haircut, climbing

We had a great weekend. Actually, we had a great week even though P was in Chicago. I'm looking forward to P being back (argh--his return flight is delayed!), but I've enjoyed having this one-on-one time with the little guy.

Yesterday j got a haircut. I was amazed by how excited he was about this, considering I have to tackle him daily in order to brush his teeth. I pulled up to the curb next to the local salon where he’s been getting his hair cut for a year now. He knew immediately where he was--“I’m gonna go get hair cut, mama”--and apparently felt the need to get dress for the occasion. Despite the fact that it was 60 degrees out, after we got out of the car, he demanded his hat, gloves, scarf, necklace (a lanyard for a flash drive), and sunglasses. He walked into the salon and stopped, clearly expecting heads to turn, which they did: his stylist (that sounds so funny) K said, “Hey, it’s cookie-man!”

On his previous visits, a cookie has kept him pretty happy while his hair gets cut. This time, however, there was no need for the cookie. Quietly (!), he walked over to the chair and I lifted him up. He said basically nothing the entire time his hair was getting cut, preferring instead to watch himself in the mirror and smile shyly at K. It was as if another child had inhabited j’s body. After the haircut (which included the electric razor that he didn’t even get upset about--he just giggled), K gave him a cookie, which he ate his while playing in her kiddie Beauty Salon play area. J loved using the hair dryer and comb on the head of hair that was sitting there... which must have been a head of hair for stylists to use for practice. It was clearly real hair, since the consistency was right and there were a few gray hair mixed in.

The only time j got upset was 20 minutes later when I had to pick him up to carry him out. He wasn’t excited about heading to the playground afterwards; he just wanted to stay in the hair salon. Of course, he loved the playground once we got there.

We went to a bigger playground today, and it was great. He has very little fear of climbing ladders and sliding down. Also, I don’t have to worry about him grabbing other kids anymore, and I can’t even tell you what a relief that is. I followed him pretty closely the whole time, though. Since it was a beautiful day, there were many families there. But no grabbing. It was actually fun to watch j around other kids. He has a hard time connecting with them meaningfully, but he loves to get excited and happy when others are having a good time.

“Look, mama, he’s screaming! Wow!”
"She's bouncing, yay!"
(to a younger boy with a runny nose) "Do you have a booger?"

The only strange moment was when he growled the word “Gorgeous” repeatedly down one of the covered slides: “Gorgeous... gorgeous... ggggorgeous!” This cracked up some other parents, too.