A Big Hairy Mess

In Dr. James Dobson's book, "The Strong Willed Child", he describes the personality of some infants as "those who seem to be defiant upon exit from the womb. They come into the world smoking a cigar and yelling about the temperature of the delivery room and the incompetence of the nursing staff and the way things are run by the administrator of the hospital." As was Kingston's entrance into the world 16 months ago.

He cried from the moment he was born, until they were done poking and prodding him about 15 minutes later. The nurse even commented that she hadn't heard a baby cry in protest that much in a long time. I should have known then my dear friends, that I was in for a challenge. As the months have passed with new joys and challenges there are often times when we are around other children of a similar age, and I am surprised at their easygoing nature, and natural compliance. These two characteristics are NOT ones I would use to describe our child - he IS sweet, loving, fun, brazen, courageous, stubborn, independent, affectionate, intelligent and energetic - but at no time would I dare use the words "easygoing" or "compliant". And so, we press on in the challenge to shape and challenge Kingston's personality so that these strong qualities are used for the glory of God. We are always mindful of these things when planning activities and outings, yet, today I was apparently in for a challenge (or just crazy!).

I have seen adorable pictures in the last few months of our fellow toddler friends experiencing that monumental first haircut, and I decided that it was time for Kingston to follow suit. These sweet babies sat in the chair so nicely, patiently watched a video while their hair was cut, and then smiled lovingly with their mother's for a photo of the finished result. While I didn't exactly expect him to have a similar reaction, I thought he may be interested enough in the activity around him for the stylist to at least trim the hair that was constantly in his eyes, and the psuedo mullet forming at his neck. We had an appointment at a salon that caters to children, lets them watch a video while getting their haircut, and has stylists who are used to very wiggly clients. He even got his first sucker and a fun balloon. I don't think words could do justice to our experience, so I will let the pictures below illustrate our experience today:

You're taking me where?

Best part of our day - and loving his new shoes!

The torture has begun - he's still liking the sucker at this point, but notice the death grip he has on my shirt.

We moved from his cute little chair to an adult chair where Nate and I BOTH had to restrain him. The stylist then tried to snip quickly without poking him (or I) in the eye with the scissors. He was screaming like we were torturing him. Notice the face in his birth picture above, and this face are very similar :)

Happy to be at home - we are NOT styling his hair this way, but I was playing with it just to see what our options are now. I'm not really thrilled with how short the front is, but it's not like our poor stylist had much control. I think there may have been applause when we left the salon. Seriously.

Kingston then cried in the car for at least 10 minutes, and threw up a little after that because he had gotten so worked up. Not kidding. I think his teeth were bothering him, but when we got home he took a great nap - and Nate and I crashed as well! So for the next few years it looks like I may be cutting his hair (yikes!), or he will just start looking like a girl. Either way, I think Dr. Dobson and I are about to be very good friends....