A Week of Firsts. And Lasts.

It was a big week in the GWine household. After being pitifully sick and pathetic last week, Ollie is fully recovered and back to his usual troublemaking self.

He went from this:

To this:

And I (we) couldn’t be happier. Obviously.

So, in light of his health and general good mood (just don’t try to sing or count if he’s not in the mood, that will get you a quick and stern toddler reprimand), we spent a few days at the beach and even signed him up for his first haircut.

I have to admit, the decision to cut his hair was a difficult one. I love, love, love, love, LOVE his little ringlets and wild curls. They are adorable. Except when they’re out of control and unruly, which sadly had become more of the rule than the exception. It was time to bite the bullet and attempt to take control of them.

Because as adorable as it sometimes is, I can’t have a 2-year-old with a rat’s nest for a head of hair.

So we packed up and headed to the local kid salon, appropriately called Kids Cuts. Clever, no? I was a bit worried that he’d choose that very moment to assert his toddler independence and would, loudly and without hesitation, voice his disapproval.

Thankfully I was wrong! He actually almost seemed to enjoy the experience. The never ending stream of fun toys certainly helped, and except for one hilarious  moment where he turned his head and looked at the hairdresser with the most shocked “WHERE DID YOU COME FROM” look (five solid minutes into the cut), he didn’t seem to even realize what was happening. As the dutiful mommy blogger that I am, I was sure to capture the experience on film.

The before -

The during -

The after -

Still curly! And, now that the crazy fine baby hair is mostly gone, it should be a little easier to control, and will hopefully grow in just as curly as it was before the cut. *fingers crossed*

It occurred to me, though, that this was the last time I would ever be taking one of my kids for their first haircut. Sigh.

But! There are so many other firsts ahead of us, my sadness was short lived. In fact, just a few days after his haircut we were at the beach and he experienced another first…the first time he (willingly!) (gladly!) entered the water. Previously, every time we would be at the beach, he would very carefully keep as much distance between himself and the water as possible. If a wave happened to inch anywhere close to him, he would run, shrieking the whole way, in the opposite direction.

Thanks to the patience and perseverance of family friends, by the time we left the beach yesterday Ollie was in the water and was working on becoming an accomplished wave jumper!

He was having so much fun, in fact, that he was pissed when we had to leave.

He’s growing up so quickly, especially these past few weeks. It almost seems like, as we approach his second birthday, he’s deciding to really grasp the role of toddler and give up the role of baby. I’m not quite sure how I feel about that.

Related posts:

1. One Year Down
2. 11 Months Old
3. Lucky Number Seven
4. He Gets His Point Across
5. The Multiple Personality Disorder of Toddlerhood

Tagged as: Baby's first haircut, curly toddler hair