Mama's Barber Shop!

So...I guess it's about time for a new blog post!  Haha...only been since October.  Maybe I'll make it a New Year's resolution to try to post at least once a week.  That way people who live far away can see what's going on with my lil' one  (i.e. grandparents, great grandparents, and other family and friends).  

I'll start with this week...the lil' monkey got a new look at Mama's Barber Shop. :)   Yup, I took the plunge and went for it with some good ol' shearing scissors and thinning shears.  I figured that if I messed up, I could get it fixed, right?   He was long overdue for a haircut--was looking like a little surfer dude with bangs in his eyes.  (see photo to left...sorry my finger got in front of the flash..but this photo shows how long his bangs were!)   I got the shearing scissors at Target and the thinning shears from Amazon.com.  I had already dared to do his sideburns in December, but needed to get more guts to do the front.  So, after watching many You Tube videos (thanks, Mom, for the idea!), I went for it this past Monday, then finished on Tuesday.


So, on Monday while giving him a bath, I noticed he was having so much fun and was so preoccupied with his bath toys and letters that I thought, "Hey, I've got a comb and the shearing scissors right here, and his hair is already wet...why not start with the back?"  So I proceeded to comb his hair, just like in the videos, and start with the bottom third of his back scalp near the base of his neck--just like one lady said to do in a video.  I cut it one finger length away from his neck.  But, I couldn't get the courage to do the front yet--needed a refresher from the videos.  Plus, there was hair everywhere in the tub...so maybe not such a good idea if you don't want a hairy toddler coming out of the bath.  :) It's a good thing it rinsed right off.  The back came out fine--his grandparents noticed the back trim and liked it.  


So...Tuesday came and we were stuck in the house with snow through the day.  After watching many videos again, I jumped in and went for the front (and still had to thin out the back).  I put him in his booster seat and gave him some crackers and milk to occupy him.  Then I sprayed his hair down with water, combed it, and trimmed away!   I started with the top of his head, and just grabbed some hair in a comb and snipped.  Then, I did the sides, then back, then the front.  Then when he got antsy (and was tired of having hair fall on his tray of crackers), I moved him to the table and gave him a disposable adhesive placemat to color.  Then I went around and thinned with the thinning shears.   It was fun!  I liked it!  And so did his grandparents and daddy.  And he was waaay happier than the screaming child he was at his last appointment at the kids haircut place that gave him the ricebowl look.  I definitely DID NOT WANT that straight line across his forehead like last time!  




(In this photo...you can even see the crackers on his sweatshirt and bits of red marker that he tried to use as "makeup" on his lips instead of coloring with it.  So, I gave him back his crayons instead!)
















The next question is...will hubby let me go near his head? He says, "yes"...but I think I need to get clippers, too.  Will he dare?? :)   Perhaps this is a new career in the making?  LOL...not. ;)

Priceless "Guai Lian"

I love the funny, precious, priceless moments that happen randomly throughout the day. Last night, for example, when I was putting my lil one to bed, we read a bedtime book, which is part of our nightly routine. One of his favorite books to read is Owl Babies. (If you haven't read this book, it's definitely worth checking out!). On one page in the book, the owl babies have their eyes closed as they wish their owl mother would come home. My lil' one, being the ever observant one that he is, looks at the little owls with their closed eyes, then looks back at me with his classic funny face--big smile, squinting eyes, and scrunched nose ("guai lian" as my mother-in-law calls it, which means "weird face")! It was classic. Though it was bedtime, a quiet, peaceful time to wind down before bed, I couldn't help but laugh and mimic the same face back at him! We repeated our exchanges of that funny scrunched face a few more times. Then he proceeded to point to the owls on the page and say, "owl" for the first time. Ahh...I just love the way kids bring the warm fuzzies and joy to our hearts--effortlessly--just with their innocent, pure nature.

Da-da

I just love the way that my son adores his daddy. It's amazing how he looks for him whenever he hears a door creak in the home, or a car pull up outside our window. He says, "Da-da? Da-da?" while signing "where" with his little fingers. When evening sets in and the sun begins to go down, he lingers by the door, peering through the window to see when Da-da will make his appearance--hoping he'll walk in before he is off to Dreamland. On most days, he doesn't see Da-da before bedtime. But, he always sees him in the morning--when they get special time together while mommy gets a few more winks of sleep. ;)

Conversely, I just love the way my husband adores his son. I love the way that my hubby gets on his hands and knees, crawling around to play with my little monkey, even if there are other adults around. My husband doesn't care--he's having fun playing with his son! The last thing on his mind are worries about what others think of him. I love the way that he snuggles with him, kissing him on his neck till he giggles with joy and stops to beg for "more", as he taps the tips of his fingers together. I love the way that he is so patient with him, never raising his voice, no matter how many times our son tries to do something that is a "no-no".

I love watching the two of them together. I am truly blessed to have been given two precious gems in my life that bring me so much joy. And I love watching the way that they bring so much joy to each others' lives as well.

Swiffer fun!

So Kai is officially doing chores. Haha. NOT. (Well, we did learn in our parenting workshop about getting kids involved with chores! We're starting them off young. :) So, a few weeks ago I was trying to show him how to use our dry Swiffer, just for fun. He wasn't really interested and didn't want to grab the handle that I tried to put into his little hands. But, one day I just left the Swiffer laying on the floor because I got distracted to doing other household things. Kai found it, then proceeded to figure out how to pick it up! Once he figured it out (and got it out from between his legs!), he started having a good ol' time pushing and pulling it all over the first floor! It was so cute! He even pushed it under the couch and all the great places that never get swiffered because I'm too lazy to get all the yucky dog hair out from under those deep dark depths. :) Once I figure out how, I will put up the videos. They are too cute.

Though, to Kai, Swiffering is more fun than a chore. That probably explains why he didn't want to go down to nap after I let him Swiffer for 5-10 minutes and get way too stimulated! Oh well, it's worth having that moment of pure joy in watching your son find joy in life's simple pleasures. We all need to remember to stop to take time to enjoy the little things in life.

Update: Here is a photo...working on getting the video up!

Poo poo trail!

Yay! I'm glad I'm back into blogging about my adventures with Kai-kai. My lil' sweetie pie. Unfortunately, my previous blog posts on www.today.com are now in Neverneverland. I meant to transfer them over, but, sigh, it's too late. So, I must begin again!

My lil' one is now over a year old! Time sure does fly quickly! I'll begin this new blog with a funny story about my adventure today. :) If you're easily grossed out, you may want to stop reading now!

So, today, while trying to clean up the living room, my lil' monkey was keeping himself busy, as usual, finding all kinds of toys or things around the first floor to entertain himself. I was occupied with moving the table to make more space, just a for a minute or two. I smelled poopie, but thought maybe he just had a stinky diaper. When I finally stopped moving the table to look up, I found Kai-kai walking around with a smooshed bit of poopie under his right foot! EWWWW! I quickly picked him up, grabbed some paper towels, and washed it off in the sink. Uggh. Grody to da max. Then I followed the trail of poo poo prints all the way to the dining room, where I saw the lovely pile of "black jade" (as my mother-in-law would call it) that my dear doggie left for us. There were still some presents intact, but I saw the smooshed bit that my sweet Kai-kai had sadly mooshed into.

Now, the next question was, "How am I going to clean all this up, with a little toddler that likes to move constantly?" Put him in the dog's playpen? No, out of the question! I saw my lil' sweetie's bouncer, which he has not used since he started sitting up around 7 months, but he's recently taken an interest in it so I just buckled him in. (Though he's big for it, he was amused for a few minutes.) I quickly sprayed every last print with the doggie business stain/smell remover spray, then wiped it up with paper towels. Then, I washed MY feet and hands, and swiffered with the wet jet, just to make sure to get every last bit. DISGUSTING, to say the least. By the time I was done, my lil' one was stretching forward and paining to get out of the bouncer.

I dare say, God has a sense of humor! Mental note: Always keep an eye out for dog poop IN THE HOUSE! And, maybe it is worth the few hundred dollars or so to get our dog trained!