Big Girl Hairstyle

It has been a little more than 2 years since the first trim and a little less than 2 since the first official haircut. But at 4.5, it was time for a big girl haircut. LP has been trying to put it off for a while, she wanted to keep her long hair and was afraid it would hurt. I had put it off as well, I was sad to finally lose the last of the baby hair with the curl and the white blonde ends. But it was definitely time so last week Lilypad Dad, LP and I headed off to the salon. She was definitely nervous when she first sat down in the chair, but once she realized that it didn't hurt, enjoyed the results and the cookie that came after.

My little girl aged about 2 years in the 15 minutes she was in the chair. She looked so much older with a few less inches of hair, it was so hard for me to not cry. But we have had no more tears in the shower, with the hairdryer, or in the morning, it is such an easy haircut and her hair is smooth and healthy again.

Before:


Nervously waiting for the first cut:


During, you can see how long it was:


Almost done:


After(when it is washed and dried it gets a perfect little flip out at the ends):


Enjoying the cookie:


Apparently she learned that cutting hair does not actually hurt. This morning she woke me up with a story about getting dressed, taking her own temperature (she's been sick this weekend), and a casually thrown out as she walked back out the door, "Oh yeah, a bug flew into my hair so I had to cut it out."





The one thing I wanted to avoid was bangs, she does not like hair in her face and I didn't want the hassle of having to keep up with them or grow the out. She cut a thick patch of bangs on one side of her head. Luckily it is the side that tends to be pulled back and she left them just long enough to catch them up in a thick headband.

Learning to Give Back

I have been trying to come up with ways to help LP understand what it means to help others. She is too young to really understand the meaning behind a monetary donation, so I wanted to find a way to have her dedicate time and work in a volunteer situation. After adopting Max this winter and seeing what a wonderful animal rescue we have just down the street, I thought it would be a great place to start. In a recent magazine I found a project for making catnip mice and decided to give it a try. Alessandro and his mom joined us for the project, the volunteer orientation and the donation.

The kids did a great job making the mice with the stuffing and ear gluing. They filled the toes of the socks with catnip, stuffed the rest of the sock with fill and a little more catnip, then handed them over. I tied them closed and Dori and Uncle Dave colored most of the faces because the sharpies were a little dry I think, the kids were having a hard time getting them to really color on the socks.
(Click on any photo to see it bigger.)




A bag of 10 pairs of 6-12 month socks from walmart was less than $7. 20 socks was more than enough for them, they got a little tired of stuffing when there were 4 left. But LP found a bunch of her smaller, mismatched socks and made more for our cats over the next couple of days.



Saturday we took the kids back to the rescue for volunteer orientation. We spent about 45 minutes learning all the rules of the shelter, including which dogs are safe to walk, how to enter and exit rooms and buildings, where to go to talk to the horses and donkeys, and how to act around the dogs. After the orientation we took one of the dogs out for a walk, visited the donkeys for a while, then headed home because the cat house wasn't open yet.

We took the kids back to the rescue today to deliver them. There were 5 different rooms with cats, so we left 5-8 mice per room depending on how many cats there were. Most of the cats were a little skittish of the kids, but there was at least one in each room that started playing with it right away. Max's sister Violet and mother Vivienne are still there. We spent the most time in that room because they weren't afraid of the kids and had a great time playing with the mice and kids together.

A Mischief of Mice

As LP gets older, I have been trying to find ways to teach her the importance of volunteering. A recent edition of Family Fun magazine had a great Catnip Mouse project that I thought would be perfect. I contacted the head of cat adoptions at the rescue that we adopted Max from to see if they could use some cat toys and invited Alessandro and his mother to join us.

We spent this morning picking up supplies and then came back to work on making the mice. One package of baby socks made 20 mice, which LP and Alessandro did a great job stuffing with catnip, filling and more catnip. They put a lot of hard work into the mice, and next weekend we will attend the volunteer orientation at the rescue. After that they will be able to volunteer their time with the cats and will bring all their mice to hand out to the kitties still waiting to be picked out by their families like Max.

Snow Day

LP's school was closed today for a snow day and it was just the two of us. After a lazy early morning, we filled the afternoon with fun and memories. Here is a photo essay of how we spent our snow day. (click on any photo to see larger)


eating snow, catching snowflakes, throwing snowballs, playing in the snow


trying to sled down our little hill, building a snow reindeer (she did this all by herself while I was shoveling the stairs)


bringing some of the snow indoors to enjoy with syrup and give the cats their first experience with snow


napping


baking cookies and making cookie sundaes


enjoying those sundaes while watching A Charlie Brown Valentine, cuddled up on the couch together

Happy Birthday Auntie La!

We hope you aced your exam (sorry for calling while you were in the classroom) and we hope you were able to get out and enjoy the rest of your birthday when it was over!

Fit for a Princess

After Christmas, LP decided that instead of sharing a bedroom with the baby, she wanted to have her own special big girl bedroom and move into the library. We have been clearing out our things, slowly moving hers in, and are working on choosing a paint for the tiny bit of wall that isn't covered by a desk or bookshelves. She has been happily and comfortably sleeping in there since January and loved her big girl room. Today, LP's daddy and Uncle Dave rewired, cleaned, and hung a very special light fit for a princess. This chandelier used to belong to LP's Great Grandma Gladys, her PopPop's mother. She had given it Eka, who in turn gave it to LP. LP loves how it sparkles and shines in her big girl bedroom. Photos of the entire room will be posted once we are done with it.

Grandpa's Pool

LP has a very specific routine she follows whenever we go to visit Grandpa and Nannie. First she must ring the doorbell, even if they are already at the door. After big hugs and kisses, she runs around the house to make sure everything is where it should be: Spooky sleeping under the covers, jewelry box, blue bird, stuffed cat and dog, quarter jar, toys, crayons and books. Then she removes the non-slip mat from under the rug in front of the kitchen sink (I don't know what her issue is with that being there!) She has to drag a chair over to the decorative phone in the kitchen to have a long chat, although the person on the other end of the phone changes each visit.

This winter she has added another routine to the visits, swimming in Grandpa's personal "swimming pool". It actually took little miss afraid of nothing a while to get comfortable in the hot tub, the first time she looked in she was spooked by the bubbles. Over the course of a couple of visits she went from just looking, to fingers and toes in, to walking around then swimming (no bubbles) to now requesting bubbles for a minute or two during her swim.

Ice Skating

Today LP finally got one of her wishes from the past year, she got to go ice skating. She has been begging to ice skate since last spring and couldn't wait for summer to end so she could try it. Unfortunately, LP Dad does not skate and I am unable to this year because of the pregnancy, so we haven't had a chance to take her. But she was invited over for a playdate at Maggie's house this week and was invited to bring skated since they have a pond in their backyard.

LP had no fear of the ice, she took right off holding onto Maggie's mom's hand with perfect balance. She started off with tiny strokes of her skates, quickly learning you have to push and glide instead of picking up your feet. She has amazing balance, I was surprised how easily she was able to catch herself and straighten out instead of falling even when she wasn't holding onto anyone.

The girls enjoyed a little bit of skating on their own, making some numbers and letters in the snow with Maggie's mom, and most of all, sitting on the ice eating all the snow. It was a beautiful day to be outside enjoying the winter sun and we both hope to do it again soon.