Samma's First Haircut

Last weekend we decided it was time to get Samma's hair trimmed for the first time.  It was a debate for a while - I didn't want to do it, then when I finally decided it needed to get done, Chris was uncertain it needed to be done.  This went back and for for a little bit, and there was even the off-chance that I would cut her hair myself.  Eventually, I made the call, and decided to bring her to Snip-Its in Hingham.

The shop is obviously catered to toddlers and children, so I felt comfortable in knowing that the stylist would know how to work with a nosy toddler like Sam.  The downside was that they don't accept appointments, and when we walked-in on a Sunday afternoon there was a 90-minute wait.  At the time, this was OK because there were plenty of other places to walk to and things to see while we waited, but if it was any other time I'm not sure it would have been as convenient.

I will say, when it was close to our appointment, they took us right away.  We strapped Samma into the chair, turned on a video for her to watch, and the stylist (I believe her name was Sarah) started spritzing away.

The only issue we came across had nothing to do with Sam - it was all of the other children who where there, and I'm assuming they were getting their first hair cuts as well, for the screams and cries we were hearing could only mean just that.  And Samantha, being the concerned little girl she is, was very busy paying attention to them rather than keeping her head straight for the stylist to cut her hair.  For a while, I was even starting to think she was going to cry because everyone else around her was, but we quickly nipped it in the bud with a lollipop.  Once she had something to nom on, it was smooth sailing from there.... not the most ideal distraction, but it worked, and when there are scissors near my daughter, I'll be happy to do whatever it takes to keep her still.

So, without further ado, I give you.... Samma's first haircut! (Chris was much better at taking photos of her than I was... I think I was too preoccupied making sure the stylist didn't cut too much off!)

 

Getting ready!

Lollipop distractions

All done!

She pinned her hair back with a bobby pin that has "Snip-Its" written on it.  Adorable, but unnecessary product placement.

We also received a little certificate that had her name, the date, and a little sealed baggie of some of her hair clippings.  You may call it gross, but the mommy in me was happy to have the memento.  I'll probably put it in a shadowbox with the aforesaid Snip-Its ribbon and call it a day.

Once Sam was able to get out of the seat, they brought her over to a prize machine where she got to put in this large credit card-type object and then reach in and grab her prize for being so good.  She came out with a little squeeze seahorse, and she was OK with this.

When all was said and done, we paid $18.99 plus tip - I had Samma give it to Sarah and say thank you because I thought it was cute.  A little pricey, but like I said it wasn't something I was ready to do myself, so I was fine with it. 

Long story short, we were extremely happy with the experience, Sam's hair came out fine like we wanted it, and I definitely plan on going back for future trims.

SUCCESS!!!

 
Signed, sealed, and delivered -- Samma's card is finally up on Sprout's website, and one week before her birthday, just like they said it would be!  Now I have to remember to record the SunnySide Up Show on September 20th to see if her card made it on TV!

That screen shot of the card there makes it look like it got a little beaten up in transit... I hope the rest of it's OK.

But yeah, I'm way too excited about all this... I'm just thinking about how awesome it would be for Sam to see herself on TV and watch them wish her a happy day.  ♥_♥

2nd Birthday Incoming!

With Samma's party a little over a week away, there's going to be a lot of planning going on, so it might be a good time to get this party started... literally and figuratively!  Here are the basics: 

The Date:  Saturday, September 22, 2011

The Place:  Our house

The Time:  2pm

The Theme:  Blue's Clues!  And thanks to VistaPrint for actually having a Blue's Clues invitation template!

The Menu:  Chris wants to keep it simple this year, so I think we're going to have burgers and dogs and other kid-friendly items.

The Cake: Nikki and I are going to make cupcakes again, but I think that's what we're going to go with instead of an actual cake.  I'm thinking chocolate with vanilla frosting, and then we're going to pipe Blue's Clues paw prints on the top with blue frosting.  And you'll never believe it, but I was able to find Blue's Clues baking cups on eBay!

The Presents: Samma's WishList - been working on the same one since last year!

The Ensemble:  In sticking with the Blue's Clues theme, I bought Samma a tshirt from VistaPrint:

I also have a shirt I bought her from Old Navy that I was planning on having her wear to her 2yo pictures this coming weekend - should she need a costume change throughout the day (which is possible) she may also wear that.

The Guest List:  The invitation have been made, sent, and RSVPs are due in by this Saturday, September 15th.  Unfortunately, we have to trim the guest list back majorly from last year because there's just no way we could entertain 50-60 people every year, and that's not even included any kids who Samma may want to invite.  So this year we've invited our immediate families, my two grandmothers, our close friends with children, and Samma's daycare friends.  The numbers totaled 35 plus the parents of the daycare kids, which seems to be much more doable when there are going to be toddlers running around.

The main thing I need to focus on now is buying the party supplies and making up the goodie bags for the kids.  For party supplies I'm probably just going to get blue and purpose balloons, steamers, plates, cups, and napkins.  As for the goodie bags, I was able to find cellophane bags on eBay in... you guessed it... a Blue's Clues theme!

 I'm thinking I'll stuff them with toddler smoothies, Motts fruit snacks, beads, bubbles, stickers, and maybe a little toy if I can find it.  Of course, this is all depending on how big these bags actually are when I get them.

As for what we're getting her, I think we have that covered, but I'll get into it when I do another post for her actual birthday -- can't give away all the surprises at once, can we?? ;)

It's Potty Time!

This might be TMI for some, if not most, but I'm a proud mama right now, so I'm about to shout it from the rooftops -- you've been warned.

SAMANTHA USED THE POTTY!!!!

 (Yes, this is the exact picture I texted to Chris, that's how excited I was. )

I'll be the first to admit, I didn't think I would be writing this post, like this, so soon... in fact, I had a completely different potty post laid out, but I almost feel like it might be moot to proceed as I was intending, but we will see.

I will take it back a little bit and explain a little about how we got to this point.

A month or so ago - maybe two, since it really happened while we were on vacation in July - Samma was almost shy and wanting privacy while she was pooping (I told you this was going to be TMI), so much so that she started standing in the corner while she was going so that we weren't so much around to bother her.  Now, she would let us know when she had gone in the past, but the corner thing was a completely new thing to us, so we figured it was going to be time sooner than later.

I had also started to bring her into the bathroom with me when I had to go, and explained it to her as best as I could so that she could understand it on a toddler level.  Soon enough, she was asking for her own potty... and who am I to deny my daughter anything??!

After some searching and review-reading on Amazon.com, I came upon this:

Baby Bjorn Potty Chair

I figured a 4.5/5 star rating with 597 reviews has to stand for something, right?  And I asked Samma what color she wanted, and she specifically asked for pink, so pink she received.

I also wanted to get her a potty book so that she would have something to "read" while she was on the potty... again, I turned to Amazon and found this one:

Potty by Leslie Patricelli

Again, 4.5/5 stars with 137 reviews definitely got my attention with this one.  The book itself, is pretty fantastic -- it's easy to read with her, and the pictures are gentle while at the same time able to convey the... event, I guess, of using the potty.  Samma loves reading this book with us, and there are times when she seems to be reading the book at us instead of vice versa.  This definitely gets my thumbs-up as a decent way to teach a 2-year-old about the bathroom.

So once the potty was received, Samma loved that it was hers, and every time I brought her in with me, she had to sit in her potty too.  Full dressed, mind you, but it was HER "pink potty" and Mamma's "big potty." 

There were a couple of times when she specifically asked to go up stairs and use the potty, so I would bring her up, strip her, and sit her down while she tried to go.  I would give her a good 5-10 minutes each time, but alas, to no avail.  It's OK, I told her... it's OK to try, and we'll keep trying.  I mean, she's not even 2 yet... I'm going to let her set the pace for this - there's no rush.

The other thing we started doing, within the last week or so, was sitting her down on the potty before she took a bath, and up until tonight we didn't get anything out of her.  Now tonight, I stripped her down, and asked her if she wanted to try the potty before we got in the tub, she said yes, and sat right down.  I told her if she felt like she needed to pee, to go ahead and do it..... and sure enough, she did!  I was in shock, I think I scared her... but I got down and hugged and kissed her, and told her how good of a job she did, and I think she understood.  I continued to applaud her while she was in the tub, and she would smile at me saying "I used the potty!"  And that's where the picture above that I sent to Chris came in.

So where do we go from here?  Your guess is as good as mine.  This is one thing I definitely have no experience with, and even less knowledge about, so just like everything else, it's going to need come research.  I've received a couple of good emails from various parenting websites, like this Potty Training 101 from Parents.com, plus I've been flipping through What to Expect - The Toddler Years for some insight as well.  At this point, however, I don't think I'm going to change any of what we've been doing, at least not much anyway.  I may try to schedule some "potty time" like first thing in the morning and before getting ready for bed, to give her a little more chance to practice... but again, she's still not 2 yet, and I'm looking forward to discussing this with Sam's pediatrician when that appointment comes in the next couple of weeks.

But all that being said -- YAY! Go Samma! :)

Sidenote: Anonymous posting

As of today, anonymous posting will no longer be allowed / tolerated when commenting on this blog.

Honestly, I didn't think it would be an issue, so I never thought to turn it off.

Apparently, someone decided it was necessary to respond as such on my I'm Mom Enough post from the end of May, and it wasn't until I was revamping the blog this past weekend that I came upon this lovely gem.

I'm not going to delete it - no, I plan on leaving this comment there for all to see.  Who am I to deny someone the right to their opinions?

But I will say this -- anyone who feels the need to defend themselves anonymously clearly feels insecure in their own life decisions.  I hope this individual finds the strength they need to carry on, and no longer feels the need to be shrouded in mystery.

So that's the end of it.  Nothing more to see here.  Moving on...