hippy no more!!! {+ some thoughts about mamahood}

okay... please don't lecture me about that overgrown mop of hair. save your critique for my sub-par hair cutting skills which will be revealed below. first, though, take a look at how long isaac's hair had become...

clear down past his upper lashes!

so, here's the thing. we moved. and i honestly couldn't find our hair-cutting scissors for about the first month. and even after i had found them, i just didn't want to cut his hair. i was sort of liking it longer, to be frank. 

but when it started to cover his eyes and began to bother his lashes {i knew, 'cause he was always trying to rub that tickly sensation off his eyes}, i figured i should bust out those scissors.

apprehension got the better of me, though... a complete lack of confidence in my ability to, a) cut his hair in some fashionable form, and, b) keep that fashionable cut from looking like it was given while riding on a roller coaster. 

i ended up cutting it on his 20-month birthday. if you have kids older than this, remember back to when they were 20 months old. squirmy, right? now do you see my apprehension? i've cut my own bangs before. and i once cut mr. b's hair {when it used to be long}. but outside of that, i've got no real experience or practice. i had used a trimmer on him a while back. but that doesn't count.

let's just say, i should stick to pursuing photography.

i have to say this, though... as imperfect as it is, i love the way it turned out!

apparently, he did not!

joking, of course... that's not why he's crying. no, that little display of utter displeasure in the above photo was all about wanting out of his high chair after having sat there so patiently for so long. i started out with the last picture i took... a shot of the finished product {which has since been slightly tweaked}... so you could see what i'm talking about right off the bat... see just how {fill in the blank} this hair cut really is!

okay... be honest. but be gentle.

and don't forget. he's not even two. seriously... no matter what sort of do sits atop his sweet little skull, he's really precious to me. in fact, i think he melts my heart more than ever now. have you ever heard of the theory that states a hair cut can sort of alter one's personality for a time? i think it's true! and i think isaac somehow became even sweeter and more lovable than he was pre-trimming.

just look at the progression. sweeter by the photo!...

{don't worry... this is not a picture of the finished back... work in progress.}


{still workin' on it here. had yet to trim up the sides by this point.}

if nothing else, his new do has opened up his face and let those sweet round peepers be more of the star that they deserve to be. 'twould be a crime to keep hidden such eyes so blue!

since it was his 20-month birthday, i figured i would get in some milestone pics while chopping away all that hair... two birds with the same stone, if you will.

and the slight distraction of the camera couldn't but help to keep him from growing weary of sitting strapped in for so long as i firmly held his chin so as to avoid an eye/scissors collision or an accidental snipping of the ear. 

letting him comb his hair all by himself didn't hurt, either.

i felt like a real bonifide hair dresser as i undid the clamped towel on the back of his neck and brushed the lose hairs off his skin.

tah-dah!!!...

not bad for a first attempt, i'd say.

i still remember getting my hair cut at home throughout most of my childhood. i can recall how itchy that towel felt as short, fine hairs found their way around its protective barrier, slipping down between it and my skin. i can hear the crisp sound of hair slicing between cold, sharp blades... so dangerously near my ear... so scary, but somehow not scary at the same time, because i could simultaneously feel the soft, cool skin of my mothers hands on my neck, and i trusted her implicitly.

i can't help but wonder if he'll remember haircuts the same way thirty-nine years and nine months from now. i hope so. 

i hope he'll always know he, too, can trust me implicitly... in everything... even when the results come out slightly crooked {and they will}... the intent was {and always will be} one with his best interests at heart.

as for future haircuts, my hope is that after five or six more, i'll be an old pro.