Short-Haired Mia
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Last Friday before our weekend trip to Chattanooga, we got Mia’s hair cut for the first time. It seemed like a shame to do it; she was born with a full head of hair as a baby, and didn’t lose any of it like most babies do, so it was unusually long for a little girl her age--nearly to the middle of her back. But the tangles were becoming unmanageable, especially because her hair was constantly getting in her food, and on top of that, she never wanted to sit still long enough for me to comb her hair out and put it in pigtails (even though she looks SO stinkin’ cute with pigtails). The next concern in cutting her hair was, as I just mentioned, would she even sit still and not fidget long enough for the stylist to cut it? But Friday we’d had enough with the tangles, and the general unruliness of her hair. We bit the bullet and took her for her very first haircut.
As the stylist sprayed down her hair, displaying its full length, I felt a pang of uncertainty, but Bobby was there to instruct the stylist with confidence: “Take about five inches off. We want it to be about shoulder-length.” Mia did remarkably well. Bobby helped direct Mia to look down, or straight ahead as the stylist needed, while I snapped photos in the background (I’m sure the hairdresser was thinking that I was one of those moms, but I didn’t care). Mia fussed a little when it was time to blow-dry her hair; she still can’t stand loud motor sounds (vacuums, lawn mowers, blow driers, etc.). But once her hair was dry, no regrets remained. She is possibly the cutest little girl to ever wear a shoulder-length bob (besides me; I was adorable with a bob when I was little).
So here’s my layout of Mia’s first haircut:
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And here’s another one I did today of Mia and her friend Ashley chasing butterflies in the butterfly aviary at the Tennessee Aquarium:
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The aquarium was pretty phenomenal. I’ve always been fascinated with the ocean and all the unusual lifeforms that live there. The mysteries the oceans still hold, the creatures that live in its depths that we can only guess at, it all makes my imagination run wild. When I was a little girl, I used to dream of what it would be like to be a mermaid, to be able to breathe under water and swim deeper than people can go without technological aid. What would I see? What would I know that we land-dwellers would never believe? Standing in front of the glass walls of the enormous, multiple-story-high tanks teaming with tropical fish and sharks and other creatures of the deep, all that wondering came flooding back.
The girls really seemed to enjoy it, too, although it’s interesting what two-year-olds seem fascinated by. The sharks Mia was very unimpressed by, but when we came across a small tank of bluegills, Mia danced around in front of it, pointing and giggling at the small fish swimming lazily among the seaweed. There was also a butterfly aviary, and that was probably Mia’s favorite thing. Other little kids in the aviary would squeal and draw back when a butterfly fluttered close to them, but Mia chased them with great delight, even trying to capture them (and would have succeeded once or twice if I hadn’t intervened). She really has no fear (except of vacuums).
In closing, it was a jam-packed, fun-filled weekend. It was just really good to get away as a family, experience something special together, and have time to really enjoy each other. And it was nice to hang out with friends again. It seems like it’s been a long time since we’ve had people to just hang out with and joke around with, and it’s even better that our daughters seem to enjoy each other.
