Taming the Wild Mane

So, 6 months after her last haircut, Ava had begun to look feral. Apparently kids need more than one haircut a year. Who knew?

Before: angelic, but still feral

For Ava's first two haircuts, we took her to kiddie salons where you fly around in airplanes and watch tv. Ava was unimpressed and screamed like a banshee from start to finish. This time we picked a location we hoped would be hip enough for her exacting standards. As a bonus, parents get to drink beer. It was all very...Portland.

Elliot escorted her to Bishops Barbershop and got his haircut first. Ava had a lot of insightful questions like, "Who is that woman?", "Why is she spraying/combing/cutting his hair?" and "Why did she stop cutting his hair?" Ava doesn't like to dive right into anything at all so the preview was good for her. 

When it came time for Ava's turn, it took a fair amount of cajoling to convince Ava that she needed to remove her hat and, preferably, her jacket. She conceded on the condition that she be allowed to keep her boots on, to which Danielle, her stylist, agreed. It looked like we were going to move beyond the impasse until Ava also demanded that she sit on Helen's lap, her hair be cut dry, and that Danielle not use the blow dryer. She eventually got her way and is now the cutest little non-feral two year old out there.

Ava, contemplating if she should have made more demands.

More vinyl than Little Clippers.

Mother reclaiming her daughter.

Little Feet

November 2011

With our first full month with two kids under our belt, we have a lot to report. Here are some FAQs:

- Are you tired?

Yes.

- How is the little man sleeping?

James sleeps fabulously during the day for several hours at a time. Nighttime slumber is an entirely different story, though. His longest stretch of sleep during his first month was 2 1/2 hours and most nights he slept for an hour at a time. Worse still, his latest "trick" is waking up to eat and then finding some reserve of energy that leaves him awake for the next hour until he needs to eat again.

- How has Ava handled the transition?

Ava is a champ and, obvious to all those who have met her, a true maternal spirit. She has stayed faithful to her campaign promises and picks his outfits and his diapers every day. She also folds the old diapers up, disposes of them, and helps put new diapers on. After 2 plus years of practice, she can probably put on a cloth diaper better than most adults can.

Ava loves James and usually places her head centimeters from his nose to let him know she is there for him. She's also fond of poking his head, so we spend a great deal of time saying things like, "Not the head holes. Please stay clear of his head holes." She calls him "Baby James," "Jamesie-poo," and "my baby broder."

- What about Brody? Didn't he completely lose his mind when Ava came along?

Brody surprised us all and seemed genuinely happy to have the new guy join our pack. He sniffed his head once and then just lay down next to him.

- Does James have any special talents or skills? (Well, nobody has actually asked this but here's what we would say if they did.)

James is an oddly strong infant and could hold his head up within a few hours of birth. By the third day we would hold him on our shoulder to burp him and he could lift his head up and turn to look at us. While still in the hospital he rolled onto his side but since then he's seemed too lazy to repeat such a feat of strength. Around Thanksgiving he wowed us with a few coy smiles and we've seen him doling them out a little more frequently in the last few days.

- So you gave birth to a 10-pound baby? Was that totally awesome?

We'll spare you the details, but we can now tell you that birthing a 10-pound baby is harder than birthing a 6 1/2-pound baby. In fact, Helen lost her voice during labor. As Brian commented shortly afterwards, "I hope there weren't any expectant mothers touring the maternity ward this afternoon."