Haircut SOS and Put Down That Book Mommy

I’m sitting here feeling very smug in my new $7 black corduroys. That’s right, seven dollars and they were not purchased at a thrift store. OK, so they were purchased at at a very un-PC store, a store that rhymes with Doll-Art. Ellie helped me pick them out and was excited to proclaim, as I took off one pair of pants to try on another, “Mommy, you don’t have pants on! Your legs are naked!” And bless her heart, she told me all the pants were “too big” even when they decidedly were not. Ahem.

It was a good weekend. Ellie has taken to announcing every night when I pick her and her brother up “No school tomorrow!” so it’s nice when on Friday night I can say “That’s right Ellie! No school tomorrow.”

Ellie took marathon naps both days. It was warm enough to play outside both days. I wonder if my kids are the only ones on the eastern seaboard who ask to eat snack outside. They love to sit at the little table on our deck, fully adorned in snow suits and hats and gloves, and eat applesauce. But this weekend, it must have been 45 degrees with the sun out. I felt like busting out the tank tops and the margaritas. The snow is thinner every day and grass is finally visible after weeks of tundra. We're getting there.

We had grand plans for haircuts for both of the kids (Ellie, to be taken to the mall where she can sit in a pink car with a sucker and Leo, to be held down in front of a never-before-seen Dora episode, with me dangling an ice cream cone). I joked with Erin that I was thinking about trying to find a straight jacket on eBay that might prove useful for a Leo haircut attempt. I was actually only half kidding.

But really, it’s not so funny, because Leo’s hair is reaching new levels of never before seen ridiculousness. I tried to cut the back (which has, as I’ve mentioned, been shooting towards mulletness with frightening speed) while he was sleeping. But he’s so squirmy and so the result was, well…

So we called Leo “Carol” all weekend. And he didn’t seem to mind.

In addition to having bad hair, Leo seemed a little under the weather all weekend, fighting a cold. I thought we'd turned a corner, his cheeks hadn't taken on that scarlet red, chafed appearance they have every other winter of his short life, but finally, the raw redness seems to have struck. I'm buying stock in Aquaphor and chasing him around the house with tubes of it (which he loves, I assure you).

Leo was equal parts cuddly and grouchy on Sunday. There were a lot of outbursts followed by “sorry” and hugs and attempts to crawl into laps. I came home with a stack of promising books at the library and made the foolish attempt to read while he watched "Curious George: The Movie" (another library find). Leo has sonar when it comes to my reading. I can load the dishwasher, mop the kitchen floors, vacuum the entire house and cook a four-course meal while he watches television, but if I make the mistake of trying to read a book of my own interest (i.e. not a picture book) in Leo’s presence? No chance.

In other Leo news, Erin found Leo in his room fully dressed this morning.

While the rest of the house slept, he put this little number together, all by himself! It even matches. I had to quell the OCD mom tendency to change that shirt (it has a few little stains around the neck and it’s technically reserved as a “pajama only” shirt). But Leo was so proud (as we all were) and so I didn’t have the heart to make him put on something else. The shirt truly is him. It's yellow(ish) (his favorite color) and, well, "Bear Hug." I can't think of a term that sums up Leo more than that. He can get violent when I come at him with that Aquaphor, but ultimately, he's a little hugger.