A Honey of a Haircut

I've been cutting on Oliver's hair a lot lately and it's a mess. I admittedly don't know what I'm doing so I asked my mom if she would attempt to clean it up for me. We teased her for taking too much off but it will grow. Like a weed. It always does!

I trimmed Truett's a little too:Chrys

Machines as Currency & Other Morning Adventures

Oliver decided to do some coloring while I ran upstairs to put T down for his morning nap. Which is fine. Except that he chose to do his artwork with a red marker. In a library book:
In his defense I will say that a previous (probably smallish) library patron had also colored in the book. And some of the pictures were black and white and looked like they needed filling in. I get that. But he knows he's not allowed to use markers when we're not right there. And he's definitely not allowed to color a page in a book. (Or eight to ten pages in this case.)

I disciplined him and removed as much of the "washable marker" ink as I could. But it just wasn't enough. So I explained to O that we had to call the library, say we're sorry and ask them what to do.

So we did. They said the book costs $14.49 and there's a $5 processing fee for replacing it. This is not a book I would have spent $20 on (maybe fifty cents at a garage sale in its present condition) but we don't have a choice now that it has been decorated and autographed by our budding artist. We apologized to the librarian and told her we'd bring it to her next time we're in.

So here's an opportunity to teach O about responsibility. How can our thirty-three month old early $20? I told him that he can do some chores and asked if he had any ideas. He said he could give them some of his machines to pay for the book. Hmmmm. Not so sure that is acceptable currency, Oliver.

Readers, what say you?

I decided we all needed a break and should head to the backyard for some fresh air. We ate popsicles, blew bubbles and played in the sandbox. It was a blast until Oliver made the poor decision to throw sand at his little brother. So I hosed them down and we came inside.

I told O to meet me in the dining room where we'd practice letters. And when I arrived in the dining room after starting a load of laundry? This is what I found:
Yep, our little Monkey Boy climbed right up on top of the dining room table all by himself. Our first child was tame. But this one? Not so much.

We colored a picture of Moses and the burning bush (same Moses as we discussed yesterday) and then it was time for lunch. Lunch involved many tears b/c Oliver would have nothing to do with the pasta I prepared. Truett ate Oliver's lunch in addition to his own and then it was time for naps.

But T wasn't sleepy so I decided it was a good time for his first haircut. I called and asked Mike if he cared (he didn't) and I sat Truett in the bathtub for his first trim. It's hard to wrangle a baby, distract a baby, cut his hair and take pictures at the same time. So here's all I've got:
So funny that his hair gets lighter as it gets cut. Mine does the exact opposite.

Chrys

Metamorphosis!

The first two of our six monarchs emerged from their chrysalises this morning! It was truly amazing to watch the transformation. Just under a month ago they were teeny little eggs and today they flew away.

I envisioned doing a more thorough job of documenting our project but with all the craziness of the last month coupled with our computer issues, it just didn't happen. I have pics scattered on various hard drives and maybe someday I'll do something with them. It's not like folks haven't done the time lapse thing already. Besides, Oliver will really enjoy that project in the years to come b/c he's destined to be a computer geek like his folks. (That's a good thing, by the way.)

The bright green, gold-flecked chrysalises started becoming increasingly transparent over the past several days. We knew the monarchs would likely emerge today b/c two of the chrysalises were completely clear and we could see the orange, black and white of butterfly inside. Amazing!

Mike had the tripod set up to click a picture every minute but it happened so fast that we didn't see it happen live. I took T upstairs to put him down for his morning nap and when I came back down the first butterfly was out!

The butterfly was dripping what looked like human blood. Weird. We read that it had to pump its wings full of blood but I didn't expect to see any. (This happened with the second butterfly as well so I guess it's normal.)

The second butterfly emerged about an hour after the first and I had my back to it as I talked on the phone. We have four more chances to watch it happen!

Each butterfly was methodical and purposeful in drying out their wings. They would turn from side to side and then rest for a bit, then repeat the process. After awhile they started spreading their wings and we could see the vibrant orange on top. Beautiful.

After letting their wings dry for several hours we got them out. Oliver is usually very cautious so I was prepared for him to keep his distance. He surprised me, though, and wanted to "hold" one. (He said he wanted to pet it but I reminded him how fragile butterflies are.)

He loved it...until it started crawling up his arm. He got a little dramatic and said it was hurting him. But he was fine once the monarch reached his sleeve and was no longer on his skin. (For what it's worth, I wasn't crazy about how it felt climbing up my arm, either!)

The monarch continued climbing.

Then it got cozy in O's hair. Oliver continued to play as though his new "pet" wasn't sitting on his head.

I think the butterfly thought it was lighting on a flower b/c it uncurled its long probiscus and tried to eat! Because he kept searching for nectar in Oliver's hair we decided he might be hungry. We offered him some sugary watermelon but he chose not to partake.

Truett awoke from his morning snooze to find these beautiful winged creatures in the kitchen. I couldn't let him get too close lest they end up in his mouth so I could only snap pics from my phone. They're still cute, tho:

We let the butterflies rest all afternoon and when Mike got home from work it was time to release them. I envisioned a much more ceremonious event but they didn't stick around to say their farewells. They quickly departed for the long journey ahead.

After they flew away we went to get O's second professional haircut. I decided it was time since I was tempted to braid it a few days ago. (Maybe I do need a little girl after all! :)

So, as you can see, it was a very exciting day at our house. Two of the four remaining chrysalises look like they're very close so we might have more monarchs tomorrow.

Chrys

Curly Locks! Curly Locks!

Today was the day.

It was time for Oliver to get his first professional haircut. His hair grows like a weed and it seems like I cut it every other week or so. I've been cutting it all this time and it needed some shaping up by someone who knows what they're doing. (In other words: not me.) Since a new place that opened near us is offering $4.99 haircuts, today seemed like a good day.

Oliver wasn't too excited about this but he sat in the chair like such a big boy. His lack of enthusiasm was apparent however:
I told the stylist to keep it long and to just shape it up a bit. She cut off more than I wanted her to but I keep reminding myself that it grows really fast. It was hard to watch my baby boy get a "real" haircut. He looked so grown up sitting there by himself...
She finished quickly and we all told Oliver how proud we were of him:
What a big boy! He got a lollipop when we left so now getting a haircut is ranked right up there with going to the library or the car wash.

Everyone asks us where Oliver gets his curls. Wherever we go people stop us and comment on his hair. I love those curls and can't keep my hands out of them. Here's a picture pre-haircut:
Mike has great hair with wavy curls and lots of body. Mine is wavy but looks like a bad perm unless I give it extra attention. My waves must either be straightened or encouraged to be curls.

But Oliver has some great curls in his genes. Here's a darling picture of Mike's mom when she was a little girl:
And here's Uncle Matty when he was about Oliver's age:Here's all four of us:I remember Matty getting lots of attention for his hair when we were little. My Granmommie would recite this nursery rhyme to him:

Curly Locks! Curly Locks! Wilt thou be mine? Thou shall't not wash dishes, nor yet feed the swine, But sit on a cushion and sew a fine seam, And feed upon strawberries, sugar, and cream!

My paternal grandfather also had beautiful curls but I haven't yet been able to locate a childhood picture of him.

So I think the evidence is in the above pics: O's got lots of curlies in his genes. His curls are a little shorter today but they'll grow.

Right?? I hope they grow really, really fast.

Chrys