Alex's First Haircut!

Alex had his first haircut with a complete and utter lack of fanfare.  This haircut, seeing as it was free, saved us between $6.00 (SuperCuts with a coupon) and $20.00 (Kid Clips without a coupon). What do I intend to do with this savings?  Well, I'll pass it on to Alex, of course.  In the form of crackers.

Actually, Andy and Alex both got free haircuts yesterday, so the total savings is somewhere in the neighborhood of $12.00 to $40.00, and that's not including tip.  The thing about children is that they are expensive.  For the most part, the expenses are minimal- a $3.00 t-shirt from Wal-Mart here, a $1.50 cake pop from Starbucks there- but they add up, and fast.  So if you can find the savings in the form of DIY haircuts or by having your first born son sleep in what is clearly a girl's twin bed (that his aunt used for about twenty years before it was handed down), then you have no choice but to go for it.  But don't bother making the homemade laundry detergent- you might as well just commit yourself to a lifetime of oddly smelling sweaters.

Alex's surfer boy blond hair was long and unruly, flapping up over his ears like the wings of some ridiculous, yet beautiful, bird.  He had a peculiar, long cowlick that somehow gave him the impression of looking both drunken and homeless.  Like a wino, I would say.  And while his lengthy, cornsilk hair has become one of his defining features, it was definitely time to clean him up.

And what better way to accomplish this than outside, with the buzz clippers?  For free?

"Time for baldy sours!"  Chris exclaimed joyously, using a term that is clearly from the era of silent films.  He took off his socks in order to get ready to do the hair cuts- because the buzzes were to be performed outside, apparently in Alabama.  Either that, or Chris knows that you cannot go outside in socks, so taking off the socks is somewhat easier than putting on some shoes.  Andy was quick to rip off his own stinky socks, too, but I held Alex on my lap and strapped on his little shoes and buried my face in his beautiful hair one last, sweet time before heading out to the yard.

You may remember Andy's first hair cut.  Alex's was much different.  Alex basically sat in the lawn chair while Chris efficiently buzzed it.  There were no tears, no big adventure to the mall, and really only a tiny amount of squirming.  And it was not until Alex's first golden lock fell to the lawn that I freaked out and realized what we were doing, scrambling quickly to catch the hair clumps like they were dollar bills inside of one of those wacky, windy money booths.

In a matter of moments, Alex's hair was off of his head and in fistfuls in my hands.  First haircut, done.  Chris called Andy over for his turn, and I was left to contemplate the new shaved look of my youngest son.  My baby.

I was relieved to note that Alex somehow looked even cuter without his distinctive blond locks.  His eyes looked even bigger and browner and softer, and the perfect roundness of his cue ball head was more evident than ever.  All in all, the first hair cut was a success.

It's strange what is left over as my kids hit their milestones.  I've had infant carriers and baby swings that I've thrown straight into the trash.  I've gifted crumpled up newborn onesies to a friend with a younger son.  I had Chris drive over a used diaper genie to his sister's house (I sprayed it with Lysol first, don't worry).  There's a drawer in my house full of unidentifiable "art" projects from day care that are basically blank construction paper pages with a few miscellaneous marker or paint smears on them. I have a trash bag stuffed in a kitchen cabinet full of Andy's old bottles and pacifiers. I don't know why I have this bag.  I keep forgetting about it, and then I keep discovering it behind all the pots and asking myself, "What am I saving this for again?"  And then, yesterday, I found myself holding freshly shorn hair from my baby- finally, a true treasure worth the save.  And ever so gently, I carefully tied it up with a little blue ribbon and put it in my nightstand to keep forever.  Along with the cash I might have spent at the mall.