The Haircut ...

Getting strapped in by a stranger with sharp objects? Thanks, Mom and Dad ...

Jason here. So Anderson just graduated from college. Okay ... not really. It just seems like it's been so long since we've given an update that it seems feasible. Busy. When not busy, lazy. We've had company and work has been busy for both of us, but here's the haircut update ...

So when Natalie last wrote, Anderson's hair was - as Natalie put it - out of control. I was okay with the long locks and was always a fan of the sixties, but Natalie didn't like the long locks and didn't like my "let's not bathe him for a week and make him into a true hippie" idea, so we decided to get his hair cut. The big question was where.

My family members know this, but most of my friends do not. My father frequently attempted to cut my hair when I was a kid, even going to the point of purchasing a "barbering at home" kit, which he brought home with pride when I was around 5 years old. Unfortunately, as well-intentioned as my father was, he did not also purchase the supplement to this, entitled "*How* to Cut Hair at Home Without Embarrassing Your Kid". His engineering mindset was simple ... the hair is long. I'll cut it. It won't be long anymore. Simple enough, right?

Except that the cut was never even. So he had to balance the other side. And then the other. You can see where this is going, right? Every haircut resulted in a shaved head. I have multitudes of school-age photos that demonstrate my father's barbering technique. Having suffered through this, we decided that Anderson would see a professional.

But what kind? A regular hair stylist can surely cut infant's hair, but we opted for the overpriced kid's specialty haircut. $16 for a stylist to spend 5 minutes cutting the 4 strands of hair that your kid has. And there's always a line, because every family is there taking pictures. Like these ...

Looking at the camera. Inner thoughts? "Someday I'm putting you in a bad nursing home..."

Mom, placing Anderson in a sleeper hold ...

Promising to take him back to Sea World ...
Over. Bring on the women ...

So Anderson now looks more like a little boy that an infant. This is important, as he has graduated from the infant room to the toddler room, where all of the kids are bigger than him. Well, in weight. He still has a head that matches most 3 year olds ...

Thankfully he's leaving the infant room as one of kids has been biting his arm. The day care center makes up "incident reports" and lets us know that Anderson was bitten. They don't, unfortunately, tell us who the culprit is. Natalie and I will be hiring a lawyer in the near future to bring the criminal to justice. This being Texas, we're pushing for the death penalty.

That's all for now ...

Our Hippie Child

Though we've been talking about it for months now, it is becoming more and more obvious that Munch needs a bit of a trim. He hasn't had an official haircut yet, but watch for a more shorn 'do in the weeks to come...



To escape the Austin (100 degree) heat, we ventured to San Antonio a few weeks ago to bake in their (100 degree) heat :) We packed in a visit to the Alamo, Sea World, Children's Museum, and a pretty interesting/gripping outing to Ripley's Believe It or Not. I haven't been to a place like that in ages. But there's still something grotesquely appealing about all the weird stuff people do...

Anderson made some new friends at the Children's Museum...

And learned his way around an udder...
The real winners were the fish. He got very excited and started squealing loudly when he saw them swimming around.
Anderson also had his first swim in the hotel pool. He braved the floaties well - and tolerated the size 3T swimsuit (his belly 'demands' a larger size!).
At the Alamo, there was a generous individual who was giving out hugs - for FREE! Oddly, no one was accepting his kind offer...

At Sea World, Jason did the daddy thing and won Anderson a little Shamu...



The following Friday (last Friday), Jason left for a 8 day trip to Montana with the boys...leaving Munchie/I to fend for ourselves. We went to a baby shower on Saturday and another summer party on Sunday at the most unbelievably nice house...fountains, 20 ft ceilings, stone floors - a relative castle...


Luckily Jason came home today and we are back to a family again. Yay, no more single parenting! Anderson has been walking around with his toy walker. We'll see how he progresses to the real deal in the next few weeks.

On another note, friends Jennifer & James had their daughter Callista this evening - many congratulations on a super fast labor and happy/healthy baby!! We're anticipating some cute pictures :)