Alisa's First Haircut

Craig has been asking me for months to take Alisa to get her hair cut. At first I resisted the idea since I wanted to see how long it would take for her hair to get really long like other little girls I've seen around. Once I finally agreed that she needed a haircut, I didn't know where to take her that would be kid-friendly. Then I thought to ask Holly (a friend of a friend...she cut my hair last December) if she had experience with children's hair. She said she had done many first haircuts for kids and would be happy to cut Alisa's hair. She worked out of her home last year but is now at Hairworks Salon so that's where we went. It's right up the road from our house so it was convenient.

I needed a haircut so I thought Alisa could watch me get one first so she could see how it's done and feel more comfortable. But Craig said he'd like to get one too, which totally shocked me because he hasn't had a professional cut in who knows how long. He always just shaves his head in the summer with help from me or a friend and then lets his hair grow back all year. Anyway, we decided to let Alisa watch Craig get his haircut first, then it would be her turn, and then my turn (since mine would take longer and Alisa might need to walk outside while waiting).

Alisa cried and cried when Craig's haircut was finished and we said it was her turn. We asked if she wanted to sit on the booster seat for her haircut and she just cried and said, "It's Mommy's turn. Mommy get a haircut." So, I got my hair cut next. She watched a little and played with toys in the waiting area. When I was finished, Alisa walked over to the chair I was sitting in and I asked if she wanted to sit on my lap and eat a lollipop. She said yes and climbed into my lap. Her eyes lit up when she saw the bowl of lollipops. We let her pick one while Holly put a cape around me and a cute little one with sea animals on it around Alisa. Holly sprayed Alisa's hair with water and cut it while she sat still and watched herself eat a green lollipop (Dum-Dum) in the mirror. She got another lollipop to take home (a mystery flavor) and she ate it in the car exclaiming, "I like Root Beer!" (turns out the flavor was Root Beer--I asked her what flavor it was and she couldn't decide so I tasted it and told her that's what it was because otherwise she wouldn't have known since she's never had Root Beer).

It only took 1 hour for all 3 of us to get our haircuts. Usually it takes an hour for just me to get mine cut (because there is usually more styling to do) so I was pleasantly surprised when I looked at the clock in the car as we left and saw it had only been 1 hour.

2 weeks before the haircut (she had one ringlet in particular that was much longer than the rest of her hair):

5 days before the haircut (it often was frizzy or matted from a nap):

Daddy and Alisa right before their haircuts:

Watching Daddy get his hair cut first:

Snuggling with her favorite friend Bow-Wow to calm her fears:

Alisa decided to wait in the waiting area for a bit during Daddy's haircut:

Alisa's 1st haircut:

Holly putting some of Alisa's curls in a bag for the scrapbooks:

The lollipop was the perfect distraction for keeping her calm and still:

Showing off her green tongue from the lollipop:

Hair from the 3 of us:

After the haircuts:

The back of her head looks SO MUCH better now that her hair is all evened out: