First Haircut

We finally did it! On Friday, we were playing at Kate's house and I looked at Grace and thought about how crazy her hair has become. It grew in naturally with a layered look. Some pieces much, much longer than others. The top was a lot shorter than the bottom, giving her a mullet look. The fact that much of the hair was baby-fine meant that it became frizzy easily and stuck out all over the place.

So, Saturday, Jeff and I took her to get it trimmed up. We wanted it to look the same, just more even and more controlled.

This is her before - notice how the bangs are all different lengths.



She did well during the cut. She didn't want us to sit in the chair, so I had to stand while the stylist trimmed her hair. She clung to me for dear life through the entire time. She didn't cry or make any sort of protest, but you could tell she wasn't too confident that this was a good idea.

Looking unsure of what was going on:


Clinging to mommy:


The view from the back - you can see how uneven it is. She cut about an inch to an inch and half off.



And here is what she looks like now:

Ben-ley

Grace and Bentley love to play together. Most of the time she will call him either Doggy or BB, but lately she has started calling him by his name, Bentley (Ben-ley).

One of the things that Grace likes to do is keep him warm while he naps. She will go get her blankets (or her Dora beach towel) and cover him while he is *goin' night-night.* She will make sure the blanket is perfectly straight. If he tries to move away from her, she will just follow, tell him to stay and start all over. After about 30 minutes of running from her, he gives in and allows her to cover him up. Then she sits on him and watches TV.


She also loves to chase him all over the house while pushing her doll stroller or something else with wheels. She will chase him for as long as she can - usually, I have to put Bentley outside because he gets tired way before she does.

She loves to feed Bentley by herself. Each day, she gets his empty bowl and brings it to me. I hold it for her while she fills it up. She then takes the full bowl from me and slowly carries it back to its spot.

Ouch!

My little girl loves to run - and sometimes her feet can out run her legs.

In the first week of August, she was playing on the sidewalk - running back and forth to me and the house. She is getting quite fast, but sometimes hershe can't keep up with herself!

She fell, skinning her knees, her hands and even her forehead! She had a yucky bruise under all the scratches. She cried for a bit, but only a couple of minutes. I got her home and cleaned her up - she let me know she needed band aids. I think she had like 6 or something before she thought she felt good enough to continue her play.


Band aids are important to her. The other day (Sunday before Labor Day), we were at a friend's house and she was playing with their son. She ended up with a busted lip. She cried for all of a minute...but seeing that there was blood, she started saying she needed a band aid. We gave her one - she put it on her chin and, less than 3 minutes after the injury, she was ready to play again.

Another month!

Another month has passed and I am continually amazed at Grace and all that she can do and say on her own. Just today, we invited over her best friend, Kate, to play. She and Kate play together so well. The two of them will just go off and spend time giggling and sharing and playing...leaving the mommies watching in amazement.

She mimics everything I say and do...which is really cool, but also scary. What a huge responsibility that is. She loves to ask me, "What's that?" Then she will repeat whatever I say and can remember what it is later. Which, even 6 months ago, she couldn't do consistently.