Stella's first haircut!

Stella got her first haircut today, at a salon and everything! We went to Kool Kuts for Kids in Westlake on the recommendation of an Austin mama, and although it only took about 10 minutes, I think they did a good job. Some of you may be surprised I got her haircut, since I have been obsessed with growing out her bangs for oh, about forever, but really, even though her bangs are now long enough to tuck behind her ear, they don't stay there. I was tired of always having to try and find a barrette, starting from the moment she woke up, so that she could function without a bunch of hair in her face. Poor girl has beautiful eyes, I was tired of having them hidden behind a mess of hair! So last week I started talking about this whole "giving Stella bangs" thing. First I mentioned it to Tim, and surprisingly, he said, "okay." I thought there would be more discussion, since he's always been even more anti-haircut than me. Then I mentioned it to Anna, who thought she'd look cute and thought that's probably what she'd do, and Tim's Mom, who was onboard as well. So I had the support of the peanut gallery, and now I just needed to do it. Tim advocated for going to a professional. I didn't even know where you took a toddler to get her haircut, AND I'm cheap and didn't want to pay, since I figured how hard could it be? The answer: HARD. I tried to trim her bangs myself Monday night and they wound up all jagged and uneven.

Before:

During:

After:

They didn't look so bad if I swept them to the side. But I knew I'd messed up. I didn't feel the agonizing guilt I thought I should as a mother, although I tried to pretend for Tim's benefit. I mean, it'll grow back. Luckily, I had the good sense to quit while I was ahead, and made an appointment to get her hair professionally cut this morning.

At the haircut place, they let her choose which car she wanted to sit in (I chose the yellow car), and they asked me what cartoon I wanted her to watch. I said since she doesn't watch tv, it doesn't matter. The stylist, Grace, chose Elmo, which I was pretty happy with since it's Sesame Street and I feel like it's at least a little educational. And it wound up having a Singing Bear that wore Leiderhosen, so that was beyond awesome. I just told the stylist that if she winds up begging me for Elmo, I'll know who to blame. She didn't laugh. Anyway, as soon as the stylist put on the video, Stella was mesmerized. This is one of the biggest benefits of not letting your child watch tv. If they see tv, they're like a zombie, they just stare at it and you could have a 3 ring circus going on around them and she probably wouldn't notice. Stella didn't really like the spray bottle, but other than that she was quite patient. They let her have a free hairbow as part of the $1 "First Haircut Package" and she gripped onto it throughout the haircut. We also got a polaroid of her in a little commemorative card with some of her hair in it and the date and time of the first haircut. Beyond worth the $1 it cost.

Pre-professional haircut:

The Spray Bottle:

During (I'm going to try and not be insulted by the fact that Tim's Mom cut off the top of my head):

After:

She looks like such a little girl!