First Haircut

Ivan got his first haircut today.

If I don't count the two times that Andy trimmed his back--the first time about six months ago he chopped off the cute little lock he had on the nape of his neck while he was giving him a bath. Luckily he kept the lock. That was actually how I found it. I found a lock of blond hair on the dresser next to my jewelry. Andy couldn't understand why. I was really upset about it, about the fact that he did it with me being present and about treating it like it's no big deal. Then a few months later, he again trimmed the back of his hair--it was getting too long, he said, and Ivan was beginning to look like a girl--during bath time.

But now, it was high time to get a real haircut because his bang had gotten too long and were falling into his eyes.

We didn't really know where to go, so we settled on Cartoon Cuts up in Rockville. (In the meantime, several playgroup moms suggested local, random barbers/hair salons, but they all agreed that the first haircut has to be special and that Cartoon Cuts was a good place to go.)

First we went last Sunday around 1 p.m.--basically after the playdate--but the place was a zoo. It took me 5 minutes to get the attention of girl at the check in/register to ask how long the wait would be. She said about 45 minutes. We gave up and went back home.

Today, however, we left the playdate early, around 10:30 and went straight to Cartoon Cuts. It was busy but much less hectic than last Sunday, The register girl said the wait would be at the most 15 minutes. Well, a minute after that, one haircutting lady was free and called Ivan's name.

Except he was fast asleep in the car, snoring and all. He had fallen asleep in the car on our way to Rockville. And he seemed to have been in that deep sleep, with his head slumped forward. When we pulled into the mall's parking lot, I was actually even beginning to reconsider whether to wake him up for the hair cut. But since we were there on a specific mission to get his hair cut, I went in to inquire about the wait while Andy and Ivan stayed in the car. I was hoping the wait would be longer, so that Ivan would have the time to wake up gradually on his own. But Andy had to wake him up.

When they walked into the place, I was surprised that he didn't seem cranky, a bit confused but not cranky. The haircut went surprisingly well. He sat in Andy's lap who sat in a barber's chair. At first Ivan fussed and cried a bit. I think it was more because of having been abruptly woken up than the haircut.

The haircut took a few minutes, and yes, Ivan was his serious self but he didn't really protest. He was too busy looking around and watching Sponge Bob on the little TV in front of him.

He got a little trim. Nothing drastic. Andy says the haircut is a dorky Camelot haircut, but that's fine with me. I think Ivan is still too much of a baby, my baby, to get his hair fully cut with shaved, razor trimmed back. One day, but not now.

Actually, with his lush blond hair--especially before the hair cut--Ivan reminds me of a little surfer/skater dude.

At Cartoon Cuts, we got his hair collected in a little enveloppe attached to a hair cutting certificate.