We went to visit Ms. Mary for Julia’s first “real” haircut today. What makes this one a “real” one versus the other cuts? First, we made this trip especially for Julia’s haircut. And secondly, the only other times she had her hair trimmed it was just a few snips to keep her from feeling left out during her sister’s haircuts.

Emily was very insistent that she would be getting her hair cut and it would be short. Given that she wanted to go first and Julia became very shy when we entered the hair salon, Emily got her haircut first. She got a trim and it is shorter, but not by too much. She loved all of the curls that Ms. Mary put in her hair for her. Mama thought she looked a little Shirley Temple-like.

Julia warmed up after being in the shop for a while. A little boy in the salon befriended both girls and played with them as long as he was there. Between the new friend and just seeing how things worked in the room, Julia lost her wariness. She sat very still (at least for a two year old) for Ms. Mary to both cut and style her hair. When we asked Julia if she wanted short or long hair she decided long. So Mary cut some hair off and then gave her a style too. With all the curls it is hard to tell what the cut looks like, but she too was proud of her curls.

Both girls played with a model head while Mama got a haircut and then they helped Ms. Mary sweep up all the cut hair from the floor. They were good helpers and didn’t stop helping until it was done. Mary is so sweet with the girls and lets them play with her combs and clips. We were sad that she couldn’t have lunch with us, but maybe next time.

Julia’s before photo. She was unusually willing to look at the camera and say, “cheese”. Mama marvels at how big her baby is getting!

A during haircut & styling shot. She did a good job of holding still. She enjoyed looking in the mirror and watching herself move her tongue.

An after-styled shot. Something in this photo makes she seem so angelic. Again, she willingly looked at the camera and said, “cheese”.

Julia and Ms. Mary

Emily’s before shot. Mama couldn’t pass up an opportunity to take a picture of her big girl.

Emily showing off her cute curly style with Ms. Mary.

Julia graduated to her big girl bed tonight. When Daddy got home, he removed the side and installed the safety bar. Both girls were excited. Emily understood what was happening, but Julia kept checking on her Daddy to see what was going on.

The girls enjoyed playing together in Julia’s bed. Emily was not pleased when she had to get out at bedtime. When Mommy suggested that we take Julia’s photo, she thought that she needed to have her jammies on first. She is so proud of her bed. She made sure her water was on the same shelf as Emily’s, now that she can get out to drink it.

What a big girl you are Julia. We are proud of you!

Congratulations to Miss Julia for figuring out how to climb up by herself in one of the indoor playgrounds we play at! I told Julia I would be there in a minute to help her past the two tricky steps and the next thing I knew Emily was announcing that Julia had done it all by herself. We did a happy dance and had a lot of excitement from all parties. She had been close, but just couldn’t figure how to lock her knee and push off. Maybe climbing out of bed has given her the confidence to try it again.

Today was the day that Julia discovered she could climb out of her crib. She has climbed out of the pack-n-play for a couple of days now, and she must have decided that the crib was possible too. This morning, Mommy heard several unusual noises coming from the girls’ bedroom and decided to wait and see what happened. Sure enough, in a few minutes a little person was opening the door with a grin across her face. Emily and Mommy praised her accomplishment and we took her back in to re-create the accomplishment. Julia was pleased to show off her new skill which she was still perfecting.

Today is the first day of Thursday School. Emily woke up talking about it. She was quite excited. Julia looks a little apprehensive about the idea. It will be her first day going. Don’t let her face fool you she was excited too. She cried when she didn’t get to wear her backpack out the door to the car.

Drop-off went well. Emily is in a class of all girls. She will be making all new friends because none of the girls were in her class last year. After hanging her backpack she sat right down and started playing with a barn set. Julia is in a class with all boys, at least at this point. She helped me hang her backpack and then sat down to play with play-dough. She didn’t have any tears as I said goodbye, so I have high hopes that she will adjust to her new class well.

Pick-up came a little too soon for the mama. I had decided to get Emily first and then take her to get Julia. This way Emily could see her old teacher Ms. Melanie. When I got to Emily’s room, Julia was there. During lunch time Julia spotted Emily and was sad that she couldn’t be with her. So, they allowed Julia to hang in the room with Emily after lunch. Too sweet! Emily had a blast and was quietly playing with puzzles when I came to get her. We did our visiting on the way out and Emily enjoyed telling me of her day. Julia did great in her class and participated with the other kids. We will see what she thinks of it next week.

As a side note, Mama loved her three hours too.

Swinging is a favorite of both of the girls. Julia’s smile just gets bigger when she is swinging toward you.

Julia is sporting her first tooth, the bottom front-left tooth. I doubled checked to be sure – showing off her teeth to anyone is not a favorite of Julia’s. I guess it was her first birthday gift to herself. She is continuing to work on more teeth. We haven’t let the lack of teeth hold us back on food options though. If she sees real solid food she becomes disinterested in her puree food and likes to sample the grown-up food. Her favorite is Mommy’s bagel.