If only there were time to write all I wanted to write about my tiny little L. Yesterday was his first birthday and what a weekend. A lovely party with friends and family that was very nearly snowed out (thanks so much to everyone who was able to brave the snow to join us!!). L enjoyed (ok, was perplexed by) his first birthday cake and his first time in the snow. Ok I will admit it . .he pretty much knew what was going on with the birthday cake and was only too happy to take more bites . . quite a few more bites, in fact, than he was willing to take of his oatmeal this morning.
We also spent great time with family members and in general just really enjoyed each other, and T and I really enjoyed one another, thinking back to our first week as parents, living in our tiny cocoon with our tiny tiny tiny little caterpillar . .who is too quickly becoming his butterfly self. Today marked yet another milestone for little L, who has now been pointing with his index finger as if to exclaim “I’m one!!” He was quite the trooper. First he tolerated getting prodded and examined at the doctor’s office for his one year visit. The screeching besieged us but he overall did well. He tolerated poking from his one-year immunizations. After that he tolerated us toting him to daycare – which he is perfectly happy with once he gets there, but he really really kicks and screams on entry! Then he tolerated me picking him up to take him to the hospital, where he promptly had three tubes of blood drawn, and all he did was cry a little and then the minute he received a sticker, the smiles and friendliness returned. And THEN he tolerated the trip home, after which T and I braved Baby’s First Haircut. And even with his screaming and crying, he managed not to get poked during the haircut and to us now began to look even cuter. And to top it all off he went along with everything during bathtime, which he usually HATES, and he ended up thoroughly enjoying his bath, refusing to leave the tub! Now that felt like an accomplishment we hadn’t witnessed in a long time. And now the little tyke is sleeping peacefully, hopefully for more than the two hours which is usual for him.
Now how did I manage to cut little L’s hair? It was no easy feat. We had the TV at the ready, which I never turn on for L. But today he watched 20 minutes of cartoons straight, and still being a squirmy worm in his chair, had to be held fast by T so that mommy didn’t have any accidents. I will readily admit that his hair is longer on one side than it is on the other, and that my feeble attempts at layering were far from perfect. Yet I would not call the venture unsuccessful. I was basically hoping to achieve anything but a bowl cut, and in layering I was only hoping not to have L’s hair turn into a sad version of the mullet I once cut for one of my best friends (Believe me: she had asked me to cut her hair into a mullet. Really!)!
Actually, the haircut went quite well overall, and I was pleased enough with the results! And I know I will have plenty of time to practice . . . as long as L’s hair keeps growing longer! Maybe T will let me cut his hair one day as well 🙂
To the end of learning to cut L’s hair I found some excellent Youtube resources which I will share here. The first video below is my favorite youtube instructional video on boy haircuts. It gives a step-by-step approach and outlines supplies needed to proceed with the haircut.
This second video is not quite as organized and I’m not as big a fan of the end result of the child’s hair (which doesn’t look too different from how it looked at the beginning), but she goes through the techniques very nicely and demonstrates how to cut in an easy-to-follow way.
I’d like to post the video we took of L’s first haircut but considering that it has a 23 minute running time, perhaps it isn’t the best thing to air in its full glory. Thus if I am able to get to it, we will post a shortened version soon. Why 23 minutes? Well, I had no idea it took that long; the time really flew by. And well, things aren’t as easy as they look on the cutting videos. Just holding the hair in place, using the fingers to estimate length, all of it takes a lot of practice which I obviously haven’t had enough of yet! And to tell the truth it didn’t stop at 23 minutes. Afterward I noted a few imperfections and we put him back in the chair for another five minutes to fix the layers that hadn’t quite worked out. And then once L was all ready in the bath, I found another few spots to tweak. And I now realize why people take their children to the barber! I’ve seen all the “Baby’s First Haircut” Youtube videos. Those guys know what they are doing! That being said, I think it’s only a matter of time until we build up the confidence in ourselves to cut L’s hair regularly, and it is so much fun to DIY when you can, I wouldn’t have it any other way.