabies~sometime down the road!

    Reply
  16. rochambeau

    Go Chelsea!!
    You were a pretty baby (and nice to let your mom dress you up) and now a pretty and smart young lady! Congratulations, You did it!
    Ps. Mary Twiggy….Too funny!

    Reply
  17. Gypsy Purple-Chamara

    Congratulations Chelsea!!!!!!
    Congratulations Mom!!!!!

    Reply
  18. tut-tut

    with honors! She must be glowing!

    Reply
  19. patpaulk

    10 pounds!!! Definitely a keeper. Congratulations to you all!!

    Reply
  20. Shannon

    Congratulations to Chelsea!
    And how I laughed at the image of you trying to stuff your chubby Chelsea into outfits that no baby actually wore!
    While completely cute and dreamy, some outfits were not meant to be.
    Thank you for my first laugh of the morning.

    Reply
  21. pam aries

    DEAR God! 10 pounds?!!! You crack me up!

    Reply
  22. Anna

    Congratulations, Chelsea, and best wishes for all good things to come!

    Reply
  23. elsa

    those chemises are beautiful. you can still let her keep them. hopefully they’ll fit her future baby(ies)? tell her congrats on that BAC with honors!

    Reply
  24. Dawn

    Bravo, Chelsea!!!!
    Corey, I can see the big happy grin on your face!
    My first was 11 lbs…and I also had such sweet “little” things that stayed in the drawer…never to be worn.
    *sigh*

    Reply
  25. Paris Bac

    BRAVO !
    FELICITATIONS !
    BONNE COURAGE !
    I’m so pleased your girl did good!!!!
    🙂

    Reply
  26. Laura at Blame It on Paris

    Congratulations to Chelsea! And yes, the first thing I thought when I saw those chemises is HOW did they stay so white and pretty if a baby wore them? Now I know… But they are beautiful nevertheless. We have some gifts our baby received like that–handmade, beautiful, very impractical for a baby. But the love is there, and she will know it when she looks at these things from her childhood later.

    Reply
  27. Cre8Tiva

    from a plump bundle of joy to an honors graduate…how time really does fly for a Mother…one day you are trying to stuff her into memories, the next she is off to make her own memories…congratulations to the Mother and the babe…blessings, rebecca

    Reply
  28. Carol

    Chelsea,
    Many congratulations for your success!

    Reply
  29. Leau

    How exciting to be sent out into the world with honors! See, she had no reason to be fearful of that jump, she was well prepared. And the pagan baby, too funny! I went to Catholic school for 6 weeks (we were Baptist!), thought I had landed on some foreign planet and can really picture the whole guilt thing! Good laugh to start my day. (heart) leau

    Reply
  30. Nora

    Congratulations, Chelsea.

    Reply
  31. eb

    Yippeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!
    I am happy dancing with you –
    would that I could pinch those sweet cheeks…
    Congratulations to Chelsea and her family!
    How about hanging those pretty little chemises on pretty little hangers and display them on a warm rich cafe au lait painted wall – installation – style?
    xox – eb.

    Reply
  32. Sally

    Congratulations Chelsea on your hard work and accomplishments! Wishing you all good things!

    Reply
  33. Donna O’Brien -The Ribboned Crown

    Every morning you make me smile! I went back and looked at the post of your daughter at 6 months…I hope you have that framed somewhere in your home- just precious.
    Donna

    Reply
  34. CathyC

    I work at a hospital, and every time a 10 pounder (or up) is born, the entire hospital hears about it. I was once in the maternity ward when the nurses were actually passing around this 10 pound baby boy at the nurses station to show him off. Love it! And great job to Chelsea!

    Reply
  35. Caty

    Congratulations to you and husband and Chelsea (and Sacha because surely he put his “grain de sable”…:)…)

    Reply
  36. Francoise

    hello corey !
    félicitations à chelsea pour avoir réussi son bac avec mention !
    bravo chelsea

    Reply
  37. Alison Whittington

    That’s wonderful news! Congratulations, Chelsea!

    Reply
  38. Lorene

    First off – Congratulations to Chelsea! That is wonderful. Second – 10 pounds! yikes! Thanks for sharing you cute story this morning.

    Reply
  39. Regina Clare Jane

    Hee hee…
    Congratulations to Chelsea and to the proud parents!
    xo

    Reply
  40. Lidy@frenchgardenhouse.com

    Congratulations!! Chelsea, great job. How fun it will be to go on your vacation and Celebrate!!
    Thrilled, all you “blog” aunties are thrilled for you.
    Lidy

    Reply
  41. Brother Mathew

    Way to go Chelsea! Congratulations and great luck in the future. See you soon!

    Reply
  42. Mary Anne Davis

    It is funny how we idealize what will be, tiny, perfect clothes for a tiny perfect baby. Reality ends up so much more interesting and wonderful. Congrats!

    Reply
  43. Franca Bollo

    I hope you’re breaking out a bottle of your best bubbly for that brainy, babelicious, BAC beating baby. Brava! I’ll raise my cocktail to Chelsea tonight.

    Reply
  44. Stephanie

    You just know that MOST adorable little one (from your past post…OMG, adorable!!!) would do well in life…congratulations!!

    Reply
  45. beachy

    Congratulations to your dear Chelsea!!! And what a sweet story about your chemises! My second baby was a big boy (9 1/2lbs) and he could not fit into the newborn diapers they had at the hospital! All those newborn clothes I had for him never fit! heehee

    Reply
  46. tommiea

    congrats to Chelsea…
    My first one swam in the clothes we brought him home in, so I got the tiniest size possible for the second child….She could barely stuff her little chubby arms into the dress…so we wore it exactly once!

    Reply
  47. Rosemary

    Congrats!! We all knew that Chelsea would do great!!
    Those baby clothes are so beautiful, even if she didn’t wear them.
    Rosemary

    Reply
  48. claudia

    Bon Chance Chelsea! Corey you must be so proud and amazed that your big baby is now a real lady! all the best to you with love
    xoc

    Reply
  49. AnnieElf

    Congratulations Chelsea and all my best wishes for whatever is coming next. Hey Corey. One down and one to go. LOL

    Reply
  50. judypatooote

    Hi Corey, it’s me judy from memories are made of this….I just wanted to stop by and tell you how impressed I am with you…. I bought the book Somerset Life, and I found an article by you…..on blogging…..very nice…. I do love the Somerset books….everytime I think I’ve seen them all, a new one pops up…(to me anyway) … When I lost all my favorites addresses, I guess I never put you back on the list… I do so enjoy reading about your wonderful finds….so stop by and say hi sometime… judypatooote.blogspot.com your going back on my favorites list….I hope thats ok……judy

    Reply
  51. martina

    I have the baptismal outfit that was first worn by favorite Aunty in 1916 and her brother, son and me. Three layers of beautiful lace and fine linen, a sweet lace and ribbon and silk cap. Alas no future generations to wear it and my friends kids were all too big at birth to be able to wear it! Still it is a beautiful heirloon.
    Congratulations, well done Chelsea! Enjoy your trip to California.

    Reply
  52. shabbyinthecity

    Congratulations Chelsea! Sorry you didn’t get to wear the antique chemises…maybe your mom will buy you a new dress today?

    Reply
  53. Lisa Oceandreamer

    Many, many congratulations to Chelsea! I think we’re all doing the dance with you!!
    Aren’t those chemise adorable, I can see an apple cheeked wee babe wearing one of them. Perhaps one day a grandchild will fit in to one or all…and they will have a sweet story attached to them.
    XOXO

    Reply
  54. sheila

    Congratulations to Chelsea on her exam results..!
    Too bad the clothing didn’t fit her, perhaps one day they will fit your grandchildren.
    xo

    Reply
  55. pusa

    congratulations to chelsea, maybe she took after her mother.
    btw, too bad she wasnt able to wear those baby dresses, they look fabulous, maybe her children someday?

    Reply
  56. Gail

    That is the funniest story I have ever heard! You rock.
    Gail

    Reply
  57. Linda

    The BAC is such a big hurdle to get over so well done to your daughter. Now the rest of her life awaits. Exciting times ahead.

    Reply
  58. ~jolenemarie

    Note to Chelsea: Rock On! Not surprising you received your BAC with honors…with your beauty, your intelligence and your bravery to jump from planes the world is yours for the taking.
    Corey I could feel you beaming with pride. 🙂

    Reply
  59. Lindsay

    I too had this problem. My mom gave me my baby dresses when my first daughter was born. I weighed a mere 4lb. 15 ozs. when I was born, so I was really hoping they wouldn’t fit my babies. Of they didn’t, but they look stunning hanging from glass knobs in the nursery!

    Reply
  60. Lynda

    Beautiful treasures to pass on to the next generation. Congratulations Chelsea! ♥

    Reply
  61. Mrs.Staggs

    Congratulations and best wishes to Chelsea!

    Reply
  62. simple me

    Congratulations Chelsea!
    That’s great news…wow!
    could you imagine when you placed those flowers on Chelsea’s head many years ago where you would be now kissing her cheeks.
    The chemises are just gorgeous.

    Reply
  63. lauren Mumford

    CONGRATULATIONS CHELSEA!!! Beauty, Bravery, and BRAINS…that’s a scary mix for Mom and Dad sweetie, go easy on them as the years go on, k?
    🙂
    P.S. Summer is here! Time to get your (California) party on!

    Reply
  64. sarala

    Lovely baby store and congrats on the bac.

    Reply
  65. Camilla

    Bonjour Corey,
    Well done and many congratulations to your daughter Chelsea in receiving her Honours, you must be so proud of her, I remember years ago when my son received his, and I went to his graduation, I was so proud, and cried with happiness.
    I do not have a blogsite Corey, but please, I apologise for delaying this message to you, have been so busy this last week. I would like to order that sweet little box with lady on lid, hope to order from you next week, maybe I send you email, so that you can tell me where I can send monies in Euro’s? Merci.
    Camilla.x

    Reply
  66. Colette

    I said she would, and she did.
    Bravo, Chelsea! Congratulations and félicitations!
    The chemisettes are gorgeous!

    Reply
  67. annie

    i love that visual of silk thread tied around her arms and legs…oh, how i wish that those cute little rolls never go out of style and could and would always be adored! i’d be in hog heaven! or dan would!

    Reply
  68. susanna

    Congratulations, Chelsea! Way to go, Kiddo!

    Reply
  69. Beverly

    I’m catching up after a long vacation…so a belated congrats to Chelsea!
    Steven was a 10+ lb. baby! And I had nightmares after he was born that he wouldn’t fit in the stroller!
    (David was over 9 lbs. and little Mary was the “tiny” one, weighing in at just 9 lbs. at birth! Oh my!)

    Reply

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