Stardate 61779.54 - Loren's Day of Firsts

This is Cheryl writing (still no Blogger ID of my own). First, to all of our Muslim readers (we probably do not have any Muslim readers other than my coworker Saba, and she is not so much a reader as someone to whom I occasionally show the blog so she can see the renovation pictures), happy Eid. How do I know that it is Eid al-Fitr? First, Saba has been fasting for Ramadan, so I know she is happy for that to be over. Second, I am one of what must be a miniscule percentage of the US population (or any population outside of a majority Muslim country) whose employer has added Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha to the official list of holidays. The upshot is, while I don't get off any of the mid-level US holidays like Columbus Day, I get a day in October and one in December that for everyone else in NYC is a regular working day.

Loren's day care was also closed for the holiday and we spent the day together. It turned out to be a day of more "firsts" than I would have expected.

Loren and I took advantage of the free weekday to head up to the Stride-Rite store at 84th and Lex to shop for some fall boots for her. On weekends, this store is pretty much hell on earth, unless you get there right at 9:30. But at 11 on a Friday it was nearly empty.

On the way there, I realized we were passing Cozy's Cuts for Kids. I've been waffling for a month or so on getting Loren's first haircut. I had wanted to get at least some length to it before cutting it (bad memories of my 70s bowl haircuts). But it was getting pretty scraggly. I decided to stop in and let her check the place out, and maybe make an appointment for the weekend. Long story short, the place was empty, she loved sitting in the car and I decided to just go ahead and have them cut her hair. Since it was a spur-of-the-moment stop, I did not have the camera with me. I'm sure this is a major sin in the age of constant photo documentation of childhood, and Loren will spend long years in therapy because of my failure to get good pictures of this milestone. But I at least got a couple of lousy ones with my cell phone. And, they gave her a certificate for her first haircut and stapled a little baggie to it with a lock of her hair (and rolled the whole thing up and tied it with a ribbon like a diploma...)



So that was the first "first." Next, we continued on to Stride-rite. We went to the infant/toddler section and picked out a pair of boots to try. The salesgirl measured her and announced "The shoes in her size are on the other side". That would be the big girl section -- the second "first". Turns out she's measuring an 8, so they recommend an 8 1/2, and that's where the big girl sizes start. She's always had big feet but I think now they are officially immense. Luckily the boots I liked were also available in the bigger sizes. Loren knew we were going to shop for boots and while we waited for the she picked out a tall brown pair with a bunny face on the side and pink fake fur around the top... a little over the top (I couldn't find them on the StrideRite website to show you her fashion sense) but cute enough that I might have considered them... until I turned them over and saw that they were $100 (!!). No way was I spending that much on a pair of kids shoes, let alone a pair it's not cold enough for yet and that she'll probably outgrow before it is! I may check and see if they go on sale later on. I will confess that I buy her the $40-$60 shoes because my experience with cheaper ones for her from e.g. Payless or Old Navy, is that they are complete pieces of crap and wind up looking trashy or falling apart before she outgrows them.

OK, you probably thought that paragraph was way too long and are wondering when I'll get to the third "first" already. We actually put up the pictures for this post thinking there were only two firsts to talk about. But before I could get around to writing it was time for Loren's bath. After I put her in the tub, she asked to get out and pee in the potty. We've had the potty chair for a few months and she has shown minimal interest. She has sat on it a few times, but only once that I can remember without a diaper. I got her out of the tub and it took a couple tries before she sat still rather than running out into the hallway--but then she sat for a minute and peed. Yay Loren!! Of course it was also my first time to clean the potty, which I was not at all set up for.

One other thing. Curt sent me this comic yesterday and it made me laugh out loud in my office. Those of you who have not spent extensive time with Curt outdoors may not know he has a phobia about bugs flying around his head. It has made for some really...endearing...moments on some of our hikes (one in Washington State in 1999 was particularly memorable and a lot like this comic). Curt has given me permission to poke some fun at him about this and call your attention to the comic.

Tomorrow we are off to NJ to take some things to my parents' attic, and maybe go pumpkin picking. And we wish a very happy birthday tomorrow to Loren's Aunt -R.