Yesterday was a momentous day in our world. Can you say FIRST HAIRCUT!!! Our little man was born with lots and lots of hair and although he lost some over time, the poof on top remained and just grew and grew. He is just shy of 7 months old so we wondered if it was too early to approach this all important milestone, but his hair was cRaZy and it was time. :)
So off we went to Cartoon Cuts at Fair Oaks Mall. This place is nuts. Not only is it chock full with screaming kids and frustrated parents, it also has a HUGE green elephant that washes hair! James was a little skeptical...rightfully so. :)
They took us right away so off we went to the barber chair. James sat on my lap while daddy played photographer. I think one of the cutest things at this place was the mini smock for James. It was so little and cute!! Our stylist, Martha, got started and made sure that Daddy got the official first cut on film.
James was SOOOO GOOOOD throughout. Don't get me wrong, it helped that Dora was playing on the screen right in front of him, but all in all, it was a good experience. He was pretty unimpressed the entire time...until the buzzer came out. That is when the melt down began. Luckily it was only a mini meltdown thanks to our trusty pacifier.
It only took maybe 10 minutes, but WHAT A DIFFERENCE! He was a handsome guy before, but now he is a looker!! I put a before and after shot side by side so you can see just how long and unruly his hair was. I love how cleaned up he looks!
What is so cute is that Cartoon Cuts sent us home with a First Haircut Certificate along with some locks of James' hair.
This is SOOO up my ally and will be firmly placed in his baby book. My Mom actually saved a lock of my hair from my first haircut - it is a circle of hair. James now has a fully baggie and I'm happy to say, there are some curls in there. :)
It's been a while since we announced that we were going to do a partial renovation to the 2 upstairs bathrooms and we are a little embarassed about it. It's been 2 months and really, the updates were minimal. Impactful, but minimal which is why it is sad that it took 2 months to actually do it! Getting small things done around here these days is no easy task, but alas, we are here and the updates have been made and we are pleased.
I was never really happy with the way the Master Bath turned out after Ed re-painted it. I loved the paint color and I loved the new light fixture and vanity over the sink, but I never fell for the color scheme.
Well, a quick trip to Target and World Market changed that. Voila - instant upgrade!
Grey and yellow is all the rage these days so I decided to drink the Kool Aid and take the plunge. I'm a big fan of how changing a shower curtain and towels can instantly upgrade a room. I feel like it is a little more sophisticated and spa-like. My favorite part of the room is the new artwork above the toilet. Because of wall issues, we were not able to hang the glass shelf and towel rod that I had originally intended. So instead, I scoured Etsy for the perfect art and I think I succeeded.
The attractive state prints highlight the 2 places that Ed and I have lived together - Westbury, NY and Centreville, VA. The colors match the new scheme perfectly and the frames were a HUGE find at my local Michaels. All in all, we are really pleased with the final result of our Master Bath update.
Next up is the hall bath otherwise knows as James' bathroom. We had a lot of fun with this one and with the help of Uncle Jim and Uncle Daniel, we have transformed the room into a sea adventure.
In addition to the awesome fishy shower curtain (thanks again Jim and Daniel!), he now has a comfy, nubby bath mat, a friendly whale tissue box and coming soon...some whale art!
This little guy still needs a frame and will eventually live here:
So there you have it. It took a while, but it's finally done...almost. :)
Last year, we hired Mow Cow to build a fence in the backyard. They did and after lots of problems dealing with their company (DONT' HIRE MOW COW!!), we got ourselves a fence. They didn't have to build the entire fence because we already had some panels in between our house and our neighbors on both sides - they just connected the dots for us. Well, it turns out those side fences were just a big pile of rotted wood so Mr. Long Fence aka Ed decided to replace them.
My hubby is a handy guy, but he has never built a fence before. I was skeptical, but he proved me wrong - 100%!! To prepare, he spent lots of time scouring the Internet for "how to" articles and You Tube videos. He made sure he had the right equipment (circular saw, nail gun, C clamps, a triangular ruler thing and a step stool which he used as a saw horse), sourced the materials which proved to be a chore (french gothic pickets, nails, string), and got to work.
The old panels came out really easily...look how rotted the were!
So it was out with the old...
... and in with the new!
Ed did such an AMAZING job and he really enjoyed doing it. It was a beautiful day, he was rocking out to great music and he had his favorite foreman on the job with him.
Actually...it was a hot, steamy, balmy day filled with frizzy hair and sweaty clothes but that didn't seem to stop the buyers! Every year, the Quartuccio's get together to clear out the junk sellable items and make some cash. Since it was James' first yard sale-ing experience, we thought we would share it with you lovely people.
The morning started with 2 ladies bickering over some costume jewelry (Mom had to kick them out) and a theft (someone swiped a $2 bill from the garage), but luckily things went uphill from there. We didn't have any huge items for sale, but there was some good stuff - kitchen gear, lots of clothes, Dad's unique items and knick knacks galore. I think the best items we had were bunches of fresh rosemary from Mom's and Dad's huge rosemary bush.
There was a steady stream of people in the early hours and then it died down - big time, but luckily we saw a surge in the later hours. James was a big hit - as was Lucy. We had many offers on both of them. :)
All in all, we did really well. We made a little over $400 which now happily sits in James' savings account. James counted the cash which you would think would be difficult for a 6 month old, but with his old man hat and his Journal of Accounting, he made it look easy. :)
How did that happen? We can't believe that we are at the half way mark of James' first year. What a long way we have come. A what a cutie we have on our hands!!
Milestone Update:
James officially has 2 teeth! Last month they were breaking through and this month, his bottom 2 teeth are in. And if it's possible, he looks even more adorable than he did.
He is now able to get on his knees and rock back and forth which means that crawling is around the corner. Time to start baby proofing!
Mr. Chatty Cathy has a TON to say these days. It's ooohhh this and ahhhh that and la la la la la!
It seems we have a bit of a diva on our hands because when you take a toy away from him or stop him from splashing in the tub he has a full on fit. Hopefully this milestone doesn't stick or the terrible two's are going to be tough!
We hit another major milestone over the weekend ~ they seem to keep on coming these days! Since our little man is now rolling all over the place and actually getting on his knees (time to start baby proofing!), we decided it was time to lower the mattress level in his crib.
Before:
After:
Okay...I realize it is impossible to see the difference from those photos, but I swear, we lowered the mattress. Maybe this helps:
No? Well, I have one more where you can see snippets of James above the breathable bumper and that the crib skirt is now shorter:
Well...I tried. James is a fan of his new set-up but Mommy is having a hard time reaching him for his goodnight kiss. Soon enough he is going to learn how to sit on his own, then crawl, then stand and before we know it, he'll be running around. They grow up so fast!!
Since writing the title of this post, this song has been in my head so I thought I would share the wealth and put it into your head too. You're welcome! :)
Since James is approaching 6 months, he is no longer taking baths on the kitchen counter in his Fisher-Price Rainforest bathtub. He has graduated to the big boy tub upstairs, and with the help of Daddy, he gets cleaned every night as part of our bed time ritual.
So a typical weeknight goes something like this:
5:30 pm: Pick up the big guy from daycare
6:00 pm: Dinner of oatmeal, a veggie (peas, carrots or sweet potatoes) and fruit for dessert
6:30 pm: Playtime with Mommy and Daddy on his play mat or in his Jumperoo or ExerSaucer
7:00 pm: Rubbing of the eyes cues that it is time for a bath!!
We try to sneak a grown up dinner in there somewhere, but once those eyes are rubbed, we know we really only have 20 - 30 minutes before we lose him so we start our night time ritual with a bath. James plays hard at daycare so we think it is important to clean off all the germs each night. We set up the tub with the necessities - Moby spout cover, turtle thermometer, bucket of toys, Aveeno wash and natural sponge and the ever important hoodie towel. His current favs - his elephant towel with his name on the back (thank you Aunt Marissa!) and his froggie towel.
So James and Ed (who is in a bathing suit) hop in the tub and begin Operation: Clean the Bubby. We clean the belly and the toes and the hands and the tooshie. The face and neck are next with a separate washcloth and then it's time for the hair. This kid has a lot of hair these days and it typically has lots of oatmeal in it so Ed goes to town. James is not a big fan of this part, but he deals.
In between all of this, he splashes. And splashes and splashes and splashes!! Ed taught him how to splash and now he LOVES to splash from the moment he gets in the tub to the moment we take him out. When Ed stops the splashing to wash his face or hair, he actually gets upsets and starts crying. Such a diva!
Once the bath is over, Mommy takes over. We go into the nursery where we have his favorite tunes playing (Jewel, Lisa Loeb and Jack Johnson are current favs on the playlist) and the lighting is dimmed. We dry off, diaper up and get a rub down with some lotion. After dressing in his footie jammies and combing the hair into a proper quaff, it is time to head to the glider for the last bottle of the night, a story from one of his many books and a good night kiss from Mom.
By 8 pm this kid is in his crib, zipped in his sleep sack and ready for bed. I don't want to jinx anything by typing this out loud, but he typically falls asleep within minutes without any fussing. I think he is so stimulated at daycare that he is totally beat and ready for bed. And again, I hope I don't jinx us by typing this, but we are getting between 9 and 11 straight hours of sleep out of him. A big change from the 2 to 3 hours for those first few months. :)
So there you have it. We anticipate that bath time will soon change again once he learns how to sit up on his own, but until then, bath time serves not only as a nightly ritual, but as bonding time for all of us.
