Two Haircuts

Kai hasn't had a haircut in a couple of months and I really wanted him to get one before we went on vacation this weekend. So, about 2 weeks ago I took him to our normal spot. Normally, haircuts for Kai are hard, but in the past we've been able to soothe him with a binky, a mirror, a toy, or most recently lollipops. But this time, nothing worked. I've never seen him throw such a big fit--ever. He screamed and cried and refused to have his haircut. I tried to hold him down and it only resulted in him clawing at his neck and giving himself scratches. In the end, we came away with only the hair on the back of his neck getting slightly trimmed. The lady was nice enough to only charge us for a shampoo. I was frustrated and embarassed.

This weekend, we tried again. Kai was in a better mood and Reid needed a cut, too. So off we went again, armed with toys and lollipops. And once again, Kai did not want his hair cut. Luckily the fit wasn't even half as bad. I was able to talk him into the chair after a couple of minutes and then after a couple of minutes more we had the apron on him. The lady was even able to trim up around his ears and almost finish his neck (again) before he declared himself done. And then there was nothing we could do--again. This lady was also nice and only charged us for a bang trim.

So, we've gone for two haircuts in two weeks and we have yet to actually get one. Ugghhh---I hope we outgrow this phase soon. His hair could really use it!

Does this look like a haircut to you???

Duck, Duck, DUCK

Last week, Kai started covering his head when I would get him in and out of the car. (I'm trying not to think what sad commentary that is about how often he gets whacked on the head getting in and out but I'm trying to concentrate on the humorous side of it!) I teased him and said he needed to duck.....and then I started saying "duck, duck, goose" as I would put him in and take him out. Of course, he quickly picked up on it (after only one of two reptitions, I believe) and started asking to play "duck, duck, goose", a game that he though was played "on the computer". Well, on Saturday Reid and I proceeded to illustrate "duck, duck, goose" for him. He LOVED the part where you chase the other person around.

So, after our illustration, Kai began to play. We've seen several variations which include: standing in front of momma and daddy, alternating smacking our heads while saying "duck, duck, duck, duck......" and on and on until he shouts "DUCK!" and begins to run. Or there's, "duck, duck, duck....." until he finally hits himself on the head and says "DUCK!" and starts to run in circles. We finally were able to get across the concept of "goose" and so recently there's been only running up to momma or daddy, whacking as hard as possible on the head, shouting "GOOSE!" and running circles around the couch until someone proceeds to chase him.

We've all had a good laugh and enjoy playing "duck, duck, goose" together.

Kai's First Tattoo

This morning Kai and I trekked out to the hospital for some lab work and a Rhogam shot for me. (I'm RH negative, therefore I have to have this shot everytime I'm pregnant. Can I choose to blame Reid for being normal? Or is it my fault that I'm strange??) For being a tired boy, Kai was very well behaved while they drew my blood. After the blood draw, they sent us up to the maternity ward to wait for the shot. Kai LOVED the play table that was in the waiting room. In fact, when they were ready for my shot, he didn't want to leave the table. So, the nurse bribed him with a sticker. When we got back to the room we found that it wasn't a sticker, but rather a tattoo. She was nice enough to even get a washcloth and put in on for him. He was very intrigued by the whole thing and when we were done he was asking to go play at the "hodpital" again. Ummmm.....too bad I have no desire to go back until we have to. Today's visit will have to last him for a while.

3D Ultrasound

We had our 3D ultrasound on Wednesday afternoon. It was a fun experience and one that we weren't expecting. Our doctor's office offers these 3D ultrasounds for all of their patients at 28 weeks. They give you lots of pictures and a free DVD. We were pleasantly surprised and enjoyed our half an hour looking at baby boy. We think he looks a lot like Kai. The other interesting thing is that he is already head down and way down there. He's ready to go! Maybe that means he'll come early??! One can hope, right?!

It's August!

Somebody pinch me. How did we get to August so quickly??! I do have to admit that I'm excited about this month. This Tuesday marks the beginning of the final trimester of this pregnancy. And on Wednesday we have a 3D ultrasound. We're excited to see our little guy again. I'm curious to see how much he's grown. And then next week starts my every two week visits with the midwife. While I know the appointments will still be rather boring and basic, it's exciting to know that we are on the final stretch. But there's still so much to do! Thank goodness we have August (and September and most of October for that matter!).

Here are some new videos, just for fun.






Sorry--he insisted on singing to me through the screen and on the deck. Gotta love him!

The Loot and The Scoop

So, Tuesday night went fabulously with the Binky Fairy. Kai went right to bed and slept through the night. I was so excited and very proud of him. On Wednesday morning, Kai woke up to some new toys. The first thing he said when I got him out of the crib was "Momma.....(mumble mumble) binkys!" The fairy brought him a Lightning McQueen car, a Mater with some of Chick Hicks pit crew, a new book for his LeapPad, and some Elmo bath toys. He loved his new toys!!


I was concerned about nap time, but we were out on Wednesday morning and so he fell asleep in the car. And Wednesday night was ok. He talked about his binkys but went to bed with little problems. Thursday was when it all started to come apart.

Nap time was very difficult. Lots of talking and stalling and additional requests. He was having a hard time calming down. And then bedtime that night involved 15 minutes of crying. I felt bad. What's been interesting is that he never actually complains about not having the binkys. He always says that his binkys went to the fairy because he's too old to suck on them. But then he asks for milk, lullabys, more stories, food, etc. Whatever he can think of to procrastinate going to bed. Our worst moment came at naptime on Friday. Putting him down took an hour! It was like dealing with an overtired infant all over again. Uggghhh!

Hopefully given time, things will get better. And it's better to do it now than later. We're just taking it one day at a time. The poor kid is beyond tired most of the time as he is losing some valuable sleep. And his naps have become shorter because he can't soothe himself back down if he wakes up in the middle. I'm hoping we beat this soon. In the meantime, he might not be at church today. To go to church he'll have to take an early nap and I'm not sure I'll be able to get him to do that. But we'll try. You never know.

The Binky Fairy

We've been talking up the binky fairy for quite some time now. We even ordered a "Binky Fairy" book off of Amazon and have been reading it for the past week or so. My goal was to have the fairy visit by the end of the month, with tomorrow or Thursday being preferrable. However, Kai had some different ideas.

While out in the yard this afternoon playing, Kai turned to me and told me that he was too old to suck on binkys. I was surprised and made sure that I had heard him correctly and he confirmed that I had. So then I asked him if that meant he was going to give them to the binky fairy and again he said yes. So when we returned to the house, I got out a box. I just thought that I'd show him what giving them to the binky fairy really meant and then I figured he would change his mind. He didn't. He ran to his crib and gathered up all of his binkys. (He only had 4, as we have never been big on binkys all of the time. He just uses them at night.) He came back to the living room, put them all in the box, and said "bye bye". Then he told him he was going to write a note to the binky fairy. I got him some blank paper and crayons and he began to scribble, "Dear Binky Fairy". (At least, that's what he says it says. :P) Once he was done, we put the box and the note to the side and continued on our day.
As Reid had Scouts tonight, I was in charge of story time and Kai requested the Binky Fairy book. So we read our book and then a couple others and went about our normal routine. When it came to the time that we normally hand him his binkys he said, "I need binkys". I reminded him that he had sent them to the binky fairy and he said "I say bye bye to turtle." (He had one turtle binky.) When then went to his box, opened it and he said "bye bye" and allowed me to close it back up. From there we normally cuddle for about 5 minutes (with the binkys) and so I gave him his stuffed crocodile instead. He talked to me and the crocodile saying that the crocodile didn't use binkys either. And that was it! He didn't even actually want to sleep with the crocodile. He insisted that crocodile be tucked back into his normal corner and then he laid down on his pillow, I tucked him in and he's now sleeping just as normal. Somebody pinch me!! I thought it'd be so much harder. Granted, we still have to make it all night and I have feeling we'll have at least one break down. I'll have to let you know tomorrow! In the meantime, the fairy needs to run to the store to pick up one last present that we had in mind for our newly declared "binky-free" boy.The box that is outside his door ready for the binky fairy.