Alexia's First Haircut. I Don't Wanna Talk About It

It all started a couple weeks ago. Two days in a row Alexia woke up from each nap with fistfuls of hair. I’m talking fistfuls. After hearing her cry out during one of her naps, I found her psychotically pulling at the hair falling over her eyes. So sad, yet creepy. So that very night I impulsively decided I was going to cut her bangs. Unfortunately, Ryan was on the phone and had no idea what I was up to, because maybe he could have talked some sense into me. I sat Alexia on the kitchen floor and let her go at it with my purse. I quickly took the scissors and attempted to cut her side-sweeping bangs. Why is it that you always go overboard and cut that last chunk waaaay too much? As I was staring at the small curl in the palm of my hand (Alexia still rifling through my purse), Ryan walked in and gave me the saddest look, making me finally snap back to reality and realize what I had just done. I have been an avid bang-hater for girls (sorry if your girl has bangs). And I had just given my daughter bangs. I also simultaneously made her look like a toddler more than ever! I honestly didn’t want to talk about it for a couple days. I made sure her hair was up in a ponytail or a barrette at all times so no one else would notice, because I really just didn’t want to talk about it. How is it possible to feel guilty over a haircut?! It’s like I singlehandedly took away some of her cuteness. Sigh.

Okay, enough with the drama though. The new haircut is growing on me. Or maybe I’m convincing myself it was “practical” and “necessary” as our daughter was inflicting pain on herself in order to get the hair out of her eyes. So here are the before and after shots of the new ‘do.

Before:

After:

A Daddy's Girl

Alexia is a daddy’s girl through and through. If Ryan is home, his attention must be on her at all times. If he dares to go out of the room, she takes off in a speed crawl after him crying the whole way. There have been many instances where I am ready and willing to hold her or play with her until he gets back, but she keeps right on going – crawling past me – crying for Daddy. Low and behold, one of her few first words included “Dada”. She literally follows him around wherever he goes, so much so that we call her his “sidekick”. Although, she's more like his shadow. If she could be permanently attached to Ryan, she would.

Here they are gardening together (Ryan has the green thumb in our family):

So for Father’s Day, I gave Ryan a baby bike seat so the two of them can have some quality time together.

And here she is crying, because she wants Ryan to hold her:

It’s funny, there haven’t been any jealousy issues with me taking care of Naiya, instead the battle is for Daddy’s attention.

Our Green Baby

This sticker came off of a gift for Naiya (Alexia is actually sporting the gift: pj bottoms) - 100% Organic. This reminds me of something I did when I was a little girl...I stuck a Chiquita banana sticker on my forehead and earned the nickname "Banana Head" which I am still referred to as by my aunt, uncle and cousin.

Day at the Beach

The girls and I have spent a few afternoons hanging out at the beach outside Ty and Jenna’s place down the road from us. It has been surprisingly relaxing, even with both the girls. Alexia is good about staying on the beach towels, but we have to keep an eye on her in order to avoid her eating handfuls of sand.

As a side note, I love to tell the story about the contrast of her and her cousin Sterling in regards to sand (dirt, etc.). While Sterling was walking around waving his sandy hands saying “ew!”, begging his mom (Tanya) to wipe them off, I look over at my little girl just in time to see her staring at the sand covering her hand, and then licking the sand right off her palm.

This particular day shown in the pictures, Alexia stood on her own for the first time. Auntie Jenna was feeding her pickles and Alexia didn’t even realize she was performing the next milestone until we started screaming “Yaaaaaay!!” and clapping our hands. She then continued to perform for us about 20 times in a row, every time saying “Yaaaay!” at herself and smiling back at us. She has since then stood on her own at her own leisure, but has no desire to walk yet. Meanwhile, I’m enjoying my ability to keep up with her for now.

Obsession With Ice

So it is nearly impossible to enjoy a nice, cold drink of ice water around Alexia because of her obsession with ice. I have actually recently switched to drinking water withOUT ice in order to avoid her choking-prone habit. There are exceptions to where I will let her indulge herself, like when we’re with family and her cousin Sterling is all but submerging himself into the ice cooler. But for the most part, the anxiety I get while watching her eat (and sometimes choke on) ice is not worth it. I must say that if I could get over my fear of her choking, ice could be a great alternative to a babysitter. Given the opportunity, Alexia would quietly feed herself ice for hours on end (I’m really not kidding) as you can see in these pictures, where she sucked on a huge block of ice until her cheeks were on the verge of frostbite and fingers purple.

Look Who's Walking

Look Who's Talking

One Month Old Comparison

Alexia 1 Month:

Naiya 1 month: