The Second Haircut

It has, shockingly, been over a year and a half since Josie had her first haircut. We've all had so much fun watching the blond curls grow, why cut it? Well, it's finally gotten to a point of looking unruly and a little unmanageable. When her hair was wet it reached nearly halfway down her back but dry it came to her shoulders. Every morning was getting to be a fight to get through the tangles. And the back had drastically different lengths to the curls, it couldn't even pass for layering. Josie was even asking to get her hair cut.

I tried to take a 'before' picture but Josie was dancing and could not seem to stand still, so here's a video.

We have been cutting Xander's hair at home but I was not going to attempt trimming Josie's hair. I made a few phone calls and decided to go to Cookie Cutters. Surprisingly, I had to make an appointment but I'm glad I did. When we arrived Xander took off to the slide (they have a small indoor play area). Josie was immediately brought back for her cut and offered the choice of where to sit. She decided she wanted the airplane where Tangled was playing. When I checked on Xander, he had found Lego Star Wars and was happily playing away. So I sat down with Hannah where I could keep an eye on Xander and Josie.

Josie's hair was sprayed down and trimmed to even it out followed by getting her hair dried. She didn't didn't seem to mind any of it. The stylist said Josie did a good job of following directions and other clients and stylists were complimenting her hair. As easy as that, we were back in the van heading home.

Her hair looks nearly the same, just a little shorter and a lot curlier. Hopefully she won't get as hot running around outside since the back is off of her shoulders and neck. It's definitely easier to comb through in the morning!

Josie Turns 2!

Even after being in California for 10 months, it was hard to celebrate Josie's birthday without family and friends and a pretty birthday cake. We made the most of it with Aunt Trisha, Elmo and a barbecue at a friends house. I think Josie kind of liked getting presents spread out over a couple of days so that she could play with each.

The festivities began on Thursday with Aunt Trisha visiting. She was given a Play-Doh set which had to be played with at once (and Xander heartily approved). She also received a Princess backpack. She doesn't know much about the Princesses but seems to love the pink, frilly sparkly look. Xander seemed to like the backpack because it means he doesn't have to share his Diego backpack anymore. First thing Saturday morning he rolled both into the room and said "Here, Josie, here is your backpack."


Xander picked out a Princess bouncy ball for Josie. She loves it and carries it with her, although I think that is more to keep Xander from playing with it than anything.


Josie received new blankets for her newly converted toddler bed from us. She also received a tea set. She and Xander have had lots of fun with that, let me tell you. They serve tea, coffee and ice cream (oddly enough, the ice cream is dispensed from the DVD player). Today they figured out they could fill the cups with water in the bathroom, which resulted in a nice spill.


We celebrated her official birthday on Saturday with a trip to Elmo's Healthy Heroes, a Sesame Street Live show. Our seats were better than expected. We didn't have floor seats but there was almost no one in our section so we did move up a few rows. We were far enough back that the sounds and lights weren't a problem. When the show started, Josie had the most astonished look on her face. Of course, she became squirmy and I had to struggle to keep her from running off during half of the show. Xander watched the show with a surprising amount of intensity but didn't do much of the dancing or clapping along. Both kids were disappointed in not getting an Elmo balloon (unfortunately, the parking cost was a lot more than we anticipated). Overall, it was what we expected to go down.

That evening we were invited to a barbecue at a friends house. Nothing big, just four parents trying to have conversation while two 3-year-old boys, a newly 2-year old girl and a 22-month-old girl ran amok. They were nice enough to put up a banner and give Josie a paint set.




I brought over an orange sponge cake for us to eat. We all sang and gave Josie a chance to blow out the candles.



Josie received a couple more gifts on Monday. She put on a little fashion show just to make me happy and then spent the rest of the day listening to the musical card that came with the clothes.


I think that's all she's getting, but maybe I should check the mail.

San Diego Vacation - Day 1

We took a small family vacation the past few days by traveling down the coast to San Diego with the kids. We took a flight (less than an hour and a half) instead of driving (over four hours) and arrived in the early afternoon. With temperatures in the low 70s, we tried the pool first. Despite the heated pool, it was chilly and poor Josie was shivering.

We called it quits and decided to venture out to the beach. Turns out that our hotel was only about two blocks (and several steep flights of stairs) from the beach. Yeah!

After watching the water for all of a minute, Xander was more than happy to wade in and find rocks for his collection.


Josie enjoyed the view.


However, she seems to have a fear of water racing towards her. She did not want to go in the ocean and, as you can see, ran away from the waves.

The kids found a pre-dug hole and had fun playing in it. Then a big wave came in and filled the hole, drenching the kids and freaking Josie out. We called it a day after that.

Entertainment Around Our House

Josie has become obsessed with the buckles on her booster seat. I remember that Xander also went through this phase. "Look what I can do, I can buckle myself in! Wait, now it's buckled and I can't go anywhere! Momma, open! Open! Open, Momma!" Ok, she only says the last part.

Tired of being called over to unbuckle the little sweetheart, I took the seat off of the chair and set it on the floor. Added bonus, more buckles to put together! Now, when she sits down and buckles up, this is what we get.



Xander saw that I recorded Josie and had to get in on that fun.

What is the Opposite of an Escape Artist?

Whenever Chris takes the kids to a playground he tries to be a good father and teaches them things like sharing and playing games. He doesn't stop to think "How will knowing this impact our children and my wife?" His desire is to impart knowledge, social skills and safety. So teaching Josie to climb a ladder has led to this.



Despite my efforts to move that changing table, it easily slides on the hard wood floor. Xander is usually the culprit for putting next to the crib but I've seen Josie move it.

I'm just happy that she hasn't figured out how to climb back out. Yet.

Dad Teaches How To Jump Rope

First, Dad demonstrates how to jump rope.



Then, Xander jumps and holds a rope, therefore he must be jumping rope.




And, finally, demand that Josie learn to jump despite not being able to jump.




Sadly, I was not taped jumping. I did awesome though.