Baby's First Haircut

For a few weeks now, Jamey's hair has been getting very out of control. Hair was curling out from his head at every posible angle. The back was turning into a mullet. Under no circumstances would his hair look anything close to combed and managable. It took me a while, but I finally convinced Glenn that his hair was in need of its first cut. Some people were even calling Jamey "she".

We were thinking of having Glenn's cousin Susie cut it, as she had cut Glenn's the first time. She even volunteered to meet us in Toledo when we are out there next week, but looking through out Gau schedule, our group leader has us on the run the entire time, leaving no extra time.

And so, yesterday, we set out to Cartoon Cuts and had a cute little woman named Mina cut his hair. She sat him in the tall chair and strapped him on around the waist. At first, it didn't seem to bother him. And then came the buzzing machine.

Jamey has a phobia of any machine that buzzes loudly. He screams LOUD when we use the food processor. Thus, when the machinery to cut his hair was turned on, his expression turned quickly sour. It only got worse from there, as he screamed at the top of his lungs, folded his body in half to try and get away , and batted his arms at Mina. Even singing German dance songs wouldn't calm him. When she used the scissors alone, he was fine, but he would not have the buzzing!

Alas, his hair looks great now, but even more than that, Jamey truly looks like a little boy now. Yikes!

Deep Fried Oreos, a Wedding, and a Carnival.... WOW!

Although we have many adventures during the week, it is still the weekends that hold the most excitement. I keep saying that summer is flying fast, and this past weekend is a prime example of why that is so-- we just keep going and going.

Saturday, we attended the wedding of friends Edie and Johnathan, who both at Centreville with me. They have been dating for a long time and we were happy to see them finally make it official. We were also happy because it gave Jamey a chance to wear the suit we bought for him about 6 months ago.

After returning a gift or two at some point, we had built up some money at one of the department stores found in most malls. While on trips to the mall, we would often walk through both the women's department to look for clothes for Mommy and the kids' department to find "must-have" outfits for Jamey. It was on one of those adventures that we found this little suit with vest and tie. At the time, he was only 6 months old and we had no reason at that point for a suit. We began wracking our brains for an occasion when we would need this suit. And so my mind landed on Edie and Johnathan. I was pretty sure we would be invited to the wedding. So away it went to his closet.

Which brings us to this past weekend. Jamey got all spiffed up. Glenn matched with vest and tie, and we had to wet down Jamey's "Albert Einstein" hairdo. His hair has gotten to the point that it desperately needs to be cut, so we need to look around for a place to do this. In any case, Jamey was good through the ceremony, saying only an errant word here or there, as we paged through "The Hungry Little Catapillar" in the church. As a secondary way of occupying him, we scrolled through the photos on the camera. Anything electronic is sure to keep his attention.

However, it was the reception where he was the true hit. Everyone admired his suit and after a great meal (of chicken strips for him), he went to hang out in the "Kids' Room" for an hour or two. In a stroke of genius, Edie had hired several of her old student divers to take care of the crowd of kids that were at the wedding. (There was also a pinata for them!) I prayed that Jamey was good for them, but let myself have a good time dancing without thinking of him.

The nice thing about the wedding was that because it was two Centreville teachers, half the people there were from Centreville. Thus, there were lots of friends to talk with and hang out with. And some pretty crazy science teachers to dance with. After the cake was served, Glenn and I went and got Jamey, who had apparently cried a little off and on throughout the time. I think, though, that the reason was because he just wanted to get out and dance.

When we brought him out to the dance floor, although it was already about 9:30 or so, Jamey was happy to shake around. Holding him facing out, he kicked and waved his arms around to the music. All the female teachers gathered around to dance with him and asked to hold him. One might guess that he would sleep well that night, but he was up at 7 AM just like normal. That's our Jamey!

Today we headed over to Frying Pan Park for the 4-H Fair. A lot of new firsts for Jamey. So far, he isn't overly fond of any animal that is bigger than him, with enormous dread for the work horses in the barn. Perhaps it was just the smell that turned him away from the pigs, but there was something. We managed to get him to pet one of the goats onhand before he began whimpering. Among other firsts: sitting in a firetruck, eating a Deep Fried Oreo (not NEARLY as good as the ones Drew made last Thanksgiving), drinking some lemonade, and going on some rides.

Along with the various animals, there were also carnival rides there. Although he couldn't ride anything alone, he sat quietly atop a plaster horse on the carousel. He wasn't sure what to make of it, but he sat there. To make the ride more personalized for him, I sang one of the most soothing songs for him-- the Gamsprung-- which is one of the dancing songs for our group. As I began to sang that, he loosened up and began his anthem of "Doo doo doo doo".

Thereafter he went on the "Fun Slide" with Glenn. Jamey has taken a liking to slides. He scared another mom at the park the other day as he turned around and went down the big slide on his belly-- without our help. I looked at her and assured her that he could do it fine on his own. And so, he loved this giant slide and especially riding it with Daddy.

Every day these days, Jamey proves his "boy" genes for us. Although he is still figuring out the walking thing (he has taken 5 steps, but then gets tired of going so slow and goes back to crawling), he is a pro at cruising and most especially climbing. If it is possible to climb on something, be assured that Jamey will try. When he gets tired of eating, he tries to climb out of his high chair. When when we put him in his swing outside, he turns around and stands up to climb on it. The activity table that is next to the couch, is just a stepping stool so he can stand up next to the couch. We are beginning to wonder if he realizes that you aren't supposed to stand up on the big ride-on dog that he has. He never sits down on it. To put it short, he has NO fear. As I said to Glenn today, "I see broken bones in our future."